NESN UPDATE 6/27 - Sean McDonough considering replacing Jack Edwards

[jimmccabe40]

I should probably also mention that I'm a giant Metallica fan and that my goal call has actually been partly modeled based on how I think James Hetfield would do it if James Hetfield did hockey play-by-play...

 

[DaBroons]

I just want to add this P.S., the biggest reason I started saying ridiculous things on the air, besides the aforementioned influence of Randy Moller, Mike Lange, hell I'll tell you Jack Edwards a bit too (this is my favorite call of his: ) and also 1990s SportsCenter (Stuart Scott, Kenny Mayne) is because I think the NHL has a crop of pxp announcers around my age (turning 40 in August) who have gotten really corporate and bland. This was a response to that.
And also, it's only really come into the picture in the last few years because I have gotten that comfortable with play-by-play. Calling 100-200 games each season will do that. I used to be straight-laced. I thought I could do better. I started writing stuff down. Every time my wife and I watch a movie or a show, or if I hear a song lyric I think no one has used before, every time I see a funny meme, every time I'm with friends and family and I hear something good, I write it down. I could get REAL advanced with things if I had the extra free time I suspect I'd have with Boston. Recently I rediscovered the local public library. I want to bring the personal party- and make no mistake, it's a party that's been going on at the rink when I'm there- to this organization.

Attached below is a very nice Twitter comment I got this season, and there's plenty more where that came from.

Re: Emrick, really the biggest influence I draw from him is my goal call. this is the first game I ever went to (number one memory with my Dad too) and I must have listened to the highlights about 2,000 times on my cassette tape: (). Emrick's call got longer as he went on, but it used to be short and more terse. Gary Thorne was a big imprint on me, too.

(PleasenooneaskmewhichteamIrootforpleasssedont)


you're right, that slewfoot on Acciari was blatant and I would have called attention to the controversial nature of the goal immediately.

Forgot to ask whether you are a, "He shoots, he scores!" broadcaster, or a, "A shot and a goal!" broadcaster? The former of course being the Foster Hewitt/Dan Kelly mold and the latter being the Lloyd Petit (Hawks) mold. Another great was Al Shaver of the Northstars, who started each game with, "Let's Play Hockey!"

Any of the old timers that you admired?

Also, those old analog clocks meant that the broadcaster didn't announce time remaining exactly, but would say, "We're approaching the 5-minute mark of the third period."

 

[jimmccabe40]

Forgot to ask whether you are a, "He shoots, he scores!" broadcaster, or a, "A shot and a goal!" broadcaster? The former of course being the Foster Hewitt/Dan Kelly mold and the latter being the Lloyd Petit (Hawks) mold. Another great was Al Shaver of the Northstars, who started each game with, "Let's Play Hockey!"

Any of the old timers that you admired?

Also, those old analog clocks meant that the broadcaster didn't announce time remaining exactly, but would say, "We're approaching the 5-minute mark of the third period."

I rotate around a few. My main thing has become just to say "Score" because it really cuts down on uncertainty, with your point shot deflections, lots of traffic around the net. if I'm sure about the scorer, then usually it's "He scores". and the old Mike Lange way of doing that, adding about 10 E's on "he", will come into play if it's a golazo. I'm also not afraid to just say "Goal!", as former Atlanta Thrashers pxp and soccer announcer JP Dellacamera did. but I also sometimes just go with "puts it in" or "buries it" or something like that, the audience definitely still knows that a goal just happened.

as far as the time question, I'm big on 5-minute segments. 5 minutes into the period, halfway through (10:00 mark), and always always The Final 5 minutes. I also got good at instant backwards timing, aka the box score time, for example, goal scored 3 minutes 53 seconds into the period, usually I can usually tell you that. Pete Weber pxp of the Nashville Predators got me into doing that.

"old-timers" not from hockey. I've watched a lot of NHL games in my life and I've really picked up this and that from a lot of guys who came on or were already on when I became a fan. all the names I've already mentioned, maybe also a little bit of Rick Jeanneret, Sam Rosen, Jim Hughson, definitely Joe Beninati, Jim Jackson.

Not hockey but also, as a Phillies fan, Harry Kalas. I've tried to emulate his style as much as I can. and as I blurted in another post, I channel James Hetfield of Metallica.

Wednesday night edit: I don't know if you guys might dig this but at one point I stopped saying 2-2 as "two-two" because I think it sounds like I'm saying Bishop Desmond Tutu. so now it's DEUCES. all the time. I'm also a fan of saying Uno-Uno. I also rhyme constantly, unintended, but why not emulate Dr. Seuss, he who says "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" was rejected several-dozen times before it was published. I am looking forward to taking my daughter to the Seuss museum in Springfield one day.

 

[jimmccabe40]

Very nice post.

During the big dish days, Mike Lange would spend the entire commercial breaks cursing up a storm. He did have some great sayings, however, which I enjoyed. "He beat him like a rented mule," was my favorite, followed by, "He put it top shelf where gamma keeps the gluten-free cookies."

Emrick was great on the big dish, talking to the "satellite club" during the breaks. Never a fan of his style of call, however, but I do understand that he's a great guy and beloved throughout the league. Lastly, I will never forgive Olczyk, Emrick, and Anson Carter for their spinelessness over the no-call on the slewfoot on Accari in Game 5, 2019.

are you telling me there was a time when you could watch the NHL and the package you bought allowed you to hear the PXP during commercial breaks? I had no idea.

In 07-08= I was the producer for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on 92.1 FM in Scranton. A perk of the job I guess, it was cool to hear the broadcaster between breaks. I always loved the post game show and putting the highlights together to replay. Scott Stuccio was the voice of the Baby Pens, went on to call the Hershey Bears. Scott Stuccio’s Call of the Hershey Bears’ Game Seven OTGWG Is Epic

 

[jgatie]

are you telling me there was a time when you could watch the NHL and the package you bought allowed you to hear the PXP during commercial breaks? I had no idea.

That was back in the old C-Band big satellite dish days. The dish received the same feed as the studios, so you were watching the feed from the venue, instead off the one where the studio spliced in the ads and other segments.

 

[DaBroons]

are you telling me there was a time when you could watch the NHL and the package you bought allowed you to hear the PXP during commercial breaks? I had no idea.

In 07-08= I was the producer for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on 92.1 FM in Scranton. A perk of the job I guess, it was cool to hear the broadcaster between breaks. I always loved the post game show and putting the highlights together to replay. Scott Stuccio was the voice of the Baby Pens, went on to call the Hershey Bears. Scott Stuccio’s Call of the Hershey Bears’ Game Seven OTGWG Is Epic

Yes, but back then you didn't have to buy anything. It was all free. It's called a back haul. It was the signal being sent to the station broadcasting the game. So, you'd get the road games only on this system.

You'd keep a log of the 24 transponders (channels) on certain satellites, and then search for your game, hockey, football, whatever. When the kids were little and were up during the night, my wife would watch the network shows being sent over the dish to the local channels.

But, in addition, there were broadcast channels you could intercept, so I could watch HNIC broadcasts as well.

The 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy was a great one. They sent one video feed to the entire world, with multiple audios, and I'd use my audio tuner buttons to get the audio I wanted (British).

Once, during a break during the 4th Q of a college bowl game, one announcer said, "Next time, tell me to bet on the big fast guys, instead of the slow little guys."

 

[jimmccabe40]

that's very cool! my first broadcasting gig was KOJM radio in Havre, Montana 2010-2011. Once while I was on the air, someone emailed us an MP3 saying it was the signal from Scandinavia.

 

[Johnny Upton]

Yes, but back then you didn't have to buy anything. It was all free. It's called a back haul. It was the signal being sent to the station broadcasting the game. So, you'd get the road games only on this system.

You'd keep a log of the 24 transponders (channels) on certain satellites, and then search for your game, hockey, football, whatever. When the kids were little and were up during the night, my wife would watch the network shows being sent over the dish to the local channels.

But, in addition, there were broadcast channels you could intercept, so I could watch HNIC broadcasts as well.

The 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy was a great one. They sent one video feed to the entire world, with multiple audios, and I'd use my audio tuner buttons to get the audio I wanted (British).

Once, during a break during the 4th Q of a college bowl game, one announcer said, "Next time, tell me to bet on the big fast guys, instead of the slow little guys."

I’m a TV and tech geek and I wanted a C-band dish in the worst way. My father, who I would politely describe as frugal, wasn’t laying out the money for one.

 

[mikelvl]

Here’s the thing about broadcasting at the pro level.

You can do all your homework, be knowledgeable, have zero issues keeping up with the play and calling it accurately. But at the end of the day you need the voice for it.

And unfortunately for the most part that’s just something you’re either born with or you’re not.

I think you’ve got a voice that tops out at ECHL. And personally I’m not a fan of the Randy Moller style of play by play goal calls.

As a Bruins fan I would not want to listen to you on NESN 82+ games a year.

That’s just my opinion.

Funny, my brother called junior and minor pro for twenty years (the first arena he ever called a game was in Billings Montana. It was destroyed by a tornado a few years after he moved on to Cedar Rapids), topping out at Quad City in the ECHL for the last several years. He was the consummate pro, took it very seriously, yet I couldn't see him going any further. And once Quad City folded, neither could he. It's a tough business with only a few job openings. He's out of the business. That being said, he should write a book of the stories from all the bus rides he took. Hockey culture at it's finest.

 

[DaBroons]

I’m a TV and tech geek and I wanted a C-band dish in the worst way. My father, who I would politely describe as frugal, wasn’t laying out the money for one.

When we moved into the new house in 1987, the first thing I did was order the C-band dish. I even had them come out and do a site survey before I signed the contract to buy the lot. I had spent 3 years in hockey purgatory after leaving Boston, and I wasn't going another season w/o it.

 

[Ace0813]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798376459498914064

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798376459498914064

https://x.com/i/web/status/1798374685257969716

 

[DKH]

Yup just saw

Traitor

Overrated

Where’s he live

How dare he think he’s better then us

Yeh he’s the best - never believed Tom Werner would ever pay him what he would need to come here

Eichel
Hanifin
Hertl
Cassidy
Goucher

Don’t count out DeBrusk - they don’t sell Alsrm clocks there

 

[Patdud]

Tear, f*** NESN

 

[Bruinfanatic]

Brick not coming back?

 

[dafoomie]

I knew those cheap bastards wouldn't come through. I don't know who they get instead but they will probably suck.

 

[incidental otter]

I understand that the "cheap NESN" narrative is tons of fun, but it ignores the fact that ALL of cable TV is in trouble due to streaming. RSNs, ESPN, NFL Network, Warner Bros/Discovery, Paramount/Global, Time Warner... all are facing declining revenues, and have been trimming staff.

Of course, streaming is also largely unprofitable, so nobody's got a good handle on the best path towards financial sustainability. NESN has little choice but to take a conservative approach.

 

[Johnny Upton]

Alex Faust has to be the front runner now, no? He basically got an audition when he filled in.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

I understand that the "cheap NESN" narrative is tons of fun, but it ignores the fact that ALL of cable TV is in trouble due to streaming. RSNs, ESPN, NFL Network, Warner Bros/Discovery, Paramount/Global, Time Warner... all are facing declining revenues, and have been trimming staff.

Of course, streaming is also largely unprofitable, so nobody's got a good handle on the best path towards financial sustainability. NESN has little choice but to take a conservative approach.

Conservative? That must explain charging $30 a month for one of the worst streaming apps out there.

 

[Roll 4 Lines]

Dammit!

Well, I hope at the very least they hire someone who actually calls the game when the puck is in play.

 

[jimmccabe40]

Here’s the thing about broadcasting at the pro level.

You can do all your homework, be knowledgeable, have zero issues keeping up with the play and calling it accurately. But at the end of the day you need the voice for it.

And unfortunately for the most part that’s just something you’re either born with or you’re not.

I think you’ve got a voice that tops out at ECHL. And personally I’m not a fan of the Randy Moller style of play by play goal calls.

As a Bruins fan I would not want to listen to you on NESN 82+ games a year.

That’s just my opinion.

I fear I'm just mining for attention at this point, but I'd like to issue a second reply to this comment and say that low-key, this is one of the nicest things anyone has said about my hockey broadcasting. I'd be pumped to call games for an ECHL team!

Believe me when I say, I've done a lot of soul-searching in the last month since this process began. I haven't heard back from anyone since my original correspondence with NESN, so maybe I'm on the outside. But I do hope someday to be in the NHL, and if you give me another decade or two at this, maybe I'll make it happen. I'm nothing if not persistent. But I swear hand on Bible, this is not what primarily motivates me to do this.

Narrating the story of a hockey game, from reading all the lines at the beginning of a game to the maybe-crazy finish that will happen late in the 3rd, in OT, or anything else that happens of note in between is what I live to do. Hockey is the greatest sport and I love providing the service to those who are fans of the game, while possibly hooking new fans in the process.

I believe in the integrity of my announcing. I think it's the whole package. I'll find something to refine each year, but right now I'm pretty happy with the product. I understand the yelling and screaming isn't everyone's cup of tea. An agent I had a conversation with called me a Puker. But I think it works for the truly big moments of a game. Puker Mode is only about 1% of what I actually do.

Just for reference, here's what I sounded like ten years ago, my first year of doing this.



Run that against this year's and you tell me there isn't some sort of evolution.

Listen, I might not be a Bruins fan originally from the Greater Boston area, but I just want you all to know including anyone who might see this from the Bruins or network, I really would be honored to be the B's voice more than any other NHL team at this point. Since moving here in 2016, I've been regularly tuned into the team, whether it's watching partial games at home, or out at a restaurant. I once watched a Bruins game on the Steamship Authority ferry while coming back from the Islands for a broadcast. Let me just say I had a BLAST doing the Cape Cod High School Hockey Game of the Week for 3 seasons and I don't want to brag here, but I filmed all of those games myself while calling them ok yes I do want to brag (Jim McCabe).

Long read I know, but I promise this'll be the last post unless anyone wants to interact with me further. I'm just looking forward to finding out one way or another, as I'm sure many others who have aimed for this position are also doing.

Best,
Jim

Wednesday night edit: I promised no new posts so I'm adding here that me and Jack Edwards are basically BFFs now. Maybe not an actual endorsement but nice of him to respond!

 

[JRull86]

Alex Faust has to be the front runner now, no? He basically got an audition when he filled in.

Zzzzzz

Just as bland as Dave OBrien doing Red Sox games.

Honestly, just move the radio guys at this point.

Sirott has grown on me a lot, and he had big shoes to fill. Beersy is still solid as a color guy.

 

[jimmccabe40]

Funny, my brother called junior and minor pro for twenty years (the first arena he ever called a game was in Billings Montana. It was destroyed by a tornado a few years after he moved on to Cedar Rapids), topping out at Quad City in the ECHL for the last several years. He was the consummate pro, took it very seriously, yet I couldn't see him going any further. And once Quad City folded, neither could he. It's a tough business with only a few job openings. He's out of the business. That being said, he should write a book of the stories from all the bus rides he took. Hockey culture at it's finest.

I have colleagues who are currently the voices of the Hartford Wolf Pack and Maine Mariners. They both do a great job. I've met dozens of broadcasters over the years and I've really enjoyed making many of their acquaintances. However, I have also encountered many who, let's just say, inspired me to try to elevate myself. I've always had a chip on my shoulder, me-against-the-world kind of mentality because I know and have experienced how competitive it is. I was extremely lucky to have walked into the Nelson Center in Springfield, Illinois in 2013 on a night when the North American Hockey League's Junior Blues were playing at home and needed someone to call the game. It's hard to gain experience to meet your goals when you don't have experience. You have to find a break somewhere. and as I said in a previous post, the Internet opened up a lot of doors for people like me. There are so many more sportscasting opportunities out there now than was the case in the past.

 

[chizzler]

I knew those cheap bastards wouldn't come through. I don't know who they get instead but they will probably suck.

Yup. Werner cheaper out. f***en clown. They have so many guys on the Red Sox payroll and they can’t pay for two guys to call a good game. I also blame Bruins ownership. Have some balls and push your narrative on who you want.

 

[dafoomie]

I understand that the "cheap NESN" narrative is tons of fun, but it ignores the fact that ALL of cable TV is in trouble due to streaming. RSNs, ESPN, NFL Network, Warner Bros/Discovery, Paramount/Global, Time Warner... all are facing declining revenues, and have been trimming staff.

Of course, streaming is also largely unprofitable, so nobody's got a good handle on the best path towards financial sustainability. NESN has little choice but to take a conservative approach.

 

[McGarnagle]

Zzzzzz

Just as bland as Dave OBrien doing Red Sox games.

Honestly, just move the radio guys at this point.

Sirott has grown on me a lot, and he had big shoes to fill. Beersy is still solid as a color guy.

Sirott is great in everything except for his goal call. He just yells HE SCOOOOOOOOOOORES. If he toned that down, he'd be good. Beersy is one of the best in the business and I'm surprised he's been stuck on radio for 25 years.