Kirk and Callahan: Done
- Thread starter Vinho Tinto
- Start date
I'm curious as to what is tacky about having people you want to consider for the job of announcer doing announcing before you decide who to hire?
I mean it isn't as if they're announcing at the games "tonight's announcer is..." and making it like a game show. I suppose asking someone publicly like LL did this morning could be considered tacky but Meter's genuine glee, and D&C's knee-jerk skepticism actually made for a cool moment on NESN. The chances of Meter getting the job are probably slim to none but, as Meter put it, he just gave someone the opportunity to check something off his bucket list. That's not something that happens often.
I tend to be much more sympathetic to the ownership group than it seems that many others here are, and I guess my present reaction is consistent with that.
But I have some trouble understanding the angst over this. I liked Carl Beane a lot. He seemed like a very nice man -- I met him, albeit superficially, several years ago -- and I have no trouble believing that he truly loved his job. And he was clearly good at it. But with all respect to Carl, the identity of the next PA person doesn't strike me as a matter that can only be discussed in hushed tones, and suggesting that Meter vie for the job doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.
As to LL being nothing more than a marketing shill, I doubt that many of us know what he actually does day to day and I suspect that his tasks go beyond what we see on NESN. And even if we assume that he's primarily on the revenue generation side of the house, creating funds for the Red Sox is a positive for fans of the team unless they believe that the ownership is primarily lining their pockets with them rather than plowing the money back into the team.
But I have some trouble understanding the angst over this. I liked Carl Beane a lot. He seemed like a very nice man -- I met him, albeit superficially, several years ago -- and I have no trouble believing that he truly loved his job. And he was clearly good at it. But with all respect to Carl, the identity of the next PA person doesn't strike me as a matter that can only be discussed in hushed tones, and suggesting that Meter vie for the job doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.
As to LL being nothing more than a marketing shill, I doubt that many of us know what he actually does day to day and I suspect that his tasks go beyond what we see on NESN. And even if we assume that he's primarily on the revenue generation side of the house, creating funds for the Red Sox is a positive for fans of the team unless they believe that the ownership is primarily lining their pockets with them rather than plowing the money back into the team.
Far be it from me to agree with a Yankee, but Bob Sheppard said it best, "A public-address announcer should be clear, concise, correct," he said. "He should not be colorful, cute or comic."
But as long as Meter got a chance to check something off his bucket list, I guess I'll do a reverse on this.
Seriously, who gives a shit what's on John Meterperrel's bucket list? LL's job isn't to fulfill every wish of John Meterperrel. His voice is terrible; it's grating, annoying and not baratone enough to be the announcer for any major league team. Do you know what John Meterperrel can do semi-compentently? He can read scores. Meterperrel can't ad lib, he can't call games very well and he isn't particularly insightful or witty. Obviously these last few things have nothing to do with being a PA announcer for the Sox, but why should he get a chance to do this when there are hundreds, if not thousands, better qualified to do this job.
My point isn't that the Red Sox PA job is a holy of holies, the person just tells you who the next batter is. Ultimately, I don't care who it is, as long as he/she stays out of the way. But, to say that the reason why the Sox are doing this is "about having people you want to consider for the job of announcer doing announcing before you decide who to hire", that's why there are voice reels. LL can put them on his office and he the Dentist can sit around and choose the next voice.
Not everything has to be a big, gigantic publicity stunt. Not everything is a reality TV show moment. Not everything has to be dragged out over weeks and months. Pick the next person and move the fuck along. This is what the Dentist and LL don't get: if you make everything a big deal, then nothing is a big deal anymore. Most people have a very small window of time to think about the Boston Red Sox, if you keep filling it with inconsequential garbage like this; then the brand is cheapened.
That's why this is cheesy. And to close out with another loathsome Yankee comparison, Paul Olden is the PA guy at Yankee Stadium. Did the Yankees make a big production about finding the new PA guy? Or have try outs? Or try to hire some glorified automated scoreboard at the second-ranked sportsradio station in the city? No. They just went out, hired the guy, sent out a press release and went back to running the ball club. It's a pretty simple thing to do.
Why didn't you just say "I just really, really, really, hate John Meterparel"
Offering a local announcer a shot at a tryout for the job on the 2nd rated Sports Talk Radio show in its timeslot isn't exactly a massive publicity stunt. If Meterparel were to do a game tomorrow, it's likely that over 50% of the crowd would have no idea whatsoever. I guess if the Sox turned it into something major I'd be with you, but I really fail to see how Meterparel (or realistically any literate adult) isn't qualified enough to try to read names over a microphone at Sox games. To be honest, given Meterparel's work in the AM and his various college announcing duties, i'm not sure the job isn't actually beneath him, or at least not worth the time commitment.
Offering a local announcer a shot at a tryout for the job on the 2nd rated Sports Talk Radio show in its timeslot isn't exactly a massive publicity stunt. If Meterparel were to do a game tomorrow, it's likely that over 50% of the crowd would have no idea whatsoever. I guess if the Sox turned it into something major I'd be with you, but I really fail to see how Meterparel (or realistically any literate adult) isn't qualified enough to try to read names over a microphone at Sox games. To be honest, given Meterparel's work in the AM and his various college announcing duties, i'm not sure the job isn't actually beneath him, or at least not worth the time commitment.
I don't think giving Meterparel a chance to live out a dream is a reason to give him a job but I also think the idea that it's tacky or horrible or whatever else folks are calling it is ridiculous. It's a fun little thing, why not treat it as such?
I couldn't care less what the Yankees said or did. I actually enjoy the fact that the team is treating this like something fun instead of like some solemn task.
I couldn't care less what the Yankees said or did. I actually enjoy the fact that the team is treating this like something fun instead of like some solemn task.
My reaction was quite similar.
The fact that the Sox are doing this different than other teams...so what? Having try outs and drawing some attention to what is ordinarily a mundane process doesn't necessarily equate to something drawn out and distasteful. It doesn't have to be a freak show and I doubt it will be.
I don't know, I like the fact that the Sox often find a way to make something out of things that are otherwise bland or unnoticed. And, in the end, I think back to the experience at Fenway in all respects under the prior owners and like the fact that these guys have improved just about everything about going to the ballpark. No doubt, I'd opt for less noise and sensory overload during games, but that's an issue that applies across the board in all sports.
Why be completely obvious when you can be subtle.
Honestly, I don't "hate" John Meterparel. I rarely listen to D&C and I don't know the guy personally, so I don't hate him. However, the reason why he isn't qualified is the same reason why he hasn't moved forward in his announcing career: his voice sucks. Every flash guy on EEI has had their own show or a chance to host when the regular host is out sick. Meterparel hasn't had a weekend gig and very rarely hosts D&C. He also has been the BC voice for a long time and hasn't been mentioned whenever there's an opening anywhere. You would have to think that his lack of talent is holding him back.
It's nice that he's the flash guy, but after awhile wouldn't you like your own show or a chance to regularly broadcast something other than the Revolution or BC sports?
It's not a solemn task, that wasn't my point. It's essentially an outdated task and one that ultimately isn't that big of a deal. My point is the marketing/PR bullshit philosophy of the Red Sox where they're turning everything into a "big deal". Just pick a person and move on.
I'm not a Meter fan, I find him to be a grating suck up, but I really don't think this is that big of a deal to be honest. Plus Meter has had other opportunities to do Play by Play fill in work over his BC stuff. He has filled in for the Celtics a few times and called a few Spring Training games for the Sox, so he has done some work, and it's not like the PA gig is all that hard. If he sucks at it he won't get the job, either way it's no skin off my ass.
Until he's eliminated the very real possibility exists that he could get the job. Hard to fathom, really.
After Carl passed away it has been mentioned how low paying the gig is, like 50 bucks a game low.
Can't imagine that's an ideal situation for Meter, and there's no way he's still doing mornings at weei if he's at the old ballpark 'til 10-11pm most nights.
Lucchino also encouraged Meter to feel free to add his own shtick when he has the tryout tomorrow night. This led to Meter wondering aloud if he should announce the Sox players by nicknames and D&C want him to find a way to include his signature "Take a bow!" at least once while doing the PA.
Man, that is going to be so much fun! Maybe LL will let Meter grab an AB and he can cross that off his bucket list too.
I don't listen to the show, but any chance tha LL was saying that tongue in cheek.
It is certainly possible, but LL seemed serious. He went on to mention that he has discussed with Dr. Charles about having the PA Announcer call out the balls and strikes as a way to keep the fans more aware of what is happening in the game. The idea was to start doing that during Spring Training this season, but it didn't happen.
Wow, now I'm falling more on JMOH's side. I don't give a rats ass who announces the players, put a couple of 6 year olds or some kids from Dana Farber up there if they want. For some reason having the PA announcer calling balls and strikes to keep the fans into the game crosses a line for me. Don't turn Fenway into a fucking carnival if you want people to pay attention.
I believe the technical term in radio parlance is he "pukes" when he talks. Meaning (I guess) he overvocalizes from the bottom of his throat so it sounds like he's retching. Considered very poor form.
THis all goes to JMOH's overall arguemnt, I think, that the Sox are overexposing themselves. Like the old saying goes, too much of a good thing is not a good thing seems to be taking hold on Yawkey Way. Like most on this board, I am a Sox fan, even though I now live in LA. However, it appears that the over the top marketing plan of LL and the Dentist seems to put everyting in your face, and everything is marketed (the bricks, the dumb dating show a few years ago...Sox, Sox, everywhere). After a while it gets old and it starts to take away from the product on the field. In that area, JMOH is spot on.
john dennis going after chad finn today, back in his aggressive possibly drunk style
https://twitter.com/#!/JohnDennisWEEI
https://twitter.com/#!/GlobeChadFinn
chad retweeted a couple things from 98.5 people which set dennis off
https://twitter.com/#!/JohnDennisWEEI
https://twitter.com/#!/GlobeChadFinn
chad retweeted a couple things from 98.5 people which set dennis off
In my opinion he seems to be a heavy drinking, fat, over the hill, has been racist who "thinks" he is funny and insightful, only that no one else seems to think so...he is a pathetic jerk. How he is still on the air is amazing to me...again only my opinion...but if looks like a turd, smells like a turd and floats in the tub like a turd...it just might be a turd.
His bragging about his partying exploits during Super Bowl week were pathetic. Act like you been there, Gramps.
I'm not sure which thread to put this in so I'll put it here since it happened on D&C this morning.
I flipped over because I didn't want to listen to T&R talk about Middleboro's new cursing ordinance. In the minute or so that I listened, Dennis started talking about how he listened to "Talk Show Hosts" (voice dripping with sarcasm) in the afternoon bitching about the Celtics and how they underachieved, laid an egg, etc...
Obviously he was talking about Felger and Mazz and more specifically Felger. What I was shaking my head at was how badly he was twisting what Felger and Mazz were saying. Not once did F&M say that the Cetics under-achieved, they just said that they didn't OVER Achieve and F&M also went on to say that Celtics Fans should be very proud of their team and effort they put forth and that the Celtics just got beat by a better team at the end.
I thought it was interesting because D&C are so desperate for ratings that they or at least Dennis is listening to the other station and not EEI and twisting what F&M are saying to fit Dennis and Callahan's narrative so they can generate some mock controversy so D&C have something to talk about. Which potentially could drive listeners away from Ordway and Holley to listen to what F&M are saying about their beloved Celtics. Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than it is, but I really found it odd. I'm sure they are probably pissed because Doc and Wyc have been on F&M more than D&C lately.
I flipped over because I didn't want to listen to T&R talk about Middleboro's new cursing ordinance. In the minute or so that I listened, Dennis started talking about how he listened to "Talk Show Hosts" (voice dripping with sarcasm) in the afternoon bitching about the Celtics and how they underachieved, laid an egg, etc...
Obviously he was talking about Felger and Mazz and more specifically Felger. What I was shaking my head at was how badly he was twisting what Felger and Mazz were saying. Not once did F&M say that the Cetics under-achieved, they just said that they didn't OVER Achieve and F&M also went on to say that Celtics Fans should be very proud of their team and effort they put forth and that the Celtics just got beat by a better team at the end.
I thought it was interesting because D&C are so desperate for ratings that they or at least Dennis is listening to the other station and not EEI and twisting what F&M are saying to fit Dennis and Callahan's narrative so they can generate some mock controversy so D&C have something to talk about. Which potentially could drive listeners away from Ordway and Holley to listen to what F&M are saying about their beloved Celtics. Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than it is, but I really found it odd. I'm sure they are probably pissed because Doc and Wyc have been on F&M more than D&C lately.
Chad Finn had a blog today suggesting 'eei is starting to storm back.
http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2012/06/strong_may_for_weei_in_ratings.html?camp=misc
n:twit:tatb
I'm sure John Dennis will give some credit to Finn for bothering to cover the story.
http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2012/06/strong_may_for_weei_in_ratings.html?camp=misc
n:twit:tatbI'm sure John Dennis will give some credit to Finn for bothering to cover the story.
Interesting. Felger&Mazz trail The Big Show. Is it possible that people are tiring of Felger's uninformed prattle and Tony's high-pitched rants? Maybe it's the Celtics. I find myself spending more time listening to Ordway talk about the one sport he knows well, and to Max when he was on. It's true that Wyc's interview on F&M was excellent, but otherwise neither Felger's nor Mazz knows annoying about basketball.
I've been wondering about this for a while. I don't listen to F&M all that much anymore. It's more scripted than how scripted Felger thinks the NBA playoffs are. I don't listen to the Big Show, either, but I assumed a lot of people may have switched back over. It's pretty much been music and NPR in my car after Toucher&Rich are done(and even some of their stuff is getting old).
The fact that T&R are still beating D&C has got to be devastating for D&C.
Celtics fans were getting up in the morning, getting into their cars with the tuner on WEEI, then changing it to T&R, before going back to EEI for the rest of the day for C's coverage.
Ouch.
Celtics fans were getting up in the morning, getting into their cars with the tuner on WEEI, then changing it to T&R, before going back to EEI for the rest of the day for C's coverage.
Ouch.
I love how the evenings show EEI as "Planet Mikey, RedSox, Celtics" at an 11something, I'm sure that is mostly due to Mikey's insightful analysis and not those other two.Chad Finn had a blog today suggesting 'eei is starting to storm back.
http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2012/06/strong_may_for_weei_in_ratings.html?camp=misc
I'm sure John Dennis will give some credit to Finn for bothering to cover the story.
Can't wait to hear the softball questions they toss his way( if any) about his company's issues.....
Shocking. Did Callahan curl his lip, sneer and spit out the word "liberals" as the bane of everyone's existance?
I am far from this world, so I ask those who understand this stuff --- If I am a startup, should I take it as a bad sign that private investors are 'only' willing to pony up 10-20% of what I personally put into the business? Or is this a 'normal' amount that suggests going forward is OK?
FWIW -- Acc. to b-ref he grossed about $114M in his career.
The great unknown here is how things went with venture capitalists. Curt was on this board at one point venting a bit about not being able to attract a venture capitalist partner. What is unclear is if he never got any venture offers, or got venture offers but simply didnt like the terms because he was being unreasonable [ie didnt want to give up too much control and ownership of the company] or he was unreasonable and being selfish. Without the inside details [like the business case, details of any offers, how the venture capitalists assessed the risk, etc] its very difficult to tell. Without any inside knowledge, I will say that his 'I like video games, but have never run or been involved in such a company' probably didnt get folks pumped up to write a check to fund him.
Unless we see a forensic audit of 38 Studios, I wouldnt trust any of the numbers that Schilling provides. He can say he put in $50M, and he is tapped out, but considering how willing he was to blame the state of RI for his problems and ask for more money after telling his family the business was going to fail, I think he is looking for sympathy even though he claims otherwise. So while he made a ton during his career, I still want to see how much he truly put into the company before I believe he is tapped out.
Federal taxes ~35%
State taxes 3-5%
Meaning his take-home from baseball alone was in the $60M-$70M range. Subtract his house ($5M), other day-to-day expenses, and hopefully college/retirement savings, and the $50M is probably an accurate estimate of his entire life savings.
Depends on exactly what type of deal you are structuring. In a traditional VC round for a startup, whether it's Series A, B, or C, you are traditionally going out and raising your only capital, and that is really the only money that you have to operate on. In those types of situations, you'll typically give away anywhere between a 10-25% stake in the company in exchange for the funding that you need, and you retain the rest of the ownership. The difference here is that Schilling was throwing his own cash on the table at the same time. More than likely, he still wanted to retain somewhere in the range of a 75-80% ownership at this point, simply because he probably expected future dilution of shares as he raised more money, as well as possibly having to exercise options and the like for various high-ranking employees. So the deal structure is not particularly unusual, other than the fact that Schilling actually had capital to invest alongside his VC or angel investors. Not a huge concern there. More concerning should have been the amount of money being spent with little to no track record in the video game industry, which is undergoing some huge changes in its business model right now. Schilling just wasn't in tune with where things are going there, and that was a much bigger problem.