This column will most likely be much shorter than my rant about Steve Kolbe. That is because I am filled with negativity as a human being and well, I don't have many mean things to say about John Walton. By all accounts he is a guy who worked his ass off in the AHL and did a great job with the Hershey Bears. So his call to the NHL is, if anything, long overdue. I do give myself the right to nitpick as I will shortly do. But I'm sure when John Walton got a call from Bruce Boudreau that he was now the Caps radio guy, he felt like Harold and Kumar did when they finally made it to White Castle (and NPH paid them back for messing up Harold's BMW). In fact, what would make this complete is if John Walton actually downed 50 cheeseburger sliders to celebrate his job with the Caps. He probably found a more profound way to celebrate, but such is life.....
Let's be clear: John Walton belongs in the NHL and he is undeniably an upgrade over Steve Kolbe. But I am still curious as to how his tenure in DC will go. Will he be regarded as a "good" NHL announcer or a "great" NHL announcer? His job should be safe either way because 1) Ted Leonsis doesn't seem interested in a widespread search for the position (sticking to his "build from within" strategy) and 2) John Walton blogs and tweets which I think in Ted Leonsis' mind is what got Walton the job. I personally still believe in the value of a "great" radio announcer (irrespective of their social media skills), but I have to admit that I am part of a dying breed - that from a revenue perspective "good" is good enough on the radio these days. It's a shame, but times change -- and social media is probably more important to an owner's brand than radio.
That said, let's see how Caps fans react to Walton's call (the bulk of the fan base, which probably has not listened to him in Hershey). I personally have listened to his calls in Hershey periodically. For a short while, I interned with another AHL team and cut highlights from Hershey broadcasts. But, I can't claim to be a Hershey die-hard. So it's not like I listened to him day-in and day-out. I do have my general impressions from his broadcasts.
1) Technically speaking, John Walton can describe the action 100x better than Steve Kolbe and is very good at an absolute level. This is probably his greatest strength - and a good one to have. I appreciate the fact that not once in my time listening to him have I said "How the hell did the puck get from point A to point B?". God willing I will have TV access to many of the Caps games this year, but when I need to listen to the radio I know I won't need a translator or feel like I'm missing out. John Walton keeps you focused on the in-game action.
2) He is honest. The one trend that has gone under the radar while owners worry about their announcers' social media skills - is that most owners view announcers as part of the PR department (see Redskins and Larry Michael). I've heard John Walton bluntly call out Hershey Bears players for sloppy play or soft goals allowed. That is what gets you my respect. This isn't a frickin' job interview. It's not your job as an announcer to sell tickets (well sometimes it is, but that's another story). If it's a team weakness, please don't spin it or minimize it - tell it like it is. My understanding of John Walton is he does exactly that.
I hope to God that John Walton doesn't compromise his point of view for the sake of Ted Leonsis or the organization. The Caps will never look as bad as the Redskins - so in a relative sense they aren't guilty as all hell. But make no mistake about it, the Caps prioritize having a strong PR arm. And say what you want to about Mike Vogel's writing ability, but from what I've seen he generally stays on the side of not being critical of the team. I never heard Steve Kolbe be as obnoxiously pro-team as Larry Michael, but I never heard Steve Kolbe call out the team either. John Walton will hopefully continue to tell it like it is. At least I'd respect that.
3) John Walton is seemingly more social than Steve Kolbe. This isn't about blogging or tweeting. This isn't a popularity contest or being a part of the cool kids club. But, it is about knowing the players and being able to share qualitative insights during the broadcast (not robotic stats). Stats play a role and can't be ignored, but I think John Walton will do a much better job of talking about a specific player's development in Hershey, their approach in practice, or anecdotes from the road. This should make the broadcast much more entertaining than a Kolbe broadcast.
4) On the downside, my opinion is that John Walton's voice is just "ok". It is a little gravelly to me. Again, I would take John Walton's voice over Steve Kolbe's any day of the week. But in an absolute sense, I wonder if Caps fans who are new to him will warm to him in this regard. There is a parallel between John Walton's voice and Chuck Kaiton's voice (Carolina Hurricanes) and Chuck Kaiton seems to have his die-hard fans. But that type of voice can go either way. So let's see if Caps fans say "John Walton's voice is better than Steve Kolbe's voice" or if they say "John Walton has a good voice".
5) I am unsure about John Walton's vocabulary - it might be a little too plain. Again, neutral is better than bad. It's not like the guy can't speak English. I'm just saying this might be a missed opportunity for differentiation. His signature call of "Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Night" is again - just "ok" in my book. Not to beat a dead horse, but after years of Steve Kolbe - just "ok" is much preferred to "I wish I could stab my ears out". I don't want Bob Costas calling my games either, mind you. Not every game needs to remind you of the maudlin time your dad whisked you away on the New York subway to see the illustrious Mickey Mantle for your 7th birthday (hey, I tried!). But maybe John Walton could use a little more of that?
6) I also wonder if John Walton enjoyed a psychological lift from the Bears' performance. I mean, the Hershey Bears won 3 Calder Cups while John Walton announced for the team. Let's see if fans hold him in high regard with the Caps continually shitting the bed in the playoffs! I mean, I don't have the study in front of me, but there has to be some correlation between a team's performance and how announcers are viewed.
One announcer who pimps it out? Dave Jageler! Yes, the Nats are up-and-coming, but they still suck. Yet, Dave Jageler is the man! Let's see if John Walton can win over Caps fans despite the Caps underachieving in the playoffs**
**The Caps are of course free to make this a non-issue by winning the Stanley Cup, but I don't want to become the Chief Executive Officer of Fantasy-Land just yet......
Well, so it is. John Walton gets his call to the big leagues. Bravo to him. Do you know him better than me? Chime in! Like I said, I'm not a John Walton expert just yet - just sharing some general impressions.
Let's see if he's "good" or "great" at the NHL level. I'm pulling for him, though. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed listening to a Caps radio broadcast. I don't know what I'll do with myself this season!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Part 1: Kolbe Gets Canned
I will try to be sensitive throughout this post. When someone loses a job, it is no laughing matter. Heck, right now I know firsthand what it is like to be unemployed. It is certainly not fun. So the goal of this column is not to kick Steve Kolbe while he is down. I imagine the man is a bit shell-shocked by what happened to him.
That being said, I've been waiting for his departure since well, 1997. I never was a fan of his. While he has steadily improved during his time in Washington - I'm of the opinion that his play-by-play skills merely went from God-awful to barely tolerable.
First, let's be clear: his voice is horrible. Even when he is just making his baseline call it is annoying. But then, when he gets excited or screams? It is ear splitting! And he seems to enjoy "burying the needle" as they say. That is never a good idea in the announcing world - and that gets raised to the 10th power when you have Kolbe's voice. So most memorable moments for the Caps over the past 13 or so seasons have been paired with grating radio calls. If you want an example - find his call from when the Caps beat the Rangers in 2009 playoffs (end of Game 7) - and that's an IMPROVED Kolbe......if you really want to punish your ears - go find his call of Joe Juneau's goal in 1998 vs. Buffalo.....
Second, he sounds rehearsed and canned. This has various implications. a) He uses an overabundance of statistics. Some of these are insightful, most of them just fill air time. Probably not his intention, but it came across like he was coasting through parts of the broadcast. He could cut back on the stats and be more conversational (home games) or provide more insight into game strategy (road games) to signal that he knows what is going on. Kolbe turned a strength (i.e., preparation) into a weakness (i.e., sounding rehearsed) and that hurt his credibility in my opinion. b) His signature phrases are delivered awkwardly - and frankly they suck (I'm sorry, but the "cat in the hat" is just moronic). Whether it is a one-off saying or a signature phrase, it has to be delivered with "oomph". When Kolbe wasn't "burying the needle" he was sounding robotic. There was never a solid in-between. c) he just wasn't funny or engaging. now this is a tough one because most sportscasters flood the broadcast with cheesy, douchy humor. You don't want to turn your broadcast into Sportscenter. And Kolbe should be applauded for not doing so. But, his broadcasts were too dry. Again, no sweetspot.
So, if his voice his horrible and he wasn't engaging - was he at least a good at keeping up with the play? Well, that brings me to my third critique of Steve Kolbe:
He was not good at "painting a picture" or describing the action. He often had trouble keeping up with the play (or, he was too busy unloading statistics). I remember one time in 2009 I was listening to a broadcast. I wish I could find the clip but you'll just have to take my word. He literally went from a Jose Theodore save (Caps goalie at the time) to a Washington Capitals goal. There was zero explanation as to how the puck went from one end of the ice to the other. And certainly, if you are watching the play develop you know not to spend too much time fawning over the save because you have to describe a potential goal-in-process. That's just bad all around. And you can't blame the speed of the game on that call. In general though, it seemed like Steve Kolbe was a "minimalist" when describing the action. He either couldn't keep up or didn't feel the need to describe what was going on. Maybe if what he said was interesting he could have gotten away with it. But really, he should have been better at, and done more of, in-game calling. He wasn't the TV guy, he was the radio guy. We needed more from him.
In Summary:
Bad voice, not engaging, not able to describe the play = time to go........
While I am totally in favor of Steve Kolbe being shown the door, that doesn't mean I'm not scratching my head at this decision - or that I don't wish him the best.
I mean, I've thought he's been bad from Day 1. But, the Caps seem to have loved him. The timing of his departure is arbitrary at best. They let him hit the 1,000 game milestone and then they can him? What possibly did he do to get fired? I mean for God's sake, there are enough social media wannabees clogging up Twitter's site (me included!). I know Ted Leonsis is all about social media, but if this is because Steve Kolbe didn't tweet then that's fucking stupid. That's one of the things I respected about Steve Kolbe. Steve recently joined Twitter - perhaps as an effort to save his job, but really he shouldn't have needed to do so. I don't need my play-by-play person to blog or tweet. I need him to call the fucking hockey game!!!! Is that asking too much? Business owners want hockey announcers to be versatile. Screw that! Play-by-play is a unique craft. If you're good at that, you're good enough for me. Augmenting your brand through social media only hides your deficiencies as an announcer.
Then there is the issue of how the Caps handled the job posting and notifying Steve Kolbe. I'll say this much, if you're going to fire someone - be an adult about it and fire them. That seemed like the plan all along. But what did the Caps do? They made Steve Kolbe apply to HIS OWN JOB that wouldn't be his job anymore rather than telling him from the beginning that he wasn't coming back. I'm sorry, that's fucking dick - whether they told him this week that John Walton got the job or sent him a text or didn't tell him anything. Don't tell me Steve Kolbe had a legitimate chance of keeping the job. The fix was in all along. You can't give the guy a proper sendoff? Tell him why he is being let go? Thank him for his years of service? I mean, for all we know Steve Kolbe would have done what you asked him to do. And if it's because he sucked then be an adult and tell him that! As an aside, if this has anything to do with HR policies - then you have the wrong HR policies in place!!! Really, someone in the Caps organization seemingly fucked this up big time......
I am torn as to whether or not to feel sorry for Steve Kolbe, though. On one hand - he did nothing to deserve a classless exit. Like I said at the very top of this post, he is probably shell-shocked. Valued employee one day. Piece of shit the next. Seemingly no real warning as to the change. Yeah, it sucks. And I truly do feel sorry for him. It makes me wonder if the Caps front-office is douchier than they are given credit for. Because this is a shitty way to treat people.
But it's still business. As I know from personal experience - whether you are told you didn't get the job from a classy HR professional (and why) or if you just get cut off from a company that woos you and eagerly interviews you but then ignores you - the fact remains that you didn't get the job - and that's really what sucks. Steve Kolbe got to experience his dream job - something many of us won't get to say. He got 1,000+ more games in the NHL than he deserved. And he got to the NHL without really hacking it out in the AHL (only some time in Portland). His time in Washington was a gift. No matter how shitty the exit, Steve Kolbe has no right to be anything other than thankful.
In closing, I'll throw this out: I recognize I've been hard on Steve Kolbe's abilities. By all accounts, people say he was a class act - a good guy. That should mean something. A lot of play-by-play guys are arrogant pieces of shit - pure assholes (yes, even the ones that sound humble on the air). If you knew them in real life, you'd be astonished and nauseous all at once. The fact that Steve Kolbe has other interests (archery, fishing, drums), lost so much weight, and was respected by his peers is beyond commendable. Character might not let you keep the job, but it still stands for something. Wherever he winds up, I wish him the best. He seems like an interesting guy - someone whose off-air demeanor should be emulated by a lot of people. Hopefully he lands on his feet and finds happiness in the next chapter in his life.
That being said, I've been waiting for his departure since well, 1997. I never was a fan of his. While he has steadily improved during his time in Washington - I'm of the opinion that his play-by-play skills merely went from God-awful to barely tolerable.
First, let's be clear: his voice is horrible. Even when he is just making his baseline call it is annoying. But then, when he gets excited or screams? It is ear splitting! And he seems to enjoy "burying the needle" as they say. That is never a good idea in the announcing world - and that gets raised to the 10th power when you have Kolbe's voice. So most memorable moments for the Caps over the past 13 or so seasons have been paired with grating radio calls. If you want an example - find his call from when the Caps beat the Rangers in 2009 playoffs (end of Game 7) - and that's an IMPROVED Kolbe......if you really want to punish your ears - go find his call of Joe Juneau's goal in 1998 vs. Buffalo.....
Second, he sounds rehearsed and canned. This has various implications. a) He uses an overabundance of statistics. Some of these are insightful, most of them just fill air time. Probably not his intention, but it came across like he was coasting through parts of the broadcast. He could cut back on the stats and be more conversational (home games) or provide more insight into game strategy (road games) to signal that he knows what is going on. Kolbe turned a strength (i.e., preparation) into a weakness (i.e., sounding rehearsed) and that hurt his credibility in my opinion. b) His signature phrases are delivered awkwardly - and frankly they suck (I'm sorry, but the "cat in the hat" is just moronic). Whether it is a one-off saying or a signature phrase, it has to be delivered with "oomph". When Kolbe wasn't "burying the needle" he was sounding robotic. There was never a solid in-between. c) he just wasn't funny or engaging. now this is a tough one because most sportscasters flood the broadcast with cheesy, douchy humor. You don't want to turn your broadcast into Sportscenter. And Kolbe should be applauded for not doing so. But, his broadcasts were too dry. Again, no sweetspot.
So, if his voice his horrible and he wasn't engaging - was he at least a good at keeping up with the play? Well, that brings me to my third critique of Steve Kolbe:
He was not good at "painting a picture" or describing the action. He often had trouble keeping up with the play (or, he was too busy unloading statistics). I remember one time in 2009 I was listening to a broadcast. I wish I could find the clip but you'll just have to take my word. He literally went from a Jose Theodore save (Caps goalie at the time) to a Washington Capitals goal. There was zero explanation as to how the puck went from one end of the ice to the other. And certainly, if you are watching the play develop you know not to spend too much time fawning over the save because you have to describe a potential goal-in-process. That's just bad all around. And you can't blame the speed of the game on that call. In general though, it seemed like Steve Kolbe was a "minimalist" when describing the action. He either couldn't keep up or didn't feel the need to describe what was going on. Maybe if what he said was interesting he could have gotten away with it. But really, he should have been better at, and done more of, in-game calling. He wasn't the TV guy, he was the radio guy. We needed more from him.
In Summary:
Bad voice, not engaging, not able to describe the play = time to go........
While I am totally in favor of Steve Kolbe being shown the door, that doesn't mean I'm not scratching my head at this decision - or that I don't wish him the best.
I mean, I've thought he's been bad from Day 1. But, the Caps seem to have loved him. The timing of his departure is arbitrary at best. They let him hit the 1,000 game milestone and then they can him? What possibly did he do to get fired? I mean for God's sake, there are enough social media wannabees clogging up Twitter's site (me included!). I know Ted Leonsis is all about social media, but if this is because Steve Kolbe didn't tweet then that's fucking stupid. That's one of the things I respected about Steve Kolbe. Steve recently joined Twitter - perhaps as an effort to save his job, but really he shouldn't have needed to do so. I don't need my play-by-play person to blog or tweet. I need him to call the fucking hockey game!!!! Is that asking too much? Business owners want hockey announcers to be versatile. Screw that! Play-by-play is a unique craft. If you're good at that, you're good enough for me. Augmenting your brand through social media only hides your deficiencies as an announcer.
Then there is the issue of how the Caps handled the job posting and notifying Steve Kolbe. I'll say this much, if you're going to fire someone - be an adult about it and fire them. That seemed like the plan all along. But what did the Caps do? They made Steve Kolbe apply to HIS OWN JOB that wouldn't be his job anymore rather than telling him from the beginning that he wasn't coming back. I'm sorry, that's fucking dick - whether they told him this week that John Walton got the job or sent him a text or didn't tell him anything. Don't tell me Steve Kolbe had a legitimate chance of keeping the job. The fix was in all along. You can't give the guy a proper sendoff? Tell him why he is being let go? Thank him for his years of service? I mean, for all we know Steve Kolbe would have done what you asked him to do. And if it's because he sucked then be an adult and tell him that! As an aside, if this has anything to do with HR policies - then you have the wrong HR policies in place!!! Really, someone in the Caps organization seemingly fucked this up big time......
I am torn as to whether or not to feel sorry for Steve Kolbe, though. On one hand - he did nothing to deserve a classless exit. Like I said at the very top of this post, he is probably shell-shocked. Valued employee one day. Piece of shit the next. Seemingly no real warning as to the change. Yeah, it sucks. And I truly do feel sorry for him. It makes me wonder if the Caps front-office is douchier than they are given credit for. Because this is a shitty way to treat people.
But it's still business. As I know from personal experience - whether you are told you didn't get the job from a classy HR professional (and why) or if you just get cut off from a company that woos you and eagerly interviews you but then ignores you - the fact remains that you didn't get the job - and that's really what sucks. Steve Kolbe got to experience his dream job - something many of us won't get to say. He got 1,000+ more games in the NHL than he deserved. And he got to the NHL without really hacking it out in the AHL (only some time in Portland). His time in Washington was a gift. No matter how shitty the exit, Steve Kolbe has no right to be anything other than thankful.
In closing, I'll throw this out: I recognize I've been hard on Steve Kolbe's abilities. By all accounts, people say he was a class act - a good guy. That should mean something. A lot of play-by-play guys are arrogant pieces of shit - pure assholes (yes, even the ones that sound humble on the air). If you knew them in real life, you'd be astonished and nauseous all at once. The fact that Steve Kolbe has other interests (archery, fishing, drums), lost so much weight, and was respected by his peers is beyond commendable. Character might not let you keep the job, but it still stands for something. Wherever he winds up, I wish him the best. He seems like an interesting guy - someone whose off-air demeanor should be emulated by a lot of people. Hopefully he lands on his feet and finds happiness in the next chapter in his life.
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