Monday, July 28, 2008

Life Coach: did somebody say Lagoon?

kentons logo
The Life Coach believes that there are no stupid questions, just stupid Vandal fans who ask questions. His purpose is to shepherd Bronco Nation to the calm waters of illumination, guiding them through their perfunctory problems with grace, flair, and competent advice. Got a question for the Life Coach? Email him at OneBroncoNationUnderGod@gmail.com.

Life Coach,
I heard the WAC media convention was in Salt Lake City this year. How much time do you think the journalists spent at Lagoon?
Snoopy in Silverwood

Half to two-thirds. Unless you have a specific reason for being in Salt Lake – and the WAC media convention is not a real reason – then you will spend most of your time at Lagoon. I mean, for real – what’s not to like? There are rides, carnival games, candy apples, and Mormon hotties. Lagoon is the Disneyland of the Great Salt Basin – minus the cleanliness and joy.

But I hear that that weekend is going to be “Lagoon: Get WACd!” Journalists are going to go crazy.

Life Coach,
In regards to new Bronco radio color guy Jadon Dailey, should it matter that he has as much announcing experience as I do?
Sincerely, guy who has never announced anything ever


It only matters when he messes up. Anytime he makes a mistake or isn’t funny or spot-on with a comment – we will all say to each other, “Man, how old is this guy? I could do this way better than this little kid, respectively.” But if he is awesome, then we will all be like, “It is great having a fresh perspective in the booth. This guy is so much better than David Augusto!"

So should it matter that Jadon Dailey has as much announcing experience as you do? Only time will tell…

Life Coach,
I am a Boise state alum and citizen of Bronco Nation who unfortunately had to leave our beloved state capitol to pursue a graduate degree at Idaho State University. I can see the Idaho State football team practice through the windows of my classes and can't help but weep at the thought that I have to wait another month until I can watch Boise State smear them across the new Blue field turf. I was wondering... since it was brought to my attention that Boise state is supposed to beat Idaho State by like 44 points (according to some odds wizards out there), is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, if we win by 43, did we let everyone down? Should we hang our heads in shame if we only beat Idaho State by 6 touchdowns? Please put this in perspective for me.
Perplexed in Pocatello

First of all, this is a great problem to have. I remember the worries of BSU fans used to be a lot scarier when we were getting our you-know-what's handed to us by South Carolina and Arkansas and almost every Big Sky team. So if we keep this in perspective – really, it is not a problem at all.

But, on a personal note, if we only win by 43, we should count that as a moral loss because Idaho State will be counting that as a moral victory.

And now that we are good, we hate moral victories.

4 comments:

  1. Re: Jadon Daily... I was listening to IST on my way home from work on Friday, and heard Tony Altiri. He sounds like he could totally do color commentary too.

    Basically, I think any ex-player who didn't sleep thru meetings and has an outgoing personality (ie. doesn't get audibly nervous) could probably do color. Hell, Caves has been doing it for years, and he's not exactly a rocket surgeon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Makes sense, JHaberman.

    Do you think Bob Behler will have an Al Michaels-Boomer Esiason moment and just not let Dailey talk for an entire quarter? I doubt he'll have to.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good question. A lot will ride on the compatibility of those two guys. The Sports Guy on espn.com talks a lot about this from time to time. Why those "superstar pairings" often don't work all that well (think Michaels and Madden). His take is it is much better two get two guys who genuinely like each other and are compatible and just let them do their thing.

    People forget that commentating, just like anything else, is a form of entertainment. Sure, there are those hard-asses who only want stuff relevant to the game. But screw them. I'd much rather listen to a couple guys who sound like they are actually having a good time. No forced jokes. No fake laughs. No awkward pauses.

    That's all I'm hoping for with the new team. They get along, genuinely like each other, be relaxed and entertaining, and tell us about the game.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of my favorite announcing teams is Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist--just two old guys having a good time at a game. It is truly rare to find chemistry nowadays in the booth.

    ReplyDelete