Because I was out of town for the holiday weekend, I was able to watch this Saturday's game on NBC Sports Washington, long after it had been played.  Hard as I tried, I was unable to escape finding out the final score ahead of time, which in turn allowed me to formulate opinions on the Kerr-Patsos broadcast team.  This subject intrigues me, not only because I enjoy discussing broadcasters in general but also because I have read mixed opinions, particularly about Patsos, on this site.

Rewind by about a week and I was able to watch Chris Caputo's Raise High at GW program.  In case, you missed it, it appears that Patsos with CC takes up about half the show, along with a women's basketball team segment and an additional sports segment.  I'll preface my remarks by saying that I realize that Jimmy is not a journalist and I don't expect him to suddenly become one.  The approach appears to be an attempt at conversation as opposed to JP asks the questions and CC gives the answers.  All well and good if the conversation wasn't so one-sided.  Patsos raises a subject, pontificates for a while, starts to formulate a question, stops himself long enough to talk for a while longer, and then finally takes a breath.  CC begins to give an answer but rarely gets to finish before Jimmy charges in again with more bluster.  The end result is that CC has little choice but to good-naturedly cede the microphone, almost looking bewildered as to what he's doing on the set.  This is unfortunate because I'd imagine most are tuning in to hear what the new coach has to say.  The exchange has the feel of watching Morning Joe where Joe Scarborough will ultimately ask his guest a question but the guest had better be prepared to sit around for a few minutes before they get a chance to chime in.  

With this as background, I hit play wondering whether JP would suffocate this broadcast as well.  The answer was no, not nearly to the same extent, though I can't say there aren't valid criticisms.  While it's commendable for a broadcaster to do their homework, let the game unfold, and refer to one's notes in a seamless manner, Patsos appeared to be hell bent on taking the 4-5 points he walked into the Smith Center with and made sure that he emphasized each to the point where the audience had to cry "uncle."  GW has strong guards, they should be posting up.  Check.  The problem with Bishop scoring 44 is that he's a marked man for defenses.  Check.   E.J. Clark has established himself as a solid 6th man but who else on the bench will emerge as a consistent contributor?  Check.  GW is the taller team and needs to attack the paint.  Check.  Bill Herrion is an experienced coach who knows what he's doing.  Check.  These are all perfectly valid points but the problem is that they are dwelled upon throughout the game.  Surely there must be some other points bringing up based on what you are actually analyzing, otherwise known as the game itself.  There is little analysis offered from the perspective of a former coach.  What is GW doing that's working and why?  Or, what should they stop doing?  What does UNH need to do to get back in the game?  Where was all of that?

As for Byron Kerr, he is normally a very dependable play-by-play announcer but perhaps JP may be infecting him?  There was one regrettable second half sequence when Max scored while getting fouled only to hear Kerr misidentify the player as Brendan Adams.  Then, he said it again a second time before going to a commercial.  Once back from commercial, he actually said that Adams would be headed to the line a third time.  Hey production team?  Isn't there anybody who can tell a director to get into Byron's ear and point out the error?  Or perhaps the game was comfortably in hand and nobody was paying any attention?  Whether Kerr, the production team, or both are at fault, it's inexcusable to make this same mistake three consecutive times.

Finally, on a personal level, let's allow Patsos to redeem himself.  After jokingly referencing how he generally hears what's going on among the students during the postgame show (not sure he used the word but made a joking reference to stalking or something to this effect), Mr. Patsos casually dropped "21st Amendment" and "The Exchange" as places where students could no longer hang out because they are both gone.  Yes Jimmy, yes!  You just earned yourself redemption based on these references alone.  Very well done.

Last edited by Gwmayhem (11/28/2022 1:28 pm)