Last night's MASN broadcast was downright embarrassing

[interloper]

Just atrocious. No gravitas, no energy, no chemistry. 

The booth without Kevin and Ben is just some guys in a room talking. Palmer included, I'm sad to say. Jim is good with Kevin and Ben, but without them he's not adding much of anything, especially when MASN feels the need to cram 6 people into the booth for whatever reason.

What on god's green earth is Jason La Canfora doing in the booth, for one? Nobody likes this guy, he is as close to universally disliked in Baltimore as you can get. Mike Devereaux, bless him, has absolutely no business being inside a professional broadcast booth. Ditto for Brach while I'm at it. 

Geoff brought some level of vanilla competency at least and he's a fine backup PBP guy in the vein of Jim Hunter. But neither he nor Brett are going to say anything remotely bordering on critical. They're just happy to be there, which is how Angelos undoubtedly likes it. 

Knowing what we know now, it was impossible not to hear Palmer back off every near-criticism. It's impossible to not hear someone like Jason just slather praise endlessly. It's gross. There was absolutely nothing compelling about it. The microphone audio is inconsistent, Mike is mumbling and stuttering, Jim is rambling and everyone is cutting each other off. I've seen games with feedback audio issues. I've seen games where they forget to mute the broadcast audio from instant replays. 

And last night, it's was starkly apparent to me when they did not show a replay of the grand slam. The biggest moment in the game, any other broadcast would have shown it at least once. Instead they pretended like it didn't happen. Disgusting. 

Without its top on-air talent, MASN is an exceedingly amateur production. It's a f**king joke. A true embarrassment. The company should be ashamed to put this product on television and subject its paying fanbase to this charade. 

[clapdiddy]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Just atrocious. No gravitas, no energy, no chemistry. 

The booth without Kevin and Ben is just some guys in a room talking. Palmer included, I'm sad to say. Jim is good with Kevin and Ben, but without them he's not adding much of anything, especially when MASN feels the need to cram 6 people into the booth for whatever reason.

What on god's green earth is Jason La Canfora doing in the booth, for one? Nobody likes this guy, he is as close to universally disliked in Baltimore as you can get. Mike Devereaux, bless him, has absolutely no business being inside a professional broadcast booth. Ditto for Brach while I'm at it. 

Geoff brought some level of vanilla competency at least and he's a fine backup PBP guy in the vein of Jim Hunter. But neither he nor Brett are going to say anything remotely bordering on critical. They're just happy to be there, which is how Angelos undoubtedly likes it. 

Knowing what we know now, it was impossible not to hear Palmer back off every near-criticism. It's impossible to not hear someone like Jason just slather praise endlessly. It's gross. There was absolutely nothing compelling about it. The microphone audio is inconsistent, Mike is mumbling and stuttering, Jim is rambling and everyone is cutting each other off. I've seen games with feedback audio issues. I've seen games where they forget to mute the broadcast audio from instant replays. 

And last night, it's was starkly apparent to me when they did not show a replay of the grand slam. The biggest moment in the game, any other broadcast would have shown it at least once. Instead they pretended like it didn't happen. Disgusting. 

Without its top on-air talent, MASN is an exceedingly amateur production. It's a f**king joke. A true embarrassment. The company should be ashamed to put this product on television and subject its paying fanbase to this charade. 

Sorry, but I'm not keeping my on-air personalities straight.   Isn't LaConfora the same guy that was berating the Ravens every day on the radio about the Lamar Jackson situation?

[interloper]

Just now, clapdiddy said:

Sorry, but I'm not keeping my on-air personalities straight.   Isn't LaConfora the same guy that was berating the Ravens every day on the radio about the Lamar Jackson situation?

Yep! But now he's employed by the Orioles. 

[spleen1015]

I turned it on MLB.tv and when I saw Mike Devereaux was in the booth I switched over to TBS. Greg Olson was outstanding in the booth earlier this year and they think Mike Devereaux is a better option. It's nuts.

[interloper]

Just now, spleen1015 said:

I turned it on MLB.tv and when I saw Mike Devereaux was in the booth I switched over to TBS. Greg Olson was outstanding in the booth earlier this year and they think Mike Devereaux is a better option. It's nuts.

Greg Olson is perfectly good and capable. Brian Roberts, even. Where are these guys and why are we subjected to these complete amateurs? 

[clapdiddy]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Yep! But now he's employed by the Orioles. 

I don't live in the Baltimore area any more, so I don't get to hear these guys that much.   I did watch a video of him going after the Ravens front office/ownership and he seemed like a maniac.  I can't believe that the Orioles would hire a guy who spewed so much venom at their Camden Yards neighbor like that.   

[interloper]

I'll say this about Jim Palmer, who I love.

If he's going to allow himself to be sidelined in a booth crowded by sports radio hosts and former players with no booth experience, and just be a shell of everything that makes Jim Palmer a great broadcaster, then he needs to retire. I don't want to listen to this version of Jim Palmer - please retire with dignity if this sham company won't provide you with competent talent. 

Edited August 9, 2023 by interloper

[glenn__davis]

A bit of a hot take haha.

Arnold is fine.

Devo I know is a charismatic guy, I just think he's a little stiff still.  Not surprising since this was what, his 2nd game?

I don't get the dislike for LaConfora.  I don't agree with him all the time but he's fine.

Palmer is fine.  He's slipped a bit for sure but still love hearing him.

I mentioned earlier I really liked Brad Brach and I thought Geoff did a good job setting him with interesting questions.   What kind of scouting report does he get on hitters as he enters a game, how does he adjust if he feels like a certain pitch is working, etc.  I felt like he and Palmer both tried that with Devo a bit and his answers were a bit vanilla.  Again I think he's just trying to find his voice.

All in all though no issues with the broadcast.

Edited August 9, 2023 by glenn__davis

[dystopia]

28 minutes ago, interloper said:

Greg Olson is perfectly good and capable. Brian Roberts, even. Where are these guys and why are we subjected to these complete amateurs? 

Probably because better announcers don’t want to put up with Angelos’ crap

[dystopia]

Also, can someone give me some background on La Canfora. I’d never heard of him before the O’s hired him. What did he do to draw the ire of everyone? 

[spleen1015]

Just now, dystopia said:

Also, can someone give me some background on La Canfora. I’d never heard of him before the O’s hired him. What did he do to draw the ire of everyone? 

I only know him as an NFL insider type. I think he was on ESPN and was cut during one of their layoffs over the years.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

29 minutes ago, interloper said:

Greg Olson is perfectly good and capable. Brian Roberts, even. Where are these guys and why are we subjected to these complete amateurs? 

They’re definitely better than Brach and Devo. I get the impression Brach might have gotten the MASN assignment at the special request of John Angelos’ wife. 

[spleen1015]

1 minute ago, spleen1015 said:

I only know him as an NFL insider type. I think he was on ESPN and was cut during one of their layoffs over the years.

He was on NFL Network, not ESPN. He left there to go to CBS Sports.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 minute ago, spleen1015 said:

He was on NFL Network, not ESPN. He left there to go to CBS Sports.

LaCanfora has been gone from CBS Sports for at least a year now maybe because for being a so-called NFL Insider he never broke any pertinent NFL news.

[Too Tall]

I'm so ticked off right now I watch the games on mute or the other teams feed. The Orioles could have Francis The talking Mule in the booth for all I care. I've mentioned before, I don't care for Brach, Devo is as represented, and Palmer has struck me as real subdued - like someone going through the motions to run out the string. Only K B as play by play is really any good. But my standards off 70 years of Oriole baseball, are high. It's sad, but MASN has been second rate for quite a while. And, given all the national attention (negative) that J A and his yes folks have bestowed on this franchise and particularly the PBP booth, I don't see how K B can return as if nothing has happened.