Gill and Gino have to go

Most of the leagues radio guys are AWFUL. Go listen to the Dolphins or Colts guys. No opponent can ever do anything right.

I'll always remember when Marvin Harrison made a great catch over Hobbs back in 06, and i think it's Gill just goes, "Hey, that was a great play".

Compare that to Randy Moss making crazy catches against the Dolphins in 07, the Dolphins guys have a fit that Cameron Worrell couldn't cover Randy Moss. They were like, "Shamefull!!! Embarrising!!". Like they were stunned that their crappy safety couldn't cover Moss.

To them being a Miami Dolphin = Hall of fame. It's a joke.

WelshPat said:

Most of the leagues radio guys are AWFUL. Go listen to the Dolphins or Colts guys. No opponent can ever do anything right.

I'll always remember when Marvin Harrison made a great catch over Hobbs back in 06, and i think it's Gill just goes, "Hey, that was a great play".

Compare that to Randy Moss making crazy catches against the Dolphins in 07, the Dolphins guys have a fit that Cameron Worrell couldn't cover Randy Moss. They were like, "Shamefull!!! Embarrising!!". Like they were stunned that their crappy safety couldn't cover Moss.

To them being a Miami Dolphin = Hall of fame. It's a joke.

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The Dolphins man is Jim Mandich. He's great to listen to, because he doesn't pretend to hide his homerism and he just calls it as he sees it. It's like Celtics with Heinsohn. Sadly, Mandich is battling bile duct cancer. He still plans to announce all the Dolphins games, though.

I tell you, if the Patriots ever got someone like that screaming duck who calls Colts games I'd seriously consider switching teams. Can't stand that guy.

WelshPat said:

Most of the leagues radio guys are AWFUL. Go listen to the Dolphins or Colts guys.

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Actually I've been meaning to start a thread about that - I can't STAND the Colts' play-by-play guy, and not just because I don't like the team. A while back there was a commercial or something that featured the call from when Manning broke Marino's record for TD passes (can't remember if it was in a season or all-time or what), and it got to a point that if it came on I'd go scrambling for the remote to hit the mute or change the channel, that's how much I hate hearing that guy.

He just has this awful, high-pitched screeching voice that gets even more grating the louder he talks - it's like listening to Curly Howard with laryngitis. Who thought it was a good idea to give this guy such a high-profile job?

One thing I will say for the Packers, they have good radio guys. It used to be Jim Irwin and Max McGee until they retired, now it's Wayne Larivee and former player Larry McCarren. Granted I can't say how much they know about the game since I don't listen to them much, usually only during the preseason or if I happen to be in the car when a Packer game is on.

Ditto on the Indianapolis radio play by play guy - "Peyton drops back, throws end zone, TOUCHDOWN MARVIN!" Really dumb when you call players by their first name. That guy is a jackhole.
As far as Gil and Gino, I have been listening to them for ages, going back to when the home games were not on tv. I have plenty of nostalgic feelings for the two of them, and especially for Gino being a local Portuguese guy from Acushnet/Fairhaven. But, I sadly have to admit, both of them are getting long in the tooth. They're most likely better than any alternative including any combination of Zolak, Gresh, and Tanguay - the most insufferable of them all. I just wish Gil and Gino could get a refresher course somewhere...

Tunescribe said:

I tell you, if the Patriots ever got someone like that screaming duck who calls Colts games I'd seriously consider switching teams. Can't stand that guy.

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Agreed. I've mentioned numerous times how much I despise him. I can't believe his employers thought his voice was good for announcing. He sounds like a complete moron and he's always whining about the Colts getting screwed.

Mark Morse said:

I'm surprised nobody has posted this yet. I listened to the game as I watched it live at the stadium. I don't know what game Gill and Gino were watching, but they constantly misidentified players. Gino's voice was very weak. It's time for them to be replaced. and lets not let the pre-season duo of Don Criqui and Randy Cross off either. They were brutal on the Kraft produced telecast.

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RE: Gil and Gino: How about No. N-O No. as in Hell no, as in F*ck NO!

RE: Don and Randy- they serve no true purpose in life and are a waste of oxygen. Todd frickin' Light.

I don't remember Dale Arnold being too bad when he did the Patriots 20 years ago. If I recall Gino did color with him. But in those days maybe my standards were different, and I ony heard him one year (was away from the area the rest of his stint). Probably wouldn't happen again because he is EEI not WBZ. (That's why Arnold did play by play then, WBZ lost the games to WHDH for a while).

Using the same words that Santos would say in referring to the Pats back in their pre-Elvis uniforms, Gil and Gino are "the good guys in the white hats".

Clearly Gil has trouble identifying players time and again, and if you're strictly listening to the game on the radio, it must be tough to follow along at times, but I still wouldn't trade Gil and Gino for anyone else in the league.

My number one pet peeve in a broadcasting team is when the color analyst talks all over the play-by-play guy during the play. I can live with utter, blatant homerism (although it's refreshing to me that Gil isn't a complete homer), but when the play is one gigantic mash of undecipherable words, that drives me up the wall.

Dave Lapham in Cincinnati and Jim Mandich are the absolute worst when it comes to that stuff. A typical Bengals touchdown:

PBP Guy: Palmer, drops back to throw...
Lapham: Come on, COME ON!
PBP Guy: Fires to the left...
Lapham: Got him, GOT HIM!
PBP Guy: He finds Cha....
Lapham: OOOOOOHHHHH!! COME ON!!!! COME ONNNNNNN!!!!!
PBP Guy: Down the right sidel...
Lapham: Get in! GET IN!!!!
PBP Guy: And he's out of bounds at the...
Lapham: YESSSSSS! THERE WE GO!!

... and so on. It happens during every.... single... play. Mind-numbing...

The Seahawks PBP guy is pretty bad too. He's a classic "call a guy by his first name" announcer. Matt Hasselbeck becomes "Matthew" on every play. Hell, even Seneca Wallace got referred to as "Seneca" on every call.

Bob Lamey in Indy is the biggest PBP homer out there, and probably has the worst voice to boot, but listening to him go nearly silent when the opponent makes a play almost makes it worthwhile to listen to.

Besides Gil and Gino, I've always liked Bill Hillgrove and Tunch Ilkin (Steelers team, Hillgrove is the Steelers' Gil), the Broncos play by play guy (doesn't get excited often, but calls a great game), Bob Wischusen, the Jets PBP guy ( seem to be in the minority with this one, though), and a few others.

I appreciate all the posts, the support for Gil and Gino, as well as those that agree with me. A couple of points ... I am one of the Old Guys who watched Boston Patriots pre-season practice at Phillips Academy in Andover. Gino belongs in the Hall of Fame for the merits of his terrific career. As a broadcast team they also belong in the Hall of Fame. I am not trying to take anything away from their accomplishments over the years. Gil Santos use to call a great game. He would give the listener the yard line, formation, down and distance as well as the time on the clock. I'll admit he does that better than most announcers today and set the bar for other announcers to strive for. "Direct Snap and Shot Long and Deep are signature sayings like Chris Berman's Back Back Back Back ... Gone.

As far as replacements, I don't want any of the Bozos they have doing pre and post game, or any of the talking heads on radio and TV in the boston sports scene. I think somone like Sean McDonough, who has national game experience would be terrific. Add a Tedy Bruschi and you would have a winning combination.

Gil and Gino don't talk over each other, Gil calls the play and Gino gives the commentary. They work well together as their years of experince shows. It's just time to start grooming someone else.

I have no use for Criqui and Cross. What about Mike Lynch calling games.

Brady'sButtBoy said:

'Pissah's right, Kraft has shown no ability, or will, (or could it simply be a $$$ thing??) to find some outstanding voices for their pre and post game shows, and that concerns me. Would Kraft finding anyone superior to Gil and Gino - who have been slipping for years but aren't quite so far gone they need replacing? But the day is coming...

One of the low lights last Thursday came right off when Gino was doing the starting line-ups just before kick off and badly stumbled over Ayodele's name and had to ask Gil how to say it. Santos, BTW, had it at the tip of his tongue. But, I like their style and will live them missing the down and distance, mixing up names, forgetting penalties, etc. If the alternative really would be Meter' or Gresh, ugh, then lets get the old guys more Geritol. Or how about another crack (silent) spotter/stats dude in the booth with them? Maybe Kraft could offer the person free parking as an incentive....

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Prior to Gresh and Zolak and Tanguay ruining the pre and post game shows they had Tim Fox and Pete Brock doing commentary along with Bill Abbott hosting. This was amazing to listen to with insight and unbiased opinions about the action, foul ups, officiating etc. that Gresh and Zo wish they could come up with. And to top it off they don't need to scream all the time to get their points across, they do it in a calm manner that made losses sink in better than the pouring salt on wounds that Gresh and Zo love to do.

Mark Morse said:

I'm surprised nobody has posted this yet. I listened to the game as I watched it live at the stadium. I don't know what game Gill and Gino were watching, but they constantly misidentified players. Gino's voice was very weak. It's time for them to be replaced. and lets not let the pre-season duo of Don Criqui and Randy Cross off either. They were brutal on the Kraft produced telecast.

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These two guys are legends man.......the mis-naming is part of the fun. These guys should be on the Paterno plan......they go when THEY want to go!!!!!! Long live Gino and Gill!!!!!!!!

alamo said:

I don't remember Dale Arnold being too bad when he did the Patriots 20 years ago. If I recall Gino did color with him. But in those days maybe my standards were different, and I ony heard him one year (was away from the area the rest of his stint). Probably wouldn't happen again because he is EEI not WBZ. (That's why Arnold did play by play then, WBZ lost the games to WHDH for a while).

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I wish the Bruins would re-hire Dale Arnold with an agreement that he would have to stay off the radio. Seeing I gave up on the Bruins and haven't watched a game since the trading deadline in 1992. It would be great never to hear his voice again.

my 2 cents.....

As I haven't lived in Beantown area since early 70's, I have alittle different perspective. In the early age of internet (before tv streaming) - I HAD to rely on Gill / Geno's radio broadcast to follow the game. It was brutal and hard to follow. And comical when AFTER NEP winning a Super Bowl one of them refered to Belichick as 'Havlicek'. Yes, the national tv announcers also botch players names BUT THEY don't follow this team daily like Gill and Geno do. So you can at least excuse them due to lack of familiarity. But how can you excuse Gill and Geno? Its not like NEP are a revolving door for players (like it used to be when NEP were bad and players left the nano-second that they could sign with another (winning) team. So they should be familiar with the names for crying out loud. I remember once during the dynasty years when they announced that 'David Branch' made the catch. So I could not be sure if it was Givens (David) that made the catch or was it Deon (Branch) that made the catch? Frustrating to say the least.

I have listed to other teams announcers (Broncos, Redskins, Falcons, Seahawks) due to living in different parts of the country. Some are good, some are bad, most are homers (what else would you expect?). But for those of us who could not watch the TV telecast - the radio announcers HAVE to call the game properly or else one is totally confused to what is happening on the field. And sadly Gill and Geno haven't made the grade for quite some time. It got so bad that I was forced to listen to the other teams radio feed - while it was irritating to hear them complaining against the Pats players, at least I could follow along with the action and be reasonably confident about which players were involved.

Then came along internet video streaming (NFL gamepass) and I would much rather watch the clown announcers - as when they replay the down and describe the action - I want to know the names of the other teams' players (as I don't know the other teams jerseys numbers / names).

Another out of country Pat fan also found Gill and Geno quite unbearable....

efin98 said:

Prior to Gresh and Zolak and Tanguay ruining the pre and post game shows they had Tim Fox and Pete Brock doing commentary along with Bill Abbott hosting. This was amazing to listen to with insight and unbiased opinions about the action, foul ups, officiating etc. that Gresh and Zo wish they could come up with. And to top it off they don't need to scream all the time to get their points across, they do it in a calm manner that made losses sink in better than the pouring salt on wounds that Gresh and Zo love to do.

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The Bill Abbate, Tim Fox, Pete Brock pre/post game shows were absolutely the best thing in the Patriots radio. I have fond memories of listening to them in Lot A during pre and post game tailgates. They had a great rapport and nothing was forced or over the top. No one tried to create faux controversies like Tanguay ALWAYS seems to do - he comes off as a complete dbag! I guess Krafty tried to become "hip" when he hired the three morons to do the radio pre and post game stuff. Bill Abbate was an awesome DJ on 'FNX and 'BCN as well...Ahh, the days of real FM radio

AFPatsFan12 said:

Clearly Gil has trouble identifying players time and again, and if you're strictly listening to the game on the radio, it must be tough to follow along at times, but I still wouldn't trade Gil and Gino for anyone else in the league.

My number one pet peeve in a broadcasting team is when the color analyst talks all over the play-by-play guy during the play. I can live with utter, blatant homerism (although it's refreshing to me that Gil isn't a complete homer), but when the play is one gigantic mash of undecipherable words, that drives me up the wall.

Dave Lapham in Cincinnati and Jim Mandich are the absolute worst when it comes to that stuff. A typical Bengals touchdown:

PBP Guy: Palmer, drops back to throw...
Lapham: Come on, COME ON!
PBP Guy: Fires to the left...
Lapham: Got him, GOT HIM!
PBP Guy: He finds Cha....
Lapham: OOOOOOHHHHH!! COME ON!!!! COME ONNNNNNN!!!!!
PBP Guy: Down the right sidel...
Lapham: Get in! GET IN!!!!
PBP Guy: And he's out of bounds at the...
Lapham: YESSSSSS! THERE WE GO!!

... and so on. It happens during every.... single... play. Mind-numbing...

The Seahawks PBP guy is pretty bad too. He's a classic "call a guy by his first name" announcer. Matt Hasselbeck becomes "Matthew" on every play. Hell, even Seneca Wallace got referred to as "Seneca" on every call.

Bob Lamey in Indy is the biggest PBP homer out there, and probably has the worst voice to boot, but listening to him go nearly silent when the opponent makes a play almost makes it worthwhile to listen to.

Besides Gil and Gino, I've always liked Bill Hillgrove and Tunch Ilkin (Steelers team, Hillgrove is the Steelers' Gil), the Broncos play by play guy (doesn't get excited often, but calls a great game), Bob Wischusen, the Jets PBP guy ( seem to be in the minority with this one, though), and a few others.

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A bit off topic, but Dave Lapham is a local guy - raised in Wakefield, played at Syracuse and then for the Bengals. He was the rare star athlete who kept his head and remained a good guy. His younger brother Roger (basketball star) was much the same. Roger's son Rich is a starting OT in his senior year at BC and is somewhere beyond huge - 6'8" and 322 pounds. Wow!

As for Gil and Gino, I'd keep them as long as they want to do it. They've done and great job for years and have reflected well on the Patriots and their fans. I just love when Gil give his signature call on a big Pats TD: "Touchdown! ... Touchdown! ... Touchdown!"

By the way, that first preseason game has to be brutal with 80+ guys on the rosters for both teams. Give the old guys a break.

SunnyDenmark said:

As I haven't lived in Beantown area since early 70's, I have alittle different perspective. In the early age of internet (before tv streaming) - I HAD to rely on Gill / Geno's radio broadcast to follow the game. It was brutal and hard to follow. And comical when AFTER NEP winning a Super Bowl one of them refered to Belichick as 'Havlicek'. Yes, the national tv announcers also botch players names BUT THEY don't follow this team daily like Gill and Geno do. So you can at least excuse them due to lack of familiarity. But how can you excuse Gill and Geno? Its not like NEP are a revolving door for players (like it used to be when NEP were bad and players left the nano-second that they could sign with another (winning) team. So they should be familiar with the names for crying out loud. I remember once during the dynasty years when they announced that 'David Branch' made the catch. So I could not be sure if it was Givens (David) that made the catch or was it Deon (Branch) that made the catch? Frustrating to say the least.

I have listed to other teams announcers (Broncos, Redskins, Falcons, Seahawks) due to living in different parts of the country. Some are good, some are bad, most are homers (what else would you expect?). But for those of us who could not watch the TV telecast - the radio announcers HAVE to call the game properly or else one is totally confused to what is happening on the field. And sadly Gill and Geno haven't made the grade for quite some time. It got so bad that I was forced to listen to the other teams radio feed - while it was irritating to hear them complaining against the Pats players, at least I could follow along with the action and be reasonably confident about which players were involved.

Then came along internet video streaming (NFL gamepass) and I would much rather watch the clown announcers - as when they replay the down and describe the action - I want to know the names of the other teams' players (as I don't know the other teams jerseys numbers / names).

Another out of country Pat fan also found Gill and Geno quite unbearable....

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Agreed.
That's Mark's point. There are people who cannot see the games and rely on the radio. More often than not missing penalties and mis-identifying Patriots players, never mind the oponents, lack of game situational awarness and description thereof makes the radio experience much less than it should be for blind fans or fans unable to watch the broadcasts.

FCBO2062 was on target mentioning how good the Fox, Brock, Abbott team was especially compared to the pre and post game radio morons Kraft employs today. His tin ear to competent, entertaining, non-annoying media personalities amazes me as he is otherwise an astute businessman.

Mark Morse said:

As far as replacements, I don't want any of the Bozos they have doing pre and post game, or any of the talking heads on radio and TV in the boston sports scene. I think somone like Sean McDonough, who has national game experience would be terrific. Add a Tedy Bruschi and you would have a winning combination.

Gil and Gino don't talk over each other, Gil calls the play and Gino gives the commentary. They work well together as their years of experince shows. It's just time to start grooming someone else.

I have no use for Criqui and Cross. What about Mike Lynch calling games.

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I really liked Mike Lynch on All Access especially the Belistrator segment. Could he call a game on the radio is the question I guess but maybe as you say, it's time to start training/grooming new blood. TedyB's too handsome to do radio Sean McDonough someone else will have to opine, I'm drawing a blank on his announcing right at this moment

PatsWickedPissah said:

FCBO2062 was on target mentioning how good the Fox, Brock, Abbott team was especially compared to the pre and post game radio morons Kraft employs today. His tin ear to competent, entertaining, non-annoying media personalities amazes me as he is otherwise an astute businessman.

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FCBO2062 wasn't the one who brought them up, I did

Kraft might not be the one to blame there for the Brock/Fox/Abbate show getting canned in favor of the Tanguay/Gresh/Zo show...this reeks of station's owner forcing them on the fans to drive up ratings and cause "controversy".