Sabre's Announcer

[willy0314 0]

I don't see myself as heavily biased, as much as I see people who don't like the sabres being heavily biased against them.

Im all for listening to the point that he is too biased to be a play-by-play guys if someone could make a point other then "he gets really excited". I watch most all of the away games on MSG, and used to watch most all of the games before I had season tickets, and I don't really see him doing a bad job. There are countless times when they would bash on the sabres for playing like shit (remember a couple years ago when nobody cared about the sabres because they sucked?). If he was biased that wouldn't be going on.

If he was a national announcer, I could see the point that he'd be biased for getting more excited when one particular team scored then all the others. But for you to say that a hometown announcer, employed by the team and broadcast locally, is biased because he gets excited when the team he works for scores, even though he calls a pretty even play-by-play, is wrong.

[DamnLocust 0]

regardless of who's paying him and regardless of whether he's local or national or international or intergalactic: if he shows favor for any one team over others, he is biased.

The fact that he gets excited over the Sabres making a nice play and not for other teams making good plays is the perfect example of why he is a biased announcer. If he were to yell and scream like that for goals against the sabres, it wouldn't exactly look good on his resume. Solution: Act as if your team has scored a goal before, and also show enthusiasm when they get scored upon. The guy's a Homer, through and through.

for the record, I've got no beef against the Sabres. They're a good team that's been built from within. What's not to like?

[precursor 0]

Of course RJ is biased - there is no question about it. The company that owns the sabres also owns his contract. Not to mention, he has been covering them for decades, and loves his team, fans and the players. Remember, its broadcast locally on MSG, but only half of NYS actually gets the broadcast - most of the people in the territory would mainly Sabres fans.

His job is to be exciting and nuts, and to get people excited. In his main broadcast area, im sure a large portion of the fans watching or listening are Sabres fans. If him saying wacked out stuff can get people listening, and interested in the sport, then more power to him. Let's face it, the NBC or Versus announcers aren't going to win over any non-hockey fans to a slumping sport.

Not to say that he is never wrong - he misses a lot of the small stuff (RJ never played hockey) that Jim Lorentz does pick up on, and will usually call him on it.

[LkptTiger 1]

Not to say that he is never wrong - he misses a lot of the small stuff (RJ never played hockey) that Jim Lorentz does pick up on, and will usually call him on it.

...and that's my issue with the guy. There have been many times when the subject matter of either a play-by-play call or a conversation between him and Lorentz hits an area about which Jeanerette doesn't seem to have the first clue. Instead of either merely brushing the topic or admitting his own ignorance, he often makes a rather vehement argument in which he highlights said ignorance.

Not to mention the way he overreacts to penalties/non-penalties and goals. Christ, if a Sabre gets touched and goes down, Jeanerette gives you the impression one of the guys on the other team produced a pistol from his pants and shot the Buffalo player in the kneecap. Then you have the fact that a Jeanerette call of an empty-netter to ice a mid-season game against Chicago would make Howie Rose's "Matteau" call (one which still haunts me to this day) sound like something appropriate for the opening tee shot at the Masters.

[precursor 0]

Yah, I will agree with alot of those points. However, I think his positives outweigh his negatives - if you are a sabres fan. If not, well, yah.

[daca 0]

he is annoying to listen to, but i do appreciate his passion for the game.

the worst homer in my opinion (i don't know his name) is the play by play guy for Tampa. just completely ridiculous.

also, i think the announcers for the Penguins are some of the more knowledgeable guys in the league. i always enjoy listening to them.

[willy0314 0]

he is annoying to listen to, but i do appreciate his passion for the game.

the worst homer in my opinion (i don't know his name) is the play by play guy for Tampa. just completely ridiculous.

also, i think the announcers for the Penguins are some of the more knowledgeable guys in the league. i always enjoy listening to them.

"crosby with the puck...crosby passes to one of his teammates, crosby's teammate passes to crosby's other teammate. Why does crosby have teammates? Hey look sidney is drinking water on the bench, he must be tired from dominating this game. Have you seen the new sidney action figure? it is the greatest hockey action figure ever!"

actually I've never heard the Pitt hometown announcers....but listening to the VS guys call their games is just brutal

[Chadd 916]

Best thing about Pitt TV guys is that Lange is not one of them anymore.