Pam Ward: She gone

I'm indifferent about Ms. Ward, but LOL to the suggestion that she was better at her job than Spencer Hall is at his.

 

As someone married to a local female sportscaster, I understand what you're saying. You're right that Pam Ward's sex is the only reason anyone cares she's gone, but you're not about the distaste for Ward's work being sexism.

I hate when someone picks a small fact error - a brain cramp like saying Fred Bennett when you were referring to Fred Barnett - and goes nuts about it to claim the person who said it is an idiot, should be fired, etc. That happens all the time with local female sportscasters when it would be shrugged off coming from a male. Even better are ones who react that way when they're the ones incorrect about the facts - my wife gets to deal with a few of those a month and has to be polite about it even though it's clear they're sexist imbeciles. Although Pam Ward had those kind of moments too, the issues here went much deeper.

Ward is not good at calling football. In games I watched her do situations came up frequently where she seemed confused about circumstances that shouldn't have been hard for an announcer to follow. At one point she advocated running the ball to set up better position for a field goal, and the analyst had to gently remind her it was fourth down. Her voice was not pleasant to listen to, and she never seemed to have very good chemistry with her partner (which, to be fair, may not be her fault but still made games she did I watched less enjoyable).

Others here have already noted Beth Mowins is a female P-B-P voice but does far superior work to Ward on football. There's a reason one's a punchline to college fans and one isn't. To say people are sexist for being frustrated by someone doing subpar work and being brought back year after year for a decade is just silly.

 

Agreed. Ward made too many mistakes which detracted from the game, but Hall is a spectacular writer. Maybe that wasn't his finest piece, but he is tremendous, as his body of work shows.

 

Sure they would. I'm sure she's not the only pxp announcer ever let go whose departure has been a topic of discussion.

Mary Carillo? Perhaps.

Pam Shriver? Never. She just epitomizes the "ugly American" stereotype. She's shrill, and her "What did I say? What did I do?" ignorance during the James Blake and Yanina Wickmeyer incidents only reenforces her weakness as a pro.

 

Better tennis broadcaster than Mary Carillo? No chance.

I didn't think Pam Ward was particularly bad, certainly not enough to warrant a change. All sorts of other crappy talking heads will continue to work. Was Ward extraordinary? No. But there's more than a faint note of truth in that a play-by-play person is at the center of the traffic circle keeping the broadcast moving along and doesn't make it about him/herself.

 

I never hear her because I'm too busy listening to (what used to be) the three Dave's. Now I am stuck with Andre Ware at 11:21 a.m.

 

AMEN!

 

My screwup on Carillo. As punishment, I will be bumped down to a thread covering Illinois-Troy.

 

Would love to see something backing that up. That sample is typical slacker-in-the-basement snark.

 

I've always liked this.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2011/9/1/2377214/gods-away-on-business

 

Try this on for size. Or, you know, follow his work rather than judging him by one blog post.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2012/4/3/2922545/notable-dogs-in-college-football-and-elsewhere

 

Dooley will simply reject whatever we offer since it will almost certainly be dismissed as hipster rambling, but for anyone with a more open mind, Spencer can flat out write.

Here he is on the feel of New Orleans during the National Championship game.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/1/10/2691744/new-orleans-bcs-championship-college-football-season