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I'm gone, Leather - ESPN'S Berman retiring

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by HanSenSE, May 26, 2016.

  1. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Agreed, no one has replicated Berman and Jackson on Primetime. But I think, like I referenced in the topic hed, if he didn't start thinking he was bigger than the network? Not like Screaming A or Mussburger in his last days with CBS, but enough.
     
  2. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    He was the first cable sports guy for many of us here. "You mean there is a news show and ALL it IS is SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS for 30 minutes?"
    And I thought his nicknames were funny, his presentation lively and fun on a run of the mill sportscast. I don't know if it belonged when actually broadcasting an event, even the ridiculous HR Derby.
     
    HanSenSE and Ace like this.
  3. Doc Holliday

    Doc Holliday Well-Known Member

    I lost my interest in Berman's call about the same time as Dick Vitale ... about 15-20 years ago. I did like when he would do calls for Bill "Hello" Dawley and Andres Gallarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraga. But that was like 1986. Can't say I'll miss him.
     
    heyabbott likes this.
  4. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    Berman has become the most dreadful caricature in TV sports.

    Yet, from 1982 to 1991 or so, there was no one I loved watching more on ESPN. And I watched a lot of ESPN. He was a pioneer with energy and humor in a world of boring and button-up sports anchors.

    I imagine ESPN would be happy to make 2016 his last year because he doesn't provide much value anymore. Of the old sheep, at least Bob Ley still is a major force with the OTL brand.

    On a personal note, I spent an entire NFL Sunday about 15 years ago with Berman and the crew in Bristol. Mort was very nice but Berman went absolutely out of his way to make the day highly enjoyable. Watching HIM watch seven games at once was intriguing. Berman sits there with glasses as large as Ace Rothstein's at the end of Casino, taking it all in.
     
    jpetrie18, Ace and cyclingwriter2 like this.
  5. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Everything was better in the past.
     
    YankeeFan likes this.
  6. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Guys, he was a big deal THIRTY YEARS AGO.
     
  7. Chef2

    Chef2 Well-Known Member

    Some of the original nicknames were still his best work......I'll always remember Bert "Be Home" Blyleven.
     
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    A notable and distinctive career that ended in self-parody, as many do. If he is retiring, he'll deserve the praise he gets, just as he has deserved all the ridicule he's gotten in the last decade.
     
  9. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    Von "Purple" Hayes
     
  10. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    My fave is Oddibe Young Again McDowell.

    I maintain that I still have hearing damage from being in an elevator with Berman 20 years ago. The single loudest individual I've ever encountered.

    I'd echo Gee here. In the realm of sports-only media, I think it's fair to say he's a pioneer. What Michael Buffer is to boxing, Berman was to baseball and football. But those days are long gone now.
     
  11. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    I don't have the soft spot for Berman that I had for the KO/Patrick, Kilborn, Stu Scott/Rich Eisen era in Bristol, yet I cannot deny Berman's impact on the industry. For about a decade, Berman was the best in his field and had the good sense to actually stay at ESPN instead of jumping to CBS or NBC and, likely, becoming a second-teamer. Not a bad run.

    He's an easy target because he's a caricature now but he was at the pinnacle for quite a few years. Shit, as good as I think I was at TV sports, I was never even the best in the states I worked in.
     
  12. cyclingwriter2

    cyclingwriter2 Well-Known Member

    It is easy to pick on Berman, but to me, he was a game changer for the industry in the 1980s. He added life to sportscasts at a time when it was filled with ex jocks or morons in ugly jackets. He was the anti-Cosell in that people watched him and liked that he had a sense of humor about himself. He had a great run and led to what we have today in sports media.

    To add, yes, he is a the loudest person you may ever in an elevator. Also, a hell of a nice guy, or at least was in the few interactions I had with him over the years. Always seemed willing to talk to a college kid or a newbie.
     
    RubberSoul1979 likes this.
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