Tennessee vs. Michigan

[Mountaineer]

Is anyone besides me weary of even the broadcasters NOT knowing rules? I just heard the announcer say that in the event of a "tie" the rule says it goes to the runner!! What the heck!!!!!!!

[Ed Maeder]

Terrible as usual.

[U of M Sam]

I am not excited with the announcers during college softball. They speak well although sometimes have trouble with game details and/or rules knowledge.
I was watching a college softball game a few weeks ago and twice (once by each announcer) they called the pitchers plate (or circle) as the "mound" during the same half inning. This prompted me to send ESPN a brief e-mail asking that announcers do not call the pitchers "area" the "mound".
IMO: Maybe I am too technical but we umpires view the game somewhat different that the regular fan.
Sad that Michigan (GO BLUE) lost to Tennessee today.

[shipwreck]

I also saw a "slapper" who had both feet out of the box while she made contact with the ball. It was so obvious that the PU had to be looking up to the sky or had his eyes closed. PLEASE noboby chime in that we have the benefit of camera angles, he just flat missed this. Dave

[umpharp]

Being an umpire as well as a radio broadcaster for a local radio station, I can say that most ESPN announcers have no clue about softball. I'm guessing that softball is of low priority to ESPN and they just grab announcers that they use for their main sports coverage and tell them "just pretend you're doing baseball"
As for the Mich/Tenn games. i thought that overall Pam Ward did a good job with play by play and that the woman doing color also did a decent job.
I'm also guessing that officials of volleyball, lacrose, water polo, wrestling, and other sports that only get a few ESPN games a year also cringe at some of the things said.
As long as ESPN continues to air more games, we can only hope that the announcing improves with it.

[mo99]

I found the best way to watch the ESPN broadcasts with the talking "bobble heads" is to turn off the volume.I had an enjoyable afternoon watching the games with no sound while listening to my local Phillies broadcast on the radio.The "bobble heads" have zero worthwhile information that I care to listen to.You mean the tie doesnt go to the runner?

Jeff
NFHS Umpire
NCAA Umpire
ASA Umpire

[Chess Ref]

In the first game of the day ,2nd of series, maybe 2nd inning Tenn. 3rd baseman overthrew the F3 and it hit the tarp , then a spectator and they apparently played on with the Michigan player ending on 3rd. Are the rules different in NCAA cause I thought it was 2 bases from the time of the throw which would have put the BR at 2nd base i don't know if the games are broadcasted regionally or nationally but is anyone else tired of seeing Michigan and or UCLA ? I got to see CAL at a local tourney and they were playing today but got Mich and Tenn instead of Cal which is only 85 miles away.

[AtlUmpSteve]

No rule difference. The only logical explanation is that none of the umpires saw it contact a spectator; thus, play on.

I was more P.O'd that we were shown a rerun of Arizona-LSU instead of the live Cal-Oregon State.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Chess Ref

I got to see CAL at a local tourney and they were playing today but got Mich and Tenn instead of Cal which is only 85 miles away.

All the more reason you shouldn't get the Cal game

[Chess Ref]

I like to follow teams from my area. Its like during football season ALL DAY Long I get SEC football-don't care-well I did when UNLV-GO REBs-beat Arkansas-a couple of years ago. i would rather watch Boise State play Reno Wolfpack than Tenn-Auburn-don't care. Just like all of you east of the Mississippi could care less about Mountain West football thats how a FEW of us out here on the west coast feel about SEC football.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by Chess Ref

In the first game of the day ,2nd of series, maybe 2nd inning Tenn. 3rd baseman overthrew the F3 and it hit the tarp , then a spectator and they apparently played on with the Michigan player ending on 3rd. Are the rules different in NCAA cause I thought it was 2 bases from the time of the throw which would have put the BR at 2nd base.

I saw that play too, I thought the umpires kicked it (or maybe they got it right and once again the announcers kicked it) but the net result was correct in my opinion. I thought the fielder bobbled the ball and should have eaten the throw because the runner was there already . . . I'd love to see it again but the ball clearly went into dead-ball territory and should have been killed. It is 2 bases from the time of the throw - the question (which I'm not TOTALLY positive) is whether she had already touched first.

The slapper that came out of the box was in the UCLA game and she was CLEARLY out of the box - I thought she stepped on the plate - but clearly out of the box (more than once). What magnifies this situation is that the UCLA coach even questioned it more than once!

I also thought the Tenn/Michigan strike zone yesterday was pretty inconsistent. I wish everyone was perfect like me!! LMAO!

[UmpireErnie]

“Rant On”

What got me was that ESPN goes thru the trouble of broadcasting the 2nd and 3rd games of the Tenn/Mich series.. Michigan pushes the series to a decisive game three.. it’s a tight 1-0 ball game going into the seventh inning.. and then almost the entire seventh inning is preempted by Barry Bonds hitting his big home run.

And we don’t just get the Barry at bat. No. We get a ton of talking-head commentary after that, then we get to go into a pre-planned Barry mini history complete with many reruns of Barry hitting homers, and a stretch were we see Barry getting intentionally walked a few times. Then we have to talk about the steroids. Then we have to listen to HEY DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THAT WE ARE PRE-EMPTING A LIVE EVENT HERE TO SEE “HIGHLIGHTS” OF BARRY GETTING WALKED?

Oh, my God!

By the time they come back to the softball game, it was over and Tennessee had won. But Michigan had nearly pulled a come from behind win in the 7th. We were immediately told the final score, and then we got to watch the Michigan half of the 7th.

Couldn’t ESPN have shown the at-bat (about 2 minutes) gone back to the end of the softball game, then pre-empted SportsCenter for an edition of BarryCenter right after the softball game. I know people are into the Barry Watch, but don’t spoil the end of another game for him.

“Rant Off” 

Ernie

[SC Ump]

Originally Posted by UmpireErnie

“Rant Off” 

During the pre-empting, I went to www.espn.com, sent a complaint e-mail and then changed channels.

Hijacking thread (a little):

On the 'suicide' bunt in the top of the 6th(?), was it not a 1-1 count and Durant pulled back on the bunt causing R1 to get picked off at third? That would have made it 2-1, but the next pitch was a strike and retired the side.

[Mountaineer]

The bad thing is that ESPN has former players as commentators and color experts and they suck! I, for one, was absolutely thrilled to hear fellow-West Virginian Jon Kruck wax eloquent on Barry Bonds being the greatest LH batter of all times - WHO GIVES A RATS BUTT! If I wanted to see that I would have paid for major league all access on cable - I wanted to watch the softball game - and of course the umpires.

[UmpireErnie]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

The bad thing is that ESPN has former players as commentators and color experts and they suck!

Yeah but aren't many play by play announcers and most color comentators former players? And yes, they can bring a perspective to the game.

Problem is they don't get to call that many games on TV. I bet a lot of former MLB players turned commentators have made plenty of goofs when learning the ropes on TV.

I am glad the sport is getting coverage, and hope the knowledge of the game will improve as time goes on, with the announcers as well as everyone else.