Comments on: Brad Sham Dropped from FC Dallas Broadcasts

By: Harry C.

Harry C. — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:31:32 +0000

I listened to Jolley and he is TERRIBLE. Rhine was in over-speak-mode as color not know when to add in and when to shut up.

So let’s see what HSG has done to this team since they purchased it in 2004…fired Andy Swift; changed name – and not for the better; crapped on the colors and heritage of the Dallas Burn; new stadium – nice but so far away from the true fans; 4 coaches in 6 years; 0 championships; 0 MLS Cup finals; 1 US Cup championship finalist; no players fans can follow for an extended period before the trade or sell; missed playoffs 4 of the 7 seasons; and so now since there is nothing else left to keep the loyal fan…they drop a HOF broadcaster. And so the sad, sad story continues…sad sad day

By: patrick

patrick — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:18:11 +0000

Good call. It was like listening Bob Costas talk about the World Cup.. knowledgeable to a point.. but missing a connection to the game..

Lets give Bobby and Bobbys buddy a go before we light them up.

By: Paladius the Seeker

Paladius the Seeker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:46:47 +0000

This caught me by surprise.

Brad was a very enthusiastic, intelligent commentator.

He has paid his dues in the soccer community…

I know they want Rhine, but why did Brad have to go?

Epic Fail.

By: Publius Scipio

Publius Scipio — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:46:12 +0000

I did not mind Brad. Nor did I mind Ray. I miss the guys from the first few years. Shameless homers, yes, but what is wrong with that for a local broadcast?

GOOOOOLL DAAALL-LLASSS!

Here is my favorite, from memory, not verbatim, but very close. “I know you want to sit on top, to see the play develop, but sometime, you should close to see the size, speed and power of the players. Or you could sit with the Inferno and go nuts.”

No one was quite as much pro Dallas, of course, than Ed Puskarich, who was actually also the team scout on the one occasion I recall him doing the color. I could have done without the “Hot diggity dog!” though.

Thank you for the service, Brad. Best of luck, Bobby,

Boggity, boggity, boggity! Let’s play soccer, boys!

By: Ragnar B.

Ragnar B. — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:40:54 +0000

One of the problems is the trend in sports announcing in the U.S.A in general. Ever since Howard Cosell the trend has been to interject human drama (regardless of relevance) into any broadcast.

This peaked (I hope) on MNF 2 years ago with Mike Turico, Ron Jaworski, & Tony Kornheiser. They hardly ever talked about the game and brought in guest celebrities during the game. A lot of stuff like that. This past year they replace Kornheiser with John Gruden and on more than one occassion he brought the other two back to talking about Football.

I do watch a lot of games many sports with the sound off.

We’ll see

By: zenabi

zenabi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:04:17 +0000

When will the USA develop a truly good (great being too much to ask) footie announcer? Brad is great with the cowboys, but HORRIBLE with FCD. he was doing baseball- endless anecdotes and chatter filling ing the “dead” (i.e. non-goal) times. He failed to follow the action, call out great tackles or passes, etc. Love the guy, gave FCD some street cred, but listening to him was hard. And his broadcast seemed geared to the unsophisticated (don’t get off-sides, number of subs, etc.) soccer viewer, of which we have learned, there are none.

People seem to like JP Dellacamera but he too gets basic info wrong quite a bit. I hate to genuflect (again) at the EPL altar but most of the Sky guys get it right- follow the game action and nothing else.

By: peter Welpton

peter Welpton — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:00:33 +0000

Lucky for all involved with this debate is that we will get to see the result. I wish Bobby the best not only because he is stepping into giant shoes, but because TV play by play is a terribly difficult trade. FCD is somewhat throwing him into the fire – but knowing Mr Rhine, a challenge he welcomes.

By: Green

Green — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:54:41 +0000

I think Bobby Rhine will be great. In the long run, he will be as good a soccer play by play guy as Brad Sham is in football. Brad did fine in soccer, but Rhine has the potential to be better because of his knowledge of the game. Go Bobby.

By: historian

historian — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:36:51 +0000

Once again, for those that don’t read well, this is what I think some of us are saying:

1. Brad was not the greatest pxp guy.
2. Replacing him is not the end of the world.
3. Replace him, though, with a broadcaster with pxp experience.
4. Bobby is good at color, leave him there.

By: gbbomber

gbbomber — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:35:34 +0000

Didn’t see it mentioned on here, but Steve actually did broadcasts for Houston a couple years ago. So he isn’t new to this.

Brad Sham may be classy and have loads of experience, but it doesn’t show. He consistently has no knowledge of opposing teams/players and often cannot even identify FCD players.

Bobby is a natural in the booth and was an upgrade last year. HOpefully Steve can work well with him and I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be able to.

I just don’t understand those of you who actually believe Sham was good in the booth (for FCD games). Experience does not make up for ignorance.