First game Hillgrove has missed in 26 years. Bill deserves the right to go out on his own terms but wow, what a difference. *Fingers Crossed* that this is a sign that Rob will eventually become the voice of the Steelers and PITT.
Anyone else catch Rob King doing play by play today?
- Thread starter pitt-girl
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Is there a place where I can listen to his call of the game? Was interested to hear how he did. Thought he did pretty good with Root Sports.
He would be better than Hathhorn for sure.
Bill's just getting his feet wet... he's got many more years to come!
My beef with the radio broadcast.
Tunch never shuts up.
There are plays that dont warrant a detailed explanation / description.
No need to break down who was out of his lane, who chipped the outside guy, how much hang time.....
Guy called a fair catch on a punt.
Next play.
Tunch never shuts up.
There are plays that dont warrant a detailed explanation / description.
No need to break down who was out of his lane, who chipped the outside guy, how much hang time.....
Guy called a fair catch on a punt.
Next play.
King called a good game. You could follow what was happening. Not so much with Hilgrove anymore.
I don’t think that if Rob King becomes the permanent Steelers radio guy next year or the year after that he will also be Pitts main radio voice. I think Pitt will get their own person separate from the Steelers
I don’t think that if Rob King becomes the permanent Steelers radio guy next year or the year after that he will also be Pitts main radio voice. I think Pitt will get their own person separate from the Steelers
Maybe Pitt girl should go on the radio for 50 years and the minute she gets sick...have someone call her out ?
Relax bud. She wasn’t taking a shot at Bill.
Bill is a hall of famer and I’ve loved his calls since the glory days. He can call them as long as he’s able.
I was in and out of my car for parts of the first half and I was shocked how good Rob King was. Would love to see him take over Pitt someday.
Hathorn is a big no for me.
I was in and out of my car for parts of the first half and I was shocked how good Rob King was. Would love to see him take over Pitt someday.
Hathorn is a big no for me.
People who have actually listened to Billy call a game have been calling him out for years. He simply is not good any more. And his current back issues have nothing to do with that.
Guys who have been great for years slip with age, it’s almost unavoidable. To me Vin Scully was an exception, he was still excellent to the very end.
Others not so much. I remember 2 years ago Dick Enberg seemingly dozing off at the end of late Padre games. Listening to Brent Musberger do Raiders games isn’t easy, he’s a good guy but the game moves too fast for him anymore.
I rarely listen to Pitt/Steelers games on the radio, but when I heard Billy last year it was obvious he was struggling, seemed to not really know what was going on with the plays more than occasionally.
Loved Dick Groat as a Pitt fan since I was 6, but he was embarrassing at the end and needed to be taken off the air.
This I don't agree with. Hillgrove is a legend, but he's not a good announcer anymore. Hasn't been for several years. If he can't realize it, someone needs to tell him. You can't keep the job based on history.
There were two occasions this year that bill was so confused about the play that just happened that the subsequent play went off without him describing it only to have Tunch bail him out.
Perhaps you missed this in my OP? In case not - let me help you. LOL. Chill.
Bill deserves the right to go out on his own terms.
That's probably true but I would take Rob King over Larry Richert, who appears to be in waiting, every. single. day.
Billy is doing fine and there is no talk of retiring! Billy is like Prince and Cope to me......iconic!
Harry Kalas for the Phillies is another guy who didn’t slip TOO MUCH before the end. Nothing like Cope and Hillgrove. The notion that people should own jobs into perpetuity due to past performance like JoePa is just preposterous. There are professional and courtesy ways to guide legacies into retirement, even if they don’t want to accept that decision.
Steeler radio is awful and has been for years. Tunch and his "habeus graddus". Ugh. Three men is one too many. Time for fresh voices on Sundays AND Saturdays.
Back when Pat Bostick was originally doing the Pitt football games frequently Pat's "commentary" on the play was to describe what actually happened rather than what Billy said happened, because Hillgrove got so much wrong. I don't think I listened to them any on the radio this season, other than the post game show, but I cannot imagine that he's any better now than he was then, and he was awful back then.
All these local guys use the example of Myron Cope telling Joe Gordon to let him know if he was slipping so he would know when to retire, and yet none of them appear to have someone that they can ask for an honest appraisal of whether or not they are slipping. At the end Dick Groat was an embarrassment, and yet he still didn't think it was time to go and obviously Billy couldn't or wouldn't tell him so. And when the local producer/spotter on the games is Billy's son, well you know he isn't telling either of them anything like that.
In total agreement. When the new guy comes in, I'd also like to see them replace boring Curtis Aiken with the much better Julius Page.
It wouldn't shock me if the Steelers pull the plug before Pitt does, just as they did with Jack Fleming.
No he does not. No one does. Everyone has a boss and his boss’ job is to thank him and ask him what he thinks he will be doing next fall. They made the right call with Dick Groat. Hilgrove should be next. When you stay around too long you start embarrassing yourself. Bill has crossed that line about five years ago.
The Steelers had it easy when they eased out Jack Fleming. Although Fleming was very good at his peak, and was well liked, Cope was really the face of the broadcast team. Add in the fact that Hillgrove was already well established in the market, and more importantly, knew Cope, and knew how to fit in with Cope, and it was a smooth transition. Had Fleming been in the booth with some generic color man, and then been replaced by an outsider, there would have been quite a bit of negative reaction. The worst mistake KDKA made when they fired Bob Prince (other than actually firing Prince) was firing Nellie King at the same time. Had they kept King, and brought a new guy as his partner, it would have softened the path for the new guy. Pirate fans would not have trashed King. Instead, Milo took the brunt of the punishment, but this eased the way for Lanny to eventually ease into the drivers seat without any negative feedback.
That's probably the ultimate Pittsburgh example of you don't want to replace the legend, you want to replace the guy who replaces the legend.
Probably unpopular and hate that I fee this way but....
I enjoyed Hillgrove back in the day much like with Groat but now believe that there are better options.
My observations of Hillgrove are different with reagards to his Steelers vs. Pitt football braodcasts. It ssems as though the Steelers must have better monitors and/or spotters (or something). During his Pitt football broadcasts, you almost have to wait for the next play to begin before you are certain that the last play was called correctly. Reception vs. intercaption, fumbles, first downs vs. not, yards gained on the play, blah, blah .... just can't trust anything as the action is happening. He is a legend but maybe time for him just to enjoy the games as a fan - and sadly I felt the same about Groat.
I enjoyed Hillgrove back in the day much like with Groat but now believe that there are better options.
My observations of Hillgrove are different with reagards to his Steelers vs. Pitt football braodcasts. It ssems as though the Steelers must have better monitors and/or spotters (or something). During his Pitt football broadcasts, you almost have to wait for the next play to begin before you are certain that the last play was called correctly. Reception vs. intercaption, fumbles, first downs vs. not, yards gained on the play, blah, blah .... just can't trust anything as the action is happening. He is a legend but maybe time for him just to enjoy the games as a fan - and sadly I felt the same about Groat.
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