bill Walton has to go

I can honestly say I love Bill Walton. He has a passion for life and the game of basketball. Grant Napear is one of the most stuffy, arrogant play-by-play man I've ever seen. MORE WALTON PLEASE!!
 
I don't love him but i don't hate him either; he's sorta like the drunk uncle at a wedding; sometimes it's entertaining, sometimes it's annoying.
 
Ha! This thread was an enjoyable read.

Bill Walton isn't Dick Vitale or Chris Berman and he shouldn't be judged as such. If you come into Walton's broadcasts looking for life-changing and enlightening commentary, you are going to be disappointed. If you come in loose and looking for a laugh, then you will like him. To be honest, it appears that this is the common median separating the two parties posting in this thread. One group is serious about their broadcasters, and the other is more open to making fun of someone/brushing off their antecdotes.

Personally, I like him. He tells it like it is. After Napear's incessant fence swinging and as*-kissing, it's good to hear from someone who sticks to his guns. He is not the orator that Bill Clinton (or whomever you choose) is, but his unfiltered opinions, which often relay what many of you have been saying, are refreshing. To me, it is comforting to see that at least someone who has a voice in the organization sees what we see.

If he left, I wouldn't miss him, but at least someone of national note voluntarily works with our franchise.
 
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Bill Walton is Bill Walton.

he is a goofball, and knows he is a goofball, and doesn't pretend to be anyhing other than a goofball. don't take him seiously, and he is fine. (he is basically the same creature as Jerry Reynolds)

Napear is an AWFUL radio host (or at least he was back when i lived in the area). but he is fairly decent game caller.

bly blub (i love) Gary Gearold (however you spell it), although I haven't heard him in years.
 
He's funny at times, annoying at others. That's all I can say. His repetitiveness is very annoying, but some of the super lame things he says leave you going "wtf lol!". But the fact that he approves of what LBJ did in going to Miami and the whole 1 hour shiz and all makes me dislike him
 
Bricklayer said:
You won't anytime soon if apparently the big red moron is over ont he readioside blabbing over the golden tones.
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i actually think Napear is a good announcer, but Gearold is WONDERFUL. I also think napear is pretty well suited to do radio play by play. he had a good running commentary when he used to do it. I really liked teh mid 90's Gearold TV broadcasts the best... during the games. But he seriously has a face made for radio, and did bring very little in the "extra space" down times.

in my ideal world, they would put Gearold back on TV and surround him with some "color" to do some of the interviews and useless banter, and leave GG to wonderfully call the games. and put Napear back on radio for the games, where i think he did a great job. and then improve Napear's daily show, by replacing him with bleeting goats and sheep.
 
PurpleHaze said:
I recall vividly when Bill Walton was teamed often with Steve "Snapper" Jones on NBA broadcasts 10-15 years ago. Jones was a perfect foil and not intimitated one bit by Walton's comical but also egotistical personality. He would let him go on and on but when Bill stepped out of line with a huge exaggeration or something completely off the wall, Snapper would snap back and put the Big Redhead in his place with some caustic humor. No one on Kings broadcasts comes close to handling Walton the way Snapper did. Least of all humorless sour puss Napear, althought Reynolds likes to clown back and forth if given the opening. Bottom line for me is, hiring of Walton was much more about the latest gimmic by Maloofs to try and look for something, anything to get some excitement going with Kings fans who - let's face it - are in an ongoing rather depressed or at least disinterested mood.
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I like Bill. A big part of it was that pairing. They were a good team. They played off each other well. And when they threw a third guy into the mix on national broadcasts sometimes it was even more comedy gold. I am not really sure why he's with the Kings though. He's doing some games with Boston too, that makes sense as would Portland where he helped bring the only championship to town. But Kings fans have no attachment to Bill and his son plays for the Lakers which doesn't help things at all.
 
Walton is amusing for about one period of play, or about 10 minutes.After that he is imposing on my basketball game. He was there pontificating about the Dead while the Kings lost a 10 point lead and got 5 down. Neither Grant or Gerry said a word about the game the whole time.
 
kgrichwine said:
Walton is amusing for about one period of play, or about 10 minutes.After that he is imposing on my basketball game. He was there pontificating about the Dead while the Kings lost a 10 point lead and got 5 down. Neither Grant or Gerry said a word about the game the whole time.
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You say this like it's a bad thing :-).
 
I personally think Walton is hilarious. Takes me back to my days at Loyola Marymount when we would listen to him call the Clippers games while partaking in some of Bill's favorite pastimes. He just needs to be taken with a grain of salt. All of the blathering aside, he is VERY knowledgeable about the game of basketball and brings a lot to the table. My only issue with Walton is that he is too hard on players, in particular our young players. He needs to realize not everyone is a hall of famer like himself and the other great players he played with and against. Not every rookie can come in and dominate like he did. That would be my only point of contention. Other than that I love having him on here.
 
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I think the hardest part of being an acknowledged basketball fan is the comparative lack of respect you get. The perception is its all flash and dash, and the fans are all amateur idiots compared to the hardcorers in football and baseball. And maybe that's right in the end. There is no way fans of those sports would tolerate a tool like Walton ****ing up their broadcsts. Color yes. Not being a blathering idiot. They take their sports more seriously than that and want to hear rational takes on the game. Attempts to insert the distracting idiot into the booth in those sports have been greeted with venom. You keep your color guys to the pregame shows, have analysts do the games. As it should be. Only in basketball do you get people actually arguing FOR Dennis Miller. It contributes to the perception that basketball fans aren't there for the love and knowledge of the sport, they are there for the love of the show. And any show will do, even if its a dog and pony act that takes completely away from the game behind it.
 
Bricklayer said:
I think the hardest part of being an acknowledged basketball fan is the comparative lack of respect you get. The perception is its all flash and dash, and the fans are all amateur idiots compared to the hardcorers in football and baseball. And maybe that's right in the end. There is no way fans of those sports would tolerate a tool like Walton ****ing up their broadcsts. Color yes. Not being a blathering idiot. They take their sports more seriously than that and want to hear rational takes on the game. Attempts to insert the distracting idiot into the booth in those sports have been greeted with venom. You keep your color guys to the pregame shows, have analysts do the games. As it should be. Only in basketball do you get people actually arguing FOR Dennis Miller. It contributes to the perception that basketball fans aren't there for the love and knowledge of the sport, they are there for the love of the show. And any show will do, even if its a dog and pony act that takes completely away from the game behind it.
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The Dennis Miller expirement didn't last long, but Tim McCarver has been calling baseball games for some time.
 
Anyone catch when Bill Walton did a broadcast with Kruk and Kuip for the SF Giants? i think it was on Grateful dead day. SF fans LOVED him, as you would think.
 
Bottom line -

Walton is just not suited for Sacramento broadcasting.
He is all ME ME ME, and drones on and on not talking about the game.

I think it's safe to conclude that Kings fans who are still watching this team are interested in the team, not his pointless anecdotes about decades ago and minutes-long ramblings about philosophy and feel-good-isms interspersed with him viciously tearing down DMC every chance he gets.

Maybe in SF or LA or NY (large urban areas), his "the universe revolves around me and what I am thinking that moment" works with the majority of fans.

I just don't see his ego-centric approach being accepted by the majority of Sacramento-area people, who live here at least partially because it isn't like SF or some other huge place.
 
I do agree that Walton is extremely annoying, but I actually praise the guy for one thing last night. During the 2nd quarter (if I remember correctly) he started to criticize Tyreke Evans on Evans' tendency to want to pass the ball after leaving the floor. Walton was right. Evans needs to learn to pass before leaving the floor, and once he leaves the floor, he needs to throw it up towards the rim...out of anything Bill Walton has said during his tenure as an NBA commentator, those comments during the 2nd quarter were probably the only ones I have agreed with him on....good on ya, Bill! Now do your job and go away for the rest of the Kings' season. Your stay has worn out out here in Sacramento.
 
Bricklayer said:
I think the hardest part of being an acknowledged basketball fan is the comparative lack of respect you get. The perception is its all flash and dash, and the fans are all amateur idiots compared to the hardcorers in football and baseball. And maybe that's right in the end. There is no way fans of those sports would tolerate a tool like Walton ****ing up their broadcsts. Color yes. Not being a blathering idiot. They take their sports more seriously than that and want to hear rational takes on the game. Attempts to insert the distracting idiot into the booth in those sports have been greeted with venom.
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John Madden? Like Bill he really knew the game but like Bill he was largely reduced to a series of one note catchphrases. Both played the bufoon role well but John Madden is considered one of the greatest in the business.

MNF usually had a comic foil on the crew, as long as they are from the football community it's all good (Gifford, Meredith). Miller, Limbaugh or another outsider meant trouble.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
John Madden? Like Bill he really knew the game but like Bill he was largely reduced to a series of one note catchphrases. Both played the bufoon role well but John Madden is considered one of the greatest in the business.
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I was also thinking Madden. Guy was a joke the last decade of his career, but still greatly respected based on his prior work.

Then again, he did mostly stay on topic.
 
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pdxKingsFan said:
John Madden? Like Bill he really knew the game but like Bill he was largely reduced to a series of one note catchphrases. Both played the bufoon role well but John Madden is considered one of the greatest in the business.

MNF usually had a comic foil on the crew, as long as they are from the football community it's all good (Gifford, Meredith). Miller, Limbaugh or another outsider meant trouble.
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At the point you are even remotely comparing John Madden and Bill Walton you need to take a look at yourself in the mirror, and might want to consider slapping yourself silly.

Madden was running on fumes the last decade of his career, and it was the fumes of past competence. But he built that rep not only by saying bap! a lot, but by being the best ANALYST in the game. He watched games as a coach, broke them down. Broke down the plays, the player tendencies. Was completely into the game, rarely far off in anythign he said. The guy was great, and the colorful deilvery was just frosting. Comparing him to an ignoramus who's biggest fans treasure him as the butt of a joke is ridiculous. Not being an idiot =/= being dry.
 
I can't believe any Kings fan would rather listen to Bill Walton drone without pause about why Shaq is great for the Celtics during one of the most exciting stretches of basketball the Kings have played all season. I was screaming my head off at Walton during that Celtics game and begging for a "If you don't like that, you don't like Kings basketball!" Anything but Walton!
Make him go away!!!
 
swisshh said:
Walton's hyperbole sometimes makes the irrelevant nature of the Kings amusing.
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And that's really the point. That's what a color guy should be, if you want the radio broadcaster detailing every step of the action listen to the radio. I can see what's going on, I don't need that. And if you really listen to the content instead of the somewhat sarcastic delivery, it's full of informative commentary.
 
Bricklayer said:
At the point you are even remotely comparing John Madden and Bill Walton you need to take a look at yourself in the mirror, and might want to consider slapping yourself silly.

Madden was running on fumes the last decade of his career, and it was the fumes of past competence. But he built that rep not only by saying bap! a lot, but by being the best ANALYST in the game. He watched games as a coach, broke them down. Broke down the plays, the player tendencies. Was completely into the game, rarely far off in anythign he said. The guy was great, and the colorful deilvery was just frosting. Comparing him to an ignoramus who's biggest fans treasure him as the butt of a joke is ridiculous. Not being an idiot =/= being dry.
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Sorry Brick, I completely appreciate what Madden did early in his career but football evolved light years in the 80s and by the early 90s Madden was a cartoon character offering very little insight to the game. Yet he continued for close to 20 years, for most of which he was considered by the average viewer as the best in the business based on the reputation he had carved for himself much earlier even though that time had long passed him by.

Did Walton innovate the broadcast booth? No. But at least he is in on the joke.
 
Walton is good in small doses. But allowing him to pontificate entire quarters is tiresome. He doesn't even talk about the game half the time. It's a dumb broadcast move by the Kings and needs to be addressed. I tune in for Kings basketball not the Bill Walton Show.
 
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