Kayte Christensen

#61
Kayte can use some work. I was never one of the people that thought she was suited for a color commentator role. She’s always been good as a desk analyst and even established her own set of Kayteisms In that role over the years, but in-game color commentary isn’t the same even though the job description reads similar to that of a desk analyst. There are some well respected colors with her style, some have mentioned Hubie Brown, but they are definitely the exception.

I think she should back away from stuff like “ya know people have been criticizing so and so’s this or that and I think that’s really unfortunate because blah blah blah” or analyzing transactions which plays much better in a post game show than it does during live action. That’s something that can be corrected though. Right now she’s doing it too much.

Kyle Draper, I have no issue with him. I’ve liked him since the very beginning. I like that he’s brought the Tommy Heinsohn homerism here and that’s looking like it will be a good foil to Kayte’s Grantesque stroking of NBA officiating demonstrated early on. She even almost said his “more often than not they are spot on” line verbatim during the Suns game.

Only criticism of Draper is technical, he doesn’t really have any distinguishing calls if that makes sense. He uses Breen’s “Bang” last season but has since added “bang, bang, bang” but that’s obviously a weak spot for him in comparison to other lead pbp guys…but it’s not really relevant.

Jones is a professional. He does is job well but I don’t actually expect him to be involved with the organization for the long term.

Either way, the commentary doesn’t bother me..,and I do miss Grant in his role as play by play and don’t agree with him being let go… but the commentary hasn’t been the disaster people have made it out to be IMO
 
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#62
So…what are all the actual complaints? I’m genuinely curious, because what I’ve loosely picked up on in the game threads gives me real “old man yells at cloud” vibes.

Kayte: too loud, has opinions, know-it-all vibes
Draper: a bit of a homer, ‘lol’s too much
Jones: food references, not committed to team enough, repetitive stories

Any other constructive criticism?

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On your point, I would like to offer that something like this can be quite hard to quantify. The reality is we aren't broadcasters, and I doubt most fans spend their time reflecting on what they liked or disliked about the broadcast. It's probably a mix of change coupled with some of the vague things people have alluded to, but the effect is that it irks some, and I think that's ok. Not being able to offer specific constructive criticism doesn't in itself invalidate any other criticism or complaint.

I'll admit there is a difference between voicing criticism/complaints and being a jerk though.
 
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#63
I said nothing about race. Just seems to me you all would like the old crew back. Nothing prejudicial about that.
Let's be real, you would never have said TwoBlackDudes referring to Doug and Jones or Shaq and Kenny or whatever. Choosing to specifically call G&J two old white dudes while factually correct very clearly has an undertone that is implying/alleging something about those complaining about Kayte, particularly in the context of other posters implying some sexism. The irony is that what I'm saying about your post is basically what others said about Grant.

Comments like yours also only serve to provoke. I'm not making a moral judgment whether that's deserved for some or not, as long as we're all aware that's what you're doing. You're not trying to reason, nor understand. Referring to Grant and his "overly pasty wife abandoning ass" ... sure helps a discussion about broadcasting m I rite?
 
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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#64
Let's be real, you would never have said TwoBlackDudes referring to Doug and Jones or Shaq and Kenny or whatever. Choosing to specifically call G&J two old white dudes while factually correct very clearly has an undertone that is implying/alleging something about those complaining about Kayte, particularly in the context of other posters implying some sexism. The irony is that what I'm saying about your post is basically what others said about Grant
1- You don’t know me. Plus, the accute rarity of two African-Americans on the broadcast of a pro sport at the same time would probably warrant pointing out their ethnicity as in “Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib are doing the Cards game together! Woah, two black dudes in the same booth for a football broadcast! And they’re talking like normal human beings instead of sports robots!”

2- all I was implying is that most of the complaints were rooted in people not being over not having Grant and Jerry anymore. Y’know, two old white dudes from Roseville and El Dorado Hills (well, Miami now since he moved away after abandoning his wife and family) talking about growing up in French Lick, Indiana.

3- if people don’t like what I say they’re free to smash the ignore button, lord knows I do.
 
#65
1- You don’t know me. Plus, the accute rarity of two African-Americans on the broadcast of a pro sport at the same time would probably warrant pointing out their ethnicity as in “Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib are doing the Cards game together! Woah, two black dudes in the same booth for a football broadcast! And they’re talking like normal human beings instead of sports robots!”

2- all I was implying is that most of the complaints were rooted in people not being over not having Grant and Jerry anymore. Y’know, two old white dudes from Roseville and El Dorado Hills (well, Miami now since he moved away after abandoning his wife and family) talking about growing up in French Lick, Indiana.

3- if people don’t like what I say they’re free to smash the ignore button, lord knows I do.
On point 2, for someone as "woke" as you I'd have thought you would know better. If you had said #BringGrantandJerryBackToTalkAboutIndiana nobody would accuse you of implying anything other than people being overly reminiscent. That's why I pointed to the irony of Grant's infamous tweet - he claims that all he was saying was that all lives matter, yknow cos all lives matter.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#66
On point 2, for someone as "woke" as you I'd have thought you would know better. If you had said #BringGrantandJerryBackToTalkAboutIndiana nobody would accuse you of implying anything other than people being overly reminiscent.
That don't have the same ring to it now, does it?

And, yes, maybe I was implying that some of the criticism of Kyle and Kayte is rooted in sexist and racist dogma, maybe not overtly but there is implicit prejudice in some of the comments, intended or not. Some of the discourse in this thread certainly hasn't dissuaded me from that opinion.
 
#67
I have not opinion so far on Kayte (mostly gotten the other team feeds) but what I've heard of Draper I don't like. Jones I actually thought was just as good as Grant/Jerry. I don't think it's wrong to miss Grant the voice but he sucks as a human so good riddance. Maybe they could do that AI neural thing to make a robot version for people that need him.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#68
I have not opinion so far on Kayte (mostly gotten the other team feeds) but what I've heard of Draper I don't like. Jones I actually thought was just as good as Grant/Jerry. I don't think it's wrong to miss Grant the voice but he sucks as a human so good riddance. Maybe they could do that AI neural thing to make a robot version for people that need him.
Really surprised that he hasn't tried to do something like a twitch livestream simulcast where he calls games or something but that's probably too much work for him to do (even though Deuce and Mo did it during summer league).
 
#69
1- You don’t know me. Plus, the accute rarity of two African-Americans on the broadcast of a pro sport at the same time would probably warrant pointing out their ethnicity as in “Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib are doing the Cards game together! Woah, two black dudes in the same booth for a football broadcast! And they’re talking like normal human beings instead of sports robots!”

2- all I was implying is that most of the complaints were rooted in people not being over not having Grant and Jerry anymore. Y’know, two old white dudes from Roseville and El Dorado Hills (well, Miami now since he moved away after abandoning his wife and family) talking about growing up in French Lick, Indiana.

3- if people don’t like what I say they’re free to smash the ignore button, lord knows I do.
wait, he abandoned the new wife too?
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#74
eh. People hated Doug for at least a good year before they started loving him. We were spoiled with Grant and Jerry who were arguably the best at the game. I think we just have to give the new crew some time.
… I personally never even liked Doug lol, I just tolerated him without complaining too much because he’s such a beloved figure. Dude was weird without the endearing qualities that Jerry had.

As always, Grant’s toxic *** can kick all the rocks.
 
#75
As long as he doesn’t actually show the game, I’m not sure why it isn’t. He’s not broadcasting the game, just merely telling people what’s happening in it. Like me telling my friends the plot of a movie I’m watching.
I am thinking of the NFL disclaimer "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited." and wondered if the NBA makes that claim as well and if it's actually enforceable.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#76
I am thinking of the NFL disclaimer "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited." and wondered if the NBA makes that claim as well and if it's actually enforceable.
Yeah, I think this came up when the NBA cracked down on highlight video channels on Youtube posting their own cuts of game highlights every night but I don't remember what ultimately got decided.
 
#77
Have you tried ESPN 1320? KC and DLo, 12-4 weekdays. They do about 75% kings with enough niners talk during football season. They are way better than anything that has been on KHTK in quite a long time. And now they are adding James Hamm to the team.
KC and DLo are awful. They don’t know wtf they are talking about and are ridiculous homers.
 
#79
Have you tried ESPN 1320? KC and DLo, 12-4 weekdays. They do about 75% kings with enough niners talk during football season. They are way better than anything that has been on KHTK in quite a long time. And now they are adding James Hamm to the team.
What exactly does he add? There are already so many others who are on the radio, blogs, podcasts, etc. who give their opinions on what happened during a game. He never broke any big time news and simply tweeted "sources confirm" after someone with legitimate sources broke the news first. I don't want to hear the excuse of well NBC had his hands tied. So what? Quit. If you are that good and that connected you will gain full-time employment with great pay. But he never quit that job.

NBC canned him instead of making him an on air personality. It was his goal and dream to be a host for the Kings pre-game and post-game shows.

There was very little chance the Athletic would hire him even though we live in a it's not what you know, it's who you know kind of world. As I said before their hiring practice looked to be of those with actual newspaper experience. Not as a freelancer too. Plus with their reported money issues it made more sense to have the Warriors beat writer also cover the Kings.

Funny thing is someone texted me about how he is asking for paid subscriptions to his blogs and podcasts or something. I guess on top of that he's offering a virtual happy hour like he is someone special. What a joke. Guess being a freelancer and fanboy is paying off great. I always thought that was what college interns in their 20's did. Not someone in their 40's. As someone once said, but hey what do I know? I'm just sippin' sauce.
 
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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#84
So what's the story on Grant "abandoning" his wife? Like, did this happen after his Tweet/firing?
This is all second hand friend-of-friend stuff but apparently after Star moved to Florida with Grant after Tweet-gate 2020, he started seeing another woman and kicked her out of their house and cut her off financially. She’s apparently back in the Sacramento area now.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#86
Wow wow wow... From the get-go I never said a name, you barged into this yourself. I don't know why you'd be so upset if I clearly wasn't talking about you.
Yeah, I'm not going to have a ton of patience for this. You can't come into a thread, make a blanket accusation, and then smear people who respond to the accusation as having "outed" themselves. Not happening. Tread lightly in this thread from here on out.
 
#88
This is all second hand friend-of-friend stuff but apparently after Star moved to Florida with Grant after Tweet-gate 2020, he started seeing another woman and kicked her out of their house and cut her off financially. She’s apparently back in the Sacramento area now.
Since you brought it up. Maybe you should be asking why they are calling her Kayte Christensen on air instead of Kayte Christensen Hunter. Careful who you put on a pedestal.