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| Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer - WGN Radio |
Hi Mom,
I love listening to Baseball on the radio as you well know, Mom, from living with me for so long. I inflicted many Baseball games on you, especially since 2000, especially Cubs games because they played many day games.
With the Tigers, I always mute the TV and listen to the radio broadcast with the TV going silently. Usually, there's a delay, so that the plays are on TV after I hear them on the radio. The radio signal from the game to the local station to the broadcast antennas is faster than the signal of the TV station to cable network and to me.
So, I decided to do the same thing with the computer application. WGN TV does not broadcast very many (not any possibly) Cubs games on its cable channel, which is not more like a TBS or TNT type rerun super-station. So, I have taken to using mlb.com to watch Cubs games. At first, I thought I had beaten the system because I muted the TV sound through the app and activated the radio broadcast or played the radio signal from the local station on my radio.
BUT THEN, I found an audio overlay option in the computer app. Instead of trying to "trick" the system, I can simply choose the radio for my audio broadcast and play it along with the TV signal as visual only. Oddly, the TV signal through the app is ahead of the radio, so plays happen on TV first, which is less than optimal when I am listening and working, which is all the time. But it's nice to put the Baseball on my laptop to work on my desktop. Despite having two screens hooked up to my desktop, adding streaming video and audio is a major drain on resources. I rely on being able to have the computer respond quickly so that I can work quickly.
Despite what this schlub says about Ron Santo, I loved Ron's analysis. He did just great, and the original Ron and Pat duo delivered 20 years of superb Cubs radio broadcasts. But I have to agree that Ron Coomer is very good. He's channeling a lot of the humor and strengths of Ron Santo.
I miss you, Ron Santo.
If you like Baseball, if you like the Cubs, I recommend giving this TV-Radio combination a try.
Meanwhile, here's this chap's (okay not so much a schlub) content from a Cubbie blog site.
Content from BLEED CUBBIE BLUE on Ron and Pat pt.2
The Pat & Ron Show, Part 2: Thoughts On The Cubs Radio Team
Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer are improving as a broadcast tandem.
Ron Coomer is in his third year as the Cubs radio analyst working alongside the smooth veteran play-by-play man Pat Hughes. While I was originally put off by Coomer (who replaced Keith Moreland in 2014), I have come around and now appreciate his analysis.
Hall of Famer Ron Santo, who formed the original "Pat and Ron'' team for WGN Radio from 1990 through 2010, was a beloved former Cub. While I appreciated his passion for the team and his nonstop cheerleading, I found Santo's lack of analysis a severe shortcoming. Coomer does not have the strong Cubs connection of either Santo or Moreland; he played one season for the team in 2001 under manager Don Baylor, a team that finished 88-74. Coomer hit .261/.316/.390 that year with eight home runs and 53 RBI. Coomer's more closely associated with the Minnseota Twins, but is a native of Chicago's south suburbs (he makes much of his local ties during broadcasts).
Coomer is outstanding at breaking down pitching and plays, especially when compared to Santo. He also does a more than adequate job during his one inning of play-by-play, something Santo struggled with. He comes across as a good guy, someone you'd enjoy having a beer with; he describes most people that come up during the broadcasts as good guys, too.
One knock against Coomer in his early years with Hughes was that he too often used the phrase " I agree with that,'' which was annoying. He seems to have got the message to knock it off, as I have not heard him use that tired phrase much, or at all, during the current season.
He does tend to describe many hits (and throws) as "bullets,'' without giving any other detail as to the nature of the line drive. I wish he would vary that a little, but that is a minor criticism. He also often refers to Major League Baseball as "our game,'' as if he has some kind of ownership stake in it, which is also slightly annoying to me. Again, maybe a nitpick but I wish he would not overuse this phrase.
Coomer's interplay with Hughes is entertaining, although Hughes comes off as somewhat of a square (on Sunday, he spent half an inning on Mr. Haney from "Green Acres"). It is hard to find fault with Hughes with his silky-smooth delivery. But I do find his trademark home-run call ("that ball's got a chance...'') to be rather weak as the ball almost always ends up a homer. He is so smooth as working in the many sponsor plugs and in-game ads that they become less onerous than they could be. I would not describe Hughes as a homer, but his calls of the opponents' scoring plays are decidedly less enthusiastic than those for the Cubs ("that ball is going to leave the yard'' is his usual description of an opponent home run). Hughes was at his best during the Cubs' playoff run last year; I loved his "I wish every one of you could be here right at this moment'' at the clinching moment of the division series against the Cardinals. (The Cubs are using that call as part of their pregame intro video on the boards at Wrigley Field.)
Pregame and postgame host Mark Grote chimes in with out-of-town scores and particlpates in the Attendance Game while also getting involved in some of the banter. I find Grote to be the weakest link on the team and his attempts at humor somewhat lame, but he does not detract from the overall broadcast.
Hughes seems bound for the broadcasting wing of the Hall of Fame in the near future. While I don't consider him and Coomer a classic tandem like the Vince Lloyd-Lou Boudreau team of my youth, they are, bottom line, a "good listen.''
More from Bleed Cubbie Blue
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Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
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- Days ago = 348 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1606.17 - 10:10
NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.
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