Thanks Bob Ahfeld and Josh Bartell

[vicb]

Well now that the season is in the bag :) literally I'd like to personally thank Bob Ahfeld and Josh Bartell for their coverage of the Knights this season. Clarkson Hockey is really lucky to have what I think are two of the best College Hockey Broadcasters in the business.

With Bob's play by play I really feel like I'm in the rink watching it live. And Josh's commentary on the game, both the good and the bad, really is appreciated. Thanks once again guys.

[Chaz]

Vic's post really has a lot of truth to it. Bob and Josh are head and shoulders above any other broadcasters in the game today. Testament of this is the fact that Bob was selected to do the weekly ECAC report. Excellent job guys. Thanks

[Stemmer]

Amen guys!

Bob and Josh...hope to see you in July!

[petal]

Thank you Bob and Josh! You guys do a really super job and we're thankful you're in the booth!

[chuck]

I live within radio broadcast of RPI, UMass-Amherst, and if the wind is blowing right (believe it or not) UVM. I've also listened to other internet feeds, esp. when ours is down-which is too often :) , and Bob and Josh are without peer in the college hockey ranks!! Kudo's and thanks!!

[Richard Beeler]

Let me add my kudos to Bob and Josh for the outstanding job they have done in broadcasting the Golden Knight's games. In general, the state of college hockey broadcasting is somewhere between dismal and God-awful. College stations are the worst -- I listened to a broadcast over WRPI a few years ago during which every RPI player was called by name and the opponents all seemed to have the name Yale. Alibis for home team mistakes, bereating of officials and shameless homer calls are the stock and trade of most college broadcasters. Bob and Josh stand out, not only among these amateurs who can't tell a broadcaster from a cheerleader, but among the best of commercial broadcasters. When the closest I get to Cheel for years at a time is listening to the radio, the outstanding job our men at the mike have done is doubly appreciated.

Speaking of men at the mike, I was saddend to hear that Clarkson has succomed to the Chicago Bulls' style of PA announcing. I am of the old school -- the one that says when a goal is scored or a player is introduced, the crowd should not be able to tell by the tone of the PA announcer if the home team or the visitors are involved. I learned my trade from Don Birkmayer at RPI and he was as good as they get. It always did, and still does, add a touch of class to an institution to have their guests treated with respect by ALL officials, major and minor. Fans are, by the derivation of their name, supposed to be fanatical -- the only person in the house with a sound system should be neutral. I know, I know, I am old, I am out of touch with the times and I am wrong. So sue me, but I still find it a little disingenuous to go ballistic over the home team's first and only goal when the ten scored by the visitors were announced in a bored whisper.

[Stemmer]

Dick, etal

I agree 100% about the PA announcing. Surely you recall the classy dulcet tones of A. George Davis, a retired Dean at Tech, who for many years did the PA at Clarkson games. He was Tech's version of Yankee Stadium's Bob Shepard.

Dr. Davis still announces at the annual Alumni Game and I'm glad to say I've shared the scorekeeping/stat duties with him at these games for about ten years now. What a pleasure to hear his voice...still sounding the same as when I first heard it in the Fall of 1970!

Straightforward, informative, classy...and eminently listenable! Wish they all were like him! :D

[chuck]

Originally posted by Richard Beeler
...

Speaking of men at the mike, I was saddend to hear that Clarkson has succomed to the Chicago Bulls' style of PA announcing. I am of the old school -- the one that says when a goal is scored or a player is introduced, the crowd should not be able to tell by the tone of the PA announcer if the home team or the visitors are involved. I learned my trade from Don Birkmayer at RPI and he was as good as they get. It always did, and still does, add a touch of class to an institution to have their guests treated with respect by ALL officials, major and minor. Fans are, by the derivation of their name, supposed to be fanatical -- the only person in the house with a sound system should be neutral. I know, I know, I am old, I am out of touch with the times and I am wrong. So sue me, but I still find it a little disingenuous to go ballistic over the home team's first and only goal when the ten scored by the visitors were announced in a bored whisper.


I don't consider my self "old" (I'm 31) and "out of touch" (well maybe out of touch) and I agree with you. I admire the guy's enthusiasm, but I'll take class over enthusiasm.

[JR]

Originally posted by Stemmer
Dick, etal

I agree 100% about the PA announcing. Surely you recall the classy dulcet tones of A. George Davis, a retired Dean at Tech, who for many years did the PA at Clarkson games. He was Tech's version of Yankee Stadium's Bob Shepard.

Dr. Davis still announces at the annual Alumni Game and I'm glad to say I've shared the scorekeeping/stat duties with him at these games for about ten years now. What a pleasure to hear his voice...still sounding the same as when I first heard it in the Fall of 1970!

Straightforward, informative, classy...and eminently listenable! Wish they all were like him! :D

I remember Dr. Davis always having a funeral to attend on Fridays whenever the team was on the road.

Not that I'm complaining.;)

[Puck]

Why would you want to have a PA announcer be flat? Clarkson needs all the help they can get in Cheel, a announcer that actually try's to excite the crowd is a something that Clarkson has needed for a long time. Why not be excited about a goal? I've been to many hockey games and a good PA announcer is key to a winning atmosphere. Personally i think the people who attend clarkson games are boring! The people just sit there, and don't tell me that fans just sit there because we've been losing. No, everyone sit's on there butt's and don't say a word! Get into the game, create a atmosphere that opposing teams don't want! I just don't understand where you "old timers" are coming from?

[Richard Beeler]

Puck,

You are in the majority on this one. I'm just glad that there were a few fans who even knew what I was talking about. I'm not trying to change any minds about the proper role of a PA announcer -- I lost that fight years ago.

But, as you asked where I am coming from, I will be only too glad to tell you. I see the PA announcer as an official. Very often he or she is the one who relays information from the refs to the clock operator and official scorer. In case of fire or other calamity, the PA announcer is a key person when it comes to how the crowd handles the situtation. As is true of ALL officials, major or minor, the game is not well served if this person's objectivity is clouded. Would you want the goal judges at Lynah to be screaming for the next Big Red goal? I think not. As for the currently acceptable trend of having the PA announcer by a cheerleader with a microphone, I wish it had never appeared. The job of cheering for the home team is handled by the fans and the band. The announcer is partially responsible for crowd control, not crowd craziness.

But the real reason that I find the recent trend objectionable is that it is an echo of an explosion first heard in the pros. I HATE pro hockey -- for several reasons. The deliberate attempts to injure and the insane announcing are two of the most imortant. Lest we forget, we are fans of an academic institutions -- not a play for pay company. The guys in the other color jerseys are our opponents, not our enemies -- AND THEY ARE OUR GUESTS. The decline of civility in today's society is something that I will never be able to change, but I will be damned if I am going to contribute to it. If you want Cheel to be an inhospitable place for visiting teams, yell insults at the top of your lungs all night long -- the right to do that comes along with the price of a ticket. (I do the same when I am present as a fan -- I'm good, too.;)) But, please, do not ask the officials to join in. There are fans for both teams, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE PA ANNOUNCER! I have done PA work for over 40 years, in college and in high school, and for a wide range of sports. I am embarrassed to hear the kind of one sided garbajh that passes for announcing today. PA announcers are NOT of any value to victories for the home team. How bad would Clarkson's record have been if one of the old school was at the mike? Just as bad as it was with a screamer. Coaches and players decide who wins. Excited fans do NOT cause victories -- it is the other way around.

As I indicated at the start, I do not expect to change your mind -- or anyone else's. But I am a man of my word. I walked out of a local high school gym when the AD took over my microphone and started the hoopla I hate. I can be bought, but not for $40 a night.

[Puck]

I understand, i'm new school, your old school. That's all, do you get games down south, i noticed your from florida?

[RPI]

You know Beeler, Stemmer: that is why Clarkson is where it is right now!

Because of dead heads like you... If any of you have been to Cheel lately you can ask anyone there if the PA is better then before, 99% of them will say yes!!

Beeler just because you have done this for 40 years does not mean that you are good at it, or right. Have you ever had some one come up to you and say: GOOD JOB

If so,they have got to have one foot in the grave..

Well I guess you all don't have anyone to sh__ on right now, so why not the guy that does the announcing..

Sounds like grads talking..and sounds like bullsh__ to me...

Cheel has been dead for years, why would you want to keep it that way?

Another thing if you think the crowd and the band are doing such a great job, just go to a game, you can hear a pin drop.. And that has been for years.. WE better get new fans and a new band .

Our PA announcer does not make mistakes, he speaks well, has great diction, and does not sound like he is at or going to funeral..Just what we need at a hockey game!!!!? Get Real Guys, your way is way to OLD..

People like you upset me so much, I have never seen so many negative people like you on this board, do you have any positive thoughts running through your little brains..
Your main agenda is to crap on someone, be it coaches, players and now the PA announcer...What is going to be next?

[RPI]

Thanks PUCK, I am glad to see that someone else has something good to say ... or should we call it "Enthusiasm"

In case you read this board PA announcer..keep up the good work
you are doing a great job, thanks for trying to get some life back in Cheel. It needs it bad..

[MikeR]

I have transferred to the south (georgia), and certainly do wish that the ECAC had a television package with Fox! I get to watch WCHA, CCHA and an occasional Hockey East game. The UAH is 300 miles away, not that I could cheer for them like I do the Knights.

I was fortunate to attend Clarkson during the "Walker Arena era" (senior year was '90-91), and loved the atmosphere of the place
My only visits to Cheel was an exhibition against a Russian select team (1992?), and to watch the Yalies play (~1995?). My impression was that Cheel was a great facility to watch a game, but the crowd was dead. The crowd involvement seems to not have improved since this time, regardless of finish. I don't know if a PA can help - but believe they should be used to lprovide a charge to the crowd. The radio announcers I believe should be impartial, and from all accounts Josh and Bob perform flawlessly.


Either way...can Clarkson hockey move to Georgia?
just my 2 cents.

[ScottO1992]

As a fellow basher...

The pep-band is the last group of fans/supporters that anybody should be ragging on... if only ALL CU hockey fans showed that level of spirit!

The band isn't paid, they receive no scholarships, etc. they are there because they want to be there. People tend to take them granted.

Some schools don't even have a band (Union) and we're lucky to even have one.

In my opinion, ours is one of the best bands in all of D-1 hockey!

[Richard Beeler]

RPI,

Let's see if I have this right.

Stemmer and I are the reason Clarkson lost 20 games. (It had nothing to do with a paucity of talent on the team or internal feuding.)

Your response to my claim that I am in the minority is to say that 99% of people disagree with me. (These, apparently, are opposing statements.)

In 40 years, no one under the age 90 has ever told me a did a good job of announcing. (How old WAS Ned Harkness when he coached at Union?)

I have run out of reasons for Clarkson losing 20 games so I have decided to blame it on the PA announcer. (You got me there. If he had only been a LITTLE more even-handed, we would have WON 20 games. And the check is in the mail.)

Graduates talk bull sh--. (What do players become after their Senior year? Aha! GRADUATES! Ergo, Dave Taylor talks .. .... I think you get the point.)

I want Cheel to sound like a morgue. (You have never sat near me during a Clarkson game, have you.) :)

The reason that you are right and I am wrong is that you are younger than I am. (Newborns must be GENIUSES!)

Clarkson needs all new fans and a new band. Somehow this will improve the quality of hockey. (The best college band in the country should be replaced by one that simply reads their music. Playing out lould would be in poor taste in a morgue.)

My goal in life is to make negative statements about the coaches, players and band members involved with Clarkson hockey.

By doing this, I upset you.

You are worried about what or whom I am going to crap on next.


Did I miss anything?

[Razor04]

Clarkson needs all new fans and a new band. Somehow this will improve the quality of hockey. (The best college band in the country should be replaced by one that simply reads their music. Playing out lould would be in poor taste in a morgue.)

I have to say I am quite offended by your statement. I am in the pep band, and I will admit that we aren't the greatest band, but is this SUNY Potsdam? No. Are we paid? No. We do this in our spare time, which I seem to have less and less of lately with projects and class work. I go out and play to have a good time and to support the team, I may not to be the best player in the world, but I am out there supporting the team and having a good time. If you want me to be the best player in the world then you better be paying me an awful lot of money.

As for the fans...yes we could use some new fans...the ones from town have no enthusiasm at all for the most part. The students on the other hand really aren't that bad...they just need to be motivated...and no offense but with this past season it is very hard to be enthusiastic. (Oh and don't go starting with that you don't know what a real fan is BS). I hate to say it...but times have changed...things won't always be the same.

And about the announcer... I think he does an excellent job. I want someone that is enthusiastic not someone that is going to put me to sleep in the middle of the game. Before this year I didn't listen to him a lot, but with the scoreboard being broken still (Why does it take over a whole season to fix it?) I have had to listen to him a lot more. Whether you like it or not, Cheel is Clarksons arena and the announcer should be a supporter of the team, but the announcer should also be objective...I think our current announcer does that. Like I said before...times change, it isn't the same as when you were up here...

[JustMyOpinion]

Originally posted by Richard Beeler
Excited fans do NOT cause victories -- it is the other way around.

Excited fans don't cause victories, but they sure do help. In many cases an excited crowd can lead a team to victory. If you can't see that, then you should poke your head out of the grave you're living in and go to an arena that is 'alive'.

As for the PA announcer at Cheel, I have not heard a single person complain about him all year(until Beeler and Stemmer). As a matter of fact, he has been given quite a few compliments from the people in my section. It is pretty sad that he is trying to bring some life to an otherwise dormant crowd and deadbeats like Beeler and Stemmer try to knock him down. I am sure that if he reads this site he will be quite amused at Beeler and Stemmer refering to his announcing as 'classless and obnoxious'. Maybe I will tell him the next time I see him, or maybe not, because I do not want him to go back to that archaic style of announcing that Beeler and Stemmer enjoy.

[RPI]

Beeler

Let ME see if I have you right:

It is that type of attitude I don't like: the old way..or my way!

It's all about Cheel being "dead"not the team losing..We can't do much about that.

It's not about the team, it is the attitude of people like you guys

There is a statement I refer to all the time: Your way, does not mean that it is the right way. You should try it on.

I believe we need to support what goes on at Clarkson, not Ned or Union, who cares? I take it that you PA'ed there. Don't care

I was not bashing the players or other grads

How long has it been since you have been in Cheel. I for one have not missed a game in YEARS. I know how the arena is right now..DEAD

Thank you for the compliment about my age, I'll take that one..

If you don't have anything good to say about someone than don't say anything at all. How about that one?

Razor04 ..you are very right and so is JMO

That's at least 2 people that go to the games that agree with me.

If the guy that announces reads this thread, don't pay any attention to some of it..Your doing a great job...keep it up..

[RPI]

BOB and JOSH

You guys always do a fantastic job, just don't get so excited when we score the next time some people don't like enthusiasm..Great Job and Thank You

[Chaz]

Gotta say that I also think Clarkson's announcer does a great job. Upbeat yet still respectful. I have not heard one fan utter a single word of dislike for the PA announcer. As in life, everything progresses. And by the way, for the most part, they don't play the game with wooden sticks anymore either!:D

[Razor04]

I can only remember one time where he was yelled at by the crowd...I think it was my freshmen year...he accidentally called us (Clarkson) SLU! :eek:

[JustMyOpinion]

Wrong announcer. The announcer we have now has been working for two years, this being his second. He replaced the man who uttered the famous words, "Come Skate with the Skating Saints." The guy we have now did not say that.

[Razor04]

Phew....glad we cleared that up! :)

[Richard Beeler]

Respectful? Of whom? Visitors are introduced quietly -- by name, number and position -- home team is introduced with phony excitement -- YOOOOOOUUUUURRRRRR GOOOOOOLLLDEN KNIIIIIIIGHTS! -- by name, number, position, home town, scoring average, girl friend's bra size and the NHL team that drafted him. How is this respectful? Can we praise one without putting down the other? I think not.

I heard a local PA announcer here in Florida (The one who replaced me when I quit) say "Welcome to Cape High, THE school of choice on the Cape!! Of course the visitors, Mariner High, are also located in Cape Coral.

On the other hand, the last Girls Varsity Soccer game I worked was a sectional game. The home team won and finished the 4 year careers of the visiting Seniors. Right after the game we had each Senior for the visitors come on the field for a brief round of applause. Our AD got about 20 letters of appreciation from parents at the other school. No big deal, just a small acknowledement of the worth of ALL of the athletes present. You ARE aware that they are all worthy of praise, aren't you, or do you actually BELIEVE the verbal garbage you dump on the opponents? I dump -- loudly, constantly and wittily, but I don't believe. What is the first thing that most class athletes do in a victorious post game interview? Praise for the vanquished, perhaps? If THEY can do it, why can't the rest of us? If putting down the opponents is such a marvelous way to help our boys win, why do coaches almost NEVER do it publicly? Maybe because all it really accomplishes is to highten their motivation.

I guess it depends on whether you see the announcer as the voice of the team or the institution. If it is the team, I suppose trash talking -- that is, after all, what we are talking about -- is acceptable. I choose to see it as the voice of the institution. I'm sorry that some of you chose to translate this difference in opinion as a statement about everything from my loyalty to my age to my IQ. This surely is not the FIRST time that the concept that two equally valid positions can be stated with out vituperation has crossed your consciousness. Or is it?

If you must have all of the hoopla, why not have it for both teams? It makes losing to the visitors a little less embarrasing. How can you face the concept of six All-Americans losing to the Little Sisters of the Poor? Then, of course there is the problem of looking like a bunch of bullies picking on the nerds if you win.

SOME things don't need change.

[Todd '86]

This thread started out thanking Ahfeld and Bartell for the great work they did this season. How the hell did we get HERE?

[Richard Beeler]

I plead guilty.

[Brett Gobe]

Are we serious? It's called home ice ADVANTAGE, I've been to every arena in this league and it's the same everywhere. Away teams are read off fast and without fanfare. Home teams are read off with flare and pauses to let the fans/bands do something. The ONLY borderline thing that happens in Cheel is that during the away team intros the announcer pauses for the student section to let them finish the group cheer. If we want to steer clear of bullying and fairness hockey is not the sport we would choose to watch. It's an inherantly violent game.

As for Cheel being quiet I've had my own theories. I think that the exahust for the ice machine is near the intakes for the arena, allowing carbon monoxide and other gases to seep in and lull the fans to sleep. Don't like that one, how about this then, since 85% of the arena is not students, most of the people there are not there to be loud. Theyre there to watch. People who live up here are not stupid when it comes to hockey. The ECAC doesn't produce edge of you seat action. Our dump and chase against clutch and grab defense wont produce the electric atmosphere that we'd all like to have.

Finally, lay off the band. It takes alot of guts to go to 75% of the games, especially when the team plays like this year. I noticed many of the ticket holders didn't make it to many games this year, even at home. Like Parker said last Saturday, "It's easy to cheer a team on when they're on top, you find your true fans when things get rough."

[BroomballMaster]

Richard Beeler there is a reason you live in florida, your old. Old people don't like loud noise, Out with the old, in with the new. More students = Excited Crowd.

your probably a good guy, but we just don' like your stance on this one!


Keep it real, because i am keeping it real(Stern)

[ScottO1992]

c'mon... lay off the guy.. he has an excuse.. he grew up in Potsdam AND went to Union!

[Richard Beeler]

Thanks, Scott.

I was beginning to think I had run out of friends here:)

Gotta go wrestle some alligators.

[chuck]

First off let me say that I never said PA announcers should be boring, I just think that they should be more even in their tone when announcing the different teams.

Secondly lemme say that while I cant go to every game (I'm 6 hours away) I do get to Cheel for at least 2 games a year and yes it is dead. That's sad. I'm easily the loudest person in section 19a when I go. The PA announcer hasn't changed the fact that Cheel is dead, actually when I was in school the PA announcer was (what you'd call) "boring" and Cheel was alive so I see no corelation there.

Thirdly, RPI for a guy who supposedly has "rreally ppositive iinput" you have an aweful amount of negative things to say about your fellow Clarkson family members. There has been enough divisivness going on this season without your bashing alumni about something as minor as our OPINION on how a PA announcer should sound. You're the one attacking people here.

PS- Did anyone ever notice how Bob calls the opposing teams goals?? He's not monotone or disappointed. He builds up the excitement of the game in his voice. Even though it's not a good thing when the other team scores it is a point of excitment in the game and you feel that through the radio. A good play deserves a good call and that's what Bob gives. A TRUE proffessional.

[chuck]

You know what let's just drop this whole thing huh?

It's really a minor issue that we all have our opinions on, and they're just that opinions.

The Clarkson Hockey family needs a unifying force right now and bickering over this is not it.

Let's all just go to the games next year and be as loud as we can be. TOGETHER!!

[Puck]

i agree, let's just drop this discussion.

from now on i say we just yell at everyone in cheel, if our team makes a mistake we yell, if the other team makes a mistake we yell, if the guy next to you takes your arm rest you yell, if you don't get your dollar draft at club 99 in a timely manner you yell. I believe if we all just yell constantly the atmosphere will have to impove!

Let's drop it, and move on.



Also, man i hate the scoreboard guy, he pushes the buttoms to hard. Back when i was a student we had a soft fingered scoreboard worker.

Just joking!

[Richard Beeler]

I agree, let's just drop this discussion.

Amen!


I believe if we all just yell constantly the atmosphere will have to impove!

Again, Amen!


LET'S GO. TECH!!!

[scottcomstock]

Consider it dropped. :)