Powell leaves for the Braves - visit the Brewerfan home page for a farewell from Jim (see reply #84)

[hawing]

If I were a "diehard Cubs fan" and already were working for/with the Cubs, I'd be inclined to hunker down and wait until a successor to Santo is needed.

 

Am I the only one who thinks something might be fundamentally wrong about hiring a diehard fan of one of your primary rivals to broadcast for your team?

[gmanspack]

The other finalist for the job is Jeff Munn. I am a broadcast journalism student at ASU and I have gotten to know Jeff pretty well. He does play by play for ASU' Women's Basketball and does an outstanding job. I am the beat writer for ASU women and he does a great job with that program. He also does stuff for the DBacks and does about 35 play by play games per year.

[RU Rah Rah]

I don't want to prejudge Provus, but the Cub connection does bother me a little. It's not like he would just be coming over from the Cubs; that, I could live with. (Sort of a payback for Pat Hughes.) It's that he's apparently a serious and lifelong Cubs fan. Deep down inside, who's he going to be rooting for during all of those head-to-head games?

 

I dunno. He's a pro, and maybe it wouldn't impact his call.

[AJAY]

I guess if it's down to these two finalists, I would prefer the Arizona guy instead of some idiot who bleeds Cubbie Blue.

[RU Rah Rah]

Here's some stuff from the D'backs on Munn:

Jeff Munn returns for a third season as pre and post-game host on the Diamondbacks' Radio Network, while continuing in his role as the club's secondary radio play-by-play announcer. Munn is in his eighth year as a Diamondbacks broadcaster, having joined the radio team in 2001.

In addition to his work with the Diamondbacks, Munn is also the radio play-by-play voice for Arizona State University Women's Basketball. Munn has also been heard as a fill-in play-by-play announcer on ASU Men's Basketball and Baseball broadcasts. He also served as a play by play announcer for MLB Radio's coverage of the Arizona Fall League in 2006. Munn also serves as the stadium announcer for the Fiesta and Insight Bowls, and also served in the same role for the inaugural BCS National Championship game.

Munn attended Arizona State University, majoring in history. He resides in Tempe with his wife of 16 years, Laurie, and their two children, Patrick (12) and Hayley (9).

[hawing]

A history major? That seals the deal for me. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Really, if we can't have "Bob and Jim," "Bob and Jeff" just sounds better to me than "Bob and Cory." The Brewers already have a Cor(e)y.

[patrickgpe]

well mlb.com is report Munn is out

 

MLB.com subsequently learned that Munn was out, leaving Provus, a 2000 graduate of Syracuse University, as the leading contender to join Bob Uecker in the Brewers' radio booth.

http://milwaukee.brewers....mp;fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

[DatHoser]

A Cub fan is the leading contender for the Brewers' radio job? That makes me want to sell the Buick.

[pitchleague]

That's too bad; Munn would have been perfect for the job. I've met him in the AZ front office (he also worked Media Relations with my cousin for a number of years) and the guy is a hoot. And he knows his baseball, too. I would guess he's just too intertwined in the Valley of the Sun to leave.

[PeaveyFury]

Blech to Provus. Are we going to have to do this process all over again sometime in the next 10 years when Santo and/or Hughes retire and Provus leaves for the Cubs' job?

[RU Rah Rah]

Holy multiple generation gap, Batman. This guy is 44 years younger than Uecker. (He's even 14 years younger than Powell.) It might work, in terms of appealing to younger listeners, or might be a little weird.

 

I am willing to give this guy a chance, but he needs to make some public repudiation of all things Cub, ASAP.

[And That]

I don't care that he's a Cub announcer, or a Cub fan - if he's a good radio announcer for the Brewers, that's good enough for me. The little Brewers radio I've listened to in the past few years, however, will be cut back even more without Powell in the booth.

 

I wonder if they tried to get Pat Hughes back? He and Powell are the only two Uecker straight men the Brewers have employed in my lifetime (and I barely remember Hughes) so it's gonna be weird to have anyone else, even if he is good.

[dvoiss]

If they hire the Chicago dude I'm sure he will be professional enough to hide his allegiance while on the air. He may even change allegiance if working in Milwaukee. I hope they give Uke some say in who gets hired. The most important thing is that they work well togeher. One thing I will say about Uke is that he seems to make his partners better announcers so that should help no matter which way they go.

[RyDogg66]

I bet it would be darn near impossible for us diehards to call a Cubs-Brewers game for the Cubs, but we are not professional broadcasters either. Sure, this guy could be a professional and call a good game and not let an iota of his Cub love shine through in any of the 16-18 games we play against the Cubs, but you KNOW he is hiding his Cub love and is probably secretly pulling for the Cubs to win...and that just burns me up. The insincerity would be tough to deal with.

[MNBrew]

I'm not concerned about allegiances. I want a top-notch announcer. And I don't think we wanna get too hung up passing judgement before the hire's made and we get to hear how he actually does. If it's Provus, maybe he's a dud with Santo but will work great with Uecker. Maybe not, sure, but still maybe so.

 

Those of you concerned about the criteria of having MLB experience and getting a retread: First of all, that's unnecessary labeling. Second, when Jim Powell was hired, he had a little MLB experience having subbed with the Twins a little in '93 & '94, but that hardly made him a re-tread. Don't get too hung up on stereotyping.

 

It's like part-time players who've been in one organization forever but never made any great MLB impact in spite of some sporadic decent playing time, finally get let go, then get signed by another team and gets described as a journeyman. Part-timer, role player, or utility guy, sure. But hardly a journeyman at all. Common label but incorrect/dumb usage.

[mothershipconnection]

just sounds better to me than "Bob and Cory."

 

I don't trust anyone named Cory. Seriously, I mean no offense to members named Cory, but I am more prejudiced against people named Cory than any other way you could categorize people, even "Cubs fan".

 

 

I wonder if they tried to get Pat Hughes back?

 

Hughes is awesome, I loved listening to him growing up. One of the eeriest moments of my childhood was meeting Pat Hughes, who I had never seen a picture of, but had listened to about 75 times a year. That voice had ALWAYS come from a speaker, then suddenly it's coming from a man 3 feet away, and it seemed like that man had swallowed my radio.

[RU Rah Rah]

I bet it would be darn near impossible for us diehards to call a Cubs-Brewers game for the Cubs, but we are not professional broadcasters either. Sure, this guy could be a professional and call a good game and not let an iota of his Cub love shine through in any of the 16-18 games we play against the Cubs, but you KNOW he is hiding his Cub love and is probably secretly pulling for the Cubs to win...and that just burns me up. The insincerity would be tough to deal with.

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. And I'll freely admit that, on my part, it's basically irrational. I'm going to be worried about what he's allegedly thinking during the broadcast, and that's pretty silly. (I mean, what is Uecker thinking about, or not thinking about? God only knows.)

 

I will say that this is uniquely Cubs-related. If he was a self-proclaimed diehard Marlins fan (OK, bad example, but you get my drift), I wouldn't think twice about it. But the Cubs -- that's a blood rival.

 

If he knows the game and has a good call, this quickly will become water under the bridge. If he sucks, however....

[Patrick425]

I can't believe how long they are taking to make an announcement regarding the replacement.

[patrickgpe]

every day that goes by leads me to think Provus is not the choice.

[pitchleague]

yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. I mean, Talkin' Brewers should have started 2 days ago (in the past few years it began on the first Saturday after the Super Bowl in February) and it wasn't on--as far as I know. Maybe Uecker vetoed the "selection" due to his Cubs ties or something. Maybe Uecker wants to fly solo like Vin Scully.

 

I already miss, "All right, Jim, thank you very much!" I wonder if Bob said it to Jim when he told his partner he was heading to Atlanta.

[Mass Haas]

Jim Powell's first broadcast was Friday night. Don Sutton "welcomed him home" at the 45:00 minute mark of the audio link for the WGST link for Friday March 6th. Shortly after, Jim takes the reigns in the top of the 1st of what would be a 13-0 rout of the Astros.

 

Needless to say, Jim was in fine voice. Good luck, JP.

[Mass Haas]

Jim Powell on the D-List earlier today

[AJAY]

It would be nice if the Brewers could do something special to honor Jim Powell when he returns to Milwaukee when the Braves come to town. I think he deserves it.

[trwi7]

Now you can really compare Powell and Provus' voices.

 

Here is Cory interviewing Jim in the pregame show.