Thoughts on Cory Provus?

[temke]

there was a little talk in the IGT about him...feel free to lock if you want to keep the talk there...but i think that people will want to add as they hear him for the first time this spring though.

 

i think he is fine. it was nice to hear him laughing at uecker in the background. he is the anti-uecker in terms of giving the score during the inning...which is also nice.

 

the only thing that stuck out with me is he referred to the base as a "cushion" many times. i am sure it will grow on me, but it isnt something i am used to hearing.

[owbc]

the only thing that stuck out with me is he referred to the base as a "cushion" many times. i am sure it will grow on me, but it isnt something i am used to hearing.

Geoff Jenkins' ankle disagrees with that definition.

 

Edit: Warning--do not click on that link with a full stomach

[thablingster]

I didn't get to listen as much as I'd like (my job actually requires my ears these days, doh!), but I think he'll be alright. I did appreciate the score updates the first two times. By the time he'd mentioned it 6 times in the inning it was a little old, but hey, it's just different.

 

I think he'll have it less rough than BA did coming in on the TV side behind Daron because BA was so dry when he came in, while Provus seems to have a little bit of excitement and humor in his calls, much like JP did (Plus he has been doing baseball for a while so it isn't as much of an adjustment).

[Brew City Baseball Fan]

I only caught a lil bit but was not impressed. Maybe it was because sometimes in those press boxes it sounds like listening to a highschool football game but his voice just didnt do it for me. He seemed very anxious and needs to slow down and talk less (hopefully that will cure with time). We have been blessed with great radio voices here in Wisconsin for sometime and I just dont see him staking up. Too much to ask? Maybe but my first impression is that we could have done better.

[Buckhunts]

Did anyone else think he sounds like Powell?

[alorrigan]

The only reason I ever listen to sports on the radio is to get the score and then change back to music. So if he's giving the score more than once every few innings he's great in my book.

[hawing]

Did anyone else think he sounds like Powell?

I was interrupted frequently while listening Wednesday afternoon, but I did detect some similarity. Either that or it was just wishful thinking on my part.

It'll be a while before we have a reasonable sample size (and I do want to hear him do a Brewers-Cubs game), but I certainly feel better about this selection than I did when it was first announced.

[areacodes]

I'd have to agree hawing, that there were similarities. I liked what I heard so far, as it appeared (I was listening to the game while working on a paper so I wasn't paying 100%) that he and Bob worked well together and that he has a good, smooth voice to listen to. My impression was that, at least from what I remember, he sounded more comfortable that when Powell started out.

[Schlitz001]

I only listened to the last 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, so I can't comment too much on his play calling ability, but I do think he has a very radio/baseball friendly voice. He sounded professinoal and relaxed. The way he laughed at Bob's jokes reminded me a lot of JP. I have a feeling that I'll end up liking him.

[pmg4]

I liked what Cory had to say, whether in PBP or color, but he sounded like a honking goose. Nothing like the sonorous swells of the great Jim Powell.

 

Sincerely,

Jpow@ATLbraves.org

[Nottso]

I thought he was pretty good. Surprisingly so, for his first broadcast.

[trwi7]

Did anyone else think he sounds like Powell?

I think he did at some points, but sometimes he just sounded awkward to me. Speaking of awkward, right in the beginning of the broadcast, Bob was getting ready to send it to Cory to talk and he said "Back to you (pause for a second or two), Cory. You knew he was so used to saying Jim that he was getting ready to say it again, but caught himself.

[endaround]

Didn't think he sounded like Powell at all. And someone make sure to tell him West Bend is a city in Wisconsin, West Bend Insurance is a major sponsor

[RobDeer 45]

I liked him. I think it will take awhile before we get used to him but he's got a great voice and meshes with Ueck. Hopefully it continues to get better.

[RyDogg66]

I only caught his call in the 10 inning but I have to admit begrudgenly that I like his calls.

[Invader3K]

I thought he was pretty good. Surprisingly so, for his first broadcast.

I agree with Nottso. I only caught a bit of the game yesterday (darn work and stuff getting in the way), but I thought he sounded pretty comfortable in the booth with Uke.

 

I still say he sounds a bit like Bob Costas, for some reason.

[davego]

I was ready to not like him and came away impressed considering it was his first time out. To me he did have some similarities to JP. I suspect the guy was nervous a bit, so maybe that's why he did come across a bit 'rushed' from time to time. Other then his name being Corey (weird to have anyone with the name Corey to be old enough to have a full-time job), I think I can get use to him.

[valpocrewsader]

Not impressed. He got WAY too excited about routine plays. It didn't help me to separate my image of him from the other millions of idiot Cubs fans who get home-run-ready-excited for every stupid fly ball.

 

And he did not sound like Powell at all. Powell had a powerful-yet-intellectual tone to his voice, Provus timbre sounds weak and shrill in comparison.

 

God, I hope it gets better.

[Oldcity]

Find it a bit interesting that the people who don't like him were the same people who hated the hire before hearing him.

 

I didn't really know anything about him, and thought he was pretty good in the couple innings I've heard. I'll need to hear him more, obviously, but so far, so decent.

 

I also thought he sounded a bit like Powell at times. He seemed descriptive enough in his play-by-play, certainly more than Uecker. I heard him call a base "the cushion" once, and kind of liked the term. If he says it five times a game, though, it will get old fast.

[sgtcluels]

I'm going to reserve judgement till he gets a few games under his belt. He did seem to talk pretty fast at times, but he may be nervous. We'll see how he is today with the dirty Cubbies in town.

[hkdakd]

I thought he sounded like JP as well. It took me a bit to remember that it wasn't actually JP announcing. I think Cory will do well and he sounds ok to me. I know it's only spring training but I'm so excited for baseball to be back I enjoyed the excitement he conveyed.

[TooLiveBrew]

I look forward to getting to listen to Cory & check him out.

 

And fwiw, I've heard the term "cushion" used before, but only in the phrase, 'And (Fielder) kicks the cushion for the final out of the inning...'

[Brian the Automator]

I echo the comments that he sounded Powell-esque.

 

Seems like he'll be an adequate replacement. I like that he mentioned that he's going to try to stay as in-tune with the minors as JP was, which is one thing I really feared when Powell left.

[Thurston Fluff]

In some ways it was refreshing to hear another person's perspective on the players throughout the broadcast. Not that he was more/less accurate or more/less critical or anything but everyone looks at the same thing and sees different things. His voice was a little higher but he was very good at play by play IMHO and did a nice job of repeating the relevant stats like the score. I think radio broadcasts have to have the basic information repeated a lot more than TV does since most of us are doing something while listening to the radio so our attention is never focused on the radio for entire innings at a time. If Uecker has one fault it is he does not repeat the score or other relevant info enough and sometimes has too long of silent gaps in his broadcasts for my taste.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Liked his voice enough, did a decent job describing the action. Needs to find his rhythm though... some calls seemed to be rushed/emphasized more than necessary. One of the great things about Jim was he was able to fill time very well, as Cory gets more familiar with the minors that will come.

 

He'll get there. Huge difference with a spring broadcast than regular season.