College Chalktalk: There's a Formula in Place for URI Rams

[RhodyRam2011]

Nice summary by Chris DiSano of College Chalktalk!

http://collegechalktalk.com/?p=4028&utm ... r-the-rams

[Iggy1979]

Great job as usual by Chris.

[section(105)]

would like to see Chris get more time on our radio broadcasts, I guess Don is a fixture, but when there's time to look to others, I hope Chris gets consideration...........

[Billyboy78]

would like to see Chris get more time on our radio broadcasts, I guess Don is a fixture, but when there's time to look to others, I hope Chris gets consideration...........

Yes, Chris did the exhibition game with Steve and was great, I thought.

[ATPTourFan]

He was good working with (former???) Ryan Center PA announcer, Mike Mancuso, Friday night on Cox.

I REALLY hope Mike Mancuso returns to the PA mic soon. We are lucky to have such a talented, professional PA guy in the Rhody family. I understand he wants to do more TV (why wouldn't he?) but he is excellent at PA.

[bigappleram]

and our current PA announcer needs to be transferred to the WWF. his in game antics are amateur hour and make our program look bad.

[bigappleram]

to continue, the PA announcer is only there for energy during the introductions...if he wants to bring some uniqueness to how he pronounces guys names or how he emphasizes certain things for energy purposes that is also fine. what i dont need is the color commentary....you are watching the game LIVE, you dont need someone else to embellish what is happening, leave that to radio guys who are talking to an audience that cant see the action.

[Billyboy78]

The PA guy we have now makes me cringe. That's about the only nice thing I can say about that.

[Blue Man]

and our current PA announcer needs to be transferred to the WWF. his in game antics are amateur hour and make our program look bad.

Am I really the only one that LOVES him? First off we could use any energy in the ryan center, at all.

It's like a church in there unless T-shirts are being thrown into the crowd.

But that dude is straight entertainment. Hilarious. Love everything about him. Adds another fun dimension to the games. At least he's not saying "that's a tf green travel" or "that's a dunkin dunk!" - That stuff is amateur hour.

Make our program look bad? There is nothing one PA announcer could say that is worse than what Jim Baron did to us for 10 years. Lighten up. That dude is great.

[twisted3829]

as long as he learn how to pronounce everyone's name, especially Nik's

[Blue Man]

You don't love MALESSSSSSSS-VICHHHHHHHH?

[ATPTourFan]

At least he's not saying "that's a tf green travel" or "that's a dunkin dunk!" - That stuff is amateur hour.

I can understand the need for that type of revenue generating element. I think the Athletic Development group are managing that aspect of sponsored in-game stuff carefully.

The worst part is that he honestly doesn't know how to pronounce Nik's name. He should have the player pronunciation list from Mike Laprey next to the microphone if he's uncomfortable with any of them.

Certainly, the Internet "TV" guys last night didn't take a look at it. Here is is though, right from the media notes supplied by URI Athletics Dept.

Code: Select all

Pronunciation Guide
Name                           Hometown
Al-wayne Big-bee
Juh-REL Ruh-SHELL
Jordan Hair
Zavier Munford
De-shawn Minnis
If-ON-ee Own-YEH-kah-bah       Uh-BOO-jah
Eric Yun-cough-ski
NICK-o-luh Ma-LESS-a-vitch     Ooze-IT-shay
Mike A-min

[Billyboy78]

At least he's not saying "that's a tf green travel" or "that's a dunkin dunk!" - That stuff is amateur hour.

I can understand the need for that type of revenue generating element. I think the Athletic Development group are managing that aspect of sponsored in-game stuff carefully.

The worst part is that he honestly doesn't know how to pronounce Nik's name. He should have the player pronunciation list from Mike Laprey next to the microphone if he's uncomfortable with any of them.

Certainly, the Internet "TV" guys last night didn't take a look at it. Here is is though, right from the media notes supplied by URI Athletics Dept.

Code: Select all

Pronunciation Guide
Name                           Hometown
Al-wayne Big-bee
Juh-REL Ruh-SHELL
Jordan Hair
Zavier Munford
De-shawn Minnis
If-ON-ee Own-YEH-kah-bah       Uh-BOO-jah
Eric Yun-cough-ski
NICK-o-luh Ma-LESS-a-vitch     Ooze-IT-shay
Mike A-min

Damn, and I thought Jordan Hare was pronounced Jordan Hare, not Jordan Hair....

[bigappleram]

Blue Man, normally i agree with you, and I am one of the few in my section that routinely is on their feet and screaming at the top of my lungs so I appreciate your opinion that the arena needs more energy. I would just prefer the energy in the RC come from the play on the court and the students/fans in the seats, not from the PA announcer. To me it is amateur, I have never been to another college game with that type of PA announcer. He literally reminds me of a WWF type announcer. I think the kid who comes out and does the timeout stuff and tries to hype the crowd does a good job given the circumstances of the last 2 seasons, just dont need it on the PA after each basket with his awful color commentary.

[rodfromcranston]

They have all those cheesy things going on at the Dunk.
I was at the PC-URI game a couple of years ago, and it's
total bedlam, between the noise by the announcers, kiss cam, dance cam, kids cam,
fart cam, the (c)rap music(?), the ear splitting introductions, and the giveaways.
You have zero opportunity to talk about the game with whoever you're sitting with.
It seems like we're trying to replicate this noise fest.
My response from Thorr was," I'll pass this along". That left me with the impression that he had little to nothing to
do with this.

[TruePoint]

I agree with BAR. The other thing I will add is that the PA system does not need to be turned up to 11 when there are 4200 people in the building. It's ear-splitting and unnecessary.

[ATPTourFan]

It WAS super loud on Friday, the PA system.

Unfortunately for many of us who appreciated his professional, consistent work at the Ryan Center PA mic, Mike Mancuso will not be working PA for any men's games this year. He is scheduled instead to call 6 games for Cox as play-by-play.
Yorke was selected as PA announcer for all mens games this season to provide some consistency.

That said, I would expect that Yorke will be given some constructive feedback based on some of his style choices in working PA so far this year.

At a time where URI Men's Basketball is striving for excellence, it is a shame thatwe could not secure a more professional PA announcer.

[Rammgr]

The PA guy sucks. It's very simple. His job is to announce who makes the baskets & who enters the game. No play-by-play. let the energy come from the fans & Vanner stirring things up. Keep it simple. He obviously doesn't get it so let'st back to basics. Yorke has to go!

[EasyEdBrown]

He was good working with (former???) Ryan Center PA announcer, Mike Mancuso, Friday night on Cox.

I REALLY hope Mike Mancuso returns to the PA mic soon. We are lucky to have such a talented, professional PA guy in the Rhody family. I understand he wants to do more TV (why wouldn't he?) but he is excellent at PA.

I'm pretty sure Mike is a permanent guy on OSN. We're stuck with Screamy von Douchebag.

[ATPTourFan]

Yep, see my post from a few mins ago.

[rodfromcranston]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

[TruePoint]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

I think that is a student. I'm surprised you don't know Yorke. If I'm thinking of the right guy, he has (or had when I was at URI) an afternoon drive show on AM radio. Probably why they thought he'd be good in this gig: familiar voice comfortable being around a live mic. On the other hand, its probably why its been a disaster: the man obviously believes people LOVE to hear him talk, which is why you're getting all the additional commentary.

I am a political junkie, so I used to flip over to his show when EEI would go to commercial. My recollection is that he had a very, very high opinion of himself and fancied himself a power broker in RI politics, such that it is. Seemed like a smart guy, but a little pompous and self righteous.

Anyway, Mr. Yorke, if you're reading: less is more.

[reef]

Great article by Chris, I loved the subtle dig at UCLA

[twisted3829]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

No that is someone hired to do that (not a student I believe)

[SGreenwell]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

No that is someone hired to do that (not a student I believe)

I believe it's a guy from B101, but I'm not positive on that. He used to do a little intro, something like, "Hi I'm John from B101," but I don't think he does anymore. I don't really find him all that annoying - Pretty much all arenas have someone like him to keep the energy level somewhat up during timeouts, and to direct the people in the stands to the t-shirts and plastic balls being lobbed at their heads.

[EasyEdBrown]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

I think that's John Vanner Jr.

[Billyboy78]

I think some of us confusing the PA guy and the guy who throws the T-shirts. Personally, I don't like either one of them.

[Blue Man]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

I think that's John Vanner Jr.

It is. We used to be ball boys together way back in the day

And BAR - it's cheesy and hilarious. I don't think he's good in a "good" sense. I think he's good in a B-movie, Ed Wood, terribly awesome way.

Like how terrible 80's songs are still awesome. I laugh my ass off every time he opens his mouth.

I miss the old, old PA guy from Keaney - especially when he announced the winning raffle numbers for 10 grand that one year (98 or 99) and he won himself. That was awesome.

[Rhody72]

The fewer the fans, the louder the PA system sounds because the sound echos off the plastic chairs rather than being absorbed by clothing on the fans.

Die hard basketball fans will not be turned away by the announcers or cheesy promos; URI uses both to try to attract other fans.

URI Athletics is going through some tough financial times. The announcement to drop to the NEC football set any program turn around back four years even though they later decided to stay with the CAA. Only the die-hards are left. Basketball fans had left in droves by the time DH arrived and will not return in droves until the team starts winning big games. Very little revenue from other sports.

[rodfromcranston]

TP, I know who Dan Yorke is, I just don't know what he looks like.
I was in politics for 18 years, local, Statewide and national campaigns.
Backroom organizational stuff. Always interesting. People constantly backstabbing others trying to
climb the internal organization ladder.
I don't listen to the locals much, because nothing ever changes in RI politics.
The guy who walks around yelling is the guy I want the Monty Python 10 ton weight
to drop on. Annoying as hell!
Blue Man, I'll take 80's music over what passes for music today, anytime!

[rodfromcranston]

OK, I'll share this:
Hi Rod:



Thank you so much for your recent e-mail regarding our game day operations here at the Ryan Center related to Men's Basketball Games. We would also like to thank you for being a season ticket holder and greatly appreciate your constructive comments/concerns related to our in-game operations. In relation to some of your questions - our public address announcer is Dan Yorke. Our PA announcer from years past at Men's Basketball Games, Mike Mancuso, has an emerging career in the television business with our friends at Cox Sports (OSN Network/WJAR). Mike will be doing play-by-play and sideline reporting for the vast majority of our home, men's basketball games. Therefore Mike's availability for his previous duties as our PA Announcer is no longer the case. It is an exciting opportunity for him and we couldn't be happier for him. Mike continues to handle our PA duties at a multitude of Rhody Athletic events from season to season.




So, admittedly, we are in a transition period with Dan taking over the reigns as our game to game PA Announcer. He is certainly more than qualified given his professional career in the radio industry and also has past experiences as a PA Announcer at college basketball games and as a play by play announcer for college basketball as well. When the opportunity arose to bring him on board, we were very excited to do so since Dan has filled in admirably for Mike in the past. Additionally, Dan and Cumulus Radio - Providence are providing our program with tremendous, additional exposure related to the Men's Program and getting listeners from all over Rhode Island and Southern New England excited about attending our games. We are getting great feed back on the testimonials and advertising that we are receiving from him on-air and the advertising on Cumulus Radio which hits a wide stretch of listeners. We believe that will pay dividends in the near future as well. With that said, we are working with Dan on a game by game basis to provide constructive feedback as well as relay our expectations related to his position. With us only being three games into the season, we have every confidence that Dan will emulate our expectations for his role going forward. We will continue to work with him on improving his delivery of the game while also providing that exciting element that we are striving for.




Additionally, we are working diligently with the Ryan Center Staff responsible for the sound levels at the games. This is a work in progress as well. The Ryan Center recently made a major investment with a new, state of the art sound system. Much like Coach Hurley and the basketball team, we too are striving to provide an excellent product for all of our fans to enjoy when they visit the Ryan Center for Basketball Games. That requires striking balances while providing a great game experience for all of our fans: season ticket holders, families, alumni, faculty and staff, our paying sponsors and of course, our student body, including our student-athletes.




Thanks again for the e-mail Rod. Please feel free to reach out to me with any additional concerns/comments in the future and again, we appreciate your support. I will be sure to swing by your seat tomorrow night and provide you with my card and personally, say hello!




Go Rhody!






Daryl Jasper
Executive Director - Business Development
URI Athletics @ The Ryan Center
401-874-4300 Office
401-265-8100 Cell
@daryljasper Twitter
http://www.uripartner.com/

[URI96]

Now, is Yorke the guy who walks around with the mike
screaming about tee shirts, and musical chairs?

I think that's John Vanner Jr.

It is. We used to be ball boys together way back in the day

And BAR - it's cheesy and hilarious. I don't think he's good in a "good" sense. I think he's good in a B-movie, Ed Wood, terribly awesome way.

Like how terrible 80's songs are still awesome. I laugh my ass off every time he opens his mouth.

I miss the old, old PA guy from Keaney - especially when he announced the winning raffle numbers for 10 grand that one year (98 or 99) and he won himself. That was awesome.

Ah Bill Bowers. Those were the days!

[rodfromcranston]

Didn't Tom Drennan do a lot of the PA work at Keaney?

[ATPTourFan]

Thanks again for the e-mail Rod. Please feel free to reach out to me with any additional concerns/comments in the future and again, we appreciate your support. I will be sure to swing by your seat tomorrow night and provide you with my card and personally, say hello!

Go Rhody!

Daryl Jasper
Executive Director - Business Development
URI Athletics @ The Ryan Center

Outstanding, thoughtful and honest reply by Daryl Jasper.

I would expect improvement in Dan Yorke's delivery behind the mic tomorrow night.

[Blue Man]

I still hope he doesn't change a thing.

[section(105)]

Glad we cleared up the who's who regarding the PA announcer and on-the-floor guy. I used to directly appeal to him to give "stuff"(pizza) to the section 105 folks, whom get lost behind radio, score board ops, stat people, timers, video ops etc. etc. Once he delivered!! i think he does an OK job, given the crowd wakes up that often are needed. The current MO of the PA guy is OK for me, maybe a little less is always more, and I think Darryl Jasper's comments hit where there's a balance to be found in what is right for the in-the-house fan base and NOT becoming the crap experienced at the Dunk.