Dear Stacey King . . .

[Michael Jackson]

I mentioned in a game thread, but it’s directly on topic here. I’d love to see Noah in the role.

Oh man, Stacey and Jo in the booth together would either be the greatest or worst announcing duo of all time

My idea would be to replace Stacey with Jo.

Jo is too slow on the delivery. He isn’t terrible but listen to his podcasts and interviews. He doesn’t have enough pop for announcing imho. Paxson was bete than Jo would be imho.

[robert76]

Good Stacey
- Hotsauce
- Sriracha
- 5 Javontes
- Big Baller for Zo
- Various Caruso references

Indifferent
- Chi Slamma Jamma
- Professional scorer for Zach/DD

Bad Stacey
- Bane
- Golden pipes
- Like Zach - half the audience doesn’t know the reference, and though I’m a Zach fan, it feels a little sacrilegious.
- Ayo silver
- Doc Brown tonight...boy I hope that doesn’t become a thing...awful impression.

Anyone else notice Bane, Ayo silver and golden pipes were missing tonight?

solid breakdown

i feel like maybe 60% of stacey calls are either ironically enjoyable or earnestly good, which is a pretty good rate for a local broadcaster. the lows are low for sure, but he can make a big moment more hype and make a mundane moment funny, which i prefer to a bland person on commentary.

i can tune out the bad jokey bits, but i think it's underrated how bad his actual analysis is. if you watch one game you are aware of every single insight stacey king has about the game of basketball. the team should hustle more and be more active. if the team is struggling, it's probably because they're not getting enough 50/50 balls. all post shots are good, and so are most midrange shots, even if they don't go in. on defense, you've always got to Help The Helper. a big man should come up further out of the post if a ballhandler makes a mid-range shot, regardless of what the defensive scheme actually calls for.

alas, i am probably not going to ever get my dream of an announcer who goes "i don't know what to tell you man, sometimes the other team makes good plays"

To be fair, regarding your last phrase, he sometimes does say "good defense, better offence" when the opponent scores.

[bulls_troy]

I personally enjoy Stacey. He's different from the boring callers.

Stacey refuses to apologize how he is and says if you like it then listen to something else

[rtblues]

Watch on YouTube

Jim Durham & Johnny "Red" Kerr

[rtblues]

I’m a fan of Stacey in the booth. I love his energy. I think he provides legitimate basketball insight during games. He makes me smile.

But I also think the departure of Funk and the entrance of Amin, who does nothing to rein Stacey in, has proven problematic. And I think we pretty much all agree. So let’s help him out. I will start.

Stacey: Please, for the love of God, drop the nightly Bane impression. First, it’s not a good impression at all. You sound nothing like Bane and, in a strange twist, it actually gets less accurate each new time you do it.

Second, it makes no sense in the context of a basketball game. Bane is a fictional mass murderer and sadistic terrorist. I don’t see the connection. And based on his build and respiratory issues, likely is very poor at hoops.

Third and finally, Amin can’t even muster laughter anymore when you do it. Given the source, that particular silence deafens.

When you do it, it makes me want to run away, hide, take Ambien and wake up the next day to discover it was all a horrible dream. Please just stop.

Amen! Thank you! I posted a similar sentiment on Twitter and got eviscerated by the Stacey Stans... And King blasted back at me telling me to watch a different feed! Funny, I remember watching the guy play and his announcing is on a par with his game! He thinks I'm some casual who just started following the Bulls. Um, wrong Stacey! Listening since the Jim Durham days, a real announcer. So, he can't take criticism and told me to go away. That's cool, my history of watching the Bulls goes back to before he was around, don't care. Just hate his shtick and tired of it.
I can't really add much to your post since you nailed it.

[IamSam]

I personally enjoy Stacey. He's different from the boring callers.

Stacey refuses to apologize how he is and says if you like it then listen to something else

This idea should be tested; we need a dedicated group to pay for a billboard...


Somehow I don't believe Stacey would get the same treatment that GarPax did from ownership.

[HINrichPolice]

Got through the first 3 pages of this thread and my takeaway is:

you all are over stressing about this.

Some things that I'd like to point out:
- the comment about how Stacey is starting to get more national recognition via highlights on YouTube and Reddit viral posts is likely the reason he's overdone his Bane impression: agreed.
- fans of other teams often comment about how they enjoy our Bulls broadcasting duo. Props are given regularly. It's a running joke on Reddit to expect to see positive comments from other fans. As a result, all the complaints here make me think a) you don't appreciate what you have until you no longer have it or b) he's just not your cup of tea, and that's OKAY. Not worth the energy I'm seeing in this thread though.
- Stacey overdoing certain lines or bits is just part of the ride. You can nitpick, sure, but I appreciate the positive nature and feel-good vibes that we're getting this year. I'll HAPPILY take it. Stacey and Amin are providing a fun soundtrack to what seems to be one of our most memorable seasons.

[HINrichPolice]

I’m a fan of Stacey in the booth. I love his energy. I think he provides legitimate basketball insight during games. He makes me smile.

But I also think the departure of Funk and the entrance of Amin, who does nothing to rein Stacey in, has proven problematic. And I think we pretty much all agree. So let’s help him out. I will start.

Stacey: Please, for the love of God, drop the nightly Bane impression. First, it’s not a good impression at all. You sound nothing like Bane and, in a strange twist, it actually gets less accurate each new time you do it.

Second, it makes no sense in the context of a basketball game. Bane is a fictional mass murderer and sadistic terrorist. I don’t see the connection. And based on his build and respiratory issues, likely is very poor at hoops.

Third and finally, Amin can’t even muster laughter anymore when you do it. Given the source, that particular silence deafens.

When you do it, it makes me want to run away, hide, take Ambien and wake up the next day to discover it was all a horrible dream. Please just stop.

Amen! Thank you! I posted a similar sentiment on Twitter and got eviscerated by the Stacey Stans... And King blasted back at me telling me to watch a different feed! Funny, I remember watching the guy play and his announcing is on a par with his game! He thinks I'm some casual who just started following the Bulls. Um, wrong Stacey! Listening since the Jim Durham days, a real announcer. So, he can't take criticism and told me to go away. That's cool, my history of watching the Bulls goes back to before he was around, don't care. Just hate his shtick and tired of it.
I can't really add much to your post since you nailed it.

so that was you!

I saw your tweet and rolled my eyes.

Honestly, it's all good vibes right now. I don't get the point of trying to spoil that. It's not like your criticism was done in a way to get him to adjust his style. It was done in a way to piss him off.

[rtblues]

I’m a fan of Stacey in the booth. I love his energy. I think he provides legitimate basketball insight during games. He makes me smile.

But I also think the departure of Funk and the entrance of Amin, who does nothing to rein Stacey in, has proven problematic. And I think we pretty much all agree. So let’s help him out. I will start.

Stacey: Please, for the love of God, drop the nightly Bane impression. First, it’s not a good impression at all. You sound nothing like Bane and, in a strange twist, it actually gets less accurate each new time you do it.

Second, it makes no sense in the context of a basketball game. Bane is a fictional mass murderer and sadistic terrorist. I don’t see the connection. And based on his build and respiratory issues, likely is very poor at hoops.

Third and finally, Amin can’t even muster laughter anymore when you do it. Given the source, that particular silence deafens.

When you do it, it makes me want to run away, hide, take Ambien and wake up the next day to discover it was all a horrible dream. Please just stop.

Amen! Thank you! I posted a similar sentiment on Twitter and got eviscerated by the Stacey Stans... And King blasted back at me telling me to watch a different feed! Funny, I remember watching the guy play and his announcing is on a par with his game! He thinks I'm some casual who just started following the Bulls. Um, wrong Stacey! Listening since the Jim Durham days, a real announcer. So, he can't take criticism and told me to go away. That's cool, my history of watching the Bulls goes back to before he was around, don't care. Just hate his shtick and tired of it.
I can't really add much to your post since you nailed it.

so that was you!

I saw your tweet and rolled my eyes.

Honestly, it's all good vibes right now. I don't get the point of trying to spoil that. It's not like your criticism was done in a way to get him to adjust his style. It was done in a way to piss him off.

What I did learn is that there is a contingency of bulls fans who find the shtick as interesting as the game, versus detracting from it. So, I will never change their minds, and they won't change mine. The 7 pages of responses here seem to mostly not love the shtick...

[dougthonus]

- fans of other teams often comment about how they enjoy our Bulls broadcasting duo. Props are given regularly. It's a running joke on Reddit to expect to see positive comments from other fans. As a result, all the complaints here make me think a) you don't appreciate what you have until you no longer have it or b) he's just not your cup of tea, and that's OKAY. Not worth the energy I'm seeing in this thread though.

I don't think other fans liking Stacey means that fans don't realize what they have. Everyone would loves a good stand up comic when they go see him. They probably would love him a lot less if they saw his same show 80x a year for a decade. That's kind of what you have going on here.

It isn't that Stacey isn't your cup of tea, it's that Stacey just needs to mix it up more. In his role, I'd love for him to add a bit more depth of analysis. Instead of saying "got to get that rebound right there" or "that can't happen right there", tell me why the play failed and what should have happened instead. His analysis is often just pointing out the obvious when things go wrong but doesn't give any indication of why it went wrong or what should have happened instead, or to the extent it does, it will be like "Zach shot the ball too quickly there" because it misses and "GIVE ME THE HOT SAUCE" when he takes the identical shot and makes it.



Stacey's fine all in all, even with the complaints above, broadcasting is really, really hard. It's very difficult to do the above in real team, so I'm sympathetic that my demands are high and King is generally entertaining which at least adds something.

[HINrichPolice]

- fans of other teams often comment about how they enjoy our Bulls broadcasting duo. Props are given regularly. It's a running joke on Reddit to expect to see positive comments from other fans. As a result, all the complaints here make me think a) you don't appreciate what you have until you no longer have it or b) he's just not your cup of tea, and that's OKAY. Not worth the energy I'm seeing in this thread though.

I don't think other fans liking Stacey means that fans don't realize what they have. Everyone would loves a good stand up comic when they go see him. They probably would love him a lot less if they saw his same show 80x a year for a decade. That's kind of what you have going on here.

It isn't that Stacey isn't your cup of tea, it's that Stacey just needs to mix it up more. In his role, I'd love for him to add a bit more depth of analysis. Instead of saying "got to get that rebound right there" or "that can't happen right there", tell me why the play failed and what should have happened instead. His analysis is often just pointing out the obvious when things go wrong but doesn't give any indication of why it went wrong or what should have happened instead, or to the extent it does, it will be like "Zach shot the ball too quickly there" because it misses and "GIVE ME THE HOT SAUCE" when he takes the identical shot and makes it.



Stacey's fine all in all, even with the complaints above, broadcasting is really, really hard. It's very difficult to do the above in real team, so I'm sympathetic that my demands are high and King is generally entertaining which at least adds something.

Admittedly, I'm also adding energy to this thread while saying that this thread doesn't deserve this amount of energy.

I think my reaction to this thread is summarized as follows:

"Wow. We finally have a team that's genuinely fun to watch, and Stacey magnifies that fun energy. And sure I get his style doesn't vibe with everyone all the time. I noticed someone went at Stacey on Twitter to ruffle his feathers (rtblues), and I don't think that viewpoint matches the vibe and sense I'm getting via places like reddit/youtube/social media. My feeling is that this viewpoint is pretty niche (maybe I'm wrong, but RealGM posters are arguably pretty niche if we're being honest). So let's just enjoy the positive energy of this ride for once!"

Sure, I can nitpick about overuse of catch phrases, corniness of catch phrases, etc. And yes, he's not Hubie Brown or Doug Collins with his analysis, but personally (and I assume this goes for most fans) I watch Bulls games for the positive energy it gives me after a long day of work. And it hasn't been that way for years, but now we finally have that. I'll get my detailed analysis via RealGM, Doug's podcast, etc.

[IamSam]

This discussion makes me wonder who exactly Stacey reports to and what direction/guidance he receives with respect to how he is to call the game.

Someone else said something similar to this in an earlier post, but it does seem like with having a good team, perhaps it is time to pull back with some of the antics and focus on providing decent analysis, which I believe he is capable of.

[JohnnyTapwater]

Sorry, not sorry.

Stacey King is the GOAT!

Have some fun!

[terry]

Stacey’s schtick does get annoying. Since I now live out of market and use NBA league pass, I do have the luxury of listening to the other teams broadcast. Which I do often.

[GoBlue72391]

I loved Larrivee and Tom Dore. I think people kind of hated on them at the time because they’re kind of dorks, but man I thought they were great.

I was a fan of Larivee, but I always thought Dore sucked. His unnecessarily weird pronunciations really grated on me, especially the way he pronounced Andres Nocioni's name.

[mj234eva]

I've said it before, but my brain does not allow me to hear much of what he says for well over 5 years now. I had heard complaints about the Bane thing, but can honestly say I had never noticed it until someone posted the video of him doing it. It helps when the game is on, I'm also on my phone or on my laptop. So not paying much attention to the commentary, more-so the game.

[GinWeary]

- fans of other teams often comment about how they enjoy our Bulls broadcasting duo. Props are given regularly. It's a running joke on Reddit to expect to see positive comments from other fans. As a result, all the complaints here make me think a) you don't appreciate what you have until you no longer have it or b) he's just not your cup of tea, and that's OKAY. Not worth the energy I'm seeing in this thread though.

I don't think other fans liking Stacey means that fans don't realize what they have. Everyone would loves a good stand up comic when they go see him. They probably would love him a lot less if they saw his same show 80x a year for a decade. That's kind of what you have going on here.

It isn't that Stacey isn't your cup of tea, it's that Stacey just needs to mix it up more. In his role, I'd love for him to add a bit more depth of analysis. Instead of saying "got to get that rebound right there" or "that can't happen right there", tell me why the play failed and what should have happened instead. His analysis is often just pointing out the obvious when things go wrong but doesn't give any indication of why it went wrong or what should have happened instead, or to the extent it does, it will be like "Zach shot the ball too quickly there" because it misses and "GIVE ME THE HOT SAUCE" when he takes the identical shot and makes it.



Stacey's fine all in all, even with the complaints above, broadcasting is really, really hard. It's very difficult to do the above in real team, so I'm sympathetic that my demands are high and King is generally entertaining which at least adds something.

I agree with most of this, but regarding the bold, why is broadcasting easier for Adam when he is on the NFL side? I get that his football knowledge is probably greater than his NBA knowledge, but he is good in both settings, even if I don't like the Amin/King pairing. I am not trying to say that broadcasting is easy, but King consistently stands out as one of the worst of the local major broadcasters in Chicago and has been doing this since 2006. Maybe I am a harsh critic, but I think he has only gotten worse during his tenure; definitely not better.

I have never had the same complaints about recent local Cubs (Len, Boog, Bob B, JD) or Blackhawks (Pat or Eddie) broadcasters that I do have about King. I wasn't a Hawk fan, but Stone is great for the White Sox, and formerly for the Cubs; I don't know and haven't listened much to Bennetti (sp?) but my impression is that fans like him. King is bottom of the barrel in Chicago.

[Ice Man]

I agree with most of this, but regarding the bold, why is broadcasting easier for Adam when he is on the NFL side?

Adam is a relaxed guy, with a good sense of humor. When he's with Stacey he gets even more relaxed and the discussion becomes something like a fancast. I think that Stacey would work much better with a dead-serious play-by-play announcer who would be a foil for Stacey. And who would disagree with Stacey sometimes and call him out. Because even if you love the guy, you know that sometimes he is completely full of it. It's cringey when Adam goes along with him at those times.

[GinWeary]

I agree with most of this, but regarding the bold, why is broadcasting easier for Adam when he is on the NFL side?

Adam is a relaxed guy, with a good sense of humor. When he's with Stacey he gets even more relaxed and the discussion becomes something like a fancast. I think that Stacey would work much better with a dead-serious play-by-play announcer who would be a foil for Stacey. And who would disagree with Stacey sometimes and call him out. Because even if you love the guy, you know that sometimes he is completely full of it. It's cringey when Adam goes along with him at those times.

I agree with your Amin/King assessment, but I think that goes to the point that King is just not a good broadcaster, or broadcasting partner, even after ~15 seasons of experience with the Bulls. King obviously has a ton of basketball knowledge, but being a color analyst is not his best role - his deepest basketball analysis is "KYP, baby! Know Your Personnel!" I could see King being much better on the sideline, or joking around with players during postgame interviews, but that's about it; King needs to take more of a Spice Adams approach.

[GimmeDat]

Yeah, it's bad. Funny the first time when it was in reference to Desmond Bane, but over it now lol.

I think I just accept that you're going to cop a level of cringe with Stacey, but for the most part he's a great commentator and hype guy, makes watching games fun. Opposing teams fans love him too. Got to take the good with the bad I suppose.