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Did you guys like him? He is currently standing in for our regular color guy Stu Lanz and I respect him since he is a former Lakers and he seems like a great person but he may be the most boring announcer in sports history!

Was he always like this or is it just because he was a play by play man and he is just color right now?

Hot Rod is a play-by-play man through and through. He's definitely not the same announcer he was 10 years ago.

I only heard his broadcasts the last few years and realize that there is a lot of loyalty to him from long time Jazz fans .... but holy smokes, he's just awful. For those of us who sort of like to know where the ball is on the court and who is holding it, Hot Rod comes up empty.

drivewayball wrote:I only heard his broadcasts the last few years and realize that there is a lot of loyalty to him from long time Jazz fans .... but holy smokes, he's just awful. For those of us who sort of like to know where the ball is on the court and who is holding it, Hot Rod comes up empty.

Yeah I mean the guy is cool and all but my god he puts you to sleep!!! He also says the most obvious things and mumbles or doesn't finish his sentence. It's also clear he is a play by play guy cause him and Joe say the same things or talk at the same time.

He likely doesn't know the team well enough. Here is some vintage Hot Rod at the beginning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVnBIIlCJKo

I've been watching the Lakers telecasts and Hot Rod is clearly out of sorts doing color. He's used to talking all the time. But then almost anything is better than listening to Stu Lantz gargle with Lakers' ball sweat.

It's funny you say that about not knowing where the ball is, because for years the Jazz did a simulcast, so Hot Rod was the play by play on TV as well as radio. He called the TV games like a radio game, giving you WAY more information than you needed.

He also barely let Ron Boone get a word in or if he did he wouldn't let him finish his sentence (though often that was for the best).

I'm not surprised that he's awful as a color commentator.

OC Jazzfan wrote:I've been watching the Lakers telecasts and Hot Rod is clearly out of sorts doing color. He's used to talking all the time. But then almost anything is better than listening to Stu Lantz gargle with Lakers' ball sweat.

I'm sorry but no way is anywhere near as good as Stu Lantz. That's not being a Lakers guy but hot rod just doesn't fit as a color guy. If anyone gets a chance catch the Lakers game today and you will see what I mean. Some of that is not knowing the team and working with someone new but he just starts a sentence then seems to fall asleep half way through it.

Poor guy. He probably lives, sleeps and breaths Bball but he is just to old now. Who took his place on your team?

Hot Rod was a damn good play by play guy, I don't see him being a good color guy though. I'd take him over David Locke any day of the week though.

Soul Patch wrote:Hot Rod was a damn good play by play guy, I don't see him being a good color guy though. I'd take him over David Locke any day of the week though.

Locke's getting better though Hot Rod in his prime >>>> Locke in his prime (whenever, wherever that is).

I do like how the radio broadcasts are more modern, including audio highlights at the bumps, player interviews during free throws and guest analysis.

Kobeskillz wrote:

OC Jazzfan wrote:I've been watching the Lakers telecasts and Hot Rod is clearly out of sorts doing color. He's used to talking all the time. But then almost anything is better than listening to Stu Lantz gargle with Lakers' ball sweat.

I'm sorry but no way is anywhere near as good as Stu Lantz. That's not being a Lakers guy but hot rod just doesn't fit as a color guy. If anyone gets a chance catch the Lakers game today and you will see what I mean. Some of that is not knowing the team and working with someone new but he just starts a sentence then seems to fall asleep half way through it.

Poor guy. He probably lives, sleeps and breaths Bball but he is just to old now. Who took his place on your team?

Rod's never been a color guy. He's a play-by-play man through and through. I can see how listening to him do color must be painful.

Craig Bolerjack (who also does NFL, NCAA FB & BB for CBS) is the Jazz's television play-by-play man with Hot Rod's old partner, Ron Boone. David Locke (who used to do Sonics play-by-play) is the Jazz's radio play-by-play man.

Yes, Hot Rod has never been insightful. He is all about when he gets excited and in a groove and the team is rolling. He had endearing foibles like screwing up foreign names but he was a fast break oral painter.

Hot Rod actually has been a color guy. He started out his career doing color commentary for Chick Hearn back in the early 70s. He then went on to do over 30 years of play-by-play for the Jazz. I don't think it's so much that he's a bad color guy, it's that he's too old and drank way too much when he was younger.

He is indeed a horrible color guy (I live in LA and have watched some of the broadcasts), but he is definitely an all-time great play-by-play man. The guy painted a perfect picture of what was going on on the court, so listening on the radio was just as good as watching on TV. Not to mention some of his classic phrases I will never forget ("a gentle push and a mild arc ... the cowhide globe rips home" being my absolute favorite, along with "Stockton, yo-yoing bell high," whatever that means. I can just hear in my head "Horny for three," "count it and he's fouled," "Hammer Dunk!," and of course, "Stockton to Malone."

Ancalagon wrote:He is indeed a horrible color guy (I live in LA and have watched some of the broadcasts), but he is definitely an all-time great play-by-play man. The guy painted a perfect picture of what was going on on the court, so listening on the radio was just as good as watching on TV. Not to mention some of his classic phrases I will never forget ("a gentle push and a mild arc ... the cowhide globe rips home" being my absolute favorite, along with "Stockton, yo-yoing bell high," whatever that means. I can just hear in my head "Horny for three," "count it and he's fouled," "Hammer Dunk!," and of course, "Stockton to Malone."

Belt-high -- you know, because basketball players wear belts.