The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Agree, fallsdog. A championship is still a championship. If they win it, and they certainly have a great chance, it would still "count' the same as any other year, and there would be no asterisk!

We may wind up being the best team in a bad conference. I have no problem with that. After all, we all know it comes down to the three days in March at the "Q".

I have long been a follower and admirer of this board. As an employee of Kent State, it is very useful to be able to get in touch with the Flashes' fans. I consider those who follow the team on this site to be some of the most loyal and knowledgeable we have.

With that said, I've also noticed some negative comments by individuals in reference to not only the Kent State Sports Network, but myself as well. Since those comments first started, I've been debating whether or not to address them and defend myself or let them ride. I feel I have a responsibility to explain certain things to you folks so I've decided to do so.

First, as we all know, events which were not anticipated have necessitated changes to the KSU Sports Network with very little preparation or reaction time. These events put many people in tough positions. I believe we have done a very good job in dealing with these situations in the midst of not just one season but during a time period when two seasons were transpiring at once.

On the issue of KSSN programming. There are normally pre-season meetings to organize and structure our pre and post-game materials. Due to the circumstances mentioned above, these meetings never happened and we've used the scripts and rundowns from the past. I would ask you fans to understand and respect the times we are in as a state institution. With budgets already hacked and more cuts coming, a greater emphasis falls upon our marketing department to generate revenue. One way we can do that is sell time for businesses during our sports broadcasts. While two and three-minute commercials spots may seem boring to you, they are a necessary part of the total package. It's important to remember without the generosity and support of our corporate partners, the KSSN does not exist.

Your points on player post-game interviews are well taken. I assure you I will make an attempt to incorporate them immediately. However I must add I have no control over whether a player (or coach for that matter) actually makes it to the table. You may notice the post-game coach interview isn't always a given. I can only interview someone if they come out. They are instructed to do so, but I suppose for a myriad of reasons they don't always make it.

I do feel the need to defend myself on the issue of "keeping up with the game." There is no bigger critic of Ty Linder than myself. I listen to every broadcast I do and make notes to ensure mistakes are corrected and positives are continued. On very, very few occasions have I found myself behind the action. The crowd reaction doesn't lie and I cannot find many instances where the crowd's reaction beats my description of the play. Now, is that to say I don't get tongue-tied or trip over myself every once in a while? Absolutely. It happens. I'm a human being.

I've been tremendously fortunate to be able to work with guys like Steve Sefner, Bill Needle and Tom Linder in my time at Kent State. I've picked their brains as much as possible while trying to form my own broadcasting identity. Sefner taught me the importance of advertising. With Bill it was all about handling objectivity while still being partial to the home team. And Tom taught and continues to teach me a great deal about broadcasting, media and other things that would take another whole thread to thank him for.

I appreciate the opportunity to "speak" with you fans. I consider KSU fans the greatest in the MAC which is a perfect fit since our programs carry that same title. I have known no other place than KSU. I came here in 2000 as an undergrad and have been blessed to have been kept around 11 years later.

In closing, I assure you folks of a couple things: first, every effort will be made to continue to make the Kent State Sports Network the class of this conference and hopefully the region. There is room for improvement and I will be starting that process Monday morning. Also, when you are at a game, come up and introduce yourself. We are ALL Kent State fans. I always have time to shoot the proverbial you-know-what with KSU fans. Your advice, criticisms and praise are ALWAYS welcome. Stop by and say hey.

In the meantime, let's make it 21 in a row against EMU Wednesday. See you there.

Now if only they would interview the band...wait that would be way to dangerous back when I was in it.

(02-05-2011 08:43 PM)fallsdog Wrote:  IMG sports network is so poor. The postgame show just stinks. Filled with commercials and three minutes of radio replays that we heard or saw while the game was taking place. Where is the player interview? It makes the drive back to Cleveland sooo boring.

Agree completely. I listen to it the drive home too. They come back from a 3 minute break to give us 30 seconds for the "play of the game" and then go back to 3 minutes of commercials. Unbelievable!

Thanks for your input, Ty. This comment isn't necessarily directed to you, personally, but I've noticed a trend over the years in radio broadcasts of games, in general. And that trend is that, sometimes, the broadcasts seem like television broadcats, during which the listener can, obviously, see the action. During such stretches, the broadcaster is often talking about something other than what is happening on the court. That is fine, and even welcome, in the final minutes of a game already decided, but can be annoying during a game that is still contested. Again, this is a comment about radio broadcasts in general.

Thanks for reminding us of the situations over which you have no control, i.e. the financial situation, the turnover and post-game interviews. I do enjoy your pre-game interviews with Coach Ford. They are always well done and "on point". I also realize you have no control over the games starting or resuming before you come back on live.

Most of my criticisms of the broadcasts, in fact, involve things not under your control. You have a good "radio voice", and my only bit of friendly advice to you, as a fellow fan, would be to continue to take care that you stay on top of the action.

Media Timeouts were really screwed up for the cmu game. espn was calling the shots and the actual alloted time for timeouts per the game protocol sheet was literally ignored, even though the timeout time listed on the sheet was what espn wanted, they didn't follow it.

(02-06-2011 11:23 PM)Kflasher Wrote:  We may wind up being the best team in a bad conference. I have no problem with that. After all, we all know it comes down to the three days in March at the "Q".

Me neither. Being the best team in a bad conference is certainly better than, well, not being the best team in a bad conference. And regardless of conference strength, there's still an automatic bid at the end of NCAA Tournament rainbow.

Ty,

I haven't noticed an abundance of criticism of the radio efforts, but I am probably not paying as much attention as you are. The one issue I think a lot of us have had this season is the unreliability of the broadcast. I listen online because I live in Tennessee and quite often their are problems that either lead me to an opponents broadcast or the need to turn off the game altogether. I have noted on the board somewhere the reply from Alan Ashby to the fans so that they understand some of the realities we all face.

In my own words, the bottom line for us fans is that KSU doesn't have the appropriate funds to ensure high quality broadcasts that other institutions can. If people have criticisms of you personally or your "style" I hope they will keep it respectful. My only request for you is that you give us the score more often. Sometimes I will step away for a few minutes and it can be hard to get caught back up and know what's going on.

I appreciate your efforts. Thanks.

DannyB - no one is more frustrated than me when it comes to our flagship station and its online feed. As I said above, I've been following this board for quite some time, and every time you guys post an issue with WNIR's feed I print it off and give it to the proper personnel. Aside from storming the station myself and demanding better that's about all I can do. I will continue to bring these issues up in our meetings as well as my weekly visits to the WNIR studios. Your point on the score update is also well taken.

And 7links is correct in terms of the in-game timing. That CMU game was scheduled to tip at 5:05 to accommodate television. I back-time my pre-game show from that point so the slightest change in time messes everything up. The fact that the game tipped a full sixty seconds early is devastating to the pre-game show timing. Same goes for the in-game timeouts, it's a lot like Major League Baseball between innings: if the umpires say play ball, they are going to play without asking the radio and tv folks if they're ready or not. Most of the time the referees mark the ball ready because they want the game to be kept moving. That's beyond my control sadly.

(02-05-2011 06:41 PM)bopol Wrote:  I mean, for Pete's sakes, how many plays have they screwed up (that's a charge, no, it's a blocking foul)?

I was at the game and I can see how that would happen. The one ref had a very strange charge signal. He basically tucked his elbow in and made a short punch. There was at least two times where my friends and I thought he signaling to count the bucket when he really meant charge. The players seemed very confused as well.

Yes I noticed that also. The one ref had a very peculiar way of calling a charge. It created some confusion but I think in the end he made the right calls. Other than those silly technicals (one on each team) on the dunks I thought they called an okay game.

One other comment. Has anybody seen a team so bad at finishing fast breaks. Does anybody have an idea what is wrong? Fast breaks usually are a good thing but this team seems to make the fast break an adventure.

(02-07-2011 04:52 PM)burden Wrote:  Yes I noticed that also. The one ref had a very peculiar way of calling a charge. It created some confusion but I think in the end he made the right calls. Other than those silly technicals (one on each team) on the dunks I thought they called an okay game.

One other comment. Has anybody seen a team so bad at finishing fast breaks. Does anybody have an idea what is wrong? Fast breaks usually are a good thing but this team seems to make the fast break an adventure.

In NCAA hoops, whenever a charge is called, the ref usually will place one hand behind their head and the other is pointing towards the other basket. This gives everyone a clear sign of what the call is. The ref's in the NBA will just blow the whistle and point the other way.

I agree on the fast breaks. We never make the extra pass and hit the trailer for the easy layup. This drives Mrs. Kflasher and I nuts. With our style of play, we are going to have a ton of fast breaks. It doesn't seem like this has been addressed in practice.

(02-07-2011 02:44 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  

(02-05-2011 06:41 PM)bopol Wrote:  I mean, for Pete's sakes, how many plays have they screwed up (that's a charge, no, it's a blocking foul)?

I was at the game and I can see how that would happen. The one ref had a very strange charge signal. He basically tucked his elbow in and made a short punch. There was at least two times where my friends and I thought he signaling to count the bucket when he really meant charge. The players seemed very confused as well.

Ok, well, if you were confused by the ref's calls, then I'll give the announcers a pass. They weren't good, but if you're only ok and then can't read the game well because of the ref, the whole broadcast will begin to suffer and it did.

I wish they had guys who knew more about MAC basketball though. I mean, why not get the STO team? Football doesn't think twice about using good radio guys to fill in games (Jim Donovan occasionally does national TV games as well as fulfill his Brown's radio duties).

One thought on the fast break. You have Jordan Mincy as a coach. He was probably the best guard defender Kent has had since D. Shaw. You think the players could handle anything on the court compared to what Mincy could do to them in practice.

(02-07-2011 06:56 PM)bopol Wrote:  One thought on the fast break. You have Jordan Mincy as a coach. He was probably the best guard defender Kent has had since D. Shaw. You think the players could handle anything on the court compared to what Mincy could do to them in practice.

Especially with Eric Gaines harassing the hell out of them! He's as close to Mincy as I think we're gonna get and he's 6'4"...What a defender he is. If this guy ever gets a mid-range jumper, wow...