"We are thrilled to have a talent like Rob Dibble join our broadcast crew. His enthusiasm and knowledge will quickly make him very popular among Nationals viewers. Rob and I talked today about the three things we know he will be: honest, informative and fun."
(Stan Kasten, via Nationals dot com, 1/27/2009)
We can think of at least three better adjectives to describe Rob Dibble than Stan came up with.
And so, the Bob-n-Rob Era begins at MASN.
On Sutton: Good riddance - at least now the loyal 9000 viewers won't be subjected to listening to Don Sutton blather on about the Braves night after night. Some nights, it was almost like he never left Atlanta; and what was up with the Ryan Langerhans obsession?
On Rob Dibble: Welcome! You're a blogger's dream! Tuning in to those mid-August broadcasts with the team 20 games out of first place will be entertaining, at the very least. It seems perfectly fitting for this to be the guy (with no full time commentating experience on his resume) taking over color commentary duties for Nats broadcasts on MASN. Do you smell a trainwreck?
NTP might be on to something with that MASN suicide theory...
Hey now, I liked Sutton (might have something to do with my Atlanta roots). But regardless, why are we worried about who's in the broadcast booth... we have enough trouble with the guys on the field.
Posted by: Kara | January 28, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Kara, you make an excellent point - there are certainly more pressing matters to worry about than who's in the broadcast booth...
But, come on, admit it - listening to Don Sutton was as exciting as listening to the sound of paint dry.
I actually sort of like Dibble on his XM/Sirius show - now hopefully he takes a little time this offseason to learn a little about the team he'll be covering full time.
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | January 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM
I'm one of the 9000 loyal MASN viewers who will miss Don Sutton. I enjoy the way he calls a game, and I really liked the repartee that Don and Bob seemed to have. To me, I don't need/like my baseball announcers to be like a Dick Vitale or John Madden. I like them to have an intelligent conversation about the game at hand, where the team is headed, and what they like/don't like as if I were sitting next to them in the bleachers. I thought Don and Bob did an excellent job of doing that and why I watched more baseball in the past 2 years than I ever did. Thanks Don!
Having written that, I am excited for Rob Dibble. Having grown up in WV along the Ohio River, Cincy was our adopted pro teams (Reds & Bungles), so I was lucky enough to follow them during the heydays of the early 90s, and was a fan of the Nasty Boys. When I've seen Dibs on tv, he's always done a good job, and should do well on MASN.
Posted by: Chris in DC | January 28, 2009 at 08:47 PM
Appreciate your comment, Chris. Thoughts on this subject from a former Reds fan seems perfectly appropriate here... What the f@#% is it about ex-Reds and this team?
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | January 28, 2009 at 11:48 PM