Because KIRO 7 has no sports department, main nees anchor Gary Horcher gets the call to co-host Game Day Live after the CBS games sign off for the night. Even gets to interview a Gonzaga player (Jason Rubright) from '95 to make it current! Wow. Never heard of him, but OK. Not exactly a household name analyst.
Talk about a weak try to pretend the station knows anything about sports or the tournament as the Zags choke to an 11th play-in seed. Sad all the way around.
Gary helped during the Super Bowl, but this was minor league. Hire a freelancer who knows the game. They are out there, Cox.
At least KIRO tapped Gary, who is one of their go-to people for sports to do the job. I can't speak to how much knowledge he has about basketball and the Zags in particular, but he does have some expierence with sports broadcasting. They could have picked someone who no such expierence. Ultimately, KIRO needs to reinstate its sports department in order to provide proper sports coverage. But until then, Gary is better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteThey are getting away with it for now. Gary helps them to save face.
DeleteThat he does. If and when KIRO does decide to reinstate its sports department, Gary would be a good candidate to be a part of it.
DeleteThe chances that KIRO to reinstate their sports department (and Gary being a part of it) is just as low as Seattle getting a White Christmas. I can't say that Gary was the best anchor successor for Aaron Wright, Dave Wagner or Steve Raible, but he is pretty much the sole "legacy" news face in keeping KIRO afloat. That being said, Gary's strength IMO is more of a reporter than anchor. From protests to wild weather, he thrived in it and watching him anchor seems as if something is a bit off. There are two different worlds of being in the studio and reading from the prompter rather than being out there on the field. KIRO already has two sports/news hybrids in house with Jason Sloss and Eric Thomas and they missed the ball on this one. Was there any reason none of these two weren't available to do this instead?
DeleteI agree that Gary was strong in the field but then he got pressed into service on the desk, where he's not a draw to.me. Meanwhile, there is just not a lot of confidence for out- of-towners Thomas and Sloss on local sports. KIRO mgmt doesn't care anymore. They have surrendered the sports position.
DeleteAt least Gary could interview a former Zag and have a bit of PNW memory. Now I see a promo with Gary fronting a KIRO in-depth on Earthquakes...which has been long done to death with no fresh peg.
KIRO should have more confidence in Thomas and Sloss when it comes to covering sports. They have expierence with sports coverage from their previous roles in the industry. But they won't gain the local, institutional sports knowledge that is absolutley essential to being credible local sports reporters and presenters if KIRO doesn't give them more chances to cover local sports. Gary has some of that knowledge, which is most likely a big part of why KIRO turns to him when sports stories need to be covered. His strong reporting chops may also play a part. He has long been an excellent reporter. The A-block of the 11pm news in the early to mid 2010s was always better when he was live in the field during it, which, as I recall, he was quite often. I can remember back to around that same time when KIRO would send Steve and Gary on the road to cover Seahawks playoff games. I do believe that it is, in part, because of those assignments that Gary has acquired the amount of local sports knowledge that he has. And that is helping KIRO to dipping its toe into sports coverage with some degree of credibility today. But in the long run, KIRO does need to build up new sports talent if they want to continue to be able to provide even the barest of bare bones local sports coverage. Thomas and Sloss are the best candidates KIRO has right now to achieve that objective.
DeleteGary has never done it for me. IIRC, he originally was to be a temporary fill-in anchor.
DeleteI really like the discussion here. I will say Thomas was with Horcher for yesterday's postgame report so there is that but at the end of the day Wayne you are right. Cox/Apollo are getting away with it for now but I feel like that time may be short. At the end of the day this is an issue that as I have said before probably only gets fixed with a sale, but in the interim can't they at least either hire freelancers OR develop a talent-share partnership with 710 to have their personnel handle sports coverage?
DeleteKIRO tries to make the post game lol bigger by teaming Thomas and Gary for sure but it looks weak. They obviously don't want to pay anyone else to help the situation, including radio folks. Opening Day will be Nick doing westher at TMobile in the morning. Thomas gets pre game fan stuff game and reporter Chapman locker room interviews?
DeleteYup, I hear you Wayne.
DeleteYes, I think Aaron Wright was going to be the new male lead, but it didn't work. The lady at night is too porcelain for me.
ReplyDeleteI never understand the "get 710 to help with tv" stuff. Wayne do you think someone who has only worked in radio can make a smooth transition to tv? I think that is somewhat insulting to real tv people. I don't think any if the 710 ESPN people have worked in tv except Wyman when he has done Seahawks stuff.
ReplyDeleteBob Shelton and Jessamyn Mcintyre of 710 did the old Fone Zone Seahawks call-in show and Mike Salk co hosted along with Dave Wyman. So I am proud to have gotten them some experience. But it's more a money issue with 7 than a radio talent one. They can be coached to use ad-libbing ability they show on radio.
DeleteI guess it is more a question of doing tv, not being on tv. Producing a package, dealing with a producer in your ear. I am not sure anyone in this market can do both well. Ad libbing is one thing, but being something other than a talking head seems like another.
DeleteBrock Huard did it from scratch on NWCN and went to network football booths. If you can smile, look into a camera and have strong, insightful takes, it can be done for sure
ReplyDeleteWhether you agree or not on this
ReplyDeleteand as as Malcolm Gladwell put it best, it takes 10,000 hours (or approximately 10 years) of "deliberate practice" to become an expert on something.