Catholic Guilt Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Last night the game wasn't on TV in the Carolina area (big surprise). I pulled up WGR and started listening to the game. I felt like a 16 year old kid listening on the radio to Jeanneret's call. He could call a yard sale and make it interesting. I also found the live video from Comcast, but turned it off to listen to WGR. //done gushing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I heard a rumor about retirement. Anybody have any info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Last night the game wasn't on TV in the Carolina area (big surprise). I pulled up WGR and started listening to the game. I felt like a 16 year old kid listening on the radio to Jeanneret's call. He could call a yard sale and make it interesting. I also found the live video from Comcast, but turned it off to listen to WGR. //done gushing 669728[/snapback] Could not agree more SC.....I hear some other fans say they hate RJ, that he can be annoying etc when calling a game....and sometimes I can understand that to a point, only because they are rooting against the Sabres...but the thing people have to realize about RJ is that he is truly unique, has his own style, has a genuine passion for the game, and is extremely creative. Also IMO no announcer calls fights better then RJ. He REALLY gets you into what is going on and describes it so well and with so much passion. RJ can take an ordinary Sabres/Wild game in December and make the game sound just a bit more interesting then the other regular season games. That is a unique talent. RJ is a true legend, and when he is gone, boy will that be a HUGE void not only for the Sabres fans, but for the NHL as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Last night the game wasn't on TV in the Carolina area (big surprise). I pulled up WGR and started listening to the game. I felt like a 16 year old kid listening on the radio to Jeanneret's call. He could call a yard sale and make it interesting. I also found the live video from Comcast, but turned it off to listen to WGR. //done gushing 669728[/snapback] RJ is the man. We grew up spoiled. Actually TV toned him down and made Jennerette better. Years ago some of the untelevised games were true works of fiction as anybody that went to the Aud with a transistor radio knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Also IMO no announcer calls fights better then RJ. He REALLY gets you into what is going on and describes it so well and with so much passion. 669735[/snapback] No doubt about this one. The best is when you are not watching the game, you are only listening to Jeannaret, and a fight breaks out. His call makes it sound like one of those Arturo Gatti-Mickey Ward fights. You get all pumped up and start slamming your hand on the steering wheel of the car. "AAWWW, and he got him with a HUUUUGE right hand!!! And another!!! AND ANOTHER!!!! And now Stevens comes back with a big right!!!" And then you get home and see the highlights and it wasn't half as good as it sounded. I love it! Whoever is the first to replace Jeannaret after he retires has a thankless task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I heard a rumor about retirement. Anybody have any info? 669732[/snapback] I have trouble believing that one. I can't help but think his last word will be "SCOOOOOOOOORE!" He has lost a step, but he still has "it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Last night the game wasn't on TV in the Carolina area (big surprise). I pulled up WGR and started listening to the game. I felt like a 16 year old kid listening on the radio to Jeanneret's call. He could call a yard sale and make it interesting. I also found the live video from Comcast, but turned it off to listen to WGR. //done gushing 669728[/snapback] When he does retire, we have to give him a banner in the rafters like the Knoxes (the only reason Ted Darling doesn't have one is that we named the press box after him). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I have trouble believing that one. 669786[/snapback] Sad, but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted April 25, 2006 Author Share Posted April 25, 2006 Sad, but true. 669791[/snapback] Lurker - can you cut and paste the article for us? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Sad, but true. 669791[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 When he does retire, we have to give him a banner in the rafters like the Knoxes (the only reason Ted Darling doesn't have one is that we named the press box after him). 669789[/snapback] You know what is amazing about RJ? I bet if you polled 1000 Sabres fans, and varied it with fans that have been around since 1970 and even younger fans, and asked them "Who is the most famous Sabres Player/Personality in the franchise's history?" I bet RJ could WIN that poll...how many teams can say the most popular figure in the teams history might be the broadcaster? And it is not as if the Sabres are void of great players like Gilbert Perrault, Rick Martin, Andreychuk, Hasek, LaFontaine and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Sad, but true. 669791[/snapback] Sad but true that we have to use passports now to travel between the US and Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Lurker - can you cut and paste the article for us? Thanks! 669794[/snapback] Buffalo announcer has one last call to make: Jeanneret to retire soon Michael Traikos, National Post April 25, 2006 BUFFALO - When Rick Jeanneret travels from Canada to the United States, the border guards ask to see his passport and then make one small request. "They don't let me cross until I say, 'La La La La La La LaFontaine!' " said the 63-year-old Sabres announcer, who lives in Niagara Falls, Ont. "I don't mind. If they didn't do it, maybe it's because they're not paying attention. So in that way, it's kind of neat." Make no mistake; Jeanneret and his colourful delivery are not going unnoticed. And as he nears retirement, the man who resembles Rodney Dangerfield in appearance is getting due respect -- even though he eschews such praise. "I don't like to be called the voice of the Sabres," said Jeanneret, the longest-tenured announcer in the NHL. "I always thought Ted Darling was the voice of the Sabres. That should go to his grave with him, so I've always tried to discourage people from using that when describing me. At this moment in time, I'm the Sabres announcer -- there's no doubt about that." He is more than that. To fans watching on TV, Jeanneret is one of them, a homer who lives and dies with the team. And to the players, he has the voice and the power to turn even fourth-line checkers into legends. Just ask Stu ("Stuuuuuuuu") Barnes or Brad ("May-day! May-day! May-day! May-day!") May, both immortalized by Jeanneret-isms. "I'm not a journalist," said Jeanneret. "If anything, I'm something bordering on entertainer." Listen to Jeanneret call a Sabres game, and you understand what he means. His energetic delivery and colourful player nicknames are infectious. Perhaps that is why Pat LaFontaine asked him to say "La La La La La LaFontaine" one last time when the Sabres retired his number, and why some of Jeanneret's memorable calls are now available as ring tones. "For people who have done it, I just ask them to remember to turn off their phone when they go to a funeral," he joked. "I don't really want 'May-day! May-day! May-day!' going off in the middle of the service." Having begun his career as a radio disc jockey ("I played Elvis and all that stuff"), Jeanneret received his broadcasting break in 1963 when the play-by-play announcer for a Niagara Falls minor-league team became sick. He joined the Sabres for their second season in 1971 and has been with the team ever since. Jeanneret says he relies on the spontaneity of the game to direct what he says and has never scripted a call. "I've been asked if I planned the May-day call," Jeanneret said of Bray May's series-clinching overtime goal against the Bruins in the first round of the 1993 playoffs. "Brad May hadn't scored a goal in 20-some odd games, so how could I have planned that? I would have had to be Kreskin. And the La-La-La-La-La-La-LaFontaine one? That just popped up too." With the Sabres playing in their first post-season in five years, Jeanneret said another catch phrase could easily surface. It may be his last, however, as he turns 64 this summer, and after 34 years of constant travel, the Sabres announcer is preparing to say goodbye. "There is an end to sight," Jeanneret said. "It's sooner rather than later, but it's not tomorrow. "Pretty soon, it's going to come." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 "I don't like to be called the voice of the Sabres," said Jeanneret, the longest-tenured announcer in the NHL. "I always thought Ted Darling was the voice of the Sabres. That should go to his grave with him, so I've always tried to discourage people from using that when describing me. At this moment in time, I'm the Sabres announcer -- there's no doubt about that." This is what makes RJ so likeable...he is also very humble...and does not think of himself bigger then the games themselves...unlike ESPN "celebrities" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted April 25, 2006 Author Share Posted April 25, 2006 Thanks Lurker - good article on RJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I always said he is going to go while yelling "And the Sabres win the Stanley Cup!!!!!!!!" He'll have a major stoke or heart attack and keel over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I always said he is going to go while yelling "And the Sabres win the Stanley Cup!!!!!!!!" He'll have a major stoke or heart attack and keel over. 669825[/snapback] I know it's morbid but that'd be a fitting end. Even if he does retire in the next couple years, hopefully they'll be able to bring him back for a game or two each season after that. The hard part of his job right now has to be all the travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I know it's morbid but that'd be a fitting end. Even if he does retire in the next couple years, hopefully they'll be able to bring him back for a game or two each season after that. The hard part of his job right now has to be all the travel. 669838[/snapback] Maybe something can be worked out where RJ just does home games? I think he has earned that possible perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Maybe something can be worked out where RJ just does home games? I think he has earned that possible perk. 669840[/snapback] There are a lot of baseball radio teams right now where you have an older announcer alternating innings with a younger guy. There's no reason we can't split up the work to keep RJ around longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 There are a lot of baseball radio teams right now where you have an older announcer alternating innings with a younger guy. There's no reason we can't split up the work to keep RJ around longer. 669842[/snapback] If I remember correctly. Darling did the 1rst and 3rd period for years. Jennerette the second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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