GDT: NYR @ BUF 7pm TV:MSG & NHLN Radio: WGR - Unleash the beast

[NotABadPeriod]

The biggest issue with Dunleavy is that they simulcast his call on the radio, and he is nothing short of atrocious for radio. Radio PxP requires a level of detail that he simply does not even approach. You never know who has the puck, where they are, etc. When doing radio you cannot go into tangents in the middle of the play, and he does it all the time.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

The biggest issue with Dunleavy is that they simulcast his call on the radio, and he is nothing short of atrocious for radio. Radio PxP requires a level of detail that he simply does not even approach. You never know who has the puck, where they are, etc. When doing radio you cannot go into tangents in the middle of the play, and he does it all the time.

The problem is that RJ was so good at this - Dunleavy almost has an impossible job trying to follow him.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The problem is that RJ was so good at this - Dunleavy almost has an impossible job trying to follow him.

Yeah. Tough act to follow, for sure. Plus, I’m guessing the era makes finding guys who do decent radio calls difficult.

 

[Chainshot]

The problem is that RJ was so good at this - Dunleavy almost has an impossible job trying to follow him.

RJ started on radio even before he was the radio voice of the Sabres. Lets not forget they had Kevin Sylvester doing games at one point. John Gurtler after Ted Darling passed... RJ's focus was on the radio side and he was great at painting a vivid picture - every rush seemed dangerous, hits were crushing, fights were titanic battles on radio.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

RJ started on radio even before he was the radio voice of the Sabres. Lets not forget they had Kevin Sylvester doing games at one point. John Gurtler after Ted Darling passed... RJ's focus was on the radio side and he was great at painting a vivid picture - every rush seemed dangerous, hits were crushing, fights were titanic battles on radio.

I've said it here before but RJ was one of the reasons why i picked the Sabres as my team in the first place. This was in the very early 00s when streaming games wasn't possible - to follow the vast majority of them the only option was audio.

As someone who spent as much if not more time growing up listening to rather than watching other sports ... I quickly learned to love & appreciate RJ.

And you / @tsujimoto74 are both right - it requires a different skill set than TV commentary - and very few people these days seem trained for it. The NFL commentator Kevin Harlan comes to mind - but not many others...