Rima for President...

['70 Grad]

Dolphin should be lucky to call Sigourney-Keota HS games. He is absolutely awful.

Hey! Don't pick on the Cobras. We'll run the single-wing without him!

Rima and Petey are great for Panther fans. Claire Rampton was fine; they are fun. We need a touch of promotion.

Dolph does a professional job w/a little homer thrown in - just fine. Don't you all remember Jim Zabel? Talk about needing a TV to figure out what was going on!! Then there is Ed P. Please leave him in the bar.

John Walters - lifeless. But then he usually doesn't have much good to describe.

I still say the WIU guys were nice & neutral for UNI fans to listen to. Gary & Petey are great if you are a Panther fan. I am, so

[Matt Trump]

To a point.....but I enjoy a well-called game versus going above and beyond....know what I mean? Probably not...


You want a homer. I want an enjoyable game to listen to.

98% of the time, Gary delivers on that. Other times, well....Ka-bullseye comes to mind.....

I guess it always bothers me when a fan of a different team says they hate the other teams announcers because they are "homers". I still don't understand why you have to throw a back-handed comment at me whenever you comment at one of my posts.

[EastonWest]

I still don't understand why you have to throw a back-handed comment at me whenever you comment at one of my posts.

Well, if you dont like what FM is saying I'm sure you'll just edit it anyway, Mr. Post-Editing Natzi.

[SteinPizza]

Aren't the announcers supposed to be "HOMERS"??? They are paid by their athletics departments to do so. I want a college play by play person to over exaggerate and scream out loud when good things happen. I want them to complain about the refs when a questionable call goes for the other team.

Kind of, but not really. The key to your post above is COLLEGE, not pro. Homer pro announcers drive me nuts...if the Bears or Cubs or whoever sucks, let the listeners know, and the reverse is true as well. In college, I think a bit of "homerism" is a little more accepted

That said, I really enjoy Rima, and think he could easily move to a bigger market if he chooses to. If I compare his delivery and style to others I've heard a lot of, he ranks near the top. That would include the "Dean" of Iowa broadcasters, Jim Zabel, who towards the end of his fulltime career was very hard to follow. I also prefer Rima to Pete Taylor, who did radio for Iowa State for decades. Rima also is hands down better than Gary Bender, who did Bears radio a few years ago and was freakin' pathetic considering he was in a high profile position in a major market. Rima compares very favorably to Jeff Joniak, the current Bears radio voice. Both do a great job of describing the action, only Joniak doesn't throw out the "Oh Baby!!!" as much as Rima (again, college vs. pro).

[Blue42]

My take...

Dolphin is a huge step up from Zabel, who was incoherent most the time, and generally crisp in his explanation. A bit of a homer, but who isn't. Has seemed lifeless at times this year as if he knows Iowa has deeper problems. Plus he has to carry Podalak and his "Even God loves the Hawkeye's" silliness thru a broadcast.

Walters is overall a class act in my opinion. Whenever I watch him do his Friday night blitz show on HS football it's obvious he and his crew just love sports, and that's not true of all his counterparts. It's hard to get the fans through an ISU football game so I wouldn't knock him. That's a lot of disappointment to talk around.

Rima is great for play by play. I love his enthusiasm and I can track the game action easily. I'm less a fan of his interviewing.

[Newsbreaker]

Stein, you set me up PERFECTLY.

Many don't know this, but when Gary Bender left, the Bears did not make Jeff Joniak, who I REALLY like, their first choice. The Bears offered the job to one Gary Dolphin, and really wanted him to take the job. Gary turned it down, because the Bears wanted their pbp guy to be available on Saturday for various things, and like Wayne Larivee before, Gary refused to give up calling Iowa games, so the Bears went to their second choice, Jeff Joniak.

I don't mind a bit of homerism when the pbp is being fair and obviously interested in one team. All you need to do is listen to a single Vikings radio broadcast to hear what happens when that goes horribly wrong.

[SteinPizza]

Good point above News. As a Cubs fan, you can appreciate what potentially happens when a pro announcer is perceived to be too "non-homer", just look at the ridiculous soap opera that was the feud between the Cubs players and coaches vs. Chip Caray and Steve Stone a few years ago.

Oh, and no offense to Dolphin, but I don't see him as being in the same league as Joniak, Wayne Larivee, etc. I'm not in the broadcast biz, so it's admittedly an amatuer opinion.

[9YRPLAN]

i enjoy both garys as well but rima is much more concise and knowledgable in my opinion. although dolph is a really great guy. i have only spent time with rima once and he was also really cool.

[Barnstormer]

No matter what we think about the Garys... I think one things we can all agree on is that the White Sox announcers are the worst anouncers EVER!!!

[Tango Charlie]

The Dolph

Gary Dolphin is a terrible play-by-play announcer.

Does not know the game or the rules.

He is constantly correcting himself. Very irritating !

Ron Gonder and Mike Reilly were the best that Iowa ever had.

[Purple For Life]

Having worked with Gary, and talked to Gary and John, I can say that they are all genuinely very nice guys. John was good friends with Pete Taylor and so he said when he took the job it was with quite a heavy heart--and it almost seems to show in his calling. He's good, but I loved Pete Taylor when he did it. (Little known fact--I worked at a station in Ames for a while and ran ISU games--so I just need to do Iowa games to complete the trifecta!)

Dolph is an extremely nice guy, and said to Gary that he wished he could steal me away to be his producer, which was a nice compliment. I don't mind his style of calling, it's different--I don't think any of us would want all the announcers to sound the same. It would be too bland.

I also think that we can't say enough for the color men, either--Scott Peterson and Kevin Boyle do an excellent job providing their insights and commentary to add to Gary's calling. I can honestly say I've learned a lot about football and basketball from those too, more than I thought I would.

And yes, Gary is a very nice guy and I really enjoyed working with him. He's a great face for UNI.

Anyway...that's my two cents. Maybe more like four...!

[MeOW!]

No matter what we think about the Garys... I think one things we can all agree on is that the White Sox announcers are the worst anouncers EVER!!!

"He looks up. You can put it on the board, YES!!"

[Schack]

Gary's the best play-by-play man working in Iowa today. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones should be so lucky.
He's got that rare gift of tempered enthusiasm. He can give you the feel for a game, yet, still keep you informed at the same time.
To TheGrowl: You can always take a walkman into the Dome and listen to Rima at the game! I like to listen to Gary when the Panthers are televised and the annoucers are crappy.

I've tried listening to the games with a headset/with built-in AM radio and as soon as I walk into the McLeod Center the signal disappears. Do I need a better "radio". If someone can give me a brand/model number that works inside McLeod and UniDome I would appreciate it.

[Purple For Life]

I've tried listening to the games with a headset/with built-in AM radio and as soon as I walk into the McLeod Center the signal disappears. Do I need a better "radio". If someone can give me a brand/model number that works inside McLeod and UniDome I would appreciate it.

I just think you are going to get too much interference with all the metal in the buildings. Correct me if I'm wrong News, but excessive metal will interfere with an AM signal, right?

You could try FM 95.3 out of Independence...it kinda reaches here, in my car at least. You might be able to get it better than an AM signal, but I don't know.

[FMPanther]

Oh, in addition, I agree 100% with the post re: Petey and Boyle.