Dwight Burgess (candidate for espn job?)

Well I posted on the other thread but I'll post here as well. What I like about Dwight Burgess:

(1) he coaches the college team at Capitol, and definitely knows the game;
(2) the timing and intensity of his calls is just perfect ... I'll never forget some of them, even though years old: "Jason Farrell, diving header, goal!!!!!!!!!";
(3) he "tells it like it is", never hesitating to call out an underperforming player. He even calls out the fans, on occasion, for what they've posted on thecrew.com boards!;
(4) he is a regular poster on thecrew.com, which I think is amazing, given his public persona and the need to protect that reputation;
(5) he has a droll wit that takes some getting used to .... like, the first crack you hear you'll wonder, "did he mean it that way?" But then you'll learn, he did mean it "that way" and always means it "that way" and you have to stay on your toes to keep up with his commentary;
(5) he has paid his dues. He's one of us.

 

I was thinking kind of about this last night. Dwight is excellent and he is among a few of the local commentators I would enjoy in the mix.

The thing is, soccer on ESPN is not a full time job. If they are indeed looking at JP or Stoner, then they are looking at someone who can do something else besides MLS. And do the Dwight Burgesses and Adrian Healey's of the world want to give up what they do in real life in order to announce the Little League World Series and beach volleyball in addition to their MLS duties?

If MLS decides to make their number one PBP guy a freelancer, then someone like Dwight is a no-brainer. But that hasn't been the case in the past and I don't know if it's going to change.

 

I agree if not JP then Dwight should get the job. If JP and Tommy could do every game that I watch on ESPN I would be happy. Dwight is great and should get a shot.

 

It's not ESPN's hire / fire choice. What else do Keough / Stone / Paysse do for ESPN? Edwards just so happened to also have lots of regular ESPN gigs.

 

I just listened to a bit of the audio--and I like his energy and style. He's got a great voice for pbp. However, it's tough to judge on a brief listen. I've heard many people singing his praises, though.

 

I'll chime in - love dwight. He does a great job. I would hate to loose him. When there is no TV, I am not as upset if I know that he will be calling the game on radio. He paints a picture of the flow of the game with his simple but effective choice of words and tone. If you haven't I suggest listening in. Great stuff....

DUstin Mets

 

I've known Dwight for a number of years. He is not only professionally qualified, he is also a very nice person. If he wants it, I hope he gets it.

BTW he graduated from the same high school (much earlier, though) as Kirk Herbstreit. Maybe he'll get a good word.

 

Pro baseball teams are often the actual employers of radio and Tv pbp guys, rather than the flagship station of the network. Should be no reason MLS couldn't do the same thing, as opposed to network providing the announcer.

Now it may be that the network could get high and mighty about this re "journalistic standards" - but considering how much tv journos hobnob with athletes and coaches these days, that would be pretty blatant hypocrisy.

I hope this is getting some serious consideration other than on here - and I'm grateful for all those who've echoed the idea about him being a great candidate.

It could be a very meaningful upgrade to the league's image, and I don't think that's an overstatement.

 

1. I said PBP, not color and sideline. As far as I know, the primary PBP person has been an ESPN employee with the rest freelancers, those being color man (Keough) and sideline (Paysee).

2. Stone is, to the best of my knowledge, an ESPN employee. He has done basketball and football sideline work for them. He did the Great Outdoor Games. I thought that's why he and JP (to the best of my knwledge an ESPN employee who does most of his work for ESPN International) were the two front-runners.

I may be wrong and with the growth of SUM, things may change. But Jack is an ESPN employee and I just assumed they might stay headed in that direction and didn't know if someone like Dwight to Sean Wheelock would leave their current job to do 30-some soccer games along with ancillary ESPN programming.

 

I think Dwight is great, and I think most Crew fans agree. I don't know much about him personally, but he's a great ambassador for the game, in addition to being a good announcer. I don't know how he would feel about giving up his coaching job to meet the requirements of a national TV gig. (Would he have to do that? I expect he would, but I don't really know.)

Back when the Crew were on 1460 AM, which carries OSU sports, Dwight filled in on at least one college basketball game. He is capable of doing more that just soccer, if that's required.

 

I remember hearing that Jack left ESPN, where he had an anchor job, to be able to do free-land play-by-play. I think the earlier post is correct that he was working for the league/SUM/U.S. Soccer, not ESPN/ABC.

 

Still does Little League on ESPN, and don't forget the bashos!

 

That would be right here in the home of the Elks, right? (And yes, the teams are called Elks -- I know the proper plural is Elk).

 

Dwight used to do evening drive time on WBNS-AM in 1996-7 time frame. So he can do other things besides talk soccer...WBNS is generally all Bucks all the time.

IMHO, if he wants the job and it's offered, I'd love to see him take it. He's flat out good at what he does and is tremendously funny as well.

 

He did an entire season, I think it was 97-98.

 

IRRC, he also tried out for the CBJ PBP job. Except they went for a "proven" minor league hockey announcer from PEI. (go figure)

 

Why hasn't Burgess Meredith been considered as a commentator? He's quite a character, and can be very inspiring.

 

I thought that too but was corrected by an ESPN employee on a listserv. He is a Disney employee ... for now.

 

That sounds ominous.

Jack sounded relaxed last night. I was actually enjoying their commentary of a horrid horrid game until Ty proclaimed what a good job St. Silva was doing.

 

Sorry, but I just don't think Dwight Burgess is that good. He doesn't captivate me on TV or radio.

He and Bill McDermott can be so boring sometimes it's unbelievable.

I vote for J.P. followed by Stone and I definitely vote for MLS actively seeking and developing new young talent.

 

That's right, Dwight and his brother Dean played soccer there. I can't remember his graduation year.

 

I think that he would be prefect for the job. He is charismatic and knows the game very well. Everyone knows he knows the game if you look at his college team, Capital. Capital is a D-3 school in the OAC, as a player in this conference, Capital had been the doormats for a while, this year, we are certainly taking a closer look at them when conference time comes, hes really turned that whole program around. This is also the thing that worries me, would he leave his coaching position at Capital, I know college coaches sign contracts, what is he held to? Just some food for thought.