Bob Kesling (merged)

#127
#127
UTFranklinVol said:
I admittedly watch most Vols football games on TV but yesterday I was caught without an option as I was driving home from Ohio after holiday.

Kesling has had his fair share of critics in the last 24 years but yesterday was GODAWFUL. I couldn't tell if he was announcing a football game or a funeral. I've never heard anyone less enthusiastic about the action on the field and that's when he was actually telling you what was happening. Several times, especially on 4th down tries, I had to listed to the crowd in the background to even know if the attempt was good or not. It was more apparent when I got home and watched the recording of the game and the ESPN broadcasters were way more excited about my Vols than Kesling was.

I know he announced he was retiring after 2022 but yet here he still is. In my opinion, this new exciting version of Tennessee football needs a new man on the microphone that makes it sound like it actually is.
Click to expand...
Wow funny this pops up i was just talking about this with my buddy .i never understood why they just graduated Bob to this job .Bro id spent coin and went after MIKE KEITH.id loved to hear Keith in a vol season like last year..that dude wouldve had to have a seat belt
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volfan1000
#128
#128
I had to listen to the Pittsburgh game last year, driving home from visiting family. I thought great I can pass the time listening to the Vols. It was interesting because as I was driving back from Nashville I went from the Vanderbilt to Tennessee to Virginia Tech game broadcasts. By far the best production was UTs, with the most commercials to boot. But the game, welll… exactly what everyone says. Bob is constantly getting things confused, distance, down, names, and numbers. And the energy is best suited to watch paint drying or grass growing. Such the opposite for both Vandy and (especially) Va Tech, whose announcers were vivid, exciting, and had me glued to my seat.

Bob is like a person who stutters and we all like to pretend that it doesn’t matter or we know he’s doing his best. But the truth is that a top ten university (in $), deserves top ten talent and not some long ago has been, that “inherited” his position, and continues to make us sound like a second rate institution.

What a turn of events, when we replaced a legend with the sportscaster from the local news and decided he should stay for eternity. Only a person who never listens to the product would continue to employ him.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 9296potsguy
#129
#129
One thing I do appreciate about Bob is his production of set interview pieces. Just like a sportscaster for the local TV station should, he’s comfortable, easy to listen to and pleasant for his guests as well. But since 90%+ of his payday comes from those few hours on Saturdays in the Fall, this one credit does not justify a poor overall performance.

I’m just saying that if Bob was held to the same standards as our football coaches he would have been canned after about four seasons and sent into that great orange checkerboard in the sky. But sadly I guess mediocrity (at best) for decades, works for the Big Orange Network.
 
Last edited:
#130
#130
I like Bob, but probably because I was too young to remember Ward, so Bob is synonymous with UT football for me. He’s definitely not as good as Mike Keith, but Keith is probably one of the better NFL radio guys.

I do love Tim Priest though.
 
#131
#131
Bumbling Bob is awful. Awful at calling football. Awful at calling basketball. He needs to quit. Has nothing to do with following John Ward. He just sucks at his job. If I sucked at my job as bad as he sucked at his, I would have been fired within the first year. How that Bumbling fool has lasted 25 years is beyond comprehension.

The day he is gone will be a great day in the history of Tennessee Sports.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolDave53, DooleyOrangePants and Volfan1000
#136
#136
I've tended to defend Bob in these threads (there seems to be at least 1 a year).

I didnt listen to Bob call a game this year but in the past I liked his calls. Terribly hard to follow a legend so he deserves a handicap.

I'd bet if VOLS win a Natty in 2024 Bob would walk out a winner. GO VOLS! Make everyone happy.

Please, no Mike Keith.
 
#137
#137
05_never_again said:
Go back to clips of plays from the early 2000s and compare to today.

He's never been good, but his enthusiasm is down considerably from those days.
Click to expand...

If you go on YouTube, the 2009 Kentucky game highlights with his play by play is on there (Vols won on a walk off run from Hardesty in OT).
Like you said, not great, but night and day difference from today.
 
#138
#138
personally, i would love to see John Wilkerson as the voice of the Vols. he does an amazing job with baseball and from the times i have met him, is a genuine nice guy that is easy to root for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StarRaider and GreveHaller
#139
#139
For how you judge, you will be judged. Be careful VOL family! Bob is one of us. He's also a recent cancer survivor.
 
#141
#141
GetYouSomeofThat said:
The vanilla delivery is really my only complaint with regard to Kesling. He would be perfect calling random games each week. But to be the Voice of the Vols..idk.

I think he really does love the University and the teams but allows his "professional broadcaster persona" take over whem calling football games. He is actually pretty good at roundball.
Click to expand...

Kesling sometimes misreads the score in basketball and Bertlecamp gets more excited by yelling "MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" on made threes and appreciating exciting dunks and blocked shots.
 
#142
#142
DaddyChad said:
Nah, there’s several rival broadcasters that are as entertaining as a root canal.
Click to expand...
Exactly…most collegiate broadcast teams (especially radio) are not very good at what they do. Radio in the past had to create its own imagery…now the “imagery” is provided by video. CLEARLY…a lost art.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GUNTERSVOL
#143
#143
Bill Roth that does Virginia Tech games is the best play by play guy on the radio IMHO! That would be the guy I would like to see them get when Kesling finally quits.
 
#144
#144
tennrich1 said:
Exactly…most collegiate broadcast teams (especially radio) are not very good at what they do. Radio in the past had to create its own imagery…now the “imagery” is provided by video. CLEARLY…a lost art.
Click to expand...
just as most stuff in the modern era.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tennrich1
#145
#145
AdoptedVOL said:
I've tended to defend Bob in these threads (there seems to be at least 1 a year).

I didnt listen to Bob call a game this year but in the past I liked his calls. Terribly hard to follow a legend so he deserves a handicap.

I'd bet if VOLS win a Natty in 2024 Bob would walk out a winner. GO VOLS! Make everyone happy.

Please, no Mike Keith.
Click to expand...
Yeah I would hate to have Mike Keith, NOT. Are you related to Bob? He is the quintessential definition of mediocre.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolDave53
#146
#146
UTFranklinVol said:
But Kesling spent decades working directly with Ward. You'd think he picked SOMETHING up.
Click to expand...
Kesling used to be a sideline guy for JP and also occasionally did some ESPN2 Tn games, maybe on contract in the 90’s. He was good at that job.

But every UT fan over about the age of 40 or 45 has fond memories from listening to John Ward when you couldn’t always watch the game if you were out somewhere. I can remember everyone sitting around cars at a baseball or soccer tournament as a kid, while someone played JW from their car or with a boombox or old school Walkman. The Notre Dame 1991 stands out because no one could believe the comeback was happening.

Now, you just pull your phone out to watch the game. Completely different era where the radio just isn’t as important.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volfan1000 and DuckInAPen
#149
#149
Volanooga2521 said:
Kesling used to be a sideline guy for JP and also occasionally did some ESPN2 Tn games, maybe on contract in the 90’s. He was good at that job.

But every UT fan over about the age of 40 or 45 has fond memories from listening to John Ward when you couldn’t always watch the game if you were out somewhere. I can remember everyone sitting around cars at a baseball or soccer tournament as a kid, while someone played JW from their car or with a boombox or old school Walkman. The Notre Dame 1991 stands out because no one could believe the comeback was happening.

Now, you just pull your phone out to watch the game. Completely different era where the radio just isn’t as important.
Click to expand...
Occasionally I’m on the road, so I like to listen when I can’t watch.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top