My Rather Tame Response to Mike Barrett

Recently, I made some rather critical comments about Mike Barrett on blazersedge.com. Most of these comments were slightly exaggerated, but they caught the eye of a certain local broadcaster. Here Is Mike Barrett's email to me.

Tom,

We’re in OKC to play the Thunder tomorrow night, and I’ve just been surfing around the various Blazer sites tonight.  I don’t often get a ton of time to do this at home because I’ve got a 5-year old, and a 4-year old, and well, you know.  I do like Blazersedge and greatly respect Dave and Ben for what they’ve built with that site.  I got to know Dave back when it first started and it’s amazing how big it’s become.

For the first time tonight I noticed a thread about the Blazer announcers, and started reading down the list.  Now, I do know that in this business there will be people who like you and people who don’t like you.  I’m okay with that.  You can’t very well have thin skin in this biz.  But, after reading several of your posts, it became clear that you really, really don’t like me.  I’ve never e-mailed anyone like this before (probably should have), but my curiosity got the best of me here.  You seem very well read, and very well informed.  I even checked out your blog, because I’ve got one of those myself and I know they’re not easy to maintain.  You do a good job with yours.

Believe it or not, I do take to heart honest suggestions from viewers and fans, and would never brush off any comment.  None of us will ever have this broadcasting thing totally figured out.  And, no matter what we do, not everyone will like our style, personality, or even our voices.  I get that.  I’ve got my favorites too, and remember them well as I watched them as I was growing up.

Because your comments were particularly harsh, and because you seem pretty reasonable, I thought I’d ask you for specifics.  Again, I do care about this stuff, because we are here for viewers and fans like you.  I’m not trying to win you over here, because that kind of looks to be a lost cause at this point.  But, I’m just curious what exactly it is that you dislike so much.  Emotional swings in games, too wordy, too reactionary, too much of a homer, not enough of a homer (believe it or not, I’ve heard both, about the same amount)? 

I guess to sum this up, it’s easy to just simply choose not read stuff and to brush aside those who disagree with the way a job is done.  But, I like input, and will always be a student in this profession.  We all should be. 

I just wanted to give you a chance to voice directly to me what it is you really don’t care for.  Again, I take everything to heart and respect every opinion.  It’s an unrealistic goal to think that every single Blazer fan will love the job we do on every single night.  I don’t mind that you feel the way you do, and understand that everyone has an opinion.  I don’t ever get upset reading certain things, but just mainly like to learn the reasons behind the comments.  In other words, you’ve got every right to say what you said, and feel the way you feel.  I’m just curious why- especially if it’s something that can make me better.  Every little thing, both positive and negative, can ultimately make you better at your job.  That’s what I’m after here.

Thanks for the time.  This is my personal email address, so feel free to shoot me back your thoughts if you want.

Here is was my response.

Looking back at my comments, I realize I was much too harsh than I really felt and some of my comments were exaggerations. 

I know a lot of people complain about you guys being "homers," but to me, you are the blazers announcers and should be homers to an extent, so that is ok in my book. I also find your banter with The Wild One very entertaining.

My biggest beef with your announcing is you always seem to assume the worst is going to happen. For instance, when the Blazers lead by 10, and the other team cuts it to 6, you talk as if the Blazers are going through a meltdown. You say things like, the lead that was once 10, is now down to 6--like the blazers falling apart. 

Now I realize the blazers are just 29-12 when leading after 3, which is rather poor in comparison to other teams around our position--but three of those came in that 6 game losing streak earlier in the year with the Blazers were clearly not themselves. Those three being against Utah, Philadelphia, New Jersey--plus two more that the Blazers blew in the third. My point in going down there is that fretting back then would have made sense, but taking away that streak, our record after three quarters is pretty close to the Denvers and the Thunders of the world.

Now, I am not saying that you should never be worried or aways assume the Blazers will hold onto every lead, but I think there should be a balance. This game is a game of runs--six to eight point runs by certain teams should be expected.

Again, I would like to apologize for the harshness of my comments, those were definitely exaggerations. And thank you again for the time you put into this. I also realize you have been doing this for a while and I am just an  "armchair announcer" and if I want an announcer that I agree with all the time, I should just become an announcer. 

These are my opinions, thank you again for your time.   

While I still don't like Mike Barrett as an announcer, I have a lot more respect for him now for taking the effort to communicate with fans.