(We feel your pain Ronny…)
It’s safe to say I’m in the younger demographic of Warriors fans. I can’t remember Greg Papa calling games even though I was six years old when he left the Warriors organization. As a result, I’ve been fully drenched in the voice of one Bob Fitzgerald for most of my basketball viewing tenure. It was my understanding that a sports play by play man should be well educated in his sport, have experience in the field and call the game with a certain class and reason that represents the organization. Fitz arguably carries the first two traits (I stress arguably), but the last one is definitely up for debate.
The beauty of social media is the opportunity to hear and react to what people are saying mere seconds after something happens. From the Super Bowl to another Miami Heat choke-job to the “winner” Charlie Sheen, we can all post our feelings about a topic in an instant. As each Warriors game goes by, the hatred for Fitzgerald rises. I see it on Twitter and blogs. Warriors fans see it. Heck, I think Kings fans see it all the way from Anaheim. Now, this disdain for Fitz, commonly known as “Giggles” in the Warriors online realm, isn’t a new development, but it was something I feel should be addressed again as my actual ability to enjoy a basketball game on TV is diminishing as the games go by.
Whether it’s continuously calling losses “Great efforts” or saying “Monta Ellis should spend the summer with Lou Williams,” Giggles has supplanted himself as a joke when it comes to sports play by play in the Bay Area. Fitz creates the illusion that the Warriors are title contenders when in fact they’ve only made the playoffs once in the past sixteen seasons. Fitz’s pregame spiel feels more like postgame after a loss, constantly giving reasons why the Warriors won’t win the game. I’ve talked to many Warriors fans, and almost all of them consider Fitzgerald an incompetent mockery of the position. Not only does it hinder the watchability factor of the team (which the Warriors pride themselves on), but it engulfs fans with false hope and continuous homer-ism of where the franchise is going.
Veteran Warriors fans have listened to Fitzgerald for his entire tenure, while some are just getting to know him. On a franchise which prides itself so much on the “experience”, it’s shocking to me how this man still has his job. His constant defense of the franchise in every facet imaginable is hitting a tipping point with fans. This is by no means a new complaint either. The franchise has heard these complaints from fans for years, and now that we finally have new owners, fans expected some major changes, mostly starting with Fitz. I guess a standard prerequisite in becoming a Warriors owner is “Must not listen or take account of fan’s requests, even if the fan-base will be happier because of it.”
Unfortunately for Warriors fans, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have yet to differ themselves from Chris Cohan, both for on and off the court issues with the franchise. The scorn for Fitzgerald is easily noticeable: Why does he still have his job? If somebody isn’t doing his job correctly, isn’t that means for a firing? Well, Fitzgerald also has a radio show on KNBR 680, calls games for the newly rekindled San Jose Sabercats and does the Olympics as well. I get the sense that Lacob doesn’t want that kind of publicity on his hands. But what he doesn’t understand is the importance of pleasing his fan base and not just himself.
Lacob recently said that fans that aren’t season ticket holders “aren’t real fans”. This sounds like a man out of touch with his fan base, only eight months into his job. If Lacob oversees the internet and reads blogs like he says he does, he must see the hatred for Fitzgerald. It’s impossible not to. The man is a disgrace to sports play by play men, a valiant Warriors homer even when all is bad, and another Cohan leftover that should be thrown out of the building along with Robert Rowell. Did you get that Mr. Lacob? That’s the fanbase talking, now get to work.
POSTED BY: J-RAM
Of all things you decide to go in on the announcer! He happens to be an Emmy award winning announcer who calls games for a team that has a .350 win percentage during his tenure. A team that has, like you said made the playoffs once in 14 years. No doubt he is a homer, but he does cash a check signed by the Warriors every week, which forces him to be a homer. Questioning the mans understanding of the sport, and his experience is far fetched coming from someone who has little understanding of the game and even less experience. Like you said social media gives everybody a forum, but its important to use the forum correctly. In your previous blog you go out on a limb and give the ownership group a A++ in the job their doing, after less then a half season. And now you question them because they havnt fired the announcer??? Im sure there wernt many Fitz haters during the WE BELIEVE era, when the team was actually winning! I think the reason you cant enjoy games is due to the lack of defense, rebounding, and most importantly Winning the warriors have displayed over the past 14 years and not so much the announcer. Perhaps the coach, GM, OWNERS, and players have more to do with your hate for Fitz than Fitz himself.
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