WHCU ends broadcast partnership with CU

[arugula]

Most of the ECAC announcers are rank amateurs.

It has gotten a lot better.  20 years ago at least half were students.  Including that one Yale girl who... well...

True.  I'd almost rather have students because they are either embarrassing but entertaining or diamonds in the rough.  I recall WHRB pbp student who was terrific.

[BearLover]

Anyone so long as Pierre McGuire is not involved

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/09/10/nhl-penguins-radio-pierre-mcguire/stories/202509100079

The notion that Pierre McGuire is worse than the local ECAC announcers was certainly one of the crazier views expressed on this forum lately

McGuire has National Hockey Media Syndrome: the affectation that college hockey is an "appetizer" to the NHL, driven in turn by Sports Insecurity Syndrome, the desperation of many sports media types to be taken seriously despite their existential vacuity.  He has such hyper-specific pre-college knowledge it's actually become a joke.  May be retired by now.  Or dead.

A few national national hockey media figures escape this, like Buccigross and the USCHO and CHN folks.  But pretty much everybody on the national Derp Circuit has it bad and that aint good.

I actually think Buccigross is the single biggest offender. A huge portion of his announcing and broader college hockey coverage is in reference to the NHL.

I might be confused -- who is the guy who famously can rattle off where every New England player went to prep school, who his coach was, and then who went there 20 / 40 / 60 years before ?

This probably isn't who you meant, but Pierre McGuire does this...I also don't think Pierre has what you call "National Hockey Media Syndrome." I'm really not even a big Pierre McGuire fan or anything, I just think he is clearly a step up from local announcers and it would be kind of amazing if somehow he became our everyday announcer. Which isn't happening because he was just hired by an NHL team...

[Trotsky]

Most of the ECAC announcers are rank amateurs.

It has gotten a lot better.  20 years ago at least half were students.  Including that one Yale girl who... well...

True.  I'd almost rather have students because they are either embarrassing but entertaining or diamonds in the rough.  I recall WHRB pbp student who was terrific.

Harvard and RPI both had phenomenally good students.  And RPI famously had such outstanding technical chops back when games were first starting to stream they were superior to 95% of pro outlets.  I was always peeved they ate our lunch completely on that.  Just grab some kids from IC FFS.

[BearLover]

Anyone so long as Pierre McGuire is not involved

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/09/10/nhl-penguins-radio-pierre-mcguire/stories/202509100079

The notion that Pierre McGuire is worse than the local ECAC announcers was certainly one of the crazier views expressed on this forum lately

Of course he's not worse.  Most of the ECAC announcers are rank amateurs.  I just don't like McGuire.  We've been extraordinarily lucky to have real pros

I'm not trying to diss people but Pierre would be a step up from the announcers Cornell has had since I've been following. He's been in the game his whole career and is just so much more polished.

[Trotsky]

Anyone so long as Pierre McGuire is not involved

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/09/10/nhl-penguins-radio-pierre-mcguire/stories/202509100079

The notion that Pierre McGuire is worse than the local ECAC announcers was certainly one of the crazier views expressed on this forum lately

McGuire has National Hockey Media Syndrome: the affectation that college hockey is an "appetizer" to the NHL, driven in turn by Sports Insecurity Syndrome, the desperation of many sports media types to be taken seriously despite their existential vacuity.  He has such hyper-specific pre-college knowledge it's actually become a joke.  May be retired by now.  Or dead.

A few national national hockey media figures escape this, like Buccigross and the USCHO and CHN folks.  But pretty much everybody on the national Derp Circuit has it bad and that aint good.

I actually think Buccigross is the single biggest offender. A huge portion of his announcing and broader college hockey coverage is in reference to the NHL.

I might be confused -- who is the guy who famously can rattle off where every New England player went to prep school, who his coach was, and then who went there 20 / 40 / 60 years before ?

This probably isn't who you meant, but Pierre McGuire does this...I also don't think Pierre has what you call "National Hockey Media Syndrome." I'm really not even a big Pierre McGuire fan or anything, I just think he is clearly a step up from local announcers and it would be kind of amazing if somehow he became our everyday announcer. Which isn't happening because he was just hired by an NHL team...

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

[Chris '03]

Anyone so long as Pierre McGuire is not involved

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/09/10/nhl-penguins-radio-pierre-mcguire/stories/202509100079

The notion that Pierre McGuire is worse than the local ECAC announcers was certainly one of the crazier views expressed on this forum lately

McGuire has National Hockey Media Syndrome: the affectation that college hockey is an "appetizer" to the NHL, driven in turn by Sports Insecurity Syndrome, the desperation of many sports media types to be taken seriously despite their existential vacuity.  He has such hyper-specific pre-college knowledge it's actually become a joke.  May be retired by now.  Or dead.

A few national national hockey media figures escape this, like Buccigross and the USCHO and CHN folks.  But pretty much everybody on the national Derp Circuit has it bad and that aint good.

I actually think Buccigross is the single biggest offender. A huge portion of his announcing and broader college hockey coverage is in reference to the NHL.

I might be confused -- who is the guy who famously can rattle off where every New England player went to prep school, who his coach was, and then who went there 20 / 40 / 60 years before ?

I hear New England prep school and immediately flash to Bob Norton.

[Trotsky]

Anyone so long as Pierre McGuire is not involved

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/09/10/nhl-penguins-radio-pierre-mcguire/stories/202509100079

The notion that Pierre McGuire is worse than the local ECAC announcers was certainly one of the crazier views expressed on this forum lately

McGuire has National Hockey Media Syndrome: the affectation that college hockey is an "appetizer" to the NHL, driven in turn by Sports Insecurity Syndrome, the desperation of many sports media types to be taken seriously despite their existential vacuity.  He has such hyper-specific pre-college knowledge it's actually become a joke.  May be retired by now.  Or dead.

A few national national hockey media figures escape this, like Buccigross and the USCHO and CHN folks.  But pretty much everybody on the national Derp Circuit has it bad and that aint good.

I actually think Buccigross is the single biggest offender. A huge portion of his announcing and broader college hockey coverage is in reference to the NHL.

I might be confused -- who is the guy who famously can rattle off where every New England player went to prep school, who his coach was, and then who went there 20 / 40 / 60 years before ?

I hear New England prep school and immediately flash to Bob Norton.

That's who I was thinking of!  Thank you!

[VIEWfromK]

I am glad to go with Jason and Tony, partly on merit* and partly as a reward for grinding with us forever.

They'll have to do a post game show because I don't think it's fair to ask Tony to jam in his THREE STARS with the way the show typically goes off the air.  Especially if there are four or five THREE STARS

[George64]

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

I miss Sam Woodside!

[Trotsky]

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

I miss Sam Woodside!

Was Sam before Grady before Adam before Jason?

[Al DeFlorio]

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

I miss Sam Woodside!

I'll always remember the football game in Hanover when Sam said Dartmouth was in dark green and Cornell in dark white.

[Trotsky]

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

I miss Sam Woodside!

I'll always remember the football game in Hanover when Sam said Dartmouth was in dark green and Cornell in dark white.

He was a visionary.

[David Harding]

I really want guys with local connections to be our announcers.  The pros are Whore Time.  College should be Local Kid Makes Good Time.

I miss Sam Woodside!

Was Sam before Grady before Adam before Jason?

I grew up listening to Sam Woodside call Cornell hockey, football, and basketball games in the 50's and 60's.  
Arthur remembered him in this post from 2006.
A few other links:  Cornell Sun on his retirement
Corenll Athletics Hall of Fame

[Trotsky]

So if Sam retired in 1971 we have between then and 89 when Grady started unaccounted for.  I know Arthur was color for a while, but IINM not PBP.

Aha, quoting Arthur fronm 2006:

In the thread announcing Tom Joseph's passing, Bill Howard suggested:
[q]Some time it would be fun (well, a little) to recall all the Cornell sports announcers and where they've gone on to. It would be boring as hell for eLynah denizens who thank Adam Wodon is an old-timer.[/q]

Here's what I remember ...

I arrived at Cornell as a freshman in the fall of 1967. Sam Woodside announced Cornell hockey (and most other Cornell sports) on WHCU. Sam was occasionally assisted by his son Jim Woodside, but for the most part he did the broadcasts by himself.

Sam retired in the early 1970's, and was succeeded by Jay Levine, who broadcast games for a year, or two at the most. After Jay came Roy Ives, with Tom Joseph as his sidekick.

After the 1980 ECAC championship / NCAA "frozen four" season, Roy left briefly to broadcast minor league hockey, but that didn't work out, and he returned to Ithaca. WHCU hired Chris Moore, a recent Ithaca College graduate, to handle Cornell hockey in Ives' absence. Moore worked first with someone from WVBR (Pat somebody, whose name escapes me now ... sorry, it's been a long time), and when that didn't work out, with the sports columnist from the Ithaca Times, Arthur somebody ... the name's right on the tip of my tongue). More than a thousand people petitioned WHCU to restore Roy Ives to the broadcasts. Playoff games weren't beholden to WHCU's in-season contracts, and the 1981 playoffs featured competing broadcasts between Moore's WHCU team and Ives on WTKO.

Moore continued to broadcast on WHCU through 1984, with first Howie Borkan and then Kurt Smutko as color commentators. Moore left after the 1984 season for Wisconsin, and eventually the Florida Panthers of the NHL and WFAN in New York). Jim Lester succeeded him, with John Heron and Jim Connors (not the tennis legend) as color men. Ives came back for several years, with Pete Tufford at his side. Grady Whittenburg succeeded Roy, initially with Pete on color, but it was during Grady's tenure that WHCU (which had been taken over by Eagle Broadcasting, along with WTKO) started moving toward a single broadcaster, especially for games outside of Lynah Rink. Grady left for the Binghamton Senators in 2002. Adam Wodon broadcast for two seasons through 2004, and Jason Weinstein succeded him.

[Disclaimer: These are my best recollections as to what happened. I may be off by a year or so about when transitions happened, but I believe that the names, the roles, and the stations are substantially accurate. I welcome corrections to the details. And, obviously, I'm the "Arthur" who worked with Chris Moore, and I also did several games with Grady over the years; you can decide how good a job I did.]

Hockey PBP:

58-69 Sam Woodside
69-70 Jay Levine
70-72 Andy Andrews
72-80 Roy Ives
80-84 Chris Moore
84-85 Jim Lester
85-89 Roy Ives
89-02 Grady Whittenburg
02-04 Adam Wodon
04-25 Jason Weinstein

Arthur did a great job in the games I heard him do.  He projected slightly less irascibility than what we know and love him for.

[jkahn]

So if Sam retired in 1971 we have between then and 89 when Grady started unaccounted for.  I know Arthur was color for a while, but IINM not PBP.

Aha, quoting Arthur fronm 2006:

In the thread announcing Tom Joseph's passing, Bill Howard suggested:
[q]Some time it would be fun (well, a little) to recall all the Cornell sports announcers and where they've gone on to. It would be boring as hell for eLynah denizens who thank Adam Wodon is an old-timer.[/q]

Here's what I remember ...

I arrived at Cornell as a freshman in the fall of 1967. Sam Woodside announced Cornell hockey (and most other Cornell sports) on WHCU. Sam was occasionally assisted by his son Jim Woodside, but for the most part he did the broadcasts by himself.

Sam retired in the early 1970's, and was succeeded by Jay Levine, who broadcast games for a year, or two at the most. After Jay came Roy Ives, with Tom Joseph as his sidekick.

After the 1980 ECAC championship / NCAA "frozen four" season, Roy left briefly to broadcast minor league hockey, but that didn't work out, and he returned to Ithaca. WHCU hired Chris Moore, a recent Ithaca College graduate, to handle Cornell hockey in Ives' absence. Moore worked first with someone from WVBR (Pat somebody, whose name escapes me now ... sorry, it's been a long time), and when that didn't work out, with the sports columnist from the Ithaca Times, Arthur somebody ... the name's right on the tip of my tongue). More than a thousand people petitioned WHCU to restore Roy Ives to the broadcasts. Playoff games weren't beholden to WHCU's in-season contracts, and the 1981 playoffs featured competing broadcasts between Moore's WHCU team and Ives on WTKO.

Moore continued to broadcast on WHCU through 1984, with first Howie Borkan and then Kurt Smutko as color commentators. Moore left after the 1984 season for Wisconsin, and eventually the Florida Panthers of the NHL and WFAN in New York). Jim Lester succeeded him, with John Heron and Jim Connors (not the tennis legend) as color men. Ives came back for several years, with Pete Tufford at his side. Grady Whittenburg succeeded Roy, initially with Pete on color, but it was during Grady's tenure that WHCU (which had been taken over by Eagle Broadcasting, along with WTKO) started moving toward a single broadcaster, especially for games outside of Lynah Rink. Grady left for the Binghamton Senators in 2002. Adam Wodon broadcast for two seasons through 2004, and Jason Weinstein succeded him.

[Disclaimer: These are my best recollections as to what happened. I may be off by a year or so about when transitions happened, but I believe that the names, the roles, and the stations are substantially accurate. I welcome corrections to the details. And, obviously, I'm the "Arthur" who worked with Chris Moore, and I also did several games with Grady over the years; you can decide how good a job I did.]

Hockey PBP:Woodside's last hockey season was '68-69, though I think he did football longer. Jay Levine's only season was the glorious '69-'70 year. I can still hear him in my mind saying "Lodboa shoots, he scores." Jay was pretty good, although I didn't hear him often as I think I was at 22 or 23 of the 29 games.
I recall an Andy Andrews doing games in '70-'71 and maybe '71-72, perhaps with Roy Ives.
Woodside was way past his prime when Arthur and I attended school. The call I remember most was the '69 NCAA semi-final where Sam said (perhaps not exactly but pretty close) "Gordie Lowe in the Cornell end, and a goal" and we all turned to each other with a "who scored" question and about 10-15 seconds later Sam explained that Lowe scored and Cornell had won.
Jay Levine and his wife Mary Ann Childers have been TV news anchors and reporters in Chicago for the past 25 years or so.

58-71 Sam Woodside
71-72 Jay Levine
72-80 Roy Ives
80-84 Chris Moore
84-85 Jim Lester
85-89 Roy Ives
89-02 Grady Whittenburg
02-04 Adam Wodon
04-25 Jason Weinstein

Arthur did a great job in the games I heard him do.  He projected slightly less irascibility than what we know and love him for.

Jay Levine's only year was the '69-'70 championship season.  The following is from a post I made in 2006 on this subject:

Woodside's last hockey season was '68-69, though I think he did football longer. Jay Levine's only season was the glorious '69-'70 year. I can still hear him in my mind saying "Lodboa shoots, he scores." Jay was pretty good, although I didn't hear him often as I think I was at 22 or 23 of the 29 games.
I recall an Andy Andrews doing games in '70-'71 and maybe '71-72, perhaps with Roy Ives.
Woodside was way past his prime when Arthur and I attended school. The call I remember most was the '69 NCAA semi-final where Sam said (perhaps not exactly but pretty close) "Gordie Lowe in the Cornell end, and a goal" and we all turned to each other with a "who scored" question and about 10-15 seconds later Sam explained that Lowe scored and Cornell had won.
Jay Levine and his wife Mary Ann Childers have been TV news anchors and reporters in Chicago for the past 25 years or so.