QB Kirk Herbstreit (Frosted Quips, Brain with a Lunatic Fringe)

[Crashcup]

The Big 10 down, well that happens to every conference at some point.

2 Losses in the NC game for tOSU is not bad at all. That is exactly why recruiting is going well. Players want to compete and tOSU gives them that opportunity more than any other school.

 

[Buckskin86]

Behind the Mike: ESPN's Herbstreit a 'blue-collar analyst'
Mike Lucas ? 7/31/2008

Kirk Herbstreit recalled how he felt the first time he entered Camp Randall Stadium as the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was something that he felt whenever he put on the helmet. "You think you're prepared and you feel like you're invincible," he said.

Even though the Buckeyes had won four straight games against the Badgers entering their 1992 matchup, there was something about the atmosphere in Madison that was inescapable. "If you gave them (the Badgers) life early," Herbstreit said, "then you had a situation to deal with."

Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez was still cultivating the home-field advantage -- "We need a 12th man," he pleaded -- leading up to the '92 Big Ten opener against 12th-ranked Ohio State, a 10-point favorite. The game was not sold out. But the 72,203 in attendance helped make a difference.

The Badgers got life early from a scoreless first quarter and rallied from a 10-3 halftime deficit to stun the Buckeyes 20-16, giving Alvarez his first win over a ranked opponent. Herbstreit was sacked five times, including the hat trick by Chad Yocum, a DeForest High School product.

Herbstreit, who has gone on to rock star status as an ESPN/ABC college football analyst, was revisiting his first impression of Camp Randall Stadium during the recent Big Ten kickoff meetings in Chicago.

"Now, it doesn't matter if you give them life early because their program has reached a level where they have life from the word go," Herbstreit said. "They're one of the schools whose fans realize you get seven or eight home games a year to have fun and go crazy, and they do."

Reflecting on the Madison mystique, Herbstreit said, "It's kind of the perfect storm -- the noise, the enthusiasm, the alcohol. Along with Ohio Stadium (in Columbus, Ohio) and Penn State (Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.), it has to be one of the most intimidating atmospheres in the Big Ten."

Herbstreit can offer a unique second-generation view on Camp Randall Stadium because his father, Jimmy Herbstreit, was a 5-foot-8 flanker on an Ohio State team that lost here to the Badgers in 1959. His dad was a co-captain (like Kirk), and played and coached for Woody Hayes.

"I was a blue-collar player and I've been a blue-collar analyst," said Herbstreit, who joined ESPN in 1995. "I was on the GameDay set when I was 25 years old and it was like a dream come true. But I've always felt that I've had to outwork every other analyst in television. I don't think I've changed a lot from that perspective."

Since he carries such a high national profile, how has Herbstreit dealt with his DNA, his ties to Ohio State? "I struggled with that for a long time," he admitted. "I do have Big Ten roots. I'm very proud of my heritage, my university, my conference. But I've still got a job to do."

Arts & Entertainment: Behind the Mike: ESPN's Herbstreit a 'blue-collar analyst'

 

[Jaxbuck]

"I was a blue-collar player and I've been a blue-collar analyst," said Herbstreit

Yeah, if they changed the definition of "blue collar" to what "pretty boy prima donna" used to mean.

 

[Shivvy77]

An Illinios win against MIzzou to start the season would be huge. I was talking to some tourists from Peoria, IL on the subway the other day about college football. They seemed very confident in their team for 2008.

I have this sneaking suspicion that the Illini - Mizzou game gets hyped to the gills and Illinois lays an egg, gets blown out and ends up 7-5 on the season.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I have this sneaking suspicion that the Illini - Mizzou game gets hyped to the gills and Illinois lays an egg, gets blown out and ends up 7-5 on the season.

With at least one of those 7 wins being against a team they have no business beating and one of the losses being against some team that has no business beating them.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

Getting back to the Hooley thing I inadvertently started...I don't have a problem with Hooley, per se. He calls it like he sees it, and I respect that. IMO, however, he is jaded. He spent a lot of years writing for the Plain Dealer, and there are days I would swear he hates the Browns and Indians...but then other days he shows his support. He's the same with the Buckeyes...complimentary, but I feel he goes way out of bounds to try to show he isn't "blinded". It's like he makes so much of an effort to not be a homer that he ends up saying things that are simply outlandish.

As for the Herbie knockers, I really won't ever get it. Listen to him on 1460 and he is as gung ho as any BP member. Listen to him on ESPN or Gameday and he has perhaps the best breakdowns and analysis of the college football game that there is today. And people get pissed because he isn't all scarlet and grey while in the national spotlight? Come on...

 

[jwinslow]

Listen to him on ESPN or Gameday and he has perhaps the best breakdowns and analysis of the college football game that there is today.

Sorry, he's guilty of way too much asanine hyperbole these days.

And people get pissed because he isn't all scarlet and grey while in the national spotlight? Come on...

No, we expect him to make intelligent comments. The conference being set back 10 years, going off the deep end when his UM-OSU hype blew up in his face, etc, etc.

BTW, why doesn't he try to sound reasonable or objective when talking about SC?

Frankly I'm pretty tired of this knee-jerk response to Herbie criticism, evaluating stereotypes rather than what he actually says. If it's that simple, why do we not hear the same vitriol towards Robert Smith, who is not afraid to lavish heavy praise or criticism on OSU? When Robert's wrong, he doesn't spend the next year compensating to an extreme like Herbie.

 

[mross34]

If it's that simple, why do we not hear the same vitriol towards Robert Smith, who is not afraid to lavish heavy praise or criticism on OSU? When Robert's wrong, he doesn't spend the next year compensating to an extreme like Herbie.

One reason we don't hear it about Robert Smith is because he's not nearly as visible as Herbie.

 

[matcar]

Sorry, he's guilty of way too much asanine hyperbole these days.
No, we expect him to make intelligent comments. The conference being set back 10 years, going off the deep end when his UM-OSU hype blew up in his face, etc, etc.

BTW, why doesn't he try to sound reasonable or objective when talking about SC?

Frankly I'm pretty tired of this knee-jerk response to Herbie criticism, evaluating stereotypes rather than what he actually says. If it's that simple, why do we not hear the same vitriol towards Robert Smith, who is not afraid to lavish heavy praise or criticism on OSU? When Robert's wrong, he doesn't spend the next year compensating to an extreme like Herbie.

FWIW, Robert, whom I like equally as much as Kirk, isn't in the spotlight nearly as much and his every statement isn't scrutinized. Is Kirk prone to some hyperbole? Well sure, but he also gives an honest opinion and is genuinely interested in the game. Most of us viewers want that. He's wrong as much as he's right, which given the current state of CFB, probably isn't bad. He also happens to be a kind person and a faithful Buckeye in spite of some comments that have obviously angered some folks.

 

[jwinslow]

One reason we don't hear it about Robert Smith is because he's not nearly as visible as Herbie.

He's on quite a bit the past two years... have you heard a peep about Robert? Jesse Palmer is on about as often as Smith, and Jesse is absolutely loathed by quite a few from what I've seen.

There are plenty of "homers" that work for ESPN and don't feel the need to overcompensate, either for their mistakes or fandom.

The program needs to be saved... likening the b10 to the MAC around the nation... setting the conference back to 1960... annual comments about setting the conference back a decade... etc. After awhile, it just gets tiresome.

 

[mross34]

I try not to watch ESPN enough to see their second tier guys like Palmer and Smith and Rece Davis too often (although I think Davis does a good job).

I just don't think you can put them in anywhere near the same league as Herbie and therefore can't expect the same type of scrutiny.

As far as Palmer goes, I just don't think he comes across like he knows what he's talking about any moreso than the average fan.

 

[Dryden]

I try not to watch ESPN enough to see their second tier guys like Palmer and Smith and Rece Davis too often (although I think Davis does a good job).

Rece Davis, IMHO, is the best (and most professional) anchor ESPN has.

They should clone him just so he can host Baseball Tonight, NFL Live, and be both on location and at the studio for College GameDay.

 

[matcar]

FWIW, Robert, whom I like equally as much as Kirk, isn't in the spotlight nearly as much and his every statement isn't scrutinized. Is Kirk prone to some hyperbole? Well sure, but he also gives an honest opinion and is genuinely interested in the game. Most of us viewers want that. He's wrong as much as he's right, which given the current state of CFB, probably isn't bad. He also happens to be a kind person and a faithful Buckeye in spite of some comments that have obviously angered some folks.

I'm going to finish off the IO since ya can't get a shout out...

 

[daddyphatsacs]

If it's that simple, why do we not hear the same vitriol towards Robert Smith, who is not afraid to lavish heavy praise or criticism on OSU? When Robert's wrong, he doesn't spend the next year compensating to an extreme like Herbie.

Robert Smith isn't a host on Gameday, and doesn't call the biggest games of the week. He is much less visible to say the least.

What cracks me up is that with every passing year you have a bunch of guys who call Herbie a traitor, and others who call him a homer. It's all in the eye of the beholder, most will believe whatever they want to.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

I honestly don't see what Jwins is saying...I have heard those comments, but I don't know that I disagree with them. The B10 absolutely sucks, and has for some years now. With the exception of tOSU, what else is there? Wisconsin? An over-rated PSU? An even more over-rated scUM?

Looking at the top 25 polls, I think many of the teams on there are over-rated. But from a conference perspective, I think the B10 would lose playing head to head against all other BCS conferences except maybe the Big East. Regardless, speaking of knee-jerk reactions, I simply don't understand the plethora of OSU fans that "hate" Herbie because he has "sold out". I think that's horseshit...it you don't like him or his statements (like jwins is talking about), that's fine...but to hate him because he isn't pro-Buckeye enough? It makes me laugh.