There have been offhand comments about this but I'm not sure there's been a dedicated thread.

We got us some pretty solid broadcasters at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
Russ Eisenstein and Rob Cornelius. Jake Hromoda.

I'm probably overlooking others.

But I've never felt that we had local yokel types doing our games. I always feel that I'm getting very good audio from hard-working, well-prepared, pretty much objective broadcasters.

Plus, they're not homers, which makes it even better to listen to. Yes, they pull for Ohio, but they're very fair in criticizing our team and praising the opponent when both are deserved. I've heard some announcers who are so one-sided it'll make you puke. Not Russ and Rob. They're real pros.

We are blessed to have Russ. I look forward to the broadcasts.

I agree that Russell and Rob are a great team. And, I've come to appreciate their style. The post and pre-game videos are awesome, too! I will say, however, that in terms of play-by-play you've actually touched on something that I find questionable. Though I'm all for calling an obvious walk or travel, I've noticed many times (because I'm one of those nerds who listen to the game with a plug in my ear when I'm at the Convo) that Russell will often say that some Ohio player got away with a walk when the alleged walk was right in front of me and at a bad viewing angle for the broadcast team and the player didn't actually walk. The same thing for "got away with a foul," etc. Or, on the opposite end, saying an Ohio player was foul, when a better vantage point clearly shows he wasn't fouled. Again, call the obvious missed calls, but be a little more reluctant to call something when you don't have a good view of the action because other players are blocking your view of the player(s) in question. Let me end by repeating, that I'm very glad we have those two gems in our broadcast booth. They are by far the best in the MAC! Go OHIO!

As someone who does not live in the Midwest Russ, Rob, Arkley and the good folks behind the scenes at Bobcat TV are my eyes and ears for all things Ohio and I am very appreciative of the quality work they deliver consistently. A big thumbs up to them all.

I have not seen any discussion about how the new ESPN contract will affect Russ and Rob and do not know what their thoughts are on it. Are they excited, disappointed, nervous, etc? Anyone have any insight?

When he left originally, I was disappointed. In retrospect, there are a couple things about him that I miss, but as a rule, Russ & Rob are better. Listen to a couple other MAC, or other area broadcast teams, and you'll realize they're among the best you'll listen to anywhere for college hoops. (I don't listen to tons of college football to compare to - I do listen to a lot of basketball). One thing I notice that plenty of broadcast teams do that I've never heard from Russ or Rob is to say "We" when referring to The Bobcats. To me, that's a big, big deal.


As a note on Derek, I always enjoyed the opening line he used: "From the shores of Lake Erie, to the banks of the Ohio River, the Ohio Bobcats are on the air".

We paid a lot of those stations. Our bball games used to be broadcast (I'm talking the 1990s) on AM 1220 in Cleveland for the very same reason.

That one season of Warren Swain was the most terribly wonderful radio any fanbase has ever experienced. He was so bad, so forgetful, so bumbling that it was must-listen radio. He was an SNL skit and Christopher Guest mockumentary rolled into one.

I wish I had a greatest flubs mp3.