I hate Quint Kessenich… worst announcer/color commentator ever

1st person I’ve ever heard say that they don’t like Quint. I’m surprised. He’s honestly my favorite commentator for lacrosse games. I like him because he’s always explaining what’s going on in the game, which is perfect for anyone who doesn’t know the game and would be lost watching otherwise. He does a good job of breaking things down instead of just play-by-play announcing. Imagine you don’t know much about lacrosse (like people that call sticks “baskets”) and you’re flicking through channels and a lax game pops up on ESPNU that’s peaks your interest. You would be lost or just turn the channel without a guy like QK using analogies and similarities with other sports to relate the game of lacrosse. He’s educational, colorful, and full of knowledge. I think he’s a good dude and is only helping grow the game. That’s just my opinion.

To Devilslaxative

Good point, but what about the millions of players, explayers, parents, coaches, etc…who tune in for games and have to listen to him talk the entire game about crap we’ve all already heard a million times. Everything he says and does is redundant, repetitive and lame.

I like hearing people’s high school stats, reminds of my days beating up on Central.

Obviously you guys have never watched football, basketball, baseball or hockey on TV… ALL announcers are repetitive and talk about the same stuff ALL game. Hell, John Madden made a career of it (that and talking about Farve). Quint is there with a little bit for everyone, but mostly for the entry level audience I would agree. Maybe I just like him because it’s lacrosse and we should be super stoked that this even makes it onto TV in general.

Lacrosse will gain airtime on TV regardless of people like QK who cater to introductory fans. I have no problem with someone explaining whats going on either, but do it in a way that doesn’t degrade the lacrosse community. He dumbs down the game by CONSTANTLY comparing it to other sports.

If you talk about a fast break, people who watch basketball or hockey will know what you are talking about (because they are sports fans). You don’t have to TELL them that its similar to a hockey or basketball fast break (they will see it themselves).

You never see NFL or College Football, NBA, Hockey, etc announcers talking about how football is similar to other sports. It’s bush league. It’s straight up bad announcing.

IMO, its people like him that actually PREVENT lacrosse from becoming mainstream

mattb – First off, I wish millions tuned in to these games. If they did, games would be on the Father station, ABC, rather than ESPNU (or ESPN2 and ESPN for major games). You have to realize that all commentaors will be redundant. Have you ever watched an NHL game on a major network like NBC as opposed to NHLNetwork or VS? The commentating is much different and involves constant reitiration of rules and terminology because they need to help viewers understand what’s going on so they stay vested in the broadcast because many of the viewers normally wouldn’t watch hockey on TV. Watch the Vikings game this weekend. I guarantee they talk about Brett Favre playing like a kid out there and his ability to throw the ball down field while running from the pocket as well as Jared Allen’s comeback success story. And they’ll say it multiple times. You also have to understand where I come from. My college career ended 3 years ago but my passion for the game has not. I now get my lax fix through coaching 2 youth teams where in 3 years of coaching I have watched our program grow from 65 kids to 119. I love being able to see this progression of the game. It just keeps growing just like the television coverage. I never saw a lax game on TV when I was in high school and to think now I can watch most major NCAA games on TV, it’s really awesome. QK may seem redundant ( I don’t think so) but you have to understand 85% of people that land on ESPNU probably have no idea what’s going on in the game. It’s like rugby, I have no clue what’s going on there because I never see it on TV, nor someone to explain it to me.

cd – I disagree with you that lacrosse will get more airtime without guys like QK. People aren’t going to watch something that they don’t really understand. They need someone to explain what’s going on in terms they CAN understand or”dumb down”. It may seem annoying to those of us that played or are playing but trust me, the majority of people in the stands don’t know what’s happening on the field besides when someone scores. I have parents of kids that I coach that will yell “shoot it” when their son hasn’t even crossed mildfield yet or cry for penalties when their son gets yard-saled. Quint benefits those parents as well as the other masses that only know lacrosse as “oh, that game you play with nets on sticks?”
As far as using other sports to compare lacrosse to, well, that only makes perfect sense. Hockey and lacrosse are very similar (especially box) in terms of culture and being niche areas. Yet, thousands more know what going on, on the ice so why not compare it to that to help people understand what’s going on on the field? You said that you will never hear football, basketball, or hockey announcers compare those sports to others and I agree. But, that’s because those sports are not only unique but they are dominant sports so why would you relate it to a lesser known sport in order to explain anything. Let’s say the NHL is an orange (well known) and the NLL is a nectarine (lesser known), and you don’t really know what a nectarine is. It is much easier for people to understand that a nectarine is similar to orange in taste, color, etc, than to tell someone vice versa, because everyone knows what an orange is as opposed to what a nectarine is. We already know about hockey, but we don’t know about lacrosse. Basketball is one of the most widely played games anywhere now and just about everybody understands the fundamentals of it. The entire fundamentals of the lax defensive system is based on the same as that of basketball. So, if most people understand basketball but not lacrosse, then it creates the perfect reference point for viewers to relate to. Everyone that has PLAYED basketball or lacrosse knows what a fast break is but others don’t. It’s those that don’t, that need a commentator like Quint Kessenich to tell them what it is. In order for the game to grow on TV the appeal to a wide audience needs to be there, not just us laxers. I just want people to understand what lacrosse is and what it’s about and I think QK is doing a great job at doing so. Whew!

I understand what analogies are. I just think they are terrible tools for explaining a game.

Instead of saying how similar Lacrosse and Basketball’s defense schema are, it would be much better in my opinion to explain what a slide package is, or for him to point out who the hot man is and who the second slide. Explain what is actually going on. Every other Sport’s commentators do this.

Yes Lacrosse is not as well known as these other sports, and I am certainly not shirk the responsibility of explaining the game. What I would like to see is an explanation of the game which doesn’t degrade the lacrosse community.

By constantly comparing Lacrosse to other sports, QK pushes lacrosse as some kind of illegitimate bastard child of the sporting community as if it took random aspects from football (hitting), hockey (the lines), soccer (the field), and basketball (offense and defense) and combined them into some gimmick sport. At least that’s how I see it because QK constantly relies on the “This aspect of lacrosse is like….” Instead of delving into a real understanding/explanation of the game.

That and he has to stop ripping terminology from other sports when there is already a lacrosse word for something.

His whole style, to me, wreaks of a lack or respect for the game.

It’s irritating, and Lacrosse deserves better, MUCH better.

CD,

Well Said!

I think think that there was too much blabing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!