Happy news, Dan Shulman back for some Jays games

The first thing I read this morning, was a press release from Sportsnet saying that Dan Shulman would be back to do play-by-play of Blue Jays game in 2016. It was a very nice way to wake up.

I very much enjoyed Dan and Buck back in when they were doing the games from 1995 to 2001. Buck was very good in the analyst chair and Dan, well, there is a reason he was poached by ESPN and was 2011 National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association National Sportscaster of the Year.

I did get a kick out of the press release saying that he would do "upwards of 30 games". In other words, we don't know home many games he'll do, maybe 1 a week.

I like the idea that he'll give us a change every now and then. A break from the normal seems like a good idea. I think that, when Buck and Pat really start bugging me, it is because I've listened to them too much. A break, once a week, will do us all good.

On the down side, the press release says they will "make up a three-man' broadcast team on Shulman's games. I hate three-man broadcasts teams. What I think broadcasts do wrong is talk too much. Every now and then, quiet is a good thing, we don't need chatter all the time. When it is three, they tend to talk too much. Each of the three have to get their airtime. We don't need three voices telling us a player is big and strong. Two is plenty.

I wonder how hard this was to sell to Buck and Pat? "Hey, I know we signed you guys for 5 years and we have 4 left, but we are going to bring in someone better once a week." I guess they can just say 'you have a contract, this is what we are doing", but I'd think Rogers would want to keep them happy.

I am taking it for granted that this won't effect the time off Buck and Pat take during the season. They get a week off here and there and someone (generally Matt Devlin for Buck, Joe Siddall for Pat). I'm sure Shulman's addition won't change that.

Anyway, very happy news, and, I'll hope, that they will talk him into a few more games next year.