PDA

View Full Version : Michael Buffer Intros - Love them or hate them?



dbr
12-14-2009, 02:20 AM
We're curious what people think about the recorded Buffer intros. Do you love them? Hate them? Could care less? Just hit the poll and maybe add a quick comment.

NovaScotian
12-14-2009, 07:17 AM
completely unnecessary, and almost embarrassing. the old intros gave me chills (in a good way), these just make me gag.

OZZIE4DUKE
12-14-2009, 08:08 AM
I hate them hate them hate them! And so does everyone else I've asked about them, both inside Cameron and out.

weezie
12-14-2009, 08:23 AM
They are pretty dreadful. Once as a gag might have been humorous but all season? Ugh.

Sixthman
12-14-2009, 08:49 AM
My thirteen year old daughter, when she first heard Buffer, said "make him stop! What are they thinking". She went on to say it sounded fake and that whoever would let him do that must not think Duke Basketball is exciting on its own.

grc5
12-14-2009, 08:54 AM
I'm an old man, and I fear change. I hated when Nixon took us off the gold standard, and I hate these newfangled Michael Buffer introductions.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some kids to chase off my lawn.

Devil in the Blue Dress
12-14-2009, 09:07 AM
The volume is so high as to make it more difficult to hear and discern what is being said. The tone of such canned announcements seems more at home in a huge arena hosting "professional" wrestling. Cameron is famous as a more intimate environment, not a super sized carnival like venue. Updating from time to time is part of evolving, but this change doesn't add to the real excitement and markets the Duke brand in a way that is sort of cheap and plastic.

aimo
12-14-2009, 09:29 AM
I think the canned intros are the cheesiest thing they've ever tried in Cameron. It's akin to the canned cheering in the Dean Dome a few years back. Art Chandler is an icon and should be allowed to do the Duke intros for as long as he possibly can.

I also think the volume in the speakers is set way too high. I have to plug my ears when the videos come on b/c I sit directly beneath a speaker (section 16).

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

allenmurray
12-14-2009, 09:53 AM
I don't like them - I think they are really corny. But I would be curious to know what the players think about them. Given that they last all of about 45 seconds what we think about them seems to be much ado about nothing. If the players like them I hope they stay, irrespective of how I or other fans feel about them.

Ima Facultiwyfe
12-14-2009, 10:14 AM
Nothing inventive, clever or exciting about the Buffer tirades. They are tired, old, stupid and out of place in Cameron. But, I'm even more disappointed and embarrassed in "you suck" yelled by the students...... also not inventive, but equally tired, old, stupid and out of place in Cameron. PLEASE make them both stop!!! Both break my heart enough to make me consider just arriving late.
Love, Ima

Dopeshop
12-14-2009, 10:29 AM
my group was mortified at the St John's game . It was a step away from World Federation Wrestling ! The harmonica national anthem was a bit dicey too, but I assume this was a one time deal . A Definite sell out !

mayrer
12-14-2009, 10:52 AM
I was shocked when I first heard them, but I thought I'd give them a chance. They are no better now. They have no connection with Duke, they actually appear to detract from the student / fan support during intros, and they're not in any way clever or innovative.

I hope Duke has the sense to get rid of them.

Thanks.

LanceChef
12-14-2009, 11:25 AM
It's terrible and kills grad student momentum going into the game from where I've been standing. Buffer licensing rights are also a silly expense if Duke athletics are indeed over budget as suggested by the Chronicle.

J.Blink
12-14-2009, 11:43 AM
Hate. Think the players also look uncomfortable during the intros.

ddsdevil
12-14-2009, 12:40 PM
Hate it. I thought that the intro during the C2C was appropriate, but I also thought that it would be a one time thing.

j(ay)mike
12-14-2009, 12:47 PM
I'm sorry - but I don't understand.

Are they actually using Michael Buffer's voice, or is it just a "Michael Buffer-style" introduction?

If the former, and if they are using "let's get ready to rumble", they are going to get sued. Buffer charges $1million for each use of that.

If the latter, without even having heard it yet, I am sick to my stomach.

RaineyDevil
12-14-2009, 01:30 PM
Has anyone been to other ACC games outside of CIS?

I've been to a few Wake games the last few years and they have an incredible intoduciton. They black out the building and play a highlight video. Then the Decon comes out to "Welcome to the Jungle" on a chopper and revs the engine as the players are intoduced. It really gets the crowd and players going. They have a "buffer-esque" announcer.

I know Duke would never fall into antics like that, but I was curious to see what other ACC schools did for their player intros...

El_Diablo
12-14-2009, 01:49 PM
I'm sorry - but I don't understand.

Are they actually using Michael Buffer's voice, or is it just a "Michael Buffer-style" introduction?

If the former, and if they are using "let's get ready to rumble", they are going to get sued. Buffer charges $1million for each use of that.

If the latter, without even having heard it yet, I am sick to my stomach.

It's Buffer himself. He recorded the intros specifically for Duke to use, so he won't be suing.

Acymetric
12-14-2009, 01:53 PM
Did he record more than one version of each player's name? The reason I ask is that I hated the Buffer intros, but at the last game it seemed like a different set was used...with the difference being that each name seemed about 3 seconds shorter (especially Krzyzewski and Plumlee) and were a lot easier to get through that way. Of course, maybe they were the same as they had been all season and I'm acclimating.

I agree with allenmurray though. If the players like them, I think we should keep them. Especially if recruits like them. Obviously nobody is going to choose Duke solely based on player intros, but as they say...its the little things.

OZZIE4DUKE
12-14-2009, 02:02 PM
Did he record more than one version of each player's name? The reason I ask is that I hated the Buffer intros, but at the last game it seemed like a different set was used...with the difference being that each name seemed about 3 seconds shorter (especially Krzyzewski and Plumlee) and were a lot easier to get through that way. Of course, maybe they were the same as they had been all season and I'm acclimating.
I too noticed that the syllabic emphasis was different, and shorter, for some of the names at the last game. Now, if only we could get the entire routine down another 90%.....

Jfrosh
12-14-2009, 02:31 PM
I don't like them - I think they are really corny. But I would be curious to know what the players think about them. Given that they last all of about 45 seconds what we think about them seems to be much ado about nothing. If the players like them I hope they stay, irrespective of how I or other fans feel about them.

I am with AllenMurray, if the introductions help get the players pumped I'd say keep them, but to the fans in the stands they are horrible. Good for the Coundown to Craziness, but I would have ended them there.

buddy
12-14-2009, 03:03 PM
The "you suck" is more disappointing than Michael Buffer. I would think that a student body with the supposed intelligence of Duke's could come up with a more inventive greeting than the University of Maryland. I think the Buffer intros should be saved for special events--when it is done every night it loses it panache.

dukebbfan
12-14-2009, 03:04 PM
That type of intro just doesn't fit in Cameron. Let's get back to our classic style; this is not the NBA; it's Duke basketball in Cameron and that speaks for itself!

aimo
12-14-2009, 03:22 PM
I've been to a few Wake games the last few years and they have an incredible intoduciton. They black out the building and play a highlight video. Then the Decon comes out to "Welcome to the Jungle" on a chopper and revs the engine as the players are intoduced. It really gets the crowd and players going. They have a "buffer-esque" announcer.

I am a Wake grad, and I HATE the cheesy intro there.

I wouldn't mind going back to the spotlight intros from the old days, but leave the canned crap out. Our crowds are plenty loud for our players without it.

amyindurham
12-14-2009, 03:47 PM
The "you suck" is more disappointing than Michael Buffer. I would think that a student body with the supposed intelligence of Duke's could come up with a more inventive greeting than the University of Maryland.

I couldn't agree more ... I'm not sure how the "you suck" thing got started at Cameron, but it seems to be catching on more and more at each game. Perhaps a mandate from on high could put a stop to it?

As far as the Buffer intros, I didn't mind them at Countdown to Craziness (somehow seemed more appropriate there!), but it's getting old pretty quickly. Just a little too cheesy.

Spoke
12-14-2009, 04:41 PM
I find these intros crass and brazen and in no way appropriate to a college basketball game.

wandalee
12-14-2009, 04:59 PM
I hate the Michael Buffer intros. I am among those who have written Duke athletics and Iron Dukes about them. I know of 1 high dollar donor who will not go to his seat until the intro is over - his way of voicing his displeasure.
Hopefully, someone who can make a decision about this will read DBR to get a general feel about the intros.

Heelkiller1
12-14-2009, 05:14 PM
can i change my vote to hate it

rthomas
12-14-2009, 07:27 PM
I haven't heard this BUT the poll is overwhelming. It's bad. It's very bad. I guess I'd like to hear how the players feel about it.

But what can be done about it?

weezie
12-14-2009, 07:28 PM
So now what? Are the DBR "powers that be" going to take these concerns and opinions to somebody over at the basketball office?

NovaScotian
12-14-2009, 07:47 PM
I couldn't agree more ... I'm not sure how the "you suck" thing got started at Cameron, but it seems to be catching on more and more at each game. Perhaps a mandate from on high could put a stop to it?

As far as the Buffer intros, I didn't mind them at Countdown to Craziness (somehow seemed more appropriate there!), but it's getting old pretty quickly. Just a little too cheesy.

is the "you suck" thing new? just two years ago we were pretty set on "Hi Raymond!" or whatever the poor opponent's name was. have the crazies reverted to the old way?

Newton_14
12-14-2009, 08:19 PM
I was at CTC and thought it was great having Buffer there doing the intro's that night. And the players also got to pick their own song to be played while they were being introduced. For the setting and event that night, it was actually pretty cool.

That said, I too hate them at the regular games. Especially given they are just playing a recording. I feel it ruins the mood of the crowd verses actually getting everyone pumped up.

I am not against change. Change is good. But this is one change that has flopped and needs to be modified. I would prefer Dr. Chandler, but like others I would like to know what the players think and feel their voice should carry more weight in the decision.

jipops
12-14-2009, 10:09 PM
There was always such a rush when the PA announcer would personally provide an intro

"...and at forward, standing 6-8 from Birmingham, Michigan..." crowd becomes so loud the rest isn't really audible. Now THAT is Cameron Indoor.

verga
12-14-2009, 11:39 PM
it seems fake and not at all what Duke basketball is about, please get rid of it or him.

cascadedevil
12-15-2009, 01:50 AM
... I do not have better things to think about.


GO DEVILS!!!

killerleft
12-15-2009, 09:49 AM
Unless it can be shown that recruits are somehow swayed into coming to Duke because of Michael Buffer's canned intros, or that the players are really thrilled by them, Duke does not need this stuff.

I can only surmise that the intros are a way to counter what potential Duke players might see (or be told to see) as a staid, old-fashioned program. I would not be surprised to find out that Coach K might have suggested that somebody find a way to make the Duke image more palatable to a "flash-bang" oriented teen crowd. What they came up with is old-school Michael Buffer?

alteran
12-15-2009, 10:31 AM
The "you suck" is more disappointing than Michael Buffer. I would think that a student body with the supposed intelligence of Duke's could come up with a more inventive greeting than the University of Maryland. I think the Buffer intros should be saved for special events--when it is done every night it loses it panache.

Ditto. I thought the sarcastic "Hi Billy!" is way better, funnier, and far more original than "Hi Billy... YOU SUCK!"

Now, for awhile there was a phase were they did the "Hi" alone, and just did "Hi... YOU SUCK" to UNC. Reserving sucking for the Heels made a lot of sense to me.

But all the time? Takes something original and different and turns it into just another cheer.

Regarding the intros, I voted "other things to worry about." Not that I like them (or am even indifferent to them), I don't and I'm not. There's a wannabe aspect to them, and an aspect of being like everyone else.

But I just see it as the ESPNization of everything good about sports. Pretty inevitable.

Ima Facultiwyfe
12-15-2009, 11:12 AM
Glad to hear that a few of you are in my corner when it comes to the "you suck" sucking! Coach has called a halt to far less repulsive and unclassy things. Why doesn't he do something about THIS?!:confused::confused::confused:

Even if it were funny, why do the crazies insist on doing something so VERY old hat in the first place?
Love, Ima

Mal
12-15-2009, 07:21 PM
As is often said of the Chicago White Sox "Disco Demolition Night," this is a bad idea terribly executed.

If it were 1998, there might be a shred of originality or freshness here which could help mitigate the fact that this is totally unnecessary.

As it's no longer 1998, there's no originality or freshness here. Instead, we have a sad admixture of desperation, overcommercialization, cheesiness and bad marketing consultant breath all over this idea.

So we're left with just a grating, totally lame way of unnecessarily shredding tradition. Duke basketball shouldn't, and doesn't, need gimmicks. We're on the slippery slope to turning off the lights and bringing out the dry ice and laser light shows for introductions now. It's all lame and deeply uncool. I don't care if the players like it - 18 year olds think all kinds of embarrassing things are cool; it's our job to disabuse them of such notions. :)

Now, can we work on those HIDEOUS uniforms next? That barely visible surface pattern is worthy of pajamas, not one of the winningest programs in college basketball history. They look like someone found leftover fabric in the Duke Store basement from a poorly selling tie that hit the market in 1993. I demand a new poll!

- Old Curmudgeon

wandalee
12-15-2009, 10:34 PM
My sister-in-law went to tonight's game with me (her 1st game of the season). I didn't warn her in advance of the new introductions. During them, she leaned over and said, "What is this crap??!!"

wsdevil
12-16-2009, 11:21 AM
The Buffer intros and any other loud artificial noise undermines what makes Cameron special to begin with, and that is the "natural" enthusiasm of our crowd in our perfectly sized arena. I noticed that the Buffer intros actually managed to kill the crowd involvement by overwhelming it. Not good.

The Wake Forest comments made in a previous post are interesting. Wake has gone to great lengths to artificially produce enthusiasm at LJVMC. It is loud and it is quite a production. The important thing to remember, however, is that LJVMC was a morgue previously. There was no risk of screwing up the atmosphere because there was none to begin with.

As for the effect on recruiting, I'm not sold. If a new recruit witnesses for himself the real, organic Cameron and compares it to any of the generic electronic experiences now available everywhere else, he should be ours!

Drop Buffer, Drop the videos, Turn off the loudspeakers. Let Cameron rock itself!

aimo
12-16-2009, 01:57 PM
The Wake Forest comments made in a previous post are interesting. Wake has gone to great lengths to artificially produce enthusiasm at LJVMC. It is loud and it is quite a production. The important thing to remember, however, is that LJVMC was a morgue previously. There was no risk of screwing up the atmosphere because there was none to begin with.

Those were my comments. And I totally agree. When I was at Wake, they stunk in basketball, and the Screamin' Demon crowd was a very small section of students. That being said, the crowd involvement there has greatly improved (they've grown a bit to fit the size of Joel. I was there when Joel first opened). I would hope that the theatrics would no longer be necessary to get the crowd into it, but there is no place like Cameron. Which is why I hate the fact that the deafening loudspeakers take the crowd out of it. And I hate the videos. They totally distract the crowd from cheering. I remember the good ol' days in the 70's and 80's when almost every timeout was filled with constant band music and cheering. Now you see the fans staring at the screen, open-mouthed, mugging for the camera so they can see their faces on the screen. LAME! Bring back the creativity!

Son of Mojo
12-16-2009, 09:26 PM
For those who say his announcing is pro-wrestling like, well......he did do ring introductions for WCW for years. I didn't like it when I watched him do the intros in wrestling, and I definitely don't care for it when it involves my basketball team. It would be nice to see it just disappear in lieu of more conventional intros. And as it pertains to the "you suck" addendums--I do not feel above using it but do feel it should be held as a special message of love reserved for the holes and particularly contemptible opposing players from other schools that come in. It definitely should never be a regular cheer to be used all the time.

DukeCO2009
12-17-2009, 01:44 AM
E-mail I sent to Mike Cragg (he seemed like the most appropriate person to contact):


Mike,

I'm sure you and the rest of the athletic department have already heard from plenty of fans, alums, etc. re: the Michael Buffer player introductions for men's basketball games, but I would nonetheless like to add my name to the list of the disgruntled. They were exciting and novel for Countdown to Craziness, but they really zap the energy from the building during games. Not only are they cheesy, but the PA system is entirely too loud and completely drowns out the crowd. They represent an artificiality that I thought Cameron was above and really detract from the building's tradition and authenticity. Perhaps most important, though, is the fact that they have encroached upon the duties of Art Chandler. Dr. Chandler has been a legendary fixture in Cameron for four decades, and to have him cede the player intros to a washed up boxing announcer during his final year at Duke is an insult to everything he has done for the program.

I thought you might be interested in this poll and the accompanying conversation (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18404) from the Duke Basketball Report message boards. A large number of those who post on the DBR are season ticket holders and donors, so perhaps their opinions and unified stance against the Buffer debacle will resonate more loudly than a single recent graduate's gripes. The canned intros simply don't belong in Cameron, particularly when the alternative is Dr. Chandler.

Regards,
xxxxxx


The Buffer crap has got to go.

Cameron
12-19-2009, 02:59 AM
As I've said before, if Duke doesn't "allow" Dr. Chandler (it's amazing, really, that this is even an issue) to officially end his career as the Voice of Cameron with the UNC game in early March, then the university should be utterly ashamed of itself.

This current Buffer situation is a mockery of the Duke tradition of excellence. I am embarrassed for you, Kevin White. And for anyone else who has had a hand in these decisions.

Crisker
12-19-2009, 09:07 PM
Buffer intros are the worst kind of cheese; I expect it at a pro game and that's why I don't go to them. Also because they don't play defense or pass until the playoffs...

DukeDevilDeb
12-20-2009, 08:05 PM
Has anyone who voted that they annoyed the crap out of him/her written to the people who have the authority to do something about it? These would be Kevin White, Coach K. and the Iron Dukes. I wrote to all three; K didn't answer, but the other two did. They were sympathetic, but they also implied that the players liked them and that few people had voiced their disapproval.

So write, please, or we will be stuck with them forever! :(

RainingThrees
12-20-2009, 09:39 PM
Buffer just sounds manufactured. There is no real energy, just some guy that is supposed to make the place energized, but after awhile the act just doesn't produce any more.