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hurleyfor3
01-31-2008, 03:52 PM
What do y'all think of him as an espn talking head? I don't recall a thread on him yet, and he seems to have a generally favorable attitute towards us. He's like a grown-up Doug Gottlieb, in multiple senses of the term, and not the vaguely unctuous guy I thought he was at ucla.

Clipsfan
01-31-2008, 04:19 PM
I'm too biased by having to deal with him as UCLA's coach to give him a chance as a talking head. However, I think that he says lots of words but doesn't say much that is meaningful.

RelativeWays
01-31-2008, 04:20 PM
Steve Lavin is Glenn Quagmire.

pamtar
01-31-2008, 05:06 PM
I dont know about 'talking' but he definitely has a greasy head!

SilkyJ
01-31-2008, 06:11 PM
to quote frank the tank: "yea, she's ok"

i think he's solid but usually doesn't provide anything i didn't already know. not ragging on him at all, definitely think he's above average and better than a lot of their talking heads, although some of the praise is probably due to the fact that he doesn't duke bash nearly as much as others....

greybeard
01-31-2008, 06:17 PM
Makes up snapy phrases for stuff. Some of them paint a more vivid picture than usual talk. He has coined way, way too many; they make my eyes hurt.

mapei
01-31-2008, 06:20 PM
I'm too biased by having to deal with him as UCLA's coach

How so? I'm not challenging, just curious whether you were in coaching or the media.

SilkyJ
01-31-2008, 06:24 PM
How so? I'm not challenging, just curious whether you were in coaching or the media.

clipsfan is from LA or at least used to be (if i recall previous posts correctly) so i'm guessing he has either an affinity for UCLA or the opposite, either way that makes him biased...


Makes up snapy phrases for stuff. Some of them paint a more vivid picture than usual talk. He has coined way, way too many; they make my eyes hurt.

"the 3 musketeers" for our freshman. not really that clever, but it could be worse I guess...

3rd Dukie
01-31-2008, 06:25 PM
On the sideline, these 2 are as air headed as any duo I can think of (Dan Patrick excluded). If I hear one more trivia contest with these guys, my TV is in dire straits. However, more to your question about the studio, he's ok.

Vacuous is the best word I can conjure up at the moment for him and Mussberger. In person, Steve is pretty cool. I have met him on a couple of occasions. He's from San Rafael, CA, where my son went to high school.

Mussberger is another thing all together. I sat beside him returning to NYC from the '83 FF, and he is just a boor! As self centered as one might think from his on air work.

Just my opinion.

SilkyJ
01-31-2008, 06:49 PM
In person, Steve is pretty cool. I have met him on a couple of occasions.

agreed. bumped into him on campus once and saw him greeting the crazies before going on the set of college gameday in 2004, maybe? he was real cool and real nice. i remember someone asked him to come have a beer with us in Kville and he said "i'd have a couple but these guys [pointing at the producers] know I'd go Eustachy on them"

(for those who don't know: "Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy resigned in May when it was disclosed that he occasionally partied with students at post game beer blasts.")

DukePA
01-31-2008, 07:16 PM
I dont know about 'talking' but he definitely has a greasy head!

I could have sworn he wears a patent leather toupee ;) I wish my hair was so shiney! Just kidding:D

Kdogg
01-31-2008, 07:45 PM
I can never forgive him for cancelling the UCLA series. It was my favorite non-conference series. I have fond memories of the 1998 game. It's the only time I can remember where I thought the team was running up the score to punish the other team. I think it is still yhe most points scored against UCLA ever.

3rd Dukie
01-31-2008, 08:16 PM
I can never forgive him for cancelling the UCLA series. It was my favorite non-conference series. I have fond memories of the 1998 game. It's the only time I can remember where I thought the team was running up the score to punish the other team. I think it is still yhe most points scored against UCLA ever.

There were a few of us from what was then a fledgling DBR, still on Compuserv, who got together for the '95 or '96 game at Pauley. Bos was there with the Mrs. Bos, a fellow named Rich Poland and others whose names I cannot recall. We also got into the practice on Sat. I never KNEW who had the juice to do that, but I always suspected it was the Bos. It was a great time! We got to meet Coach K. Dick Vitale was at the practice as well as a top recruit named Chris Burgess (and his Dad).

Bos, help me out with the details if you can. That was the game in which Price went up against Toby Bailey. They had played against each other in high school, and their dads' pictures were on the front page of the LA paper. Unfortunately, we lost, but we still had fun. Jelani McCoy (sp?) was a monster inside.

Clipsfan
01-31-2008, 08:31 PM
How so? I'm not challenging, just curious whether you were in coaching or the media.

Just a fan :) He was a miserable coach.

Clipsfan
01-31-2008, 08:32 PM
clipsfan is from LA or at least used to be (if i recall previous posts correctly) so i'm guessing he has either an affinity for UCLA or the opposite, either way that makes him biased...



"the 3 musketeers" for our freshman. not really that clever, but it could be worse I guess...

Yep! Grew up in LA and got my masters at UCLA

dukemomLA
02-01-2008, 04:24 AM
He was a joke as a coach...inept at best. And now a joke as an 'analyst' (duh). He's got the Riley hair, and not much else to give him the benefit of the doubt.

PLEEEEZZE, makes me laugh and chuckle. People really pay this guy?

4decadedukie
02-01-2008, 07:18 AM
He is every bit as good a broadcaster as he was a coach, which is to indicate that Lavin is poor at both activities. Character counts more than any other personal attribute and, for reasons I have not clearly analyzed, I suspect Lavin is not an individual of integrity. Further, I believe this reduces his professional effectiveness in both arenas.

dukegirlinsc
02-01-2008, 08:50 AM
I wasn't a big fan of him back in the UCLA days, but on ESPN I actually don't mind him, and I catch myself laughing at him every now and then.

Better than Digger's tie & matching highligter any day.

kydevil
02-01-2008, 08:54 AM
I believe it was just yesterday they asked Lavin who he thought was the best team. He of course responded with UCLA, saying they were the best team in the best conference. Seemed a little biased?

dukegirlinsc
02-01-2008, 10:58 AM
I believe it was just yesterday they asked Lavin who he thought was the best team. He of course responded with UCLA, saying they were the best team in the best conference. Seemed a little biased?

Are they not the best team in the conference?

Classof06
02-01-2008, 11:08 AM
I guess I'm a little crazy but I happen to like most ESPN analysts and I find it odd that Duke fans, out of all schools, hold ill will towards ESPN. While they certainly have people I don't like (Gottlieb), there are a lot of ESPN analysts I do like. I like Steve Lavin; don't think he's amazing but he definitely makes me chuckle at times. I've always really liked Len Elmore and I'm definitely surprised people on DBR have negative feelings towards him; he never tries to add too much color to the game and gives pretty thorough analysis; he's probably my favorite ESPN analyst to be honest. And I don't care what anyone says, I've always liked Vitale; I've grown up on that guy, I'm not going to turn my back on him now haha.

Jimmy Dykes actually might have become my favorite ESPN analyst if he didn't leave Duke out of his "Power 5" list during the UNC-BC game. And I also like Bilas though I can understand why people get rubbed the wrong way; he likes to give his straightforward opinion and sometimes people think he gives it in a condescending manner. I don't think he comes off like that but see how some might take it that way. The fact that he went to Duke probably doesn't help Bilas' cause in public opinion.

And what would an ESPN evaluation be without talking about Ms. Erin Andrews. Wow. I remember seeing her in person at Duke-UNC my senior year. Again, wow. I wish she did every game ;)

I guess I'm so used to ESPN analysts that I've gotten to like them but besides Gottlieb, I don't have much criticism.

merry
02-01-2008, 11:25 AM
There were a few of us from what was then a fledgling DBR, still on Compuserv, who got together for the '95 or '96 game at Pauley. Bos was there with the Mrs. Bos, a fellow named Rich Poland and others whose names I cannot recall. We also got into the practice on Sat. I never KNEW who had the juice to do that, but I always suspected it was the Bos. It was a great time! We got to meet Coach K. Dick Vitale was at the practice as well as a top recruit named Chris Burgess (and his Dad).

Bos, help me out with the details if you can. That was the game in which Price went up against Toby Bailey. They had played against each other in high school, and their dads' pictures were on the front page of the LA paper. Unfortunately, we lost, but we still had fun. Jelani McCoy (sp?) was a monster inside.

I remember the 96 game was in Cameron so the one you are remembering must be 95.

Devilsfan
02-01-2008, 12:01 PM
...he knew the game he'd still be coaching.

kydevil
02-01-2008, 11:34 PM
Are they not the best team in the conference?

I wasn't stating that quote as biased. I don't think the Pac-10 is the best conference. Therefore it is biased saying that UCLA is the best team in the country and basing that only on they are the best team in the "best" conference. Yes I know, confusing, sorry maybe someone out there understands?