Chris Stewart was double booked with basketball that day.
Eli Gold Not Expected To Return To Booth In 2024
- Thread starter Mke4Bama
- Start date
He made himself the bad guy here by playing the victim. He wasn't renewed, he was offered a farewell and other amenities...instead of saying ok, lets do it....and becoming an icon in Bama lore.....he chose to reject the offers and go to the media to let everyone know that poor Eli was basically fired.
The university took the high road.
Eli Gold's ego took the low road.
Wish him well, I'm done with him. How he reacted showed who he is.
The
One would think a man his age would have gained more wisdom than he displayed in how he has handled this situation.
What I heard earlier from Tom Abraham on 97.7 is just utterly disappointing.
Basically Eli is not being truthful about how things went down.
Another childhood hero gone down the toilet.
Basically Eli is not being truthful about how things went down.
Another childhood hero gone down the toilet.
I love Eli, I don't know who is "right" and "wrong" here, but it is turning into a story and not in a good way. Even if Eli is "right", he is not getting his job back, in which case it should be accepted with grace and gratitude for the many years we had him.
Regardless of who is in the right, from a public standpoint, it is always wise to not air the laundry. The conversation happened privately and needs to be kept that way. Both parties are more than welcome to have their private individual conversations to moan and complain to their spouse and/or friends. But to do it publicly doesn't help the perception of the individual.
Really isn't what anyone wanted. He's been the voice of Bama since I was 11. In no way would I have ever expected this from him, but then again, I don't know anything of him personally, so I had no idea his ego was this big.
I hate this sour feeling about everything now.
You know who is a humble guy and deserves what he's got right now.....Chris Stewart. Good guy.
Well since Eli wants his case public, I'll add this:
For the last 3 years I exclusively listened to Eli (When he was broadcasting) and found out he did not describe what yard line the football was on. When a big play happened he was clueless how to describe the realtime action. It reminded me a lot of John Forney in his last season broadcasting for the Tide.
I never knew what was going on in the game because the play by play man couldn't process all the necessary information. It was as simple as that. They had lost their fastball, curveball and slider.
Obviously both were well up in age and still respected. I chose to tell myself that I love these guys and I will deal with it.
For the last 3 years I exclusively listened to Eli (When he was broadcasting) and found out he did not describe what yard line the football was on. When a big play happened he was clueless how to describe the realtime action. It reminded me a lot of John Forney in his last season broadcasting for the Tide.
I never knew what was going on in the game because the play by play man couldn't process all the necessary information. It was as simple as that. They had lost their fastball, curveball and slider.
Obviously both were well up in age and still respected. I chose to tell myself that I love these guys and I will deal with it.
So the University wants to go in a different direction. Why in the world would you want to stick around some place where you know you aren’t wanted, especially after 35 years and age 70? So what if the University wants to retire you. Let them give you the gold watch, the rocking chair and the day of recognition and “retire you”. . Let everyone save face here.
Then wait a few weeks, and say “I was miserable in retirement. I like to work and still think I’m pretty good at what I do. So I’m “un-retiring” and going to work for…..”.
Bottom line is that the university felt it was time to move and had a solid replacement in Chris Stewart. Eli didn’t want to admit that Father Time was catching up with him. So Eli decided to get in front of every microphone he could in an attempt to sway public opinion that he was being kicked to the curb for no good reason.
Then wait a few weeks, and say “I was miserable in retirement. I like to work and still think I’m pretty good at what I do. So I’m “un-retiring” and going to work for…..”.
Bottom line is that the university felt it was time to move and had a solid replacement in Chris Stewart. Eli didn’t want to admit that Father Time was catching up with him. So Eli decided to get in front of every microphone he could in an attempt to sway public opinion that he was being kicked to the curb for no good reason.
According to Ryan Brown on "The Press Box" radio show this morning he said something to the effect of Chris Stewart has been in high demand at other schools for their play by Play voice over the last couple of years. He said it became clear that if Bama waited much longer they were going to lose Stewart, who they want to be the voice, if they didn't make the move now. The choice was to keep Eli for another year or two and lose Stewart or make the change and have the guy they want. Either way there was no perfect outcome and Keeping Eli meant having to find someone else in a year or two that wasn't Chris Stewart when Chris Stewart is who they WANT. Also said it's a business and in the business of broadcasting, very few ever leave on their own terms.
I think Chris is great broadcasting BB, but not so much with football.
Some years ago, I ran into a woman who was in my parents' circle of friends, though I knew her only well enough to say, "Hello, Mrs. [surname]". She had recently divorced her husband of 40+ years, mainly for being untrustworthy on a number of fronts for a long time. And there's no doubt he was untrustworthy.
But he was good-looking and the life of the party and a lot of other girls would have wanted to be in her place when she married him. And she did find it in herself to stay with him for more than 4 decades and to have 3-4 children with him.
She said to me, "You know [ex's name] and I are divorced." I replied that I knew and was sorry when I heard it. She said, "I'm not. He was a [insert decidedly non-TF phrase]."
Coming from a woman that I'd never heard say anything you wouldn't hear in a mid-century Disney animation, I was taken a bit aback. I did stammer out something along the lines of being sorry such a long marriage ended that way and found an excuse to end the conversation.
The point is, she probably was 1,000% right in her characterization of her ex. But to my eyes, she's the one who looked bad.
On the spot, I learned never to trash a former long-term romantic interest in public, no matter how much I felt she deserved it. It's just a really bad look for the one slinging the mud. Much better to say something like, "I wish Ex well. But there were reasons we split up, and those reasons are still valid."
Eli needed a lesson like that.
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Personally, I think this might be a death sentence for Eli. My guess is that a big motivation for completing his cancer therapy was to get back in the booth. He got back but was....diminished. It may not be fair, but life often is not fair. He really was not up to the job this year. And when UA confronted him with this fact, he reacted badly. I would guess that is because one of his main motivations for fighting through the chemo has now been taken away. And when a person loses their motivators, the clock often starts ticking.
I think the Chris Stewart doubters calling football need to listen to these play calls against UGA. I think he is fantastic.
Yeah I think Stewart is a fantastic play by play for football.
Nashville Kats
His contract was up so he should have suspected something was up since a new one hadn’t been signed. (I have zero idea how his contracts worked). And while the Arena League isn’t exactly Sunday Night Football, the fact he had that right away tells me he may have been looking around just in case.
I saw people say “He was Alabama football”. No he wasn’t. He was the announcer. For that matter, Paul Bryant wasn’t Alabama football and neither was Nick Saban. Alabama football (like any other program) is a fluid state that goes through changes from time to time.
This probably could have been handled better on both sides but it is what it is. I rarely ever listened to him so I don’t have strong emotional ties but I wasn’t a huge fan.
Had we hired RichRod in 2007 and gone through him and a couple of others in 17 years and had average results, would people love Eli like they do? Do people just equate him with the Saban era success and could take him or leave him otherwise?
I saw people say “He was Alabama football”. No he wasn’t. He was the announcer. For that matter, Paul Bryant wasn’t Alabama football and neither was Nick Saban. Alabama football (like any other program) is a fluid state that goes through changes from time to time.
This probably could have been handled better on both sides but it is what it is. I rarely ever listened to him so I don’t have strong emotional ties but I wasn’t a huge fan.
Had we hired RichRod in 2007 and gone through him and a couple of others in 17 years and had average results, would people love Eli like they do? Do people just equate him with the Saban era success and could take him or leave him otherwise?
From the Capstone to the Arena Football League?
Nashville Kats
I would say he is a OK football play by play man but fantastic is a bit of a stretch. JMHO.
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