Thank You Tim Priest!

#54
#54
Priest was really good but I certainly understand the decision.

That said, Iā€™m so curious if anyone at the Vol Network or Kesling himself realize heā€™s by far the weakest link of football and basketball broadcasts? Outside of comedic mistakes, Kesling hasnā€™t delivered one memorable call in his 20+ years on the job. John Ward wouldnā€™t recommend him for the FL job 2-3 years before retiring for a reason, but in true TN fashion they went the easy way out.
 
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#55
#55
Iā€™ve always enjoyed his commentary on the games along with the fun and excitement he always brought. Thank you for all youā€™ve done for UT sports and for the passion you brought to the booth with you for every game.
Enjoy retirement and may God bless you and your family.
Go Vols.
 
#57
#57
Loved Priest! Great job and thank you! I also love Ryan. He did great on Titan radio.
 
#58
#58
Thought he was going to run down to the field and throat punch Dooley when he let the clock run out against Mizzou Lol
I was at that game. As I remember, he had 35 seconds, a timeout, a gun slinger QB, Patterson and Hunter. Dumb decision. When it happened, I turned to my brother-in-law and said, ā€œThat decision just cost him his coaching job. Lost the team. Lost the fans. Especially if it costs us the game.ā€ It did.
 
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#62
#62
Tim Priest will be missed. He is an outstanding game analyst and an entertaining radio personality. He often provided John Ward-esque outbursts that helped pull along Kesling's overly-unemotional play calling. Tim's meltdown toward the end of the 2011 Vanderbilt game (when Eric Gordon's game-winning pick-6 was initially called back) is still legendary. I have never heard so many angrily-shouted "got-dang's" in a single paragraph.

Pat Ryan is a great choice to replace Tim as analyst. It was fun listening to him when Tim missed the Kentucky game a few years ago.
 
#63
#63
I have a lot of respect for Tim. He's All Vol and a gentleman as well. I think we all realize radio play by play and color just doesn't carry the same essential purpose as it once did. Having a duo like John and Bill to entertain the masses will not come along often in the future. Watching a game either in person or on TV misses a lot for me. As a child it was magic for my brothers and I to gather around the radio and listen to the Vols in the fall/winter with football and basketball then wait eagerly for spring training to start and rarely (and I mean rarely) miss a Cardinal game with Harry Carey and Jack Buck!!
 
#64
#64
Wrong half of the Vol Network's football broadcasting duo retired. Like others have said Tim's passion and color were the ONLY reason to listen. We'll miss you Tim.
 
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#65
#65
I sit in upper deck opposite Vol Network booth. I have a extra sooper dooper pair of binoculars, good enough to pick fly droppings out of pepper at 1000 yards. With the Vol network in my ear, I sometimes watch Bob and Tim from afar as they do the game. Priest also sports a pair of binos and I see him on occasion peering down on the field with them.

For those who tried comparing him to Bill Anderson, please don't. Both are football legends - Priest with his interceptions and Bill Anderson with his Super Bowl ring (SB-01, Green Bay Packers). Bill Anderson complemented John Ward as much as Priest complements Kessling. And he certainly didn't sugar coat ANYTHING. His frustration with Guarantano happened in real time, and then he'd interview him on the lockerroom show and you'd see that he was a class act, complementing Jared on his good play(s). He will be missed, and it is especially sentimental for those of us who, as kids, watched the VOLS when he was playing, along with others from that era - Reynolds, Holloway, Townes, Warren, Mclain, Flowers, Kiner, Walker, and many others.
 
#67
#67
Evidently Part Time, I guess he remembers he's not in Court when He follows Eloquent Diction with Country Tone. I get it, not everyone REALLY Listens. I'm a Voice guy, I do. Your input noted.

Me too. My "conversation" voice and my "speaking" voice are two entirely different things. Conversation is East Tennesssee without the nose. Speaking is more of a mellow middle TN with a hint of Shelby Foote.
 
#68
#68
I loved Tim's "Uhhs" and sighs when we'd screw something up. You could tell exactly what he was thinking. It always made me think of Casey Stengel- "Can't anybody here play this game?" It sounded to me on the air like the frustrations of the last few years were really getting to him sometimes.
 
#71
#71
Also loved the show with Tim and Joe Thompson.
Joe Thompson...what a fellow vandie-hater! He would be on Nashville radio before the game between the Vols & commode-doors & just rant about how much he hated vandie. He & Tim Priest are part of the lifeblood of Tennessee football lore.
 
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#72
#72
I sit in upper deck opposite Vol Network booth. I have a extra sooper dooper pair of binoculars, good enough to pick fly droppings out of pepper at 1000 yards. With the Vol network in my ear, I sometimes watch Bob and Tim from afar as they do the game. Priest also sports a pair of binos and I see him on occasion peering down on the field with them.

For those who tried comparing him to Bill Anderson, please don't. Both are football legends - Priest with his interceptions and Bill Anderson with his Super Bowl ring (SB-01, Green Bay Packers). Bill Anderson complemented John Ward as much as Priest complements Kessling. And he certainly didn't sugar coat ANYTHING. His frustration with Guarantano happened in real time, and then he'd interview him on the lockerroom show and you'd see that he was a class act, complementing Jared on his good play(s). He will be missed, and it is especially sentimental for those of us who, as kids, watched the VOLS when he was playing, along with others from that era - Reynolds, Holloway, Townes, Warren, Mclain, Flowers, Kiner, Walker, and many others.

wish I could give you several likes for this, very deserving comments from you. I had to sort of like bite my lip to keep from posting a reply to him having ā€œproper voice.ā€

Yes, Tim did have a proper voice because he was a proper person, high integrity, raised by proper upstanding well respected family in Huntingdon. I went to school with Tim and played sports with him, he was always the leader, even then a gentleman type when he was young. But, he was always a friend first to all his teammates and loved by them. I was one year younger and he was a role model for me.

To me he could mix that ā€œproper voiceā€ perfectly with his often southern style ā€œgash dang it.ā€
That made it so enjoyable for me to see him play at UT and then listen to him on radio and watch the locker room interviews.
As you get older you reflect on your blessings, knowing Tim was a blessing in my life.
 
#73
#73
Me too. My "conversation" voice and my "speaking" voice are two entirely different things. Conversation is East Tennesssee without the nose. Speaking is more of a mellow middle TN with a hint of Shelby Foote.

Wow! Someone else does that? Good on You Mate! Confidence in the human race restored!
 
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#74
#74
IMO, Bob isn't bad. The play-by-play announcer is different than the color guy. Priest and Bertelkamp are excellent color guys and compliment BK's mellow style. I don't want to hear 2 guys yelling on top of each other.

There are a lot of really bad radio announcers in college football (even in the SEC). If you find yourself driving around before the UT game flipping through XM radio you'll hear them.

I like Mike Keith. I think he's an excellent announcer until he gets excited, then it's nails on a chalkboard for my ears. JMO.
 
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