Back in April, FSU did not review the contract of radio analyst Peter Tom Willis. No real reason was given, but Willis (a former QB for the Noles) had become critical of the Noles in the last few years. According to the Tallahasee Democrat:

Willis has raised the ire of FSU officials and coaches, including Bobby Bowden, in recent years for his candid evaluation of the football team — especially its offense -- as it slid out of national prominence....

...FSU won a national title in 1999 — Willis second season in the broadcast booth — and went 7-6 the past two seasons. Willis' frustration mounted with the losses and he went as far as calling the FSU offenses a "high-school offense" following the FSU-Clemson game in 2005. He allowed that his emotions got the best of him that day but added that FSU fans "are not dumb."

I heard Willis on a national radio show this week and he really didn't dispute any of these claims. He believed he was being fair in his assessment of FSU's play on the field.

Unfortunately, that's not his job. And I'm not saying it's right, but for some reason, the rules of objectivity associated with the media do not apply when you work for a school's broadcast team. Anyone that follows college sports (and professional for that matter) knows that your team's announcer and analyst have to be "homers" at all times. Why would we have two broadcasts of a game if fans didn't want to listen to a "homer" call their game? If fans want to hear someone criticize the team, then we would only have one announcing team per game.

Sure fans aren't dumb. They know when their team stinks. But we all love to hear the optimism coming out of the announcers voices. It's kind of like a family. We can talk bad about them, but we don't want to hear anyone else talk bad about them. And it's even better when an analyst is a former player, because most times he won't speak bad publicly about his "family."

It's an easy job to keep. I have no idea what the pay is like, but you'll notice people stay in those jobs forever. All you have to do is go crazy when things go well and act a little disappointed when things go bad. Leave the criticizim to the fans at home.

It does allow for some uncomfortable moments. How about the post game call-in shows after a horrible loss? A fan will call in and start his call stating his allegience to his team. (First off, I'd just like to say go Noles. And I think we're going to turn this thing around.) Then the fan will ask a question that is obvious to everyone watching/listening to the game. (Do you think our offensive is any better than Tallahassee High's Offense?) Everyone listening knows the answer, but the analyst will gloss over it and move to the next call. (Well, I think Coach Bowden will get it all figured out.) And then they move on to an elderly lady calling in who states that everyone just needs to get behind the team.

The real reason we listen to our team's broadcast is to hear the enthusiasm when things go well. Who doesn't like to hear the announcer go crazy when your team scores a touchdown? It's why so many people will turn off the national broadcast of a game and play the radio announcer while watching the game on TV. The best part is when an announcer goes overboard. So over the top that when you look back, it makes you laugh. Below is my all time favorite. It makes me laugh everytime.




So yes, Willis is right. He was being honest. And you can't blame him. He just didn't understand the job description.