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Scott D. Pierce: Harpring, Bolerjack make a great team for Utah Jazz

KatieMCR

KatieMCR

Well-Known Member
Harpring is getting some love as a broadcaster. I still don't understand why people continue to hate on Harpring and Bolerjack. I agree with this article, and really enjoy the work the two have been doing this season.

Scott D. Pierce: Harpring, Bolerjack make a great team for Utah Jazz

BY SCOTT D. PIERCE
The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Dec 7, 2010 05:46PM
Updated Dec 7, 2010 10:41PM

Utah Jazz games have been a lot of fun to watch on TV this season. And not just because the team is winning.

Jazz broadcasters Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring also have turned into a winning team after Harpring was recruited by none other than longtime Jazz play-by-play man Hot Rod Hundley.

“I did a summer league game with him years ago, and he just kept telling me, ‘You should think about getting into this. You’re really good at it,’” Harpring said. “I didn’t really think anything of it.”

But Hundley continued to encourage him.

“And when I was done playing, I decided to come and try it out. See if I liked it,” Harpring said. “And I loved it.”

He’s been like the proverbial breath of fresh air. Harpring knows what he’s talking about — he spent 11 years in the NBA, seven with Utah — but he’s not afraid to entertain.

And he’s gotten the sometimes-stiff Bolerjack to loosen up a bit.

“I’ve heard that from other people, which I hope is a good thing,” Harpring said.

It is.

Take, for example, Monday’s game against the Grizzlies. Al Jefferson made a pregame comment that the Jazz would “have to have our focus hats on,” and Harpring ran with it. As the game began, he unveiled a couple of, yes, focus hats.

Much to Harpring’s delight, a clip of him and Bolerjack wearing the hats made ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” And Harpring proposed a contest for fans to make them hats.

“You can wear them,” Bolerjack said. “It’s your idea.”

But after an, “Oh, c’mon Boler,” from Harpring, Bolerjack did indeed loosen up.

“He’s a pro. And he makes it so much easier for me,” Harpring said. “We’ve got a lot of cool ideas that we’re looking forward to in the future. Kind of brainstorming.”

If Harpring didn’t know basketball — if he didn’t contribute astute analysis — this kind of stuff wouldn’t work. But he does know what he’s talking about, he communicates well, and he’s having fun.

“I love the game of basketball,” he said. “I love being around it. So I don’t really consider this work. I really enjoy going to the game and calling the game and making it as entertaining as possible.

“I kind of put myself in a fan’s shoes. When I watch a game, do I want to listen to a boring broadcaster? Or do I want to listen to someone who likes what they do, who’s enthusiastic?”

It’s not like Harpring came into this with a whole lot of experience. Before he retired, he did some TV work for the Jazz while recovering from an injury. He did some work last season on NBATV studio shows, but seemed rather unremarkable. Not bad, but it’s not like his talent exactly leaped off the screen.

Playing and broadcasting require decidedly different skill sets.

Harpring had the former, and he’s developing the latter at a rapid pace.

But what really makes the Jazz’s TV duo work is their team chemistry. These guys clearly like one another, and that carries them a long way.

“We’re having fun together,” Harpring said.

Bolerjack, of course, has decades of experience as a play-by-play man. Dating all the way back to his days as the TV voice of the BYU Cougars on KSL; through ESPN and CBS; and as the TV voice of the Utah Jazz since 2005. Smooth doesn’t begin to describe him — and in a good way.

The pairing of Bolerjack and Harpring has been a bonus for Jazz fans — sort of like 2+2=5. Or 6.

“I’m having a blast,” Harpring said.

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Great article. I think the two of them are doing a stellar job together. I hope Harpring is a Jazz commentator for a while, he's just going to get more comfortable and even better at it.
 
I'm waiting for Harpring to rig up a seat belt in his chair with a very audible clicking sound when he "Buckles UP!"
 
I thought the focus hats thing was pretty funny when I watched it. I like these two guys, for sure. No real complaints other than that each of them repeats the same things from game to game. "Rookie mistakes", something about Raja keeping his toe off the line every single time he shoots a 3, etc. I'm sure those will start to fade as they do more and more games together.
 
VINYLONE said:
Dude come on man. ****. I only hope your kids dont become poisoned with your ****ing ******** you warm sack of deer ****.
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Yes, how dare anyone comment on that creature's predilection for ramming it's bizarre sexuality in everyone's faces.

If some unusual person want's to have a ****** or whatever so be it, I'm not sure why it has to be proclaimed in every single post.
 
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Slappfisk said:
Yes, how dare anyone comment on that creature's predilection for ramming it's bizarre sexuality in everyone's faces.

If some unusual person want's to have a vagenis or whatever so be it, I'm not sure why it has to be proclaimed in every single post.
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What?
 
Personally, I am not impressed by them, but they don't suck either. I'd give them a 6/10. They entertain and have some personality, but they also say a lot of stupid or flat out wrong comments during games.
 
Ostertag>Duncan said:
Must....kill......Hundley....
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I... must... kill... The Queen.

600px-NGM1911A1-5.jpg
 
I think Harpring has been terrible after a promising beginning.

The thing that made him good when he did it occasionally as a player was his candidness. He spoke openly about what happens during the course of a game and his honest opinions about players. Now he just seems ... vanilla.

Also, that was a horribly written article. A lot of editorializing about his own feelings on Harp and Boler.
 
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