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Time to bench Gus Johnson
Announcer gets so excited you have no clue what's happening
These days teachers and students are counting down to the end of the semester and the end of the year with Christmas break looming.
For schools, as well as businesses, a Thursday Christmas and New Year means an effective three full work weeks before the holidays hit and people check out. For traditional shoppers, with a late Thanksgiving, shopping days are fewer offset by the ever-growing use of online retailers (difficult times for delivery services).
For school trustees, senior staff and teachers’ union leaders in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore there’s plenty of unfinished contract work to be done.
Pleasanton trustees finished their first round of cuts, trimming more than $11 million, but about one-third of that total must be negotiated with the unions. No fun.
Dublin’s union asked for state officials to declare an impasse that can lead to neutral finding in hopes of reaching an agreement.
Meanwhile in Livermore, teachers asked in October for an impasse to be declared. Sticking points are salary and significantly increasing the district’s contribution to health care benefits—a cost that is soaring this year regardless of what comes out of Washington D.C.
Although specifics vary district to district because state funding and local parcel taxes are different, but at the core it’s a minimal cost-of-living increase from the cash-strapped state (despite what Gov. Gavin Newsom might spout) and the end of federal funds that gushed, particularly during the Biden Administration.
By law, district must pass budget muster with the county education office and that includes a 3% reserve. That’s where Pleasanton budget targets stem from.
During the long Thanksgiving weekend, we football fans were blessed with many good games, many called by favorite announcers. I can listen to Kirk Herbstreit or Joel Klatt on color as well as former national champion coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer on the pre-game shows. We, who have lived in the Bay Area for decades, are spoiled. We had the inimitable Bill King, Lon Simmonds and even Russ Hodges if you were a baseball fan listening on your transistor radio—to say nothing of my former neighbor up the street, John Madden.
It was great to see all three of the Thanksgiving Day games play tribute to Madden who pioneered giving the outstanding players turkey drumsticks to say nothing of popularizing the Turducken (a boned turkey stuffed with a boned duck and a boned chicken—it will give you six drumsticks). John has gone home to his eternal reward, but his foundation for underprivileged children lives on and grew with donations on Thanksgiving.
As much as I enjoyed listening to John whether he was paired with Pat Summerall or Al Michaels, I have exactly the opposite view of current Raiders’ announcer Brent Musberger. I have been able to skip him for decades. Sadly, his mantle has been taken by Fox’s lead college football announcer Gus Johnson. He gets so excited I think he’s wetting his pants and you have no clue on key calls—such as the winning touchdown pass by Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (the hero of Cal’s Big Game win in 2024 before he put himself on the open market—a move that looks like a complete home run). Listening to Guy, you only know he’s excited–fortunately we had the picture.
Both Joel Klatt and the fans deserve much better from Fox, particularly for its showcase game.
Dublin Planning Commission gives final OK for Sunflower Hill’s new affordable housing project December 24, 2025 8:40 am