Fond Memories of the XFL
So the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal mentioned this tidbit about the Winter Olympics broadcasters-
Matt Vasgersian burst onto the scene in the late 1990s where he was featured in a series of horrifically unfunny ads for 989 Sports Playstation video games. They were so awful, people like myself assumed that he was just a struggling actor playing a made-up broadcaster with a made-up name like "Matt Vasgersian".
Much to our surprise, he turned out to be an actual honest-to-life sports broadcaster. Even more surprising, he was quite good. The past few years, Vasgersian has been the tv voice of the San Diego Padres. I don't watch much baseball, but it was easy to see that he's quite good at it. Smooth delivery, pleasant disposition, knowledgeable, with quick anecdotes and observations.
Now if you never watched the XFL broadcasts with Matt Vasgersian back in 2001.... well, join the crowd. Nobody did, except for a select few of us who found the XFL to be hysterical. The XFL was the attempt to merge professional football and professional wrestling. They invented such awful things as cheerleaders in hot tubs on the sidelines and players putting "HE HATE ME" on the back of their jerseys. One Saturday night for the XFL broadcast, they made Vasgersian lead play-by-play man for the game. Alongside him as his color commentator? None other than pro-wrestler-turned-Minnesota-governor Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
Hilarity ensues.
Vasgersian played it seriously. The cameras rolled and he was the modicum of professionalism sports broadcasting. He explained the game, the match ups, and did it in his smooth delivery. Then it was Ventura's turn to talk.
Jesse Ventura starts SCREAMING at the camera - turning BEET RED SCREAMING, spittle and saliva flying out of his mouth, shaking with anger as he squeezed the microphone, and referring to everyone as "pukes". According to Ventura, anyone who didn't enjoy the XFL was a "puke", anyone who badmouthed the XFL was a "puke", and that the "pukes" didn't understand the XFL.
Now as this is happening, Vasgersian is trying his best to keep a straight face. And God bless him, he's doing it. He's got a smile on his face - and you can only imagine that he was thinking of what he learned in broadcasting school about not using the word "puke" as a plural noun. And as if that wasn't enough, Vasgersian ended up getting FIRED from the XFL broadcasts.
Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. The XFL is long gone, Matt Vasgersian's doing Winter Olympics broadcasts, and he's not appearing in any more awful Playstation ads.
But I'd give anything for him to just lose it one day and start referring to all the Olympic athletes as "pukes".
The career profile in the NBC Press Guide for the 2006 Winter Olympics for broadcaster Matt Vasgersian is missing a résumé line about Vasgersian's past work... Not included in the wide-ranging catalog of assignments Vasgersian has had is there any reference to his work as the play-by-play voice of XFL games...Who cares, right? People leave bad stuff that they don't want to remember off their resume. But I don't get why NBC or Vasgersian left it off. I, for one, have FOND MEMORIES about his work on the XFL.
Matt Vasgersian burst onto the scene in the late 1990s where he was featured in a series of horrifically unfunny ads for 989 Sports Playstation video games. They were so awful, people like myself assumed that he was just a struggling actor playing a made-up broadcaster with a made-up name like "Matt Vasgersian".
Much to our surprise, he turned out to be an actual honest-to-life sports broadcaster. Even more surprising, he was quite good. The past few years, Vasgersian has been the tv voice of the San Diego Padres. I don't watch much baseball, but it was easy to see that he's quite good at it. Smooth delivery, pleasant disposition, knowledgeable, with quick anecdotes and observations.
Now if you never watched the XFL broadcasts with Matt Vasgersian back in 2001.... well, join the crowd. Nobody did, except for a select few of us who found the XFL to be hysterical. The XFL was the attempt to merge professional football and professional wrestling. They invented such awful things as cheerleaders in hot tubs on the sidelines and players putting "HE HATE ME" on the back of their jerseys. One Saturday night for the XFL broadcast, they made Vasgersian lead play-by-play man for the game. Alongside him as his color commentator? None other than pro-wrestler-turned-Minnesota-governor Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
Hilarity ensues.
Vasgersian played it seriously. The cameras rolled and he was the modicum of professionalism sports broadcasting. He explained the game, the match ups, and did it in his smooth delivery. Then it was Ventura's turn to talk.
Jesse Ventura starts SCREAMING at the camera - turning BEET RED SCREAMING, spittle and saliva flying out of his mouth, shaking with anger as he squeezed the microphone, and referring to everyone as "pukes". According to Ventura, anyone who didn't enjoy the XFL was a "puke", anyone who badmouthed the XFL was a "puke", and that the "pukes" didn't understand the XFL.
Now as this is happening, Vasgersian is trying his best to keep a straight face. And God bless him, he's doing it. He's got a smile on his face - and you can only imagine that he was thinking of what he learned in broadcasting school about not using the word "puke" as a plural noun. And as if that wasn't enough, Vasgersian ended up getting FIRED from the XFL broadcasts.
Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. The XFL is long gone, Matt Vasgersian's doing Winter Olympics broadcasts, and he's not appearing in any more awful Playstation ads.
But I'd give anything for him to just lose it one day and start referring to all the Olympic athletes as "pukes".
posted by Eugene at 8:30 PM
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