April 27, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
Decision to Replace Roberts Makes Sense, but ...
By Rick Wright Of the JournalMike Roberts, UNM athletics' radio voice for the past four decades, has slipped significantly in recent years.
More and more often, listeners complain they can't follow his words— can't visualize the game as he describes it. The 74-year-old broadcaster's calls simply aren't as sharp as they once were.
On Friday, UNM and Learfield Communications informed Roberts they had decided to replace him.
It was a difficult but good decision, made at the right time for the right reasons.
There, now. Was that so hard to say?
Evidently. In explaining the move on Friday, UNM athletics director Paul Krebs and Learfield Properties' Tim Cline explained nothing.
"I'd rather not get into that," Krebs told the Journal, when asked why Roberts had been let go.
Cline said Learfield wanted to head in the time-honored and eternally vague "different direction." Isn't that what Henry VIII told Anne Boleyn?
Maybe Krebs and Cline, in their reticence, were trying to soften the blow dealt to Roberts. If so, they failed.
In telling a proud and dedicated man that his performance as play-by-play announcer no longer is good enough, is there any way to sugarcoat it? No, so you might as well come right out and say it.
Perhaps they were hoping to limit the uproar that inevitably would follow. Again, if so, they failed.
Roberts, the golden throat in the red sweater, personifies UNM athletics. Over the years, he has become not just the voice of the Lobos but often their face as well.
Predictably and understandably, Lobo IndigNation is in turmoil. Though some support the decision, those people are being shouted down.
Most on either side of the issue, it seems, believe UNM and Learfield handled it badly.
I agree, but must qualify that by saying there really was no good way to handle it. Shoot Santa Claus with an Uzi or smother him with a pillow, and he's still dead.
Now, Krebs sort of knows how Paul Kowalczyk— his counterpart at Colorado State— felt when he fired iconic Rams football coach Sonny Lubick. That's how popular, even beloved, Roberts has become.
Yet, at least Kowalczyk had something tangible— a won-lost record— to point to when he ousted Lubick.
I say Roberts has slipped, a judgment shared by many (and, apparently, by Krebs and Learfield Communications). But others are free to disagree, based on any standard or none at all.
Many Lobo and Roberts loyalists, I'm sure, don't even care how good or bad Mike's game calls are. They just love Mike, period.
Krebs— and I keep coming back to him, even though it ostensibly was Learfield's decision— has been here long enough to fully comprehend the Roberts phenomenon. He can't be surprised by the hubbub Mike's ouster has caused.
Yet, Krebs made, or at least signed off on, that decision anyway. Not coldhearted by any stretch, the Lobo AD nevertheless is a guy who doesn't allow the ticker to overrule his brain.
Krebs, and Learfield Communications, simply wanted a better play-by-play man than Roberts is at this late stage of what has been a wonderful career.
Is there more to it? Possibly. Still, that's the core of the matter.
Roberts has been offered a lesser, but substantial, role on future Lobo radio broadcasts. If he'd rather ride off into a New Mexico sunset astride one of the beautiful appaloosas he breeds on his farm, fine.
Just don't ride away mad, Mr. Lobo.
If you find you'd rather stay in the game, don't let Friday's bitter pill keep you away.
Catch Rick Wright's column at www.abqjournal.com. E-mail him at rwright@abqjournal.com
Roberts Poll
Following are the first-day poll results on UNM's decision to remove Mike Roberts as the radio play-by-play man for Lobo football and men's basketball:
Roberts is an institution here and should have been allowed to remain in his position as long as he wanted. 52.8%
Roberts Is doing a fine job at this point and I don't see a need to replace him now. 19.4%
It's about time. Good call, UNM! 18.5%
Roberts probably should have been replaced but a farewell tour or better handling of the move was in order for someone with 40-plus years of service. 9.3%