Oakland Raiders new sound in 2018 not necessarily a good thing

The Oakland Raiders are moving in another direction in terms of their radio broadcast team as some startling changes have been reported.

When the Oakland Raiders take the field in 2018, they are going to look very different than the team that took the field in 2017. One of the biggest differences, of course, will be Jon Gruden growling and scowling his way up and down the sidelines.

The changes he’s made to the roster, be it jettisoning the likes of Michael Crabtree and Marquette King, or bringing in guys like Rashaan Melvin and Derrick Johnson have led to much elation – and anxiety – around the Raider Nation.

Nobody seems to know what to make of the Raiders in 2018 – The Return of Chucky – with predictions all over the board. Some think Gruden can inspire them to be the sort of team he fielded back in the Cretaceous Period and have that kind of success again.

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Others – most recently Colin Cowherd of FS1 – sound a far more pessimistic view and believe they’ll be an absolute disaster. For the record, Cowherd picked the Raiders to finish dead last in the AFC West at an abysmal 5-11 – make of that what you will.

It won’t be the team on the field that is going to look different though. Given that the theme for Oakland thus far in 2018 – and to channel a little David Bowie – is ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, the Raiders are ch-ch-ch-ch-changing things up in their broadcast booth as well.

If you’ve tuned into Raiders games on the radio at any time over the past 3,000 years or so, you’ve undoubtedly become familiar with the voice of Greg Papa – perhaps you’d recognize, his signature call of, “TOUCHDOWN RAAIIIIDDDERRRRRRSSSS!”

Papa brought a lot of energy and passion to his broadcasts, and he didn’t typically pull a lot of punches. When the Raiders looked like garbage – something that happened far too often over the years – he wasn’t afraid to say it.

Well, moving forward, it appears that we can add Papa to the list of players that have been sent packing by the Raiders this season as multiple reports have stated that he’s out. And in his place, Oakland is bringing in a pretty well known – dare we say, household – name.

Brent Musburger.

Please, try to contain your enthusiasm. Though, it shouldn’t really be all that difficult. It’s not like the name Brent Musburger is going to drive anybody into a frenzy of wild applause or send them into convulsions of ecstasy or anything.

The 79-year old Musburger hosted “NFL Today” on CBS for 14 years, and spent five years as the halftime host on Monday Night Football. All told, Musberger spent 27 years with ABC Sports and ESPN, leaving in January 2017, reportedly to help launch the Vegas Stats and Information Network (VsiN) along with his brother Todd and nephew Brian, who created it.

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Musburger has also regularly written a sports betting column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

There’s no doubting Musburger’s bona fides. He’s obviously a very qualified individual who knows his way around the world of sports. He’s done it a long time and knows all the ins and outs. That’s not even a question.

The problem is, listening to Musburger call games is the equivalent of watching paint dry.

Now, there are probably a lot of reasons for the switch. Maybe Papa wasn’t all in on the relocation, as some have suggested. Musburger is a familiar figure around Vegas, one with a little more gravitas than Papa, so as Mark Davis tries to make inroads with the fans there, putting a face fans are familiar with probably helps the cause a bit – which seems the most logical reason.

Maybe there were other reasons behind the scenes we’re not aware of yet. Who knows?

All we know for certain is that Papa is out, and Musburger is on on the broadcast team. Which is unfortunate. Very unfortunate.

Papa brought a certain fire and spark to calling the games. He had a vibrant personality that many fans connected with. He fired them up – and commiserated with them when things weren’t going well.

Musburger’s personality when calling games is more like – watching golf on TV after dropping a double dose of Ambien.

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They say the only constant is change in this universe, and this offseason for the Raiders is proving that old truism right. And it would be disingenuous to say that that Raiders didn’t need a lot of change this offseason. They’re changes we all hope work out and get this team headed in the right direction.

Some changes though, are more – lateral. Some are even a step backward. And this change – from Papa to Musburger – feels like one of those kinds of moves.