Not a bad PBP guy and I'm pretty sure it wasn't his fault Herzog got canned but thems still some mighty big shoes to fill. As usual I blame Snyder.

I approve of Larry Michael himself, but not the job he has been asked to do.

hahaha, poor bastard.

Larry Michael is the perfect play-by-play voice for Dan Snyder's team. He comes off as a mindless company man who stays on Snyder's message; he's awful.

You know, I don't even care that much about Herzog getting canned. He wasn't that great. The Redskins radio team is like listening to Harry Caray or Ron Santo call a Cubs game -- great if you're a fan but unbearable to pretty much anyone else.

It's the constant commentary on how the media should do their jobs and that fans shouldn't trust anything that hasn't been vetted by the Redskins brass by Michael and Co. over at the Redskins network that insults my intelligence.

he's a miserable hack and mouthpiece for the organization. i can't stand listening to his broadcasts.

Disapprove, though I must admit my hatred of all things Redskins might color my opinion of him.

He just comes off so Fake!
I guess it's him keeping with the company line. I just have a hard time taking him seriously. His play-by-play is pretty good, but thats about it. How about the fact that he used to be a COWBOYS fan growing up, and now is the "media face" for the Redskins (According to Andy Pollin).

its hard to like a guy that isa johnny yes man for d. snyder

two thumbs down to this joker

I have no problem believing that Michael was one of the prime movers behind Frank Herzog getting canned, but leaving that aside, what's the word for the total opposite of journalistic objectivity?

An unbearable jackoff of the highest order.

I should probably note that my grudging, watery, hate-the-sin-love-the-sinner approval is almost entirely because Michael is from Silver Spring. S-Dub, represent!

As others have said, I have no problems with Larry's play-by-play ability, but I disapprove of his overall performance. Whether he gets the word directly from Snyder or he's just doing what he thinks has to do to get a Snyder paycheck, he is the ultimate company guy. When you work for Snyder's company, that's not a good thing. Local sports talk will be ruined if Snyder succeeds in buying WTEM.

A tool of The Danny. Ousting Frank Herzof so he could get the PBP job was reprehensible.

I strongly approve of Larry Michael. Here's why:

The man is a part of a dying breed in local sports coverage. Sports journalists who don't look to start a pseudo controversy at every turn are becoming few and far between. Members of the sports media who aren't always focusing on the negative, aren't trying to infuriate the fans, aren't trying to badmouth the players and the coaches...there simply aren't many of these types left.

Look at John Riggins. 2 years ago, this guy was starting his radio gig by hyping up the 2006 team as best he could. 2 years later, he now basically takes his his cues from RedskinsInsider (aka, La Canfora). This is agenda-driven coverage, slanted against the team.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't like hearing my favorite team bashed day in and day out. And that's why Larry Michaels is a breath of fresh air...

Who gives a damn who he cheered for growing up or where he's from? I guess as a six year-old, Larry should have had the foresight to know he would one day work for the Redskins. That whole argument is beyond stupid, especially when most fans view him as a "mouthpiece" anyway.

However, Larry has consistently shown has he no ability to be objective as a broadcaster, which is what we're supposed to be judging him on. For that, he is an easy "disapprove."

In my opinion he's just horrible. Herzog was the face of the Redskins broadcast and his signature "touchdown... Washington Redskins" was the sound byte in many NFL films reels. I can't even listen to the broadcasts anymore, he doesn't have any unique qualities at all. Way to screw up my team Danny Boy, you bastard.

You know, Herzog might have been slipping up as he got older, but the man has three things LM doesn't and probably can't grow: class, charm and a melodious radio voice.

Redskins games are still broadcast on the radio? Who knew? So I imagine he's still enabling Sonny/Sam's senile, folksy homering and offering nary a critique of the blazing zeppelin that is the DC football franchise?

Disapprove.

Wholeheartedly disapprove of the ultimate corporate man, Larry Michael, being the voice of the Skins.

It was and remains a disgrace that he pushed Herzog out and took his spot in the booth with Sonny and Sam. He brings nothing special to the broadcast, aside from a peculiar zeal for drop-in sponsor mentions. And he has two first names.

Larry Michael stinks.

Larry Michael?

Knob

Barno, LM is a company hack. But then again, I know how much you disapprove of dissent and hate the fact that anyone would criticize the Redskins. I love the Skins but I think the ownership is awful. And Larry Michael is an extension of that. Dude is awful and far from a breath of fresh air. If a team constantly wastes money, plays inconsistently, can't find a foothold and barely squeaks into the playoffs a couple of seasons, I don't see why criticism can't be levied. No need to paint a rosy picture when some of it smells like ...

"It was and remains a disgrace that he pushed Herzog out and took his spot in the booth with Sonny and Sam."

Posted by: Nate in the PDX | June 3, 2008 12:19 PM

Nate, thought you were better than this kind of baseless accusation. What proof of this can you provide to make such a libelous claim?

Disapprove!

I thought Larry Michael was a sniveling radio mouthpiece, with an easily influenced agenda when I first heard his pregame show 8 years ago...He's spent the last 8 years proving that fact many times over. I wish he'd drive his Nissan Titan off into the sunset.

It was a dispicable cuous when he canned Frank and took over. Look at how that turned out.

Double thumbs down!

The Baghdad Bob of NFL broadcasting. Disapprove.

Barno: If you think Larry Michael is a breath of fresh air, you've been spending too much time smelling your own farts.

Larry Michael is a HACK, a company man, a propagandist -- in another time, he might have worked for the Tobacco Institute, telling us that Chesterfields are good for us. He's the Comical Ali of the Redskins, telling us that they are TOO winning the war, and to ignore those American tanks rolling by. It wouldn't be so bad if he stopped there, but he's now engaged in his little pissing match with JLC about JLC DARING to write stories about the Skins that don't read like they're from Tiger Beat.

Basically, it's Dan Snyder's dream to dictate media coverage of the Skins, and Larry Michael is the (very) simple tool that he uses for that job. Personally, I hope Larry makes a nice living because selling your self-respect and dignity shouldn't come cheap.

Heh. Larry Michael. What a dope.

I personally enjoy hearing positive coverage about my favorite team. I don't like hearing that guys are privately bashing the coach for clock management, privately bashing the running back for missing preseason. I don't like hearing that Sean Taylor is a thug, ad nauseam. I don't like hearing that a guy overslept a practice and then 10 follow ups on how sorry this guy is because he overslept.

Again, maybe it's just me.

Well, then, Barno, you should be really happy when The Danny takes over WTEM and adds it to the TTDSRN (Teeny Tiny Danny Snyder Radio Network)!

Serious, Barno -- the only thing on your list that I could see as reasonably objectionable is the Taylor/thug thing. You really don't want to know about issues that might affect the team? You REALLY just want positive coverage? That's kind of embarrassing. That's the kind of thinking that leads fans to predict Redskin Super Bowl victories EVERY SINGLE YEAR, despite the fact that a child born on the day of the LAST Redskins Super Bowl victory can now DRIVE.

Most of us want to know what's going on, be it good or bad. And the fact that the Skins and Larry Michael feel obliged to jump ugly with folks who dare to practice journalism is kind of pathetic.

Which makes LARRY pathetic.

"I approve of Larry Michael himself, but not the job he has been asked to do."

That is a good point.

Also, I would say that it is not LM's fault he is saddled with two over-the-hill, semi-literate, half-drunk color commentators at his Redskins Radio gig.

He's impressively good at being Dan Snyder's lackey

I'm one of the few that actually *likes* Dan Snyder as an owner, and I believe that he simply wants to win, and will do anything to do so. There's nothing wrong with that - I can't say I would do a better job in his seat.

With that being said, Larry Michael is a d-bag of the highest order. If I had a third thumb, I would give him three thumbs down.

If you are being told what to say by your boss, and you can't stand up to him in order to provide *objective* coverage of the team, you should get off your high horse of journalistic integrity, as you are now simply a stooge. Your reputation is also not enhanced when you spend your time mocking the coverage of the team by other news outlets just because you don't agree with what they say. Unfortunately, Larry Michael exhibits both of these behaviors, and for that reason, he gets a "Disapprove" vote.

This is just sad...why kick a man while he's down licking Danny's boots clean?

On the strength of Knockout Kings alone, approve.

I am a die hard skins fan, and while i appreciate the optimism, LM is an absolute hack, and the one saving grace of redskins radio, bram, made the right decision to get out and go to ESPN. He seriously comes off as a bush administration press guy - always denying reality. Bring Back Frank. I don't think that The Danny is a horrible owner, but this fascination with media domination (now with the WTEM purchase) may hurt his credibility even more then Mark Carrier and Jeff George type football decisions.

Only muscle fatigue could stop me from kicking Larry Michael. He deserves nothing less.

Larry is everything I hope my son does not become - a suck up to his boss, a man with no ethics but judges others for theirs, someone who does not have his own opinion about issues but does not respect other that have their own opinion - etc.

Larry carries no creditable with anyone who seriously follows the skins. He is the perfect Danny employee - wonder if he plays racquet ball too!!

I don't blame him for being a complete sellout and a yes-man. Heck, I'd probably do it too, if I was offered as much money as he makes.

But that doesn't mean that I have to approve him, either.

DISAPPROVE!

Even as a fan of another (non-rival) team, this guy thinks any illogical thing the skins do is brilliant. He truly stinks. There's holding the company line (can you blame him... ENTIRELY??) but then there's seemingly never disagreeing with the boss. One thing's clear, Snyder has a friend in this guy. Listening to "Redskins Lunch" on occasion, it was clear that he was about self-preservation and not about truth of the skins situation.

He is the worst. The absolute worst. I loathe Larry Michael. I repeat, he is the absolute worst. Smug, smarmy. The mouthpiece of a PR machine that purports to be an unbiased, fact-based outfit. On a scale of 1 to 10, my hate for him approaches 16, but I would dial it back down to a 12 if they would drop the "unfiltered news" angle. Just admit to being a PR firm and extension of ownership, and be done with it. He is condescending to anyone who disagrees with him or tries to shed light on Danny Snyder's tarring of the Redskins brand. He belittled Bram, he belittles JLC, and he belittles his toadie callers if they happen to add an S to the end of his last name. He's a misogynist and he borders on "Dirty Old Man" when discussing Redskins Cheerleaders, etc. I especially enjoyed his selling of Jim Fassel as a "good football man" in January when I am sure he previously clowned on Fassel when he was in New York.

Google:
curlyr blogspot saga sonny sam frank
I would link to it directly, but I am not sure wp.com allows for urls in the comments. I repeat, he is the absolute worst...EVER. When the bog started the media approval ratings, I could not wait until Larry "Sycophant Sally" Michael day. I doubt most teams would have someone that so many people loathe continue to be the mouthpiece of the organization. Do they poll people? Did they fully "get" the fans' reaction to bill of goods Redskins Radio was selling during coachinggate?

Honestly, they are killing the golden goose. And Danny and Larry have nobody to blame but themselves.

i'm sorry but in my book, Frank Herzog will always be the voice of the Washington Redskins, period. Michael is just plain not very good. he lacks emotion in his calls and is frankly just boring to listen to during games

Who ARE the people that comprise this 18%??? It is mind boggling to me that his approval is this high. Hailing from Silver Spring gets you NO points. I mean, John Walker Lindh is from Silver Spring too, but somehow that didn't get him any points with his judge. Oh well, I guess it is possibly Danny and Larry are just clicking away at "Approve" all day.

Nice, I didn't even know Bram left Redskins Radio because I can't even stand to listen to that crap. Good for you Bram. So what is that show like now, just LM ranting about how great everyone is at Redskins park? LM is a giant douche, but then again so is The Danny so I guess they get along perfectly.

Is this even a question? I wouldn't even call him a journalist. He's simply a PR flak. You can't call yourself a journalist if you are drawing a check from the owner of the team you're covering.

Then to make matters worse he tries to attack the top Redskins beat reporter because he actually is a journalist and digs for the real story. After seeing that I decided to boycott Redskins radio because of his affiliation to it, which sucks because I enjoyed some of the ESPN programming on it like Scott Van Pelt.

Bottom line: Larry Michael is a sellout and responsible for pushing out a true DC icon Frank Hertzog who decided he wouldn't be a mouthpiece for Dan Snyder. I commend Hertzog for standing by his principles and Larry Michael now has to live with the fact he pushed out a quality journalist and a better man.

Memo to Michael Jenkins: I called you the worst on-air sports personality in the history of the world. I was not thinking about this dope. You, Mr. Jenkins, are the second worst. I will bet good money that Larry Michael will have an awakening a write a tell-all book about life inside the Snyder empire. I give him five years. The problem is that he's already too far gone.

UMD -

I responded to you and told you that I had worked hard and improved to "bottom five" status. See there? It only took a week to bear that out.

Once Snyder takes over WTEM and installs his group of stooges, you just may make it out of my least fave five, Jenks.

Larry Michael was a well-regarded play-by-play man for George Washington games back on WMET & WAGE radio. He should get credit for that much of his career if nothing else.

A man can dream, UMD. A man can dream...

I agree with this statement:

Larry Michael is the perfect play-by-play voice for Dan Snyder's team. He comes off as a mindless company man who stays on Snyder's message; he's awful.

Should he really be considered to be in the media? PR, more likely.

The guy is simply a team robot with no class who also brings nothing to the table!!!!!