Whatever happened to Jim Gibbons

[NJDan 589]

Seeing Gibbons as an impossibly young head coach of NCAA champion Iowa State made we wonder. I see he left coaching after 7 years and I know he occasionally goes ahead and broadcasts, but what else does he do?

[Downtown Brown 33]

I do not know what he does full time, but I’m told on weekends he tends to bring his hips to the party.

[NJDan 589]

Seems he ran for Congress in  2009 and was later involved in a minor scandal. But there are so many blanks.

[hammerlockthree 2,041]

3 hours ago, NJDan said:

Seeing Gibbons as an impossibly young head coach of NCAA champion Iowa State made we wonder. I see he left coaching after 7 years and I know he occasionally goes ahead and broadcasts, but what else does he do?

Bizarrely, i had the same question occur to me today. He knocked off Iowa and then seemed to disappear from a competitive standpoint.

BTW those who sneer at his hackneyed verbiage don't understand what he's talking about. 

[fadzaev2 319]

2 minutes ago, hammerlockthree said:

Bizarrely, i had the same question occur to me today. He knocked off Iowa and then seemed to disappear from a competitive standpoint.

BTW those who sneer at his hackneyed verbiage don't understand what he's talking about. 

You mean freight train double, shoe laces, belt buckle, Silver Fox,  etc.

[drag it 270]

4 hours ago, fadzaev2 said:

You mean freight train double, shoe laces, belt buckle, Silver Fox,  etc.

I think but am not sure that Johnson is the one who used Silver Fox.  I think Gobbons is very good.  He has a good low key manner, doesn't talk too much, imparts his substantial knowledge in simple terms, and is reliably on point in his predictions. By contrast I find Johnson to be too verbose, he dumps data like crazy in a way more suited to a message board than a fast paced live broadcast.  I think ESPN would be much better served by swapping those two for the big NCAA broadcasts.  

[MikePorcelli 27]

Jim Gibbons classic line while broadcasting the Midlands final between Joe Colon and Tony Ramos, "Joe Colon has prison strength"!

[jeffrideal 115]

4 hours ago, drag it said:

I think but am not sure that Johnson is the one who used Silver Fox.  I think Gobbons is very good.  He has a good low key manner, doesn't talk too much, imparts his substantial knowledge in simple terms, and is reliably on point in his predictions. By contrast I find Johnson to be too verbose, he dumps data like crazy in a way more suited to a message board than a fast paced live broadcast.  I think ESPN would be much better served by swapping those two for the big NCAA broadcasts.  

From FRL, it sounded like Askren had a contract with ESPN to be a commentator at this years NCAA.  Not sure what capacity though. 

[BobDole 967]

1 hour ago, jeffrideal said:

From FRL, it sounded like Askren had a contract with ESPN to be a commentator at this years NCAA.  Not sure what capacity though. 

ESPN hires just about any Joe Schmoe off the street.

[Downtown Brown 33]

For the record, Big fan of Jim Gibbons. 

[fadzaev2 319]

6 hours ago, drag it said:

I think but am not sure that Johnson is the one who used Silver Fox.  I think Gobbons is very good.  He has a good low key manner, doesn't talk too much, imparts his substantial knowledge in simple terms, and is reliably on point in his predictions. By contrast I find Johnson to be too verbose, he dumps data like crazy in a way more suited to a message board than a fast paced live broadcast.  I think ESPN would be much better served by swapping those two for the big NCAA broadcasts.  

The guy that drives me nuts is the guy that broadcasts the Penn State matches ....he thinks he's announcing the Kentucky Derby.  I watched an old broadcast from my video library the other day, and Russ Hellickson was the announcer....Russ did a great job...miss his broadcasting, and for that matter I don't dislike Jim or Tim.

[russelscout 1,573]

12 minutes ago, fadzaev2 said:

The guy that drives me nuts is the guy that broadcasts the Penn State matches ....he thinks he's announcing the Kentucky Derby.  I watched an old broadcast from my video library the other day, and Russ Hellickson was the announcer....Russ did a great job...miss his broadcasting, and for that matter I don't dislike Jim or Tim.

Man, I couldn't disagree more. IMO, Jeff Byers is the standard for how to do a one man broadcast; particularly on radio. He adds to the excitement. In case you hadn't seen this video on him:

 

Whereas, I think Iowa's Steven Grace and Mark Ironside are the standard for a two man broadcast.
 

 

[ionel 1,332]

48 minutes ago, fadzaev2 said:

The guy that drives me nuts is the guy that broadcasts the Penn State matches ....he thinks he's announcing the Kentucky Derby.

I agree, if watching a Penn State match I turn the volume off ... come to think about it even if simply listening to a Penn State match on internet audio broadcast I turn the volume off.  

[PSUSMC 175]

16 hours ago, NJDan said:

Seeing Gibbons as an impossibly young head coach of NCAA champion Iowa State made we wonder. I see he left coaching after 7 years and I know he occasionally goes ahead and broadcasts, but what else does he do?

I see what you did there - nice!

[fadzaev2 319]

59 minutes ago, ionel said:

I agree, if watching a Penn State match I turn the volume off ... come to think about it even if simply listening to a Penn State match on internet audio broadcast I turn the volume off.  

 

1 hour ago, russelscout said:

Man, I couldn't disagree more. IMO, Jeff Byers is the standard for how to do a one man broadcast; particularly on radio. He adds to the excitement. In case you hadn't seen this video on him:

 

Whereas, I think Iowa's Steven Grace and Mark Ironside are the standard for a two man broadcast.
 

 

He may be OK for radio, but not for the Big 10 Network, which is what I'm going to watch.   The Iowa broadcast with 2 guys ....different story.

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by fadzaev2

[drag it 270]

I try to listen to the PSU and Iowa broadcasts when I'm not at a TV, or if I can sync them up over the TV broadcast.  It's cool listening to people who regularly broadcast matches.

Byers' (PSU) style isn't my usual preference, but the PSU folks love him and he does a great job at what he does.  I would prefer it if he rationed the histrionics -- such as for his call of the Joseph pin of IMar, which was extraordinary.

I really enjoy Grace's play by play on the Iowa broadcasts (him as one man in the booth, which happens on occasion, is great, too).  He's got a nice low-key style, gives the information you need, and you know when he gets worked up it's important. 

Grace is also  a good fit with Ironside, who is not, um, low key.  You do have to love the Ironside passion, though, since you absolutely understand where it comes from and how genuine it is.  As a Cubs fan, he reminds me a lot of Ron Santo, former top of the line player for the team he is broadcasting and no broadcast polish at all, just a pure homer who will literally just shout something unintelligible at the most important point in the broadcast.

[smsu150 6]

Back to the original question.  Does anyone know why Gibbons got out of coaching at such a young age?  I think his last Iowa State team finished 4th at nationals.  They were consistently in the top 5,  winning the title in 1987. 

[Lunaticfringe 18]

I would guess the same reason Marty Morgan, Tim Hartung, Wes Hand and hundreds of others do. They actually want to be around there family and watch his children grown up. Who wants to be on the road 50% of your life? Whether it be recruiting, weekend 2 dual road trips, tourneys, national high school events recruiting. Some of these guys have decided to go running a club route such as Jared Lawrence and to me that is a lot more manageable. You still coach wrestling but you are in charge of what you do, the amount of events are mostly local so at most you are gone a couple of days periodically.

[HurricaneWrestling2 582]

10 hours ago, MikePorcelli said:

Jim Gibbons classic line while broadcasting the Midlands final between Joe Colon and Tony Ramos, "Joe Colon has prison strength"!

He also  had another classic line:

 

[ionel 1,332]

32 minutes ago, HurricaneWrestling2 said:

He also  had another classic line:

 

Ain't it grand when two announcers can agree on something.  :)

[IronChef 750]

Today I learned there were people who like Jim Gibbons announcing. 

Byers can seem over the top sometimes, but I think a lot of that is the fact that he is doing a radio broadcast that is getting used for TV. 

[jchapman 1,094]

4 hours ago, drag it said:

I try to listen to the PSU and Iowa broadcasts when I'm not at a TV, or if I can sync them up over the TV broadcast.  It's cool listening to people who regularly broadcast matches.

Byers' (PSU) style isn't my usual preference, but the PSU folks love him and he does a great job at what he does.  I would prefer it if he rationed the histrionics -- such as for his call of the Joseph pin of IMar, which was extraordinary.

I really enjoy Grace's play by play on the Iowa broadcasts (him as one man in the booth, which happens on occasion, is great, too).  He's got a nice low-key style, gives the information you need, and you know when he gets worked up it's important. 

Grace is also  a good fit with Ironside, who is not, um, low key.  You do have to love the Ironside passion, though, since you absolutely understand where it comes from and how genuine it is.  As a Cubs fan, he reminds me a lot of Ron Santo, former top of the line player for the team he is broadcasting and no broadcast polish at all, just a pure homer who will literally just shout something unintelligible at the most important point in the broadcast.

As a non-Cubs fan, Ron Santo was a buffoon and a caricature of himself.  But I can see why Cubs fans liked him because of the nostalgia of his HOF playing days and his community service (JDF).

Edited June 4, 2020 by jchapman

[ISUChip 50]

3 hours ago, smsu150 said:

Back to the original question.  Does anyone know why Gibbons got out of coaching at such a young age?  I think his last Iowa State team finished 4th at nationals.  They were consistently in the top 5,  winning the title in 1987. 

"I've been in wrestling for darn near two-thirds of my life. It's been a great experience for me. I'm just looking to do something different....I am ready to pursue other interests outside of wrestling."

Frankly, I think he also figured out that the right non-coaching gig would be more financially beneficial.

[fadzaev2 319]

50 minutes ago, IronChef said:

Today I learned there were people who like Jim Gibbons announcing. 

Byers can seem over the top sometimes, but I think a lot of that is the fact that he is doing a radio broadcast that is getting used for TV. 

I just wish they'd get someone else for television.....I want some commentary....some good facts....the short version of what's going on without an overload of banter.  These are big meets and it seems like somebody is saving money by doubling up using a radio commentator for television....just my point of view from the expensive seats.  Fadz

[TheOhioState 417]

10 hours ago, fadzaev2 said:

The guy that drives me nuts is the guy that broadcasts the Penn State matches ....he thinks he's announcing the Kentucky Derby.  I watched an old broadcast from my video library the other day, and Russ Hellickson was the announcer....Russ did a great job...miss his broadcasting, and for that matter I don't dislike Jim or Tim.

The Kentucky Derby line cracked me up.  

Byers is a little over the top, but I like the enthusiasm.  I also like Gibbons and Ironside.  

I'd also agree about Hellickson.  He was a pro.