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Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:24 pm
by GorillaShazam
Hey all, longtime lurker,

Been curious what you all think of Al McCoy's courtside position being moved this season?
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Arizona Sports posted an interview with Ish from last Friday night that shows more of Al's new vantage from up top:


This seems like pretty awful treatment of a true Suns legend after 51 seasons. He spent two pages of his book talking about how much he hates being high up. He also mentioned on the Dave Pasch podcast last season (around the 14:30 mark) that this is why he retired from road games. Says he doesn't want to end his career with people thinking he doesn't know who's shooting a 3 point shot.

Other than the pandemic restrictions he's been courtside for 50 seasons, since 1972, including all of last season:
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Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:32 pm
by Superbone
I noticed that in this interview. Pretty lousy. Are they trying to force him into retirement?

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:41 pm
by GorillaShazam
Yeah, in this 2019 interview he says outright that would be why he retires:
https://theathletic.com/889711/2019/04/ ... o-ratings/

“I would say if and when – and right now I don’t know what that will be – but when I do decide to end it, that would be a big part of it,” McCoy said. “Because we’re being put in areas where we can’t see the floor and when you can’t do the kind of broadcast that you want, it’s not good.”

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:52 pm
by Shabazz
I think that was the OKC game which was a national game. Maybe the ESPN guys bump the local guys up a few levels.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:12 am
by Superbone
Shabazz wrote:
Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:52 pm
I think that was the OKC game which was a national game. Maybe the ESPN guys bump the local guys up a few levels.
I hope that’s what it was.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2023 4:44 am
by GorillaShazam
Shabazz wrote:
Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:52 pm
I think that was the OKC game which was a national game. Maybe the ESPN guys bump the local guys up a few levels.
No, it's been every game. ESPN/TNT/National guys sit on the opposite side of the court, across from the scorekeepers. I noticed this in the beginning of the season but registration was closed at the time. Last season I used to like to watch Al when the ball was lagging being taken up half-court, he's been up top away from camera view all season.

Jon Bloom tweets a photo of the radio broadcast position before every game. Here's the Jan 30 Toronto game which had no national broadcast:


All his Twitter updates from this season have the same vantage. Bloom announced it as "a new view" for Al McCoy on October 2nd preseason game:


Al's new view:


Here's a photo of Al's view from last season/every previous season:


Al's seat last season was where EJ and Kevin Ray are sitting this season, next to the Suns bench. Last season the Bally's crew were up top:
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Bally's doesn't broadcast every game, though. But even when the Bally's crew has the night off they don't let Al move down where he used to be. Here's a national game where the seats were empty at tip-off:
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Last national game not on Bally's the people sitting in the seats were playing on their cellphones the entire game.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 9:57 pm
by JeremyG
It's utterly disgraceful and disrespectful.

One last parting "gift" from Robert Sarver and Jason Rowley, I guess?

I would encourage everyone to join me in emailing Mat Ishbia about this, to see if he can rearrange things for the playoffs and let Al have the courtside seat he deserves.

His email address is:
Spoiler: show/hide

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:50 am
by JeremyG
Is anyone surprised that Mat Ishbia personally replied to my email himself first thing in the morning? :lol:

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Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 12:37 pm
by wpmiller42
JeremyG wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:50 am
Is anyone surprised that Mat Ishbia personally replied to my email himself first thing in the morning? :lol:

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Wow! That's pretty cool. Makes me like him even more.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
by TOO
Ishbia seems like he gets it.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
by Superbone
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
by Cap
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:40 pm
by Superbone
Cap wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.
We know a heck of a lot more than that.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:59 pm
by TOO
Cap wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.
Cappie Downer.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 2:52 pm
by In2ition
Cap wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.
Although, so far, we've learned nothing but good things about Ishbia, I think there is a lot of truth here. We'll see how he navigates the job hires here in the future. How do the people working for the Suns feel about him and how they are treated, from the lowliest custodians to the star players and fellow owners?

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:01 pm
by AmareIsGod
I emailed him about a future job opportunity with the Suns someday at his UWM email address and he replied to me shortly after he started. Was really cool!
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Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:58 pm
by Cap
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:40 pm
Cap wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.
We know a heck of a lot more than that.
True. We also know that he likes high-risk high-reward moves. Whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.

Re: Al McCoy Removed from Courtside?

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:21 pm
by AmareIsGod
Cap wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:58 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:40 pm
Cap wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:08 pm
Superbone wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 2:44 pm
TOO wrote:
Mon Apr 10, 2023 1:48 pm
Ishbia seems like he gets it.
The nightmare really is over. Congrats to us all for living through that! Such a load off to have a guy like Ishbia seems to be in charge.
It’s still really early to be making judgments about Ishbia. At this point, we know fairly little about him except the fact that he’s not Sarver. Admittedly, that one fact is a very big deal.
We know a heck of a lot more than that.
True. We also know that he likes high-risk high-reward moves. Whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.
I've got to admit this is the most excited I've been going into the postseason in quite a while with this team. I don't think my level of excitement and optimism would be as high if we had the same roster that we had before the Durant trade.