Please don't tell me what I would do. I am wildly inconsistent and hypocritical, so I don't think you can safely guess. We're discussing who's interesting, not who's a good person. Augustine got to be a Saint in spite of being an asshole.
To be fair, yerfatma, Don Cherry (generally) just does a short studio piece once a week, rather than actual game broadcasting, which I think might be a touch easier to stay "interesting"...(which he is, no doubt). Barkley also fits into the same category, methinks. But to the human beings with flaws point, I really love the Toronto Raptors' Chuck Swirsky (pbp) and Jack Armstrong (colour). Swirsk is an unabashed homer with unparalleled energy, and Armstrong is a very knowledgeable guy who calms Chuck down without being a dick about it. For me, they are an integral part of the Raptors feel-good story this season. (Has anyone else around the league heard the Toronto guys when NBA TV does those random games from other markets? I know that I have caught a bunch of other local announcing teams that way, and a lot of them are also pretty bland. Though Red Kerr calling Nocioni "Noach" always seems to crack me up.)
Beyond the Moss incident, Buck just has a tendency to criticize anything outside the norms and seemingly fails to take context into account. And to me, his voice and situational vocal fluctuations are just plain annoying and mistimed. Perhaps it is his undying tendency to simply stick to the status quo and cliche that bothers me. The Moss incident simply happens to be a superb in-a-nutshell example of Buck's style, which is why it is so often referred to. McEnroe and Carillo definitely go along well together, and I wish we could see more of teams like those two. The challenge is simply finding someone with a good knowledge of the game, personality, and ability to not be offensive to the audience. Though personally, I don't often seem to see the "knowledge" factor kick in during most network TV broadcasts anyway. Barkley is a great example (though he's on premium TV) - he can say some damn stupid shit, but he also has a distinct and funny personality that made him be warranted a good announcer in an earlier post. I would love change, but so long as the status quo doesn't interfere with the league's growth, I don't see why there would be change.
I am wildly inconsistent and hypocritical OK.
McEnroe and Carillo definitely go along well together... They do go well together, but I seem to hear undercurrents of the following: JM: "How can they stick me on a broadcast with this opinionated b----?" MC: "John, you are such an idiot for your opinion about that shot." Does anyone else hear that? By the way, even though they were mostly radio broadcasters, you have to add Ernie Harwell and Ned Martin to the list of greats.
The #1 thing that drives me nuts about Buck is that he consistently caters to the person who just turned on the game five minutes ago, who has no idea what's going on and only has a passing interest in the sport. As someone who's done a fair bit of broadcasting, this is one of the first things you learn -- there are always new people tuning in, so say the score often and give a short recap occasionally. You might find it aggravating, but it's a hell of a lot more annoying to listen to a game on the radio and have to wait 15 fucking minutes to find out the score.
Vin Scully is so good, and almost worth the investment in XM Radio by himself. MLB.com offers a radio package for like $15 for the season. Vin Scully is definitely worth that. I would add Harry Kalas to the list. His best days are behind him, and he was never as good as he was when he was with Richie Ashburn. But he's still better than the new folk. I'm also very glad to see Jon Miller's name on BPP's list. I like listening to him, but my friends think I'm crazy.
Miller's incredible on the radio; I buy MLB.Com's audio subscription every year and have listened to the Giants all the time because of him. Their pregame show was also the most lively in baseball until they fired one of the participants for something he said.
Jon Miller doing an impersonation of Japan's biggest baseball announcer, who basically ripped off Vin Scully 100% is amazing. One of my biggest complaints about Joe Morgan is that he's such a drag he makes Jon Miller boring. I am wildly inconsistent and hypocritical OK. I'm not really.
Touche`.
Eh. I'll take bland over vibrantly irritating any day of the week. I agree. So long as the announcer doesnt annoy me I can enjoy the game. As far as announcers I can't stand go, I would have to put Joe Thiesman at the top of that list. Monday night football was great this year because of Kornhiesers constant jokes directed at thiesman.
...so say the score often and give a short recap occasionally... Fraze, on radio this is an absolute necessity, and when it is done well, it is both unobtrsive and informative. On TV you have the little box that will remind you of the score, count, inning, quarter, time remaining, etc., etc. One glance says it all. Game recaps also can be accomplished by a "bottom line" type of arrangement that can be shown during periods of relative inaction. Thus, my point is that TV broadcasters should let the actions on the field speak for themselves for the most part, and limit their comments to brief description and post-play analysis. Ray Scott was the best football announcer I ever heard, and he was the master of just shutting up.
The master of just shutting up. Boy, there's a lost art.
I'm lucky to get Marty Brennaman (HOF 2000) for every Reds' game - and his son Thom will be focusing on the Red's but has been national at times and pretty good, too. For football - I'm with rcade - Aikman is the best thing out there. And although I'm having a hard time coming up with a "close second" that should degrade the excellent job I think he does. Golf - I love Faldo and Azinger in the booth together. It stinks you have to rely on them missing cuts or not playing, but I could listen to their wit and knowledge every round of every tournament.
proofreader was out to lunhc, sorry ... regarding Aikman "nd although I'm having a hard time coming up with a "close second" that should NOT degrade the excellent job I think he does."
Add Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford to any list you want.They either stunk up the joint or were worth the price of gold.
Nice article on Carillo. She is a very interesting person, in and out of the booth. And I'm going to defend Buck here. The little box in the corner gives only the score, not how the runs were scored, what drama has unfolded in the game, all of the pretext that makes the game from the point I tuned in more interesting. If you just want to know the score, there will be a boxscore on Yahoo! as soon as the game is over, I promise.
Thanks for the Carillo story; made me like her even more.
What i would like to see is an announcer who unbiasly calls a game. You are broadcasting to everyone not the winning teams fans. Just look at the Eagles - Saints game and Darrell Johnston. He was pulling for the Saints the whole first half, and even on the half time show, they asked if he was aware that two teams were playing? The second half he called a total different game. Call the game, not who you want to win.
Souse, thanks for the link to the Carillo story. I did not know that she and John McEnroe were such good friends. Thus, my comments JM: "How can they stick me on a broadcast with this opinionated b----?" MC: "John, you are such an idiot for your opinion about that shot." are not valid. I can see now that it is two friends having a lot of fun "dissing" each other in good humor. As such, it is fun to hear.
To me Joe Garagiola was the greatest in televised baseball. Its a crime he went to game shows and ended up on the dog show circuit.
Listen, if Nantz was as good as everyone says he is...why is that he has never been rumored for any other network? It's becasue the other networks don't want him. Plain and simple...He's not that good. At the beginning of the SuperBowl, watch...he'll steal Musburgers line or something like it..."You're looking LIVE".. Did we forget the 1998 Nagano Olympics....they were aweful! Yeah, what a great job he did there Plus, the comment about your daughter taking him to the prom....I'm sure he has skeltons like everyone else....no one is that clean.
joe buck is ok - at least he's got a sense of humor. nance is just such a flatlining cbs yes man afraid to commit himself to any kind of controversial position on any subject. listen to him chew the fat with his golfing buddies mike/mad dog anytime to get an idea..
Yeah, Chris Russo is my idea of a blow-on-the-needle sort of personality. I do a lot of coke though.
To me Joe Garagiola was the greatest in televised baseball. I really liked Joe, too. The guys with personality, a decent sense of humor, and who know and love the game like he did, just aren't around much anymore. Today, with all the glitzy production and replays, high definition and other technology, all the networks need are talking heads. You almost have to be a complete idiot not to understand what you're seeing. Several years back, Garagiola and some of his counterparts really had to educate the viewer, along with entertaining them (while not getting carried away and trying take away from the actual game).
