Sports Announcers/Commentators

[cj's dad]

I'm interested in you favorites vs. your least faves.

I'll start with three on each side.

Faves:

Chris Berman -ESPN
Joe Buck-Fox Baseball
Chris Carter- Football

Least Fave:

Stephen A. Smith-ESPN
Woody Paige-ESPN
John Clayton-ESPN

[johnhannibalsmith]

Top of the heap:

Mike Emrick (NHL)

Sterling/Kay (NYYankees - not even sure if they still work together but these guys were GREAT on radio broadcasts as a team)

Don Cherry

Mene Gene Okerland/Gorilla Monsoon/Bobby Heenan

Awful:

Almost everyone else, but let's give honors to -

Derek Sanderson (okay, arcane reference and he may be dead by now, but used to be the color guy after his career for the Bruins on WSBK, I think, and was the equivalent of having Chris Matthews talk about politics... and the Bruins were Obama)

Shaq (I rarely watch basketball but was jammed into a hotel room for most of the summer sharing with a jock that watched it nonstop and I have NO idea what this guy was even saying 98.6% of the time)

Marv ("YEESSSSSSHH!!!" cannot be said 87 times in two hours and not drive me nuts even if he is a pretty good broadcaster)

Almost every single person on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNHD, ESPNHD2.0, ESPN1984, et al.

[JustRalph]

With a more local flair.......

Marty Brenneman who does Red's Radio, Baseball.

Joe Buck......doing a nice job........

Also like Al Michaels


Hate:

Gruden

Dan Fouts

[PhantomOnTour]

Whooooooooa lemme tell ya bout Keith Jackson....whoa nellie lemme tell ya bout him!

[Greyfox]

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen - Cycling. Horse racing announcers could learn from them.

[PhantomOnTour]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen - Cycling. Horse racing announcers could learn from them.

I second that - they are the best team of commentators in any sport anywhere

[horses4courses]

Give me Al Michaels calling a football game with just about anyone beside him.
He's way the best, imo.

Jon Gruden annoys the heck out of me. He shouldn't, but he does.

Baseball?
Vin Scully has no equal.
Well into his 80s now, he is baseball through and through.

I'm a Giants fan, and listening to Kuiper and Krukow is a lot of fun.
Only if you're a Giants, though. They are delightfully biased....

[JustRalph]

I forgot one who I miss.

Auto racing pioneer who died last year



Chris Economaki

[horses4courses]

I know little, and care less, about NBA.
Anytime Stephen A. Smith comes on ESPN talking about any topic, it's an immediate press of the remote control.
The man is a pain to listen to.....

[Valuist]

Good: Michaels, Steve Stone, Aikman

Dislike: Gruden---Everyone is the greatest he's ever seen. Very tiresome
Phil Simms---just because you are a color guy doesn't mean you have to comment on everything.

[anotherCAfan]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

Baseball?
Vin Scully has no equal.
Well into his 80s now, he is baseball through and through.

I'm a Giants fan, and listening to Kuiper and Krukow is a lot of fun.
Only if you're a Giants, though. They are delightfully biased....

Does Jon Miller still call Giants games? As a Dodger/Angel fan, I still always liked Jon Miller.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by anotherCAfan

Does Jon Miller still call Giants games? As a Dodger/Angel fan, I still always liked Jon Miller.

Yes he does, but mostly radio.
I like him a lot, too.

[proximity]

not an eagles fan, but i'd say merrill reese is the best radio announcer. has the homer passion that the city of philadelphia does for the eagles but can respect other teams and players too.

when i was young i used to like listening to chuck thompson do the colts games on radio too. (balitmore)

on tv i used to like when mike patrick did the sunday night games.

and don't really have any least favorites, but it is a struggle to watch a complete baseball game with tim mccarver announcing.

[Striker]

I think Jim Nantz is solid during the NCAA bball tourney and golf.

[NJ Stinks]

All-time favs:

Curt Gowdy & Al DeRogatis doing the AFL/AFC

Lindsey Nelson doing anything

Bob Murphy doing Mets games on the radio

Dick Enberg doing football

Sean McDonough - doing baseball

Vince Scully and Marv Albert have to be included, of course

Honorable Mention - Chris Collinsworth - this guy is so honest he got booted from doing Notre Dame games on NBC because he told the truth about ND too often!

Chalkboard noise:

John Sterling - ruined Yankee radio broadcasts for at least 20 years and counting

Keith Jackson - "Whoa, Nellie" played better elsewhere I guess

John Madden - liked him for about 5 years - endured him for the next 20

Dick Vitale - ACC booster ad nauseum

Matt Millen - the guy who never learned how to shut up during a broadcast - lots like him nowadays