Best / Worst All Time National Sportscasters / Color Men

[JimGP20]

Who are your favorites, and who are the ones who should never be allowed to be near any sporting event?

My Favorites:
Al Michaels
Howard Cosell
Jim McKay

Worst Ever:
Barry Tompkins

[dannyg79]

Steve Stone is my favorite for baseball. I hate the Kent Mercker and the sorry ass 04 Cubs basically ran him off from WGN.

[homiebrah]

Bob Uecker.

Both for the Brewers and the Indians.

[uncledoom]

Steve Stone is my favorite for baseball. I hate the Kent Mercker and the sorry ass 04 Cubs basically ran him off from WGN.


+1

Add Harry Caray to that.

[dannyg79]

+1

Add Harry Caray to that.

I like Harry too. The well spoken very knowledgeable Stone on one side, and Harry out of his mind not knowing what he was saying half the time, made for some great broadcasts.

[murphy]

Joe Buck...if it wasn't for his dad, he wouldn't have a job. What's that line from "The American President"...he couldn't find a coherent thought with 2 hands and a flashlight? That's Joe Buck...useless.

[Vic Daring]

The Chicago White Sox broadcasters are easily the worst in any sport ever. There is no 2nd place.

"He gone."

"You caaaaaaann, put in the booooaaarrrrrd. Yes!"

Gawd!

Al Michaels is probably the best of our time.

Pat Summeral was great.

Typical Summeral call:

White....Dorsett...Touchdown.

No insipid catch-phrase. No screaming. Nothing to call attention to himself.

I'll add that Joe Buck isn't as bad as his critics make him out to be. And his father (here comes a bit of heresy) was a little over-rated.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

By sport, and I'm only going to deal with current national announcers. Everyone has their favorite local guys (Harry Kalas is mine)

Baseball

Best- Gary Thorne (play-by-play), Rick Sutcliffe/Orel Hershisher/Al Leiter (color)

Worst- Chris Berman (PBP), Joe Morgan/Tim McCarver (color)

Pro Football

Best- Dick Stockton, Mike Tirico (PBP), Ron Jaworski, Darryl Johnston (color)

Worst- Joe Buck (PBP), John Madden (color)

College Football

Best- Tom Hammond (PBP...only reason to watch Notre Dame football), Todd Blackledge (color)

College Basketball

Best- Gus Johnson, Verne Lundquist (PBP), Bill Raftery (color...the kiss!)

worst- Pam Ward (PBP), Len Elmore (color)

Hockey

Best- Mike Emerick paired with Bill Clement

Pro Basketball

Best- ABC's #1 team is outstanding (Breen on PBP, Van Gundy and Mark Jackson on color), also Marv Albert as a PBP

Worst- TNT's studio team.

[iamredbeard]

I expect hometown announcers to be bias, that is ok. What I don't like is when national broadcasters do that. They are suppose to be impartial.

[ALBOB2]

Best - Hockey - the team of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement. :clap:

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Best - Hockey - the team of Gary Thorne and Bill Clement. :clap:

I like Thorne more in baseball.

Every time he does a hockey game it goes OT (or in the case of '00 Flyers/Pens, five of them) :mad:

[Vic Daring]

By sport, and I'm only going to deal with current national announcers. Everyone has their favorite local guys (Harry Kalas is mine)

Baseball

Best- Gary Thorne (play-by-play), Rick Sutcliffe/Orel Hershisher/Al Leiter (color)

Worst- Chris Berman (PBP), Joe Morgan/Tim McCarver (color)

Oh yeah. Forgot about Thorne. The poor man's Al Michaels. Adept at multpile sports, with a subtle humor always present. Agree with your "worst" list. Berman's "back-back-back..." nonsense is an insult to Red Barber. Morgan and McCarver think their careers defined baseball somehow.

[stodr]

Who are your favorites, and who are the ones who should never be allowed to be near any sporting event?

My Favorites:
Al Michaels
Howard Cosell
Jim McKay



+1 for Keith Jackson

[Beccaria]

Harry. You can't go wrong with Harry. Also liked Jack Brickhouse.

Al Kaline and George Kell for the Tigers were good to listen to. Laid back 90 percent of the time, and in the other 10 percent, they were REALLY fired up. Ernie Harwell on the radio for Detroit was great as well.

Worst to me are the Chicago White Sox TV announcers. They go out of their way to make clear that they despise the other team. I'll go so far as to say that they almost come off as completely classless when the White Sox play the Cubs.

[AutoRacer55]

Best:
Jim Henderson (PBP for New Orleans Saints)
Paul Page (Racing)

Worst:
Marty Reid

[Oddball]

Best Play-by-play: Vin Scully, Tom Mees, Charlie Steiner, Mel Allen, Pat Summerall, Keith Jackson, Bob Costas, Dick Enburg, Curt Gowdy, Gary Thorne.

Best color: Tony Kubeck, Bob Uecker, Jim Kaat, Ralph Kiner, Halsey Hall.

Worst: Al Michaels, John Madden, Chris Berman, Joe Buck, Ken Harrelson (the totally annoying White Sox guy), Tim McCarver (was O.K. at first, but has staled over the years), Terry Bradshaw.

[alexz2317]

I hate the guys who do commentating on NBC NHL games. They freaked out on Sunday when Sidney Crosby missed the net :))

[2Parties1GlobalistGoal]

For all you White Sox announcer fans...

YOOOOOOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOARD.... YES!!!!!1111111

[scmarcos]

I hate Randy Cross. He is terrible.

[2Parties1GlobalistGoal]

Guys I like: Gus Johnson, Vin Scully, Josh Lewin (former Tigers TV play-by-play, now works for Rangers and some Fox Saturday games), Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Gary Miller. I know there are more but I'm terrible with announcer names. Just thought of another: Chris Spielman on ESPN College Football color commentary. He's excellent.

Guys (and 1 gal) I can't stand: Bill Walton, 75% of the broadcasters on Big Ten Network, John Madden, Joe Buck, Pam Ward, Ken Harrelson/Other White Sox guy, and I'm sure others I'll remember after posting...

[iamredbeard]

I really like Rod Allen. He's a local sports announcer so pretty much everyone outside of Detroit hasn't had much contact with him. I just love it when he says "Get down with your bad self". :razz: He usually says that at least a couple times every broadcast.

[Dreamy]

Best:Jerry Remy,the Remdawg,Sean McDonough,Bob Costas,Jim McKay

Worst: Tim McCarver

[2Parties1GlobalistGoal]

I really like Rod Allen. He's a local sports announcer so pretty much everyone outside of Detroit hasn't had much contact with him. I just love it when he says "Get down with your bad self". :razz: He usually says that at least a couple times every broadcast.

I always get stale of him toward the end of the season, but he's very enthusiastic which I like. Have you seen "The Rod Allen Drinking Game"? I can't link to it since it's a blog, but google it. :mrgreen:

From Wikipedia (I love this :)) )

Allen is known to viewers for a variety of idiosyncrasies that liven up his announcing style. For example, he has a very distinctive high-pitched laugh that emerges at exciting moments during games. He also has a group of words and phrases that he uses often, e.g., "special," "nasty," "filthy," "partner," (pronounced "pahdnuh") "stellar," "he buggy-whipped that one", "that's a big league pitch," "elevated", "steady diet," "country strong," "he can play" and "without question." A common type of phrase that he would use during a game might be, "Mario, Bondo's got the filthy stuff today, pahdnuh," "he's serving him a steady diet of nasty breaking balls," or "Baseball is a humbling game pahdnuh." He will also often use his partner's name twice in the same sentence for emphasis. For example, "Mario, I think that Big Red just needs to get some of that fresh air of Tropicana Field, Mario." Another example would be "Mario did you work out today, Mario?" One of Allen's most popular phrases during the 2006 Tigers season was "There you Mr. Shelton!" in reference to Chris Shelton's power. Other favorite phrases include statements such as, "Get down with your bad self," after a home run is hit. Rod also likes to refer to a fastball as "a piece of cheese". He has been known to refer to Jeremy Bonderman's slider as "Mr. Snappy", Justin Verlander's fastball as "High Octane Cheese," Craig Monroe as "Baby Boy," and Marcus Thames as "Country Strong." When Joel Zumaya is on the mound, Allen may use commentary such as "it's just not fair" or "best arm in baseball." His playful commentary has led to the creation of the "Rod Allen Drinking Game", a tongue-in-cheek phenomenon among Tigers fans.

[iamredbeard]

I always get stale of him toward the end of the season, but he's very enthusiastic which I like. Have you seen "The Rod Allen Drinking Game"? I can't link to it since it's a blog, but google it. :mrgreen:

From Wikipedia (I love this :)) )

I just love the guy. He's very good IMO. When the Tigers were terrible, he kept the games entertaining, something that wasn't easy to do. I thought back then he did a tremendous job keeping the viewing numbers as high as they were.

[alexz2317]

I just looked up the drinking game, it's awesome. May need to do that one day.

[ALBOB2]

I like Thorne more in baseball.

Every time he does a hockey game it goes OT (or in the case of '00 Flyers/Pens, five of them) :mad:


And just exactly how is that a BAD thing??? Especially the 5 OT game when Keith Primeau scored the game winner. That was the night before I was to come home from a four month deployment to Turkey. Talk about a great night. :dance:

[Dr. Funkenstein]

And just exactly how is that a BAD thing??? Especially the 5 OT game when Keith Primeau scored the game winner. That was the night before I was to come home from a four month deployment to Turkey. Talk about a great night. :dance:

I never get to see the long-OT games. Flyers-Pens I missed for "recreational" reasons (suffice to say the wife's not a hockey fan ;) )

[uncledoom]

For all you White Sox announcer fans...

YOOOOOOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOARD.... YES!!!!!1111111

I'm a Sox fan and they are NOT annoying.... just very biased. I don't recall them ever claiming to be anything other than that.

[uncledoom]

This is about 20 years ago but Jim Durham and Red Kerr doing Bulls basketball was really good...only because they handled both the TV and the radio broadcasts at the same time.

[Oddball]

I'm a Sox fan and they are NOT annoying.... just very biased. I don't recall them ever claiming to be anything other than that.Ken Harrelson and are [I]TOTALLY annoying.

I'm a Vikings fan and their homer radio announcers are the only guys anywhere whose shameless rooting for the home team is more obnoxious than Harrelson and whichever has-been shares the booth with him.

[grapabeaux]

The Chicago White Sox broadcasters are easily the worst in any sport ever. There is no 2nd place.

"He gone."

"You caaaaaaann, put in the booooaaarrrrrd. Yes!"

Gawd!

Al Michaels is probably the best of our time.

Pat Summeral was great.

Typical Summeral call:


No insipid catch-phrase. No screaming. Nothing to call attention to himself.

I'll add that Joe Buck isn't as bad as his critics make him out to be. And his father (here comes a bit of heresy) was a little over-rated.

"He gone" makes my skin crawl.

I generally like the understated TV play-by-play (except for real game-deciding moments, of course) like Summerall, but I thought one of the criticisms of Joe Buck was that he sounded dull and unexcited (like on the David Tyree Helmet Catch in the Super Bowl). Would Summerall have done that call much differently?

A couple of notes about Jack Buck - I heard him regularly in his last few years with the Cardinals, and you could see he had lost some of his touch. (His call on the radio of McGwire's 62nd was rambling and anti-climactic. Ironically, Joe Buck's call on national TV was great.)

Also, in what must have been one of the oddest moments for a team play-by-play guy, Jack Buck did the national radio broadcast of the 1985 World Series, which included Don Denkinger's infamous "safe" call at first base in the 9th inning of game 6. Having to call his home team melting down in that inning (and in the game 7 11-0 blowout), while having to keep the neutrality for the national audience, must have been a very strange experience.

[Grendel IV]

Phil Rizzuto

"Holy Cow!!!!!"

[Dual867PowerMac]

The best: Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall. Ron Santo is fun to listen to.

I don't know about the worst. Well, actually, I do: Harry Caray. The guy sounded drunk half the time.

[grapabeaux]

The best: Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall. Ron Santo is fun to listen to.

I don't know about the worst. Well, actually, I do: Harry Caray. The guy sounded drunk half the time.

"Rob Dibble spelled backwards is "el bbid bor"."

I swear I heard that on an afternoon Cubs game with Caray at the helm.

[joe the plumber jr.]

Worst?.....How about that tool on msnbc Kieth Olbamaerman

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Worst?.....How about that tool on msnbc Kieth Olbamaerman

More of a sports anchor when he does do sports, but I've always liked him more in that arena than in politics.

Olbermann w/Kilborn was ESPN's best team for years.

[scmarcos]

And just exactly how is that a BAD thing??? Especially the 5 OT game when Keith Primeau scored the game winner. That was the night before I was to come home from a four month deployment to Turkey. Talk about a great night. :dance:

Possibly the greatest hockey game ever!

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Possibly the greatest hockey game ever!

And it ended on an amazing goal...Primeau stopping on a dime on the right wing (letting Kasparaitis fly by) and ripping the wrister past Tugnutt's shoulder. So much better than the way a lot of long OT games end (on tipped shots and scrums in front of the net)

[Dragon1963]

All you baseball fans forgot probably the two greatest sports casters of all time.

Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola.

[Cid the Engineer]

NBA: Bill Walton- the guy is a know-nothing jackass.
NCAA Bball: Dick Vitale- most obnoxious nasally voice ever. Even Gilbert Godfrey has a less annoying voice.

[Z_only1]

"Rob Dibble spelled backwards is "el bbid bor"."

I swear I heard that on an afternoon Cubs game with Caray at the helm.

Caray had trouble pronouncing Gon-za-le-ez.

Because I'm Bud man and Cub fan...

[PhilRocksinOHIO.]

The Cleveland Cavaliers color guy Austin Carr is without question the worst announcer in this town. He throws out the stupidest phrases during each and every game and this year it's only gotten worse dispite the fact the Cavs are playing killer basketball. For example he calls LeBron James "The L-Train" and with each basket he or some other Cavs player slam dunks he says "he THROWS DA HAMMER DOWN." For every three point basket he says "HE SHOOTS IT DEEP IN THE Q." For any blocked shot made by a Cavs player he comes back with his beyond worst comment..."GET THAT WEAK STUFF OUTTA HEAH!!!". An embarassing call is calling Mo Williams teardrop shot the "Mo Flow." There's actually shirts sold at the games with his catch phrases...why??? He only used to do it sparingly but now it's gotten way out of hand. I wonder if somebody whispered in his ear to keep using those phrases, like some ESPN tool. And when it comes to just basketball, even though he played in the NBA, he's as useless as a drool monkey. It has made me turn down the sound on my TV and listen to the play by play on the radio.

The best in Cleveland? Fred McCloud for the Cavs...too bad he's stuck with such an ass like Austin Carr. Joe Tait on the Cavs radio home is legendary.

Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan for the Indians radio games are great, but Matt Underwood and Rick Manning on TV plain and simply put sucks.

Jim Donovan does a great job for the Browns radio games.

Nationally, Howard Cosell was the best at his craft. Charles Barkley on TNT is a tool, and I'm being polite.

[2Parties1GlobalistGoal]

I wonder if somebody whispered in his ear to keep using those phrases, like some ESPN tool.

That's probably it right there. He wants an ESPN gig. Sounds like he'd fit right in from your description.

[STEEL]

Worst ever across all sports: John Madden

Cleveland has a local guy that is really fun to listen to: jim Donnovan

He gets excited when the Browns do something good but not to the point of being annoying.

His color commentator is pretty weak though. Just reads off cue cards.

[STEEL]

The Cleveland Cavaliers color guy Austin Carr is without question the worst announcer in this town. He throws out the stupidest phrases during each and every game and this year it's only gotten worse dispite the fact the Cavs are playing killer basketball. For example he calls LeBron James "The L-Train" and with each basket he or some other Cavs player slam dunks he says "he THROWS DA HAMMER DOWN." For every three point basket he says "HE SHOOTS IT DEEP IN THE Q." For any blocked shot made by a Cavs player he comes back with his beyond worst comment..."GET THAT WEAK STUFF OUTTA HEAH!!!". An embarassing call is calling Mo Williams teardrop shot the "Mo Flow." There's actually shirts sold at the games with his catch phrases...why??? He only used to do it sparingly but now it's gotten way out of hand. I wonder if somebody whispered in his ear to keep using those phrases, like some ESPN tool. And when it comes to just basketball, even though he played in the NBA, he's as useless as a drool monkey. It has made me turn down the sound on my TV and listen to the play by play on the radio.

The best in Cleveland? Fred McCloud for the Cavs...too bad he's stuck with such an ass like Austin Carr. Joe Tait on the Cavs radio home is legendary.

Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan for the Indians radio games are great, but Matt Underwood and Rick Manning on TV plain and simply put sucks.

Jim Donovan does a great job for the Browns radio games.

Nationally, Howard Cosell was the best at his craft. Charles Barkley on TNT is a tool, and I'm being polite.

I obviously didn't read the thread before posting or I would have noticed you already mentioned Donovan. What is his sidekicks name? Deacan? I could really do without him. Or Bearnie when he tries to give it a shot (I think he is on TV though).

Your comments about the Cavs guy reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit with Ramon trying to do sportscasting on ESPN. You should check it out. It's funny stuff.

[PhilRocksinOHIO.]

I obviously didn't read the thread before posting or I would have noticed you already mentioned Donovan. What is his sidekicks name? Dieken? I could really do without him. Or Bernie when he tries to give it a shot (I think he is on TV though).

I cleaned it up for you. Happy to help out.

Funny. A Steeler fan heaping praise on someone other than anyone related to your wonderful black and gold. I always thought you people praise one kind...your own.

Thanks for the heads up on the Ramon skits. I'll look them up on YouTube.

[tully]

Hank Stramm: The worst color guy ever in sportscasting history....

funny story, I used to do production work for the Tampa Bay bucs in the 80s. Hank stramm was doing the color for a preseason game and requested a VCR in his hotel room. When we retreaved the VCR, he had left his "movie" in the slot. The title a little too colorful to mention here...

[dittoheadAZ]

Best:

Al McCoy (Basketball)
DW & Jeff Hammond (NASCAR)
Vin Scully (Baseball)
And sometimes John Madden

Worst:

Chris Berman (anything)
Dick Stockton & Bill Russell (NBA back around the 80s)
Anyone on NBC for NASCAR
Charles Barkley
And sometimes John Madden