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Just about all of them are insufferable these days, even the ones who know the game well. My gripe centers around the insane rapid fire cutting / editing of the video clips, it's enough to give you vertigo. And it seems that all of them are shouting all the time.
Do they really need 5 or 6 guys to shout for a few seconds each; there isn't time to assimilate the info they spiel off. They barely get a few moments apiece before the next round of truck commercials.
I'd love to go back to Howard Cosell and Don Meredith who took time to explain things and conduct a normal conversation, not a loud machine gun burst of verbosity and split second video clips.
I miss John Madden too, his insights were awesome.
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If I am watching a game alone, I typically MUTE the volume. But if I am watching with my kids, they prefer the announcers over their old man telling them what just happened, go figure!
If I am watching a game alone, I typically MUTE the volume. But if I am watching with my kids, they prefer the announcers over their old man telling them what just happened, go figure!
Back in DC we muted the Redskins when on TV and turned on the radio to listen to Sonny Jurgensen and one other chap who were awesome. While the TV was running more insipid truck commercials, Sonny would be explaining a recent play or some finer points of the game.
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To me, the best announcing team on CBS is Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, and the best announcing team on FOX is Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick. I'm actually not too fond of either network's primary announcing team. On CBS, Jim Nantz is excellent, but Phil Simms whines too much and exhibits obvious bias at times. On FOX, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are just kind of dry. CBS mutes the crowd noise a bit too much, and the production quality is uneven. FOX generally has better production quality and doesn't keep too much of a lid on the crowd noise.
The NBC announcing team works very well. Al Michaels is among the best at what he does. Cris Collinsworth has grown on me because he does a lot of homework before the games, and if he has any bias, then I don't detect it. The production quality might be too good. It seems kind of sterile to me, although the cityscapes they show are stunning.
I actually like the ESPN announcing team. Mike Tirico is underrated. Ron Jaworski comes prepared, but I do detect some bias in him. Jon Gruden amuses me because every player in the NFL is above average to him. ESPN actually does a good job of making me feel like I'm at the game with the enthusiasm of the announcers, the amplified crowd noise, and the steady images of fans in the stands.
In the CBS studio, James Brown is in total control as the host. Dan Marino can be a hothead, and he seems insincere at times. Bill Cowher turned out to be a good fit, and he seems to enjoy his career in broadcasting. Shannon Sharpe gets ahead of himself sometimes. Boomer Esiason seems kind of stiff on TV; I think he's much better on the radio.
In the FOX studio, Curt Menefee is a pretty good host, but he doesn't have the same amount of control that James Brown does. Terry Bradshaw is kind of goofy, but I don't mind. Howie Long seems to take himself a bit too seriously sometimes. Jimmy Johnson is a straight shooter. Michael Strahan still seems like a bit of a novice, but he does OK. They have a tendency to lose themselves in their goofiness.
In the NBC studio, Dan Patrick strikes me as a bit of a smartass, but at least he's palatable, unlike Keith Olbermann. Tony Dungy doesn't always seem to be comfortable on TV, and Rodney Harrison spends half the show trying to show him up or get under his skin. Peter King is an excellent sportswriter, but he's not meant for TV. Mike Florio isn't even a legitimate journalist, and NBC trying to pass him off as such makes me feel like they're insulting my intelligence.
For as good as ESPN is with the game broadcast, they're that bad in the studio. They have too damn many people to begin with, and many of the personalities turn me off. There's a combination of histrionics (Stuart Scott, Cris Carter, Keyshawn Johnson) and arrogance (Tom Jackson, Steve Young, Trent Dilfer) that I can't deal with very well. As much as I appreciate Chris Berman's body of work, he's lost control of the show, and Mike Ditka just blows it out his ass, which is probably the best approach of them all.
Last edited by Craziaskowboi; 12-30-2011 at 01:08 AM..
Back in the late 90's I caught a few games that Matt Millen did on radio and he was actually very good. He was like the Madden of radio, he broke down the game and gave you a clear picture of what was going on down on the field.
Dierdorf was fun to listen to on MNF with Gifford and Michaels, because it was inevitable he was going to say something dumb, and you just hear Gifford's skin crawl. The only thing better was when Don Meredith was part of the MNF cast and drove Gifford and Cosell nuts. Hilarious. I miss that line-up with the three of them on MNF, even if Gifford was a pompous stiff the three of them had good chemistry on television.
I remember how everyone dreaded Dennis Miller coming to MNF. I myself thought he was just going to make a mockery of the game, but to my surprise I actually ended up liking him and was disappointed when he left. Today's MNF cast is unlistenable for me. Gruden and Jaworski sound the same and I often don't know which one is speaking, but 90% of the time it's Gruden because he never shuts up. That's a Kool-aid drinker if there ever was one, you'll never hear him knock a player, official or coach, everyone is great...gotta keep those revenue dollars flowing.
One guy I never want hear again is Joe Theismann. He'd take every opportunity to talk about himself and what he would do if he were the QB down on the field. Tedious.
One guy I never want hear again is Joe Theismann. He'd take every opportunity to talk about himself and what he would do if he were the QB down on the field. Tedious.
Yeah, Joe Theismann was never a good announcer. Maybe his calling is print/online media, though, because I've actually read a few articles that he's typed, and he does a good job with those. Maybe he's just not good at speaking off the cuff, but better when he has time to organize all his thoughts. I kind of feel like I'm the same way.
As for Dennis Miller, the problem with him was that he spoke over a lot of people's heads, and that caused people to hate him. He's a genius and a great comedian, and he's actually very knowledgeable of football -- he's from Pittsburgh, so of course he knows his **** -- but the insecure alpha male contingency that watches football hated him for being smarter than them without even trying.
I miss John Madden too, his insights were awesome.
Some of John Madden's best insights:
"The team that puts the most points on the board is gonna win this game"
"He came close to getting pantsed"
"The offensive line are the biggest guys on the field. They're bigger than everyone else, which makes them the biggest guys on the field"
"When you don't win, you lose"
"The best way to gain more yards is advance the ball down the field from the line of scrimmage"
"When you have great players playing great, that's great football"
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