Who is the worst television basketball personality?

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:11 pm

Dean Alexander and also Kris Atteberry

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:13 pm

Gary Thorne is awesome. I miss his calls of NHL games this year, he is the best. I think Steve Levy does an excellent job calling NHL games, too (although when Steve calls a playoff game, it never ends without at least two overtimes!!!).

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:13 pm

Cat Grad wrote:Dean Alexander and also Kris Atteberry

Ditto

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:19 pm

And in all fairness to everbody that hasn't had the pleasure of listening to these guys, I sincerely don't know how we're able to keep them in Bozo. Man, Dean was calling high school games back in the 60s when I was trying to grow up

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:20 pm

And in all fairness to everbody that hasn't had the pleasure of listening to these guys, I sincerely don't know how we're able to keep them in Bozo. Man, Dean was calling high school games back in the 60s when I was trying to grow up

theblackgecko · Post by **theblackgecko** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 11:53 am

Bill Walton for least favorite, but there's a ton of really bad MLB announcers.
But, for the absolute worst move of all time, Dennis Miller. Rather than hire a controversial, conservative, funny man (Rush Limbaugh), ABC goes and gets Miller, who knows far less about football than a man should be allowed to. "So, Al, what's that yellow line on our screen?"
The difference is that Rush knows a lot about football, more than half the people at EPSN. Unfortunately, he couldn't go more than 2 games without saying something so controversial it gets him permananently booted from television, which is unfortunate, as Rush could have done fine commentary.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:42 pm

theblackgecko wrote:Bill Walton for least favorite, but there's a ton of really bad MLB announcers.
But, for the absolute worst move of all time, Dennis Miller. Rather than hire a controversial, conservative, funny man (Rush Limbaugh), ABC goes and gets Miller, who knows far less about football than a man should be allowed to. "So, Al, what's that yellow line on our screen?"
The difference is that Rush knows a lot about football, more than half the people at EPSN. Unfortunately, he couldn't go more than 2 games without saying something so controversial it gets him permananently booted from television, which is unfortunate, as Rush could have done fine commentary.

I think the fact that Miller wasn't a football knowledge blowhard was precisely the reason he was brought in. He was playing the role of the average fan in the booth, interacting with the expert (Fouts). Truth be told, I have heard few announcers whose football knowledge adds anything to the game. It's just not that complicated of a sport -- John Madden can barely tie his shoes and seems to get by with "technical" analysis of the games.

Miller is also funny (and conservative -- just not as hypocritical and desperate to say things for attention) while Rush isn't even in the same league by that measurement, unless intellectually dishonest gratuitous cliche putdowns of people rocks one's boat.

It was a failed experiment, unfortunately. They got rid of Foutsy and Dennis and brought in the moron Madden, and now I can't watch MNF with the sound on anymore. Oh, I miss the days when the guys in the booth could have witty banter that all of them understood and participated in. Now, I think Al just throws out current events and non-football references just to see whether Madden will fail miserably at an attempt to keep up or if he will just ignore it and instead blather on incoherently about some football rule that he himself doesn't even understand.

As far as going with a non-football guy, I think Miller was great. I think ABC just realized that many football fans aren't in the demographic that is into intellectual humor. I'm not sure how they didn't realize that ahead of time. Have they ever been to an NFL game? It's not exactly your Jeopardy watching crowd.

That being said, yes, Rush would have been perfect for MNF.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:56 pm

I like Chris Collinsworth, Troy Aikman, and Boomer Eisiason (Spelling?). Joe Buck isn't bad either, though I know a lot of people don't like him. Oh and the Moose isn't bad either.

Hate - Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Granville, Bradshaw is starting to get on my nerves.

raincat · Post by **raincat** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:04 pm

Does Glanville still leave tickets at "will-call" for Elvis?

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:12 pm

Glanville, that's right. Not Granville.

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:02 am

ya know id bitch and moan about the bad announcers but i am going to instead praise the good announcers

kris attebury and dean alexander (sp?) awesome game descriptions that bordered on amazing, telling everybody what is going on and being non-biased....a first.

Hot-Rod hundley and Ron Boone - Utah Jazz....Hot Rod's verbose descriptions, old school style, and apprication for the game is jaw dropping.

Rush Limbaugh....think of him what you want but he is wise beyond his years with football and two contrivercial for tv - two bad anything he is on is guarenteed a crap load of fans....IE "ditto heads"

wbtfg · Post by **wbtfg** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 9:17 am

Hell's Bells wrote:ya know id bitch and moan about the bad announcers but i am going to instead praise the good announcers

kris attebury and dean alexander (sp?) awesome game descriptions that bordered on amazing, telling everybody what is going on and being non-biased....a first.

Hot-Rod hundley and Ron Boone - Utah Jazz....Hot Rod's verbose descriptions, old school style, and apprication for the game is jaw dropping.

Rush Limbaugh....think of him what you want but he is wise beyond his years with football and two contrivercial for tv - two bad anything he is on is guarenteed a crap load of fans....IE "ditto heads"

First of all, Rush Limbaugh announced football games? Second of all, I don't think that Donovan McNabb shares the same thoughts on Rush.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:35 am

Hell's Bells wrote:Rush Limbaugh....think of him what you want but he is wise beyond his years with football and two contrivercial for tv - two bad anything he is on is guarenteed a crap load of fans....IE "ditto heads"

You mean he is too desperately intentionally controversial for TV (as he can't survive in any medium without resorting to sensationalism). Anybody can make stupid comments and get attention. And virtually anybody can have a crap load of fans if they preach to a choir of people who want a cheerleader instead of quality commentary.

Rush Limbaugh is to dittoheads what the UM football announcers are to Griz fans. The objective quality is very low, but the "hurray for us" factor is very high, and many of the people in the target audience really dig that approach.

grizzh8r · Post by **grizzh8r** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:07 am

anacondagriz wrote:So who are some of your favorites. I personally enjoy Ron Franklin and Gary Thorne. Both of these guys do a variety of sports and excel at all of them.

Thorny rules - best NHL announcer EVER, and he does a good job w/ CFB too. I also like Bob Costas, Joe Buck, and Al Michaels. Gus Johnson and Len Elmore are the best CBB tandem ever. They called the Vermont - Syracuse game, and when T.J. Sorrentine drilled that bomb of a three from the top of the key, I thought Johnsons' head was gonna explode!

Walton needs to shut it.

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:19 am

First of all, who cares what Donovan McNabb thinks? What was up with that loser late in the Super Bowl? He was sitting on the bench with his team down a score, doing his best Robert Parrish impersonation!

Secondly, Rush got a bad rap 2 years ago when the ESPNions turned their backs on him in order to cover their arses. After Rush's comments, I compared D. McNabb's stats to a # of other QB's from the NFL and do you know who he resembles, stats-wise, the closest?

(Drum roll, please)

Danny White. TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, if DM has about 4 more years at his current average, his numbers will be right near Danny White's. DW even took the Cowboys to 3 consecutive NFC championship game losses, just like DM; McNabb did "one-up" the great Danny White by reaching (and choking in) the Super Bowl this year. Now, does anybody consider White one of the leagues premier quarterbacks? Not even when he was playing his best...

The fact that NONE of the ESPN idiots took Rush to task IMMEDIATELY as he made his comments shows that A) he was right, at least partially, and the other panel members knew it, or at least partially agreed with him, and/or B) the cowardly Berman, Young, and Jackson had to "de-racify" themselves after taking heat following the show. The job those 3 did backtracking the next week was almost painful to watch; Tom Jackson in particular - his explanation for why he didn't immediately fire back at El Rushbo was the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Finally, Bill Walton is without a doubt the most difficult sportscaster to listen to these days, but the all-time worst was easily Magic Johnson. It's no contest; Magic will FOREVER be the career leader in the coveted Great Player/Worst Announcer Ratio Award...

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:32 am

So, you are defending Rush for making a racist comment then jumpin on the rest of the ESPN crew for trying to weather the storm Rush created?

Besides, I don't really see how a 59% completion rate, 16,296 career yards in 6 seasons, 118 TDs and 57 INTS are bad stats, but to each his own I guess. Not to mentioned 2459 rushing yards and 20 rushing TDs. Also he was the 4th fastest QB in history to reach 50 wins.

I don't really think he's a great QB, but I don't see how you can side with Rush. He is certainly entitled to his opinion about McNabb being overrated, no argument from me there, but to drag the media and race into the equation is something that doesn't belong on ESPN.

"...the sports media, being liberals just like liberal media is elsewhere, have a desire that black quarterbacks excel and do very well so that their claims that blacks are being denied opportunity can be validated."

"the media has been very desirous of a black quarterback to do well."

That kind of talk is fine for his show, which I never listen to because I cannot stand him, but I don't want to hear about the media, conversatives, liberals, politics of any sort when I watch sports. I'm glad he resigned and he deserved it.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:46 am

El Gato: It's a lot easier to just state the obvious: Rush said something stupid and got fired. I'm sure if some black guy made a comment about Steve Nash being overrated because he's white, you wouldn't be bending over backwards to defend the comment, and you surely wouldn't be mocking Nash for not winning an NBA title. Stupid is stupid, regardless of which political party's talking points one recites.

I'm not sure you're twisting this as the fault of the others on the show. If they would have done a beat-down on Rush right away (either verbally or physically), you're saying that would have convinced you that Rush was wrong? Come on, let's hold the people accountable who should be accountable. And that would be Rush and Rush alone. And that's what happened.

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:32 pm

Any of you tough guys wants to label me a racist, I'll ask you to talk to Jesse Jones, Derrick Able, Louis Antoine, or Rodney Holland and ask them whose room they spent most of their free-time in back in 84-85.

In my comments, I was simply pointing out that the other talking heads on that show barely flinched when Rush made his statements. The PC police took over after the show, and Berman et al. tucked their collective tails between their legs & fired back a week later when Rush was gone. Is Rush a racist? I don't believe he is; I believe he was being honest about McNabb's abilities as a QB versus his "media" persona... Could Rush have found a better way to talk about the subject? Maybe. Should he have avoided the subject altogether? Obviously.

I'm not saying McNabb is a bad QB; he's a little better than average. But whether you PC people want to accept it or not, he's not GREAT. Just like Danny White (no pun intended) was good but not great. I simply ask you to question yourself: If he were white, would we hear nearly as much about him as we do? You might think so, but I don't.

The only racist part of this equation is that he HAS, IN FACT, been given more publicity & his media "perception" portrays him as a better QB than he really is. How often do you hear Jim Kelly's name these days? Not often and JK was 10X the QB McNabb is.

So go ahead, Celt & BAC, label me a racist even though you don't know jacksh!t about me. I'll get a good chuckle out of it next time I talk to some of my old "posse" from MSU...

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:59 pm

Gosh, you're really looking for a little victimhood today, eh? I didn't see anybody call you a racist -- I personally just thought it was strange that you would spend so much effort defending Rush's stupid comment, and pointing out that I didn't think you would do the same if the situation was reversed and a conservative commentator wasn't the one saying the stupid words (juxtaposing situations like that is a good test to find if one truly believes what they are saying, or if they are just trying to rationalize what they want to believe). That doesn't suggest that you are a racist, that just suggests that you are a Rush apologist trying to rationalize his foolish statement.

Actually, I don't even think that anybody here called Rush a racist -- just a political opportunist with a really bad sense of what a non-dittohead public will accept in terms of vacuous commentary regarding race and the "liberal" media.

So no, the racist card hasn't been pulled, my friend.

BTW, Jim Kelly did get a lot of pub ... back when he played. I have no idea what you are trying to prove comparing him to McNabb in terms of today's publicity. Apples and Oranges.

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:26 pm

Bay Area Cat wrote:Gosh, you're really looking for a little victimhood today, eh? I didn't see anybody call you a racist -- I personally just thought it was strange that you would spend so much effort defending Rush's stupid comment, and pointing out that I didn't think you would do the same if the situation was reversed and a conservative commentator wasn't the one saying the stupid words (juxtaposing situations like that is a good test to find if one truly believes what they are saying, or if they are just trying to rationalize what they want to believe). That doesn't suggest that you are a racist, that just suggests that you are a Rush apologist trying to rationalize his foolish statement.

Actually, I don't even think that anybody here called Rush a racist -- just a political opportunist with a really bad sense of what a non-dittohead public will accept in terms of vacuous commentary regarding race and the "liberal" media.

So no, the racist card hasn't been pulled, my friend.

BTW, Jim Kelly did get a lot of pub ... back when he played. I have no idea what you are trying to prove comparing him to McNabb in terms of today's publicity. Apples and Oranges.

Mcnabb is only a average quarterback...his only super bowl year he had owens as a teammate....kinda ironic isnt it? i wonder what will happen the year mcnabb looses his legs and has to rely on his leadership skills and arm

Who is the worst television basketball personality?

Most annoying: Vitale or Raftery?