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Favorite Sports Commentators?

Started by CoreySamson, October 20, 2021, 12:28:58 PM

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kevinb1994

Quote from: kenarmy on October 21, 2021, 12:42:01 AM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 20, 2021, 02:00:07 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 20, 2021, 01:39:04 PM
^^^

MRN used to be the real way to listen to a NASCAR.  More so if you had a scanner while at the race track.  They didn't really hold back on the opinions very much.

I learned recently that I could listen to MRN/PRN via the NASCAR.com leaderboard for free.  It is much better than wondering if something odd got missed by TV.

I would say that Mike Joy is the best NASCAR announcer at this point.  The others recently have never really come close.
I agree with this. I enjoyed Darrell Waltrip's "boogity, boogity, boogity! let's go racing boys!" though.
Haha, same here. I remember when he made fun of himself by being called Darrell Cartrip in the Cars movie.


Henry

Quote from: KeithE4Phx on October 20, 2021, 11:50:04 PM
Quote from: jayhawkco on October 20, 2021, 02:56:34 PM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 20, 2021, 02:42:38 PM
QuoteMLB - Biased as a White Sox fan, but I think Jason Benetti is fantastic. Also love him on the call for college football.

What did you think of Hawk Harrelson?  Did you love his enthusiasm for the White Sox all the time, or were you annoyed at how biased he always was?

I could not watch a White Sox game back when they were on WGN from time-to-time because the bias was so blatant IMO.

Is he the "He gone" guy?

Chris

Yes.  He gone.  A couple years ago.  Thank God, and I'm saying this as a lifelong White Sox fan.  Jason Benetti and Steve Stone are the best Sox broadcast team ever -- even better than Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall in the late '70s.
That's funny, because as a Cubs fan I got to hear Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse on the radio when either I couldn't get to Wrigley on a school day or the Cubs were on the road. Best moments of my entire childhood...

(And the Pat Summerall-John Madden duo on CBS and Fox made watching the NFL an enjoyable experience, even more so when they were assigned to Bears games.)
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

74/171FAN

Quote from: kevinb1994 on October 21, 2021, 12:43:36 AM
Quote from: kenarmy on October 21, 2021, 12:42:01 AM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 20, 2021, 02:00:07 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 20, 2021, 01:39:04 PM
^^^

MRN used to be the real way to listen to a NASCAR.  More so if you had a scanner while at the race track.  They didn't really hold back on the opinions very much.

I learned recently that I could listen to MRN/PRN via the NASCAR.com leaderboard for free.  It is much better than wondering if something odd got missed by TV.

I would say that Mike Joy is the best NASCAR announcer at this point.  The others recently have never really come close.
I agree with this. I enjoyed Darrell Waltrip's "boogity, boogity, boogity! let's go racing boys!" though.
Haha, same here. I remember when he made fun of himself by being called Darrell Cartrip in the Cars movie.

"Boogity, boogity, boogity!!  Let's go racing you bunch of hot dogs!!"  was the best variation of that.  (said at Martinsville in honor of the Martinsville Hot Dog)
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

nexus73

Curt Gowdy-Kyle Rote on NBC in the Sixties and Seventies.  Howard Cosell-Don Meredith on ABC's Monday Night Football.  John Madden and Pat Summerall calling NFL games for CBS.  Keith Jackson on ABC's college football games.  These were the classics of their time.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

Big John

^^ Cosell was not popular when he was announcing games.

triplemultiplex

I have a soft spot for Vin Scully and Keith Jackson mostly due to Harry Shearer's spot-on impersonations of them on The Simpsons.

Good example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwO26G_ktrk
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

ethanhopkin14

Quote from: cabiness42 on October 20, 2021, 02:47:18 PM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 20, 2021, 02:42:38 PM
QuoteMLB - Biased as a White Sox fan, but I think Jason Benetti is fantastic. Also love him on the call for college football.

What did you think of Hawk Harrelson?  Did you love his enthusiasm for the White Sox all the time, or were you annoyed at how biased he always was?

I could not watch a White Sox game back when they were on WGN from time-to-time because the bias was so blatant IMO.

As a White Sox fan, I wasn't annoyed by his bias (all team-affiliated announcers are biased). I was annoyed by his style though. Former players really should stick to analyst roles and not play by play. Bob Uecker is the only one I can think of that's been really good at it.

Joe Garagiola and Pat Summerall are good examples of player turned play-by-play guys. 

My all time favorites, being a Cubs fan of course I loved Harry Carray, but he wasn't my favorite. 

Keith Jackson
Vin Scully
Milo Hamilton bringing me Astro games as a kid
As a Cowboys fan I am very partial to Brad Sham
Pat Summerall
Vern Lunquist
Mel Albert
Dick Stockton
Jack Buck
Kevin Harlen

My favorite guy on the air right now has to be Gus Johnson.  He can make the worst played game sound like the greatest game ever played. 

This is an awesome subject because a great play-by-play guy makes the difference.  It sounds like your grandad was explaining the game to you.  I have such fond memories of hearing the legends do their work. 

thspfc

Jim Nantz and Tony Romo
Peter Drury and Jim Beglin

1995hoo

Pat Summerall was great. He just called the game as it happened with a minimum of shenanigans.

I thought the F1 team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett were excellent and I was disappointed to lose them when ESPN took over and started airing the Sky Sports feed. While their announcers are decent, and while I very much like not having commercial interruptions like we did on the US networks, I liked the Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett trio better. Among other reasons, I think the Sky Sports crew fawn over Hamilton a bit too much.

I very much like Joe Beninati, the Capitals' play-by-play man. His color partner, Craig Laughlin, can be a good commentator when he wants to be, but I think sometimes he plays up the buffoon schtick a little too much and it can get tiresome. I've seen Beninati call other teams' games on Versus and other sports from time to time (he sometimes calls college lacrosse, including the famous seven-overtime game between Virginia and Maryland some years back), and he always does a good job regardless of what he's calling.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

abefroman329

Quote from: triplemultiplex on October 21, 2021, 03:05:34 PM
I have a soft spot for Vin Scully and Keith Jackson mostly due to Harry Shearer's spot-on impersonations of them on The Simpsons.

Good example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwO26G_ktrk
I believe it was Hank Azaria who voiced Vin Scully.  His character, Jim Brockmire, is basically his Vin Scully impression.

And if you haven't watched Brockmire, watch it.  Now.

ethanhopkin14

Quote from: abefroman329 on October 21, 2021, 05:06:18 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on October 21, 2021, 03:05:34 PM
I have a soft spot for Vin Scully and Keith Jackson mostly due to Harry Shearer's spot-on impersonations of them on The Simpsons.

Good example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwO26G_ktrk
I believe it was Hank Azaria who voiced Vin Scully.  His character, Jim Brockmire, is basically his Vin Scully impression.

And if you haven't watched Brockmire, watch it.  Now.

Harry Shearer did Vin Scully's counterpart on The Simpsons.  Not only is it credited to him, but I know because I met him years ago and made him do Vin Scully and Keith Jackson for me.  Like a lot of voices on The Simpsons, one actor would get to do a voice, and the rest of the multi-voiced guys would also have their own version of him.  As an example, Harry Shearer would be tasked to voice Rainer Wolfcastle (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Hank Azaria and Dan Castellaneta would get super competitive and have their own version of Arnold.  Sometimes it would be better, but one guy was cast as that voice and it would stick.   One example is Mayor Quimby which is basically a John F. Kennedy impersonation, which is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, but the other two guys also had a Kennedy impersonation, and I think the staff said Harry Shearer's Kennedy is actually better.   There were also times where that actor was actually kinda bent they didn't land that part. 

formulanone

#36
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 21, 2021, 04:01:31 PMI thought the F1 team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett were excellent and I was disappointed to lose them when ESPN took over and started airing the Sky Sports feed. While their announcers are decent, and while I very much like not having commercial interruptions like we did on the US networks, I liked the Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett trio better. Among other reasons, I think the Sky Sports crew fawn over Hamilton a bit too much.

I also remember the days when John Bisignano was in the pits, but that ended around 1992 or so. You might get Chris Economaki it Jackie Stewart if one of them was elsewhere on assignment.

Not a big fan of Crofty as he doesn't seem to layout for even a moment; the sport makes enough noise that a little dead air isn't bad for motosports. But like anything else you're stuck with, you get used to it. I just wish he had a variety of perspective and historical example (because sometimes the races just aren't that exciting). To be fair, it seems that replays are rare because they don't have much control over the visual broadcast.

I don't mind Chandhok, Button, as they know what they're talking about and enthusiastic without over-doing it. Even Paul di Resta seems calm and measured, if just a little flat.

triplemultiplex

Quote from: abefroman329 on October 21, 2021, 05:06:18 PM
And if you haven't watched Brockmire, watch it.  Now.

Seconded.
You can tell Hank had fun making that show.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

Stephane Dumas

In the Great White North, my favorites was Danny Gallivan and Dick Irwin Jr. on Hockey Night in Canada along with René Lecavalier, Gilles Tremblay, Lionel Duval, Jean Pagé, Richard Garneau on HNIC French counterpart "La soirée du hockey".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM8dTGM-m9Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8lsMgduOu4

Takumi

Quote from: formulanone on October 22, 2021, 01:04:15 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 21, 2021, 04:01:31 PMI thought the F1 team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett were excellent and I was disappointed to lose them when ESPN took over and started airing the Sky Sports feed. While their announcers are decent, and while I very much like not having commercial interruptions like we did on the US networks, I liked the Varsha/Hobbs/Matchett trio better. Among other reasons, I think the Sky Sports crew fawn over Hamilton a bit too much.

I also remember the days when John Bisignano was in the pits, but that ended around 1992 or so. You might get Chris Economaki it Jackie Stewart if one of them was elsewhere on assignment.

Not a big fan of Crofty as he doesn't seem to layout for even a moment; the sport makes enough noise that a little dead air isn't bad for motosports. But like anything else you're stuck with, you get used to it. I just wish he had a variety of perspective and historical example (because sometimes the races just aren't that exciting). To be fair, it seems that replays are rare because they don't have much control over the visual broadcast.

I don't mind Chandhok, Button, as they know what they're talking about and enthusiastic without over-doing it. Even Paul di Resta seems calm and measured, if just a little flat.

Crofty seems to be in the mold of Murray Walker with his enthusiasm, but it doesn't translate to being as effective as Murray was. Alex Jacques, the Channel 4 play-by-play announcer, is much more measured, but Channel 4's F1 broadcast isn't legally available outside the UK, unlike Sky's multinational simulcast.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

ilpt4u

I don't like Steve Levy doing MNF, but watching the Canucks/Kraken NHL game tonight, Levy sounds awesome doing hockey. Not Doc Emrick level, but better than Kenny Albert, imho

amroad17

As my favorite NFL team is Washington, I would turn the sound off the TV broadcast, turn on the radio, and listen to Frank Herzog, Sam Huff, and Sonny Jurgensen describe the game ("Touchdown, Washington Redskins!!!).  Currently, my favorite NFL announcer is Kevin Harlan--the announcer who called two games (in their final seconds) in Week 17 of the 2019 NFL season.
For baseball, it was Vin Scully and Jack Buck.
I don't need a GPS.  I AM the GPS! (for family and friends)

Billy F 1988

I'm going to pick Mick Holien. Mick grew up in the Mission Valley area near Polson, MT and started his radio career at KGVO-AM in Missoula in the 1980's. Leerfield Sports then picked Holien to be the play announcer for the University of Montana Grizzlies football team. There aren't a lot of quotes I can pick from certain games, but probably the more ubiquitous is "Touchdown, Montana! The good guys are on top!". I didn't listen as religiously as the rest of Western Montana did, but, however, IMHO, he was great in the booth. It just stinks there aren't a lot of known audio cuts of Mick's calls of certain games. The only one I could think of in meta searching was the "snow game" in Missoula in 2009 when the Grizzlies played the FBS-bound Appalachian State (they may still be in SoCon, the Southern Conference, or have moved up). He has called Montana basketball games and was also pegged by ESPN 102.9 FM in Missoula to call Missoula Osprey (now Paddleheads) baseball. Nowadays, he serves as a board member in the Polson City Chamber of Commerce.
Finally upgraded to Expressway after, what, seven or so years on this forum? Took a dadgum while, but, I made it!

tchafe1978

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the one and only Bob Uecker. What a treat it would be to hear Uecker call a Brewers World Series. There is always next year.



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