Best/Worst Current Sports Announcers (by Sport)

[RALfan]

I don't know if this topic has been posted already, but I'd like to bring this topic up because there are a lot of people in this area who I believe should remain sportscasters for a long time and others that really have no business being in that business, if you know what I mean. I'll start it off with my picks:

Baseball:

Best: Vin Scully
Worst: Joe Buck (overexposed and undertalented)

NFL:

Best: Al Michaels (still one of the best out there)
Worst: Joe Buck (once again, overexposed and undertalented)

NCAA Basketball:

Best: tie between Jim Nantz (I really think he's much better paired with Billy Packer, no matter what anybody says) and Gus Johnson (He's got a great PxP future)
Worst: can't think of anyone

NBA:

Best: tie between Marv Albert, Mike Breen and Dick Stockton (even though he may be getting old)
Worst: anyone else who can't hold a candle to those guys

 

[OldNumber7]

Am watching Chris Myers, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond on Fox NASCAR coverage and am reminded how GOOD they are. They're knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport and on-air chemistry are excellent.

 

[bpatrick]

I don't like the Buck/McCarver team either.

College football:

I'm prejudiced since I first saw Verne Lundquist when
he was on WFAA, but I think he's the best, and he's
not bad on college basketball. Worst college basketball:
Kevin Harlan. He gets teams mixed up and frequently
gives the wrong score.

Golf:

The entire CBS crew, also Johnny Miller (NBC) since he
makes no effort to get into the golfers' good graces and
will let you know it when a golfer is playing lousy.

 

[Preacherdude]

I like Joe Buck. Seems to know when to shut up. I wish the same could be said for McCarver.

The favorite sound of the year for me is the Master's theme. I get excited when they start running the short promos with the theme music in mid-winter.

The CBS golf crew is the best. And Jim Nantz, the best play by play man on the planet, also has the best job in the world. He calls the Super Bowl every three years, calls the NCAA finals, then leaves on Tuesday after the NCAA championship for Augusta, the pinnacle of sporting events in my opinion.

Finally, Mike Joy on NASCAR is the best racing play by play of all time. And yes he's kind of hokey, but I love ol' DW!

 

[ShawnHill1]

I'm not a Joe Buck fan either, although I can at least somewhat tolerate him on the NFL games. I used to be able to just tune-out Tim McCarver, but the more I've listen to him, I have to agree with the majority of the critics in that he's really annoying.

I don't have any favorite broadcast teams on a national level, although there's some I enjoy more than others. From the NFL, I actually like CBS and Fox's #2 teams more than their #1s (Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf over Nantz and Phil Simms; Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa over Buck and Troy Aikman). My thing about announcers is just call it the way you see, and don't insult my intelligence.

As far as studio shows, TNT's NBA team is always entertaining; I can actually understand Charles Barkley's mumbling and fumbling through his words rather than Kenny Smith's non-senscial analogies. Back to the NFL, I actually come to enjoy NFL Network's postgame show on Sunday nights with Rich Eisen (or Fran Charles), Steve Mariucci, Michael Irvin, and Deion Sanders...certainly much more enjoyable than NBC's constant re-tooling of Football Night in America. CBS' NFL Today is good moreso from a Xs and Os standpoint, while Fox NFL Sunday is just a yuk-fest.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Best College Hoops PBP: Gus Johnson ("Ohhhhhhh!!!! Olodipo!!!!!! Ha-HAAAAAAA!!!") has really grown on me over the years...He sounds like there's nothing else in the world he'd rather be doing than calling that particular game. My favorite college hoops announcing team is Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. They sound like your two goofy uncles, but they know their stuff.

Least fave: Dickie V, for all the reasons that have already been laid out for so long (self-parody, talking about anything but the game he's doing, the Dukies, etc.)

I know this is TV, but is there a better radio college football and basketball PBP guy than Paul Keels at Ohio State?

 

[BobSacamano]

I'll start with 2 guys who don't get a lot of credit because of the sports they do

1. Mike Emrick (NHL on NBC) I always liked Gary Thorne, but this guy might just be better..

2. Tom Durkin (Triple crown, breeders cup) He goes over the top in his stretch calls,.but still is the best there is imo

The worst;

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I never liked Bob Costas..he's no Jim McKay

 

[landtuna]

I'll start with 2 guys who don't get a lot of credit because of the sports they do

1. Mike Emrick (NHL on NBC) I always liked Gary Thorne, but this guy might just be better.

Doc is great and it would be a special treat to have Bill Clement do his color.

The worst;

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I never liked Bob Costas..he's no Jim McKay

Me either. But there is someone else even worse - Al Michaels.

 

[SfanGoch]

But there is someone else even worse - Al Michaels

That is the case only if John Sterling and Suzyn "Georgie Girl" Waldman aren't actually considered sports announcers, as opposed to being shills.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter if it's hoops, hockey or football; Marv "Yessssssss!!!!" Albert has been the best for years. Is it me, or, does Kevin Harlan sound like he's doing a "Marv Albert" imitation during a game?

Bob Kostas: pompous windbag. His overblown pontificating on the "National Pastime" makes me want to punch him in the neck.

Joe Buck/Tim McCarver: Joe knows even less than what we already surmised. Mac, thouroughly knowledgeable and informative to the point of beating an obsevation to death. I used to enjoy him doing Mets games.

Howie Rose/Wayne Hagin: Both these guys do an admirable job during their play by play. Howie and Wayne play off each other perfectly. They know how to mix just enough epherma into the broadcast without burying the game itself. They both paint a word picture in the style of the late, great Bob Murphy.

Dick Vitale would have been the perfect TV spokesman for Crazy Eddie. Some people just don't realize when things have passed them by.

Been a fan of Breen and Clyde for years; especially, when they did the Knicks games on WFAN. Ditto with Gus Johnson.

 

[Robnoxious]

NBA best: Chick Hearn (R.I.P) and there are no other dogs in the race that will ever come close to convince me otherwise. The man invented the term "Slamdunk", nuff said.

MLB best: Vin Scully. No comparison.

NHL best: Bob Miller of the Los Angeles Kings who used to do the tv/radio simulcast just like legends Vin and Chick for their sports. Bob's been the Voice of The Kings since inception. That's longevity with a club that most of it's history have been perennial dogs. Bob doesn't hold back and call the game with obvious favoritism. When the Kings are playing bad he'll be the first to tell it like it is.
Honorable Mentions to Gary Thorne (ESPN) and Jim Hughson (CBC)

NFL best: Dick Enberg is my favorite but since he's strictly San Diego Padres now my current NFL announcers would be Greg Gumbel and Dan Deirdorf which is funny because I really disliked Dan in the three person booth when he was with Al Michaels and Frank Gifford on MNF.
Honorable Mentions to John Facenda (The Voice of God) and Henry Kalas.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Where's Brent Musburger (CBS, ABC/ESPN) in all of this???

 

[SfanGoch]

Where's Brent Musburger (CBS, ABC/ESPN) in all of this???

brent is the human equivalent of an asterisk.

 

[FreddyE1977]

MLB best: Vin Scully. No comparison.

I live in the East and do not buy the MLB Extra Innings package, so I rarely get to see Scully work these days.
Caught him doing a few innings from a sports bar last season, and the guy is a consummate pro.
Glides effortlessly from game description to background stories and back again, without a color guy!
And he's 83. Very impressive!

 

[landtuna]

NBA best: Chick Hearn (R.I.P) and there are no other dogs in the race that will ever come close to convince me otherwise. The man invented the term "Slamdunk", nuff said.

And thereby turned what was once a sport of style and grace into a thugfest and circus sideshow.

 

[KeithE4]

MLB - Local and Network
Best PxP - Vin Scully (Dodgers)
Worst PxP - Hawk Harrelson (White Sox)
Best Analyst - Steve Stone (White Sox)
Worst Analyst - Tim McCarver (Fox)

NFL - Network Only
Best PxP - Al Michaels (NBC)
Worst PxP - Ian Eagle (CBS)
Best Analyst - Troy Aikman (Fox)
Worst Analyst - Brian Billick (Fox)
Best Sideline Reporter - Suzy Kolber (ESPN)
Worst Sideline Reporter - Tony Siragusa (Fox)

 

[BobSacamano]

My All-time favorite pbp guy: Chuck Thompson who did the Colts (in Baltimore) and the Orioles throughout the 60's 70's and part of the 80's..what pipes..R.I.P.

 

[LKellerIII]

Talk about the voice of experience - as a young man, Vin Scully started doing play-by-play with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles 53 years ago, in 1958.

 

[Robnoxious]

NBA best: Chick Hearn (R.I.P) and there are no other dogs in the race that will ever come close to convince me otherwise. The man invented the term "Slamdunk", nuff said.

And thereby turned what was once a sport of style and grace into a thugfest and circus sideshow.

The players themselves and their overinflated egos is what turned the NBA into the circus with which you describe and not Chick's ability to give everyone a "words eye view" of a game of roundball.

 

[landtuna]

NBA best: Chick Hearn (R.I.P) and there are no other dogs in the race that will ever come close to convince me otherwise. The man invented the term "Slamdunk", nuff said.

And thereby turned what was once a sport of style and grace into a thugfest and circus sideshow.

The players themselves and their overinflated egos is what turned the NBA into the circus with which you describe and not Chick's ability to give everyone a "words eye view" of a game of roundball.

Hearn, and other announcers, tried "gaming" up the play by putting emphasis on quasi-athletic moves such as dunking which in turn caused the NBA to modify the traveling rule so that the dunk could become a bigger part of the game. I remember idiots standing and applauding when a player slammed a dunk hard enough to break the backboard.

Cheesy! And basketbrawl announcers were some of the instigators and part of the problem.

 

[bpatrick]

I thought this thread was about current announcers but since
someone brought up Chick Hearn I'll bring up an announcer who
passed away about 10 years or so ago, but was one of the true
class acts in the profession: Marty Glickman. Glickman could have
brought a touch of bitterness to his calls if he'd wanted (he'd made
the 1936 U.S. Olympic relay team and was not allowed to run because
he was Jewish), but it never showed. Calling New York Giants football
games, his description of a field-goal attempt was straightforward, no
fancy stuff: "The ball is snapped, placed, and booted...it's high enough,
it's far enough, it's good!" Another signature line, when Frank Gifford
was playing, was, "Gifford off left tackle for a couple of three, five, eight,
ten yards." Doing Knicks games he invented the term
"the key" (as in "top of the key"), describing the lines that formed the
arch around the free-throw line.

Bob Costas is one of perhaps many who look on Glickman as a role model.

I also have to mention the now-retired voice of the Georgia Bulldogs:
Larry Munson. For years Munson was sports director on the ABC affiliate
in Nashville and would travel to wherever Georgia was playing on Saturday,
but later he settled in Atlanta and devoted full time to the Dawgs as well
as a nightly sports show on WATL/36. Perhaps
his most famous call happened in a '70s-era Georgia-Florida game when
Richard Appleby caught an 80-yard go-ahead pass (Georgia won the game
but I don't remember the score). There, in the Gator Bowl, Munson said,
"The girders are bending...NOW!" (referring to the Georgia fans' reaction).
UGA's flagship station in Athens, WRFC, used to play that every year when
the Florida game was coming up.