Dr. Z's Annual TV Commentator Awards (1 Viewer)

[buckeye35]

Always a good read...

Full article

FIVE *****

"None, just like last year and the year before and the year before."

FOUR ****

Ron Pitts and Tim Ryan, FOX

Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger, FOX

Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross, CBS

Al Michaels and John Madden, ABC (when doing an important game)

Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots, CBS

THREE AND A HALF ***

Brent Jones, CBS, and Erik Kramer, FOX

THREE ***

**** Stockton and Daryl Johnston, FOX

**** Enberg and Dan Dierdorf, CBS

TWO AND A HALF **

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, FOX

Sam Rosen and Bill Maas, FOX

TWO **

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, CBS

Don Criqui and Steve Beuerlein, CBS

Bill Macatee and Rich Gannon, CBS

Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker, CBS

ONE AND A HALF *

Curt Menefee and JC (Jayice) Pearson, FOX

ONE *

Mike Tirico and Sterling Sharpe, ESPN

NO STARS

Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, ESPN

Al Michaels and John Madden, ABC (bad game)

NOT ENOUGH LOOKS

Thom Brennaman and Tim Green of FOX.

 

[Native]

I thought Bill Maas was simply unbearable - in a Paul Mcguire kind of way.

 

[Jimmy James]

I'm a bit surprised that Dierdorf and Enberg are only 3 star announcers in his book. That team and the Albert/Baldinger teams are my favorites.

 

[trader jake]

ONE *Mike Tirico and Sterling Sharpe, ESPN

this is the announcing group that was underrated the most. tirico is solid and sharpe gives opinions/insight that i expect from ex-players but rarely actually hear. i'm not saying they are 4 stars or anything, but they are much better than 1 starnot only does theismann not get fired, but now he's going to be on monday nights? :X

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

I enjoyed last year's column more, where he skewered the freakazoids on ESPN's Sunday Night Football.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Eagle and Wilcots are very good. Probably my favorite. Randy Cross gets 4 stars? He's very near the bottom of my list. Enberg and Dierdorf are tough rate, as I like Enberg but Dierdorf is terrible. I know the CBS announcers a lot better than I do the Fox announcers -- not too many comments on those guys.

 

[GiantsRule]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining and got zero stars and several duos from the CBS Snooze crew wre ranked, this list, as usual, has no merit!

 

[trader jake]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining

"entertaining"? how so?

 

[GiantsRule]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining

"entertaining"? how so?

Because the bickering between Theismann and Macguire is both genuine and down to earth. It's too washed up veterans of the game that have differing opinions on how some of today's athletes approach the game. I'd much rather here them get into one of their realistic arguments as Mike Patrick, a VERY UNDERRATED analyst calls the action, than deal with the fakeness that oozes out of other broadcasts.Plus, the three of them are great at what they do -- marketing their national game whether it's a fantastic showdown (like Jacksonville vs. Cincy) or a complete dud (meaningless Cowboys vs. Rams tilt to end the season). They make every play seem important, every player that would normally go ignored seem important, and they give each game a playoff feel.

 

[JaxBill]

TWO AND A HALF **

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, FOX

Sam Rosen and Bill Maas, FOX

Huh? These are two of the best teams out there IMO. Even though I'm an Eagles fan, I have to acknowledge that Aikman is much better than he was in his first year.

Bill Maas can be a little over the top sometime but I like the way Sam Rosen calls a game.

IMO, CBS has the two most annoying announcers in Dierdorf and Criqui.

 

[pinequick]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining

"entertaining"? how so?

Because the bickering between Theismann and Macguire is both genuine and down to earth. It's too washed up veterans of the game that have differing opinions on how some of today's athletes approach the game. I'd much rather here them get into one of their realistic arguments as Mike Patrick, a VERY UNDERRATED analyst calls the action, than deal with the fakeness that oozes out of other broadcasts.Plus, the three of them are great at what they do -- marketing their national game whether it's a fantastic showdown (like Jacksonville vs. Cincy) or a complete dud (meaningless Cowboys vs. Rams tilt to end the season). They make every play seem important, every player that would normally go ignored seem important, and they give each game a playoff feel.

Are you Paul MacGuire?

 

[GiantsRule]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining

"entertaining"? how so?

Because the bickering between Theismann and Macguire is both genuine and down to earth. It's too washed up veterans of the game that have differing opinions on how some of today's athletes approach the game. I'd much rather here them get into one of their realistic arguments as Mike Patrick, a VERY UNDERRATED analyst calls the action, than deal with the fakeness that oozes out of other broadcasts.Plus, the three of them are great at what they do -- marketing their national game whether it's a fantastic showdown (like Jacksonville vs. Cincy) or a complete dud (meaningless Cowboys vs. Rams tilt to end the season). They make every play seem important, every player that would normally go ignored seem important, and they give each game a playoff feel.

Are you Paul MacGuire?

Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

 

[Keepers]

Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

By saying you shouldn't take an announcing crew seriously, you obviously look for different things from the game commentary than I do. If I didn't want to take a sport or the announcers seriously I would switch over to the WWE, but as I consider football a "serious" sport, would hope that announcers can provide some insight and intelligence in their commentary that has to do with the game we are watching, not meaningless dribble where announcers are just trying to "one up" each other and are constantly contradicting themselves.

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

An ongoing theme throughout the article is how announcers single out and push the 'stars' of the teams, rather than acknowledge other players making tremendous plays.I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Z on this epidemic in ALL sports broadcasting.

 

[WATCHISFEET!]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining

"entertaining"? how so?

Because the bickering between Theismann and Macguire is both genuine and down to earth. It's too washed up veterans of the game that have differing opinions on how some of today's athletes approach the game. I'd much rather here them get into one of their realistic arguments as Mike Patrick, a VERY UNDERRATED analyst calls the action, than deal with the fakeness that oozes out of other broadcasts.Plus, the three of them are great at what they do -- marketing their national game whether it's a fantastic showdown (like Jacksonville vs. Cincy) or a complete dud (meaningless Cowboys vs. Rams tilt to end the season). They make every play seem important, every player that would normally go ignored seem important, and they give each game a playoff feel.

FOLKS, HYUCKHYUCK -- LISTEN! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN. I MEAN, THIS POSTER RIGHT HERE KNOWS. HIS. STUFF. IT'S THAT SIMPLE! I MEAN, YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT WHEN YOU TYPE ON THE INTERNET, JUST WATCH THIS GUY POST. WATCHISFINGERS! SIMPLY AMAZING.

 

[MauryPovich]

FOLKS, HYUCKHYUCK -- LISTEN! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN. I MEAN, THIS POSTER RIGHT HERE KNOWS. HIS. STUFF. IT'S THAT SIMPLE! I MEAN, YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT WHEN YOU TYPE ON THE INTERNET, JUST WATCH THIS GUY POST. WATCHISFINGERS! SIMPLY AMAZING.

And thats just Theisman!!

 

[JohnnyU]

The only 5 star in history is the dead Ray Scott. The only 4 1/2 is the almost dead Curt Gowdy.

 

[GiantsRule]

Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

By saying you shouldn't take an announcing crew seriously, you obviously look for different things from the game commentary than I do. If I didn't want to take a sport or the announcers seriously I would switch over to the WWE, but as I consider football a "serious" sport, would hope that announcers can provide some insight and intelligence in their commentary that has to do with the game we are watching, not meaningless dribble where announcers are just trying to "one up" each other and are constantly contradicting themselves.

If you're watching football for the insightful commentary, shut off your TV and buy a Sirius Satellite radio.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

[Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

Oh, you're the one? Gotta go with the majority - painful listening. theisman may be okay as a #2 to michaels. broadcast should have a different tone to it.

 

[trader jake]

FOLKS, HYUCKHYUCK -- LISTEN! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN. I MEAN, THIS POSTER RIGHT HERE KNOWS. HIS. STUFF. IT'S THAT SIMPLE! I MEAN, YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT WHEN YOU TYPE ON THE INTERNET, JUST WATCH THIS GUY POST. WATCHISFINGERS! SIMPLY AMAZING.

post of the year possibility

 

[Jimmy James]

FOLKS, HYUCKHYUCK -- LISTEN!  LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN.  I MEAN, THIS POSTER RIGHT  HERE KNOWS.  HIS.  STUFF.  IT'S THAT SIMPLE!  I MEAN, YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT WHEN YOU TYPE ON THE INTERNET, JUST WATCH THIS GUY POST.  WATCHISFINGERS!  SIMPLY AMAZING.

post of the year possibility

I agree.I think Maguire gets a bad rap. If the team included Patrick, Maguire, and the likes of Darryl Johnston or even Sterling Sharpe, it would be one of my favorite teams because I think Maguire is very entertaining. Joe is a travesty that drags the whole enterprise down. Patrick is okay. He stays out of the way when he needs to, which allows me to forgive his high error rate.

 

[Gargoylez]

Considering the Sunday night crew is thoroughly entertaining and got zero stars and several duos from the CBS Snooze crew wre ranked, this list, as usual, has no merit!

Sunday Night Crew deserves NEGATIVE stars. If it wasn't for Patricks semi-ok play by play they would be, BY FAR, the worst on TV.

 

[Sinrman]

There's a few, like Troy Aikman, that I actually like to listen. Wish we could pick and choose and put decent commentators together, rather than get stuck with one good one, and one tool...

 

[bts4bkfst]

what ever happened to Pat Haden? who was the play by play guy for that crew? I liked thm on the early days of sunday night football.

 

[Keepers]

Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

By saying you shouldn't take an announcing crew seriously, you obviously look for different things from the game commentary than I do. If I didn't want to take a sport or the announcers seriously I would switch over to the WWE, but as I consider football a "serious" sport, would hope that announcers can provide some insight and intelligence in their commentary that has to do with the game we are watching, not meaningless dribble where announcers are just trying to "one up" each other and are constantly contradicting themselves.

If you're watching football for the insightful commentary, shut off your TV and buy a Sirius Satellite radio.

Tried it. Unfortunately there is a lag between TV and radio so you either hear the play slightly before it actually happens or see it before hearing it.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Nope. Just a fan of the ESPN crew that thinks they get an incredibly bad rap. They do a great job and make the game enjoyable to listen to. You just can't take them seriously.

By saying you shouldn't take an announcing crew seriously, you obviously look for different things from the game commentary than I do. If I didn't want to take a sport or the announcers seriously I would switch over to the WWE, but as I consider football a "serious" sport, would hope that announcers can provide some insight and intelligence in their commentary that has to do with the game we are watching, not meaningless dribble where announcers are just trying to "one up" each other and are constantly contradicting themselves.

If you're watching football for the insightful commentary, shut off your TV and buy a Sirius Satellite radio.

Tried it. Unfortunately there is a lag between TV and radio so you either hear the play slightly before it actually happens or see it before hearing it.

Tivo solves this problem.

 

[Garts]

Eagle and Wilcots are very good. Probably my favorite.

Randy Cross gets 4 stars? He's very near the bottom of my list.

Enberg and Dierdorf are tough rate, as I like Enberg but Dierdorf is terrible.

I know the CBS announcers a lot better than I do the Fox announcers -- not too many comments on those guys.

I really like Eagle and Willcotts.. Calls a game while paying no favorites. Kevin Harlan has a great voice, could make a 9-6 game sound somewhat exciting. Only thing annoying about Harlan is his somewhat homer call of "Touchhhhhdowwwwwwwwn!!!!!!! Kansaaaaaaaaaaas Citttttttty!!!!!!!!".

I like Phill Simms color. It sounds like he puts a lot of preperation into every game and talks to as many players and coaches on both sides prior to gameday to get as much inside info. as possible.

 

[stugnut]

I heard on Sirius that Al Michaels is trying to get out of his contract so that he can be back with Madden on Sunday nights. If that happens, would that leave the door open for *shudder* Maguire or Patrick to pair with Theisman on Monday night?? Somebody please tell me that couldn't happen. Please.

 

[pablito]

I heard on Sirius that Al Michaels is trying to get out of his contract so that he can be back with Madden on Sunday nights. If that happens, would that leave the door open for *shudder* Maguire or Patrick to pair with Theisman on Monday night?? Somebody please tell me that couldn't happen. Please.

The story I read today suggested that if Al left, ESPN might go with a 3 man crew: Tirico, Theismann and Tony Kornheiser.Any crew that uses Tony Siragusa on the sidelines can't hope to even get back to zero. He's awful.

 

[BGP]

The thing that really makes a great announcer are those that can send chills down your spine with a call. We all know the type. Their particular call of a play is immortalized in sports history.I think Al Michaels touched on that with his "Do you believe in miracles?" line. I also don't think he lived up to it as the MNF play-by-play man.Absolutely none of the guys who currently call NFL TV games have this ability. Most of them are boring to listen to. This group pretty much needs to be fired across the board with real broacasters brought in.

 

[Autumn Wind]

I thought Esiason was good in the announcers' booth.

 

[trader jake]

The story I read today suggested that if Al left, ESPN might go with a 3 man crew: Tirico, Theismann and Tony Kornheiser.

don't tease me...tony k would make it 'must listen' for me (even with theismann)