Terrible commentators in sports

[(probably)notabandwagonfan]

@HeardonMLBT

"If I'm playing against the Angels I want Mike Trout on base." - Harold Reynolds

...btw that is my favourite tweet of all time by anyone. Anyone who says twitter is a waste of time, doesn't get it lols.

how does this even remotely make sense? I don't even know how someone could logically come to that conclusion.

[2001mark]

@HeardonMLBT

"If I'm playing against the Angels I want Mike Trout on base." - Harold Reynolds

...btw that is my favourite tweet of all time by anyone. Anyone who says twitter is a waste of time, doesn't get it lols.

how does this even remotely make sense? I don't even know how someone could logically come to that conclusion.

@BlueMetropolis

"Batting [Mike Trout] second takes away from his abilities." -Harold Reynolds @HeardOnMLBT

@maxdank420

@HeardOnMLBT "Swing & miss stuff only works in jams. When you're not in jams it doesn't work." - Harold Reynolds

& are you sitting down for this one...

@HeardOnMLBT "The reason I don't like run differential is because you start every game 0-0." - Harold Reynolds

[henchmeister]

I like Alexi Lalas as a studio analyst, but he is pretty much useless as a color commentator now on Fox.

Jeff Rimer, who does PBP for the Blue Jackets, has lost a lot of mph off the fastball. Seems like he and Jody Shelley are just distracted half the time shooting the breeze, and Jeff misses a lot of stuff that happens and will start getting up about a play at the wrong time. I like Jody though, he's got good potential. Former color guy Bill Davidge was useless. He had the cadence of Ron Jaworski, but never said anything of importance.

The Penguins TV guys are the biggest homers on the planet.

Paul Romanuk has awful command of a hockey game. Watching a game with him stumbling over the action is nails on a chalkboard.

Don't understand the hate for Doc Emrick or Joe Buck, but to each their own

[SCalderwood]

The Washington Nationals crew is awful. Back when I still lived in the States I was watching a Braves game but their brodcast was blocked (Chip Carey is really bad too) and had to watch the Nationals feed. They were acting like every single Nationals player was an all-star.

*Dude 1; Pete Orr is quite the player, don't you think...

Dude 2: oh yeah, shame that David Wright is the NL allstar, Orr was robbed.

Dude 1: what a great injustice.

*did not actually happen, my interpretation of what they think of ANY Nationals player.

This is really true. FP Santangelo (Dude 2) is really awful. He analyzes baseball like Harold Reynolds (in the vain of "See how he's holding his bat at a 62 degree angle? He knew it was going to be a fastball four inches inside the strikezone") and tries too hard to promote the Nats. Bob Carpenter (Dude 1) is a nice guy but just boring. The Orioles are fun to watch just because Thorne and Palmer are so much better at what they do, and they're kinda goofy, which is nice on a lazy afternoon.

I actually think the exact opposite, and I am an O's fan. I think Gary Thorne, Jim Palmer, and Mike Bordick are EXTREMELY boring to watch and listen to, and I don't like the way Gary Thorne sounds so neutral all the time. He needs to finally realize that he is not broadcasting a national game where he needs to sound neutral. I don't recall them ever really being goofy, especially compared to the Nats guys. Even when Gary Thorne announces a O's home run, he still sounds boring, and the color commentators barely say anything about it or get excited about it. None of them have, or show, ANY personality.

I much prefer Bob Carpenter and FP Santangelo. For one, they have very different personalities, which makes for a fun dynamic. Bob Carpenter is kind of the old, stable, knowledgable, boring guy; but FP adds fun to the broadcast. I actually like the fact that FP is constantly talking about his experiences as a player and relating them to the game. That's basically what a color commentator is supposed to do, and he does it well. And I think local broadcasters SHOULD be "homers." It makes the game more fun to watch. I'm not even a Nats fan but I get really engaged by their broadcasts and almost end up wanting to root for the Nats. To me, that's good local broadcasting. That's how you get more people to watch your games. They're not broadcasting for ESPN, or FOX, or FS1 - they are broadcasting for MASN. I watched the Braves a lot in the 90s, not because I was a Braves fan, but because I thought their broadcasters were great and had passion for the games they were calling, which included being (or at least acting like) Braves fans.

The worst NBA broadcaster I have ever heard is Doris Burke. I don't care how knowledgable she is. Her voice is irritating to listen to. I remember getting pumped to watch a Pacers-Wizards playoff game on ESPN last year, which she ended up being the announcer for. To be honest, I had never really watched a full game that she broadcast, so I gave her a fair shot, like I would any other broadcaster. Her voice/comments/laugh were so irritating that I literally had to mute the TV. I have never done that with any other broadcaster, in any sport, ever.

[Camden Crazy]

Jim Hunter (Orioles PBP when Thorne is off) is the absolute worst. I hate watching O's games that he calls.

[Crabcake]

Jim Hunter (Orioles PBP when Thorne is off) is the absolute worst. I hate watching O's games that he calls.

His insight is actually pretty good, but he tends to rant and take away from Thorne, who I think is incredible. I still can't believe how the O's have gotten such a big-time announcer to come to their little MASN studios to call Orioles games.

[cubsfan2015]

One guy always come to mind to me:

Marty Reid.

[waltere]

Hawk Harrelson is literally the worst, I struggle to even watch MLB.com highlight videos with him on.

[monkeypower]

Paul Romanuk has awful command of a hockey game. Watching a game with him stumbling over the action is nails on chalkboard.

His control over French isn't very good either, isn't that right BeauchemaN?

Extra emphasis on the N.

[OnWis97]

I am not too hard on commentators because it's a hard job and in this era of scrutiny, we're going to hear about everything they say that someone does not like. I actually like some of the people that have been named here. I like Phil Simms and Chris Collinsworth. I've never been one to put on local radio and mute the TV. A couple that have bugged me:

• Joe Morgan. I don't really recall why except for some of his old-school views (on a chat back when ESPN did them for free, he suggested that a pitcher who lost a 2-1 game did not not do enough to find a way to win, as opposed to one who won an 8-7 game...not his exact words, but what I kinda inferred; in a discussion about a Cy Young vote, perhaps for King Felix).
• Bill Walton. Seemed to favor big men too much. But my favorite Bill Walton moment was when his son was playing for Arizona and he was doing an NCAA tourney game. First, it drove me nuts when they put him on college games. Second, he should have just been in the stands watching that game as a fan. Anyway, Arizona was playing in a fairly close one with Michigan State, spending most of the game up by about six. Walton kept saying how "Arizona's going to have to play a lot better if they want to beat this Michigan State team." He was clearly nervous, for obvious reasons. At one point, his son made a really nice move to get around someone and score. They showed the replay; silence. He obviously was working too hard to not show bias there. It was awful. Again he should not have been doing the game but even in normal NBA games, I always struggled with that guy.

[2001mark]

Don't understand the hate for Doc Emrick or Joe Buck, but to each their own

I don't hate either, but I understand.

Emrick is so bloody cheerful, it actually gets annoying. Buck does not know how to balance lightness with seriousness, he ends up boxing himself into stupid corners; Aikman is either blindsided or changes the subject.

[henchmeister]

Don't understand the hate for Doc Emrick or Joe Buck, but to each their own

I don't hate either, but I understand.

Emrick is so bloody cheerful, it actually gets annoying. Buck does not know how to balance lightness with seriousness, he ends up boxing himself into stupid corners; Aikman is either blindsided or changes the subject.

I guess I'm not really bothered by, or really noticed, either of those things. I just appreciate both of their abilities to let a moment breathe instead blabbing all the way through it. Plus I like how well Emrick commands the English language, keep things interesting for me. But again, to each their own.

Side note: Is it weird that I would want to hear the CBC SCF broadcast over NBC's because I prefer Jim Hughson over Emrick?

[leopard88]

Jim Hunter (Orioles PBP when Thorne is off) is the absolute worst. I hate watching O's games that he calls.

His insight is actually pretty good, but he tends to rant and take away from Thorne, who I think is incredible. I still can't believe how the O's have gotten such a big-time announcer to come to their little MASN studios to call Orioles games.

Agreed on both points. I love Thorne, but can barely stand Hunter in small doses. Thorne's sense of humor can occasionally get a little too corny, but that is a small price to pay.

As for the color guys, Palmer can occasionally be a little full of himself, but I still really like listening to him. He is extremely knowledgeable, explains point well and isn't afraid to call players out (on both teams). Bordick is improving, but he is still way too dry and doesn't seem to add a whole lot of insight.

_________

Beyond the Orioles . . .

I understand why people dislike Cris Collinsworth, but I actually like listening to him. He is also insightful and not afraid to call guys out when warranted.

The two clear worst, IMHO, are:

1. Hawk Harrelson

2. Jon Gruden (how did we make it this far without talking about how he makes every player out to be a Hall of Famer . . . among his many sins)

[CubsFanBudMan]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Marv Albert-Reggie Miller-Chris Webber is the No. 1 team on TNT. It's a surprise every time I hear it. Just about anyone sounds good with Marv, but Reggie is an exception.

I prefer Webber in the studio and feel he brings more to the table than Shaq. But the TNT studio show isn't necessarily about basketball analysis.

Greg Anthony needs to return, despite his nightlife choices. Seems he got a raw deal compared to others. He rose to prominence thanks to Tim Hardaway's blunder, but Hardaway was horrible on air.

[Crabcake]

Don't understand the hate for Doc Emrick or Joe Buck, but to each their own

I don't hate either, but I understand.

Emrick is so bloody cheerful, it actually gets annoying. Buck does not know how to balance lightness with seriousness, he ends up boxing himself into stupid corners; Aikman is either blindsided or changes the subject.

I guess I'm not really bothered by, or really noticed, either of those things. I just appreciate both of their abilities to let a moment breathe instead blabbing all the way through it. Plus I like how well Emrick commands the English language, keep things interesting for me. But again, to each their own.

Side note: Is it weird that I would want to hear the CBC SCF broadcast over NBC's because I prefer Jim Hughson over Emrick?

Nope. Not at all.

[Cosmic]

Emrick at least feels earnest and organic with his elevator passes and whatnot. And he doesn't go cartoonishly overboard; a lot of the local announcers that I hear at the beginning of the Puck Podcast just seem like they're yelling at me.

[Still MIGHTY]

Emrick at least feels earnest and organic with his elevator passes and whatnot. And he doesn't go cartoonishly overboard; a lot of the local announcers that I hear at the beginning of the Puck Podcast Basically a Sports Show just seem like they're yelling at me.

Tampa Bay's radio guys in particular. Wowza.

[WinMINTwins]

For the "worst" list:

Other bad ones, though many have already been mentioned: Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Harold Reynolds (the man who made me miss McCarver), Joe Buck (baseball only - I like his football coverage), Hawk, Paul Allen, Jesse Palmer, whatever the name of Gus Johnson's football color commentator is, Lee Dixon, Alexi Lalas, Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman, Eric Wynalda, Steve Busby (FS Southwest's Rangers play-by-play guy), Phil Simms, Jon Gruden, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa, and Brian Baldinger.

And personally speaking: I love Doc.

[See Red]

Gus Johnson is pretty bad. He used to be tolerable calling early-round, NCAA Tournament games if you ignored everything leading up to the really exciting part of the game, but he was always pretty terrible at the actual play-by-play and then as he got more well-known, the excitement started becoming more and more forced.

Somebody mentioned earlier the Orioles announcers being too boring and neutral -- maybe it's just me, but I much prefer that, even when it's my favorite team on their local broadcast.

On the subject, I was driving home from work during the Clippers/Rockets game 7 and could've listened to either the Clippers or Rockets broadcast on Sirius and chose the Rockets. It was some of the most biased crap I've heard. I turned it to the Clippers and the guy was a pro. If it didn't say it on the screen and if their wasn't local ads, you wouldn't even know it was a local broadcast.

[2001mark]

ps

I could do without Jim Nance & Nick Faldo.