The Sports Media Thread

[ManillaToad]

Hot take the only duo better than Buck & Aikman is Nantz & Romo. Also Troy is better than Romo

[Crabcake]

17 minutes ago, ManillaToad said:

Hot take the only duo better than Buck & Aikman is Nantz & Romo.

I’d honestly agree with this, or at the very least not reject it out of hand.
 

Nantz & Romo are #1 unless they’re doing a Chiefs, Steelers, or Cowboys game, in which case they drop to #1,000 because Tony Romo becomes NFL-fan-Twitter levels of insufferable. Nantz is good and always has been but sometimes struggles to rein Romo in when he goes off on his tangents. But overall they have good chemistry together. 
 

I still hold that Joe Buck is the most overhated announcer in sports today, even allowing for the fact that he’s 100x better as a baseball commentator as opposed to football. Aikman is just kind of meh to me honestly. His voice definitely grates on you after a while. 
 

As I’ve already stated, I feel like Al Michaels is past his prime, and Cris Collinsworth is, well, Cris Collinsworth. He’s the worst parts about Madden in the booth with absolutely none of the charisma or likability to make up for it. 
 

I think Steve Levy might be the worst play-by-play guy in the NFL. Riddick and Griese are tolerable. 

[floydnimrod]

I haven't watched Monday Night Football in years, partly because I'm in bed before the game is over, but it also just doesn't feel like a big deal anymore. I think Buck and Aikman together can elevate the broadcast. 

 

The issue is obviously the baseball part of it for Buck. He's a very good  baseball announcer, and I'm not sure who is next in line at Fox. Is it Joe Davis? Kevin Burkhardt? If it wasn't clear already that Thom Brenneman goofed it, it certainly is now. he could have been the next man up for both the Football & baseball spots. (Thom is obviously a dweeb, but I never got he hate for him as an announcer. The only thing I can find on him - and Buck or Romo or Collinsworth or anyone else - is that he says nice things about the other team sometimes which is treated like the biggest crime of all time.)

 

On the football side of things, if Buck leaves, I really hope Adam Amin gets a look. He's great.

 

It's weird that Fox just doesn't seem to have the stable of announcers that CBS & ESPN have. I really hope we find a way to get Kevin Harlan on a TV Super Bowl call before he retires.

 

 

[Kramerica Industries]

I'm having a hard time understanding why the Buck situation is being painted as a 100% either/or situation. Kenny Albert's done work for both Fox and NBC during the same time frame. ARod was doing SNB for ESPN and studio commentary for Fox during the same time frame. What exactly would prevent the two networks from coming to terms that would allow Buck to do MNF for ESPN and retain other gigs he's had at Fox? I'm sure. if both the World Series and being Troy Aikman's booth partner is a big deal for him, that something can be worked out.

[ManillaToad]

2 hours ago, Crabcake said:

I’d honestly agree with this, or at the very least not reject it out of hand.
 

Nantz & Romo are #1 unless they’re doing a Chiefs, Steelers, or Cowboys game, in which case they drop to #1,000 because Tony Romo becomes NFL-fan-Twitter levels of insufferable. Nantz is good and always has been but sometimes struggles to rein Romo in when he goes off on his tangents. But overall they have good chemistry together. 
 

I still hold that Joe Buck is the most overhated announcer in sports today, even allowing for the fact that he’s 100x better as a baseball commentator as opposed to football. Aikman is just kind of meh to me honestly. His voice definitely grates on you after a while. 
 

As I’ve already stated, I feel like Al Michaels is past his prime, and Cris Collinsworth is, well, Cris Collinsworth. He’s the worst parts about Madden in the booth with absolutely none of the charisma or likability to make up for it. 
 

I think Steve Levy might be the worst play-by-play guy in the NFL. Riddick and Griese are tolerable. 

 

I am not much of a fan of Romo. He was a hot commodity his first couple years in broadcasting, and for good reason. But now he babbles about nothing. He's talking a mile a minute, constantly giggling for some reason, and really saying nothing and giving no insight. He's not bad, but to me he's in that big group of color guys who are just there.

 

 

[GDAWG]

 

 

 

 

 

[Crabcake]

Remember when dropping cable TV for exclusively streaming services actually saved you money? God I hate the new streaming era. 

[Red Comet]

Spoiler

The only reasonable response to streaming becoming Neo-cable.

[Digby]

Beyond the obvious complaints about needing seven different streaming services -- this seems somewhat at odds with the business model of team-owned RSNs, doesn't it? I guess not everyone has their own RSN so maybe it's a wash for them.

[SFGiants58]

3 hours ago, Red Comet said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The only reasonable response to streaming becoming Neo-cable.

$100 gets you 5 terabytes of external hard drive, which sounds like an amazing deal to me. Instead of paying for three-five months of streaming, you can just pirate the stuff you want and keep it as long as you desire. 
 

Resist neo-cable. Re-embrace piracy.

[Red Comet]

34 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

$100 gets you 5 terabytes of external hard drive, which sounds like an amazing deal to me. Instead of paying for three-five months of streaming, you can just pirate the stuff you want and keep it as long as you desire. 
 

Resist neo-cable. Re-embrace piracy.

 

But what would this guy know? It’s not like he started the world’s biggest online gaming service or anything. 

[The_Admiral]

On 3/5/2022 at 5:41 PM, floydnimrod said:

It's weird that Fox just doesn't seem to have the stable of announcers that CBS & ESPN have. 

 

Fox didn't do a great job replenishing the pipeline after Sam Rosen got old, Dick Stockton got older, and Thom Brennaman offered an assessment of the north side of Chicago. Kevin Burkhardt is solid, but it's a pretty top-heavy lineup. 

[Red Wolf]

12 hours ago, Crabcake said:

Remember when dropping cable TV for exclusively streaming services actually saved you money? God I hate the new streaming era. 

 

It would save us money if we weren't a bunch of weirdos who enjoy watching people exercise for points. As it is, I have to have cable, or a cable-like streaming platform like Youtube TV along with ESPN+ and more to get the sports crap I want. If I didn't care about sports I wouldn't have cable (which is still more expensive than streaming services and usually has a bunch of BS contracts and extra fees attached) and I'd have fewer subscriptions as well. I never turn my TV to the cable input unless I'm watching the wrestling or sports. It's truly a sickness.

[Digby]

Yeah, I know people who aren't into sports and pay like $20 a month for Philo and call it good.

 

I will say that using Hulu with the live TV package plus Internet is still cheaper than the classic cable bundle, mostly because the price is the price. Not getting 15% in taxes and fees added onto the advertised price. But we'll see how long that lasts and how many more services I have to get. ESPN+ is included with Hulu and Peacock is the included with Xfinity internet, so I guess I'm getting lucky with getting these as extras.

[Cujo]

Pretty much a done deal, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to the MNF booth.

 

Who becomes the #1 team at FOX now?

[floydnimrod]

So Joe Buck obviously had Sunday afternoon football, the occasional Thursday night game, then the playoffs, in addition to all his baseball work.

Do we see him doing anything else at ESPN? Sunday Night Baseball (eventually)? Any college stuff? Basketball?

[Cujo]

18 minutes ago, floydnimrod said:

Do we see him doing anything else at ESPN? Sunday Night Baseball (eventually)?

 

If ESPN is getting Buck, he absolutely takes over Sunday Night Baseball. In fact, I don't think Buck would sign with ESPN if he were just calling 20 NFL games and nothing else. I can also see him doing the occasional New Year's college football Bowl game

[JayMac]

6 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

If ESPN is getting Buck, he absolutely takes over Sunday Night Baseball. In fact, I don't think Buck would sign with ESPN if he were just calling 20 NFL games and nothing else. I can also see him doing the occasional New Year's college football Bowl game

I like the idea of him doing baseball for ESPN but I really hope he stays away from college football.

[BBTV]

Fox really didn't have a strong bench.  I think Greg Olsen and Kevin Burkhardt are the #2 team, and that's not good.

 

Can Kevin Halron do TV (and be bought out of whatever deal he's currently under)?  There's nobody currently under contract at Fox that's top-team material.  Not that it matters too much - I'm still watching a great game regardless of who's calling it - but good announcers can make even an average game feel bigger, and add to the drama of an already big game.

[The_Admiral]

Kevin Harlan? Anything is possible, but I think CBS would try very hard to keep him. 

 

It's kind of amazing how long Fox rode those 1994 hires. 28 years of Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Buck, Sam Rosen, and kind of Jimmy Johnson. Not only the same song but then it was the song for baseball and NASCAR for a while, too. Another one for the "we live in the permanent '90s" files.