Letters to the Editor
-
Berman & Baseball
King wrote:
"And just in case anybody forgets this most important point, I'll mention it again: It doesn't matter who the announcers are. People tune in to the games or they don't because of the teams on the field."
Actually, I tried watching Chris Berman do baseball and I would never, ever do that again. For me, he made the game unwatchable or at least unlistenable. Maybe he's the exception who proves the rule, but he is a pretty awful exception.
-
Yeah, but will the games get better?
The reason I started to tune out Monday night football was the games were lacking (generally speaking) and accompanied by twenty minutes of "Are You Ready for Some FOOTBALL" music videos. As a general rule if you need entertainment for your football games your games aren't that entertaining.
It is the same reason I never watched Sunday Night Football. 95% of the time the games were terrible.
And Tony Kornheiser is an awful idea. He is the personification of the kind of guy you want to shove in a locker and forget about. I could see maybe (maybe) Keith Oberman. But, nah...
-
Great Announcers
I know most people tune into games because of the teams on the field, but I think there was a time when it actually was pleasurable to tune into a game knowing that you were going to be able to hear great announcers.
For me, when I was a kid, Curt Gowdy's voice was Sunday afternoon football and I'd tune in sometimes just to hear him, no matter what game it was. Later on, it was Madden and Summerall on CBS. Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen were another pair I enjoyed listening to. Howard Cosell was Monday Night Football. Today, when I get the chance, I'll even tune in to hear Vin Scully call a game, even though the Dodgers are the epitome of all evil in the world (hey, my family is from Brooklyn).
Maybe it's just nostalgia (and I'm only in my late 30's), but I do think a lot of the magic has disappeared from the announcing booth for any number of reasons. Maybe it's hype. Maybe it's money. I don't know.
All I do know is that I'd give my left arm to hear Curt Gowdy call even the Lions vs the Saints.
-
Kornheiser
To those who say it's a bad idea to hire Kornheiser, pass me the number of your crack dealer, because you got the good stuff. I think it is absolutely great that Kornheiser is on there. I love PTI and i think he's downright brilliant compared to most ESPN personalities.
-
Ahem.
Of Duke you said "They're good, and they can beat anybody..." Well not, apparently, Georgetown. Still the only ones to beat Duke this year, with some mighty fine team playing. Considering they haven't lost since (and three of their four losses were away games to teams in the top ten) I do believe we can say the Hoyas are back.
-
Announcers
King, you're absolutely right that the game is the draw, not the announcers.
Some are better than others, but for the most part I don't care who is announcing beyond wishing that they would do a better job of getting the spot, down, and distance right.
However, I slightly prefer listening to fingernails scratching a chalkboard than to those guys on the Sunday night ESPN broadcast. The Sunday night game has to be truly exceptional (like once a year exceptional) for me to watch it. Note to all prospective announcers: please don't say "I knew that was coming" if you were completely silent on the subject before the play. Also, no matter how much you lobby, they are not going to induct the third string tight end into the Hall of Fame right there on the field immediately after the game. I'd turn the sound off entirely if the broadcast was good enough that I could figure out the down and distance without the announcers.
Announcers can't make me tune in, but they can make me tune out. That's why I'm now a little worried about what's going to happen with Monday night, which despite what the NFL declares is still the big game.
By the way, am I the only one who can't stand that format that ESPN is addicted to where the go through a list of topics and two guys spend a minute or so yelling at each other about each one?
-
Where's LT? Can someone snap Theismann's other leg?
I agree that announcers can't draw me in, but they can sure turn me off. In general though, I think that like beauty, announcing skill is in the eye/ear of the beholder. For example, for me Joe Theismann is the Joe Morgan of football.
And I don't mean that in the way King would.
Nascissistic ex-jocks who constantly pontificate and then never admit they were wrong drive me nuts. Joe Morgan will say "Jeter really bit on that curveball". Then Jon Miller, God bless his soul, will look at the replay and say gently, "Actually, that was a straight four-seam fastball." To which Morgan will "like I was saying, Jeter has always had problem with the high hard stuff."
(Then, the phone rings and it's my father calling to ask if I just heard that and to commiserate that we are being forced to listen to Morgan.)
Really, Morgan re-writes history like a Soviet textbook manufacturer. And don't get me started on his grammar!
Theismann is just as bad. Hopefully TK will mock Theismann self-important prattling. He should start by calling him "THEES-min" like the family pronounced the name before realized that "THIGHZ-man" rhymes with Heisman.
Getting back to LT. I am never happy when someone is injured. But I made an exception in that case.
-
Kornheisolio!
I do think a lot of the magic has disappeared from the announcing booth for any number of reasons. Maybe it's hype. Maybe it's money. I don't know.
I think it's because most announcers today are TV announcers only. They didn't come up through radio. Almost all of the great play-by-play announcers came up through radio.
Of Duke you said "They're good, and they can beat anybody..." Well not, apparently, Georgetown.
Surely -- and I don't mean to call you Shirley, Amy Leonard -- you're not suggesting that just because Georgetown beat Duke one night, Duke is not capable of beating Georgetown on some other night. I'd suggest they'd beat them most nights, though not every night.
I am never happy when someone is injured. But I made an exception in that case.
Ha! That made me laugh. Reminded me of Groucho's immortal "I never forget a face but in your case I'll make an exception."