The State of American Sports Broadcasting

[Motorboater]

Would the problem be that commentators are trying to jazz up everything?

If the OP likes motorsport, there's a whole industry that's guilty of that.

[FrankDobe]

Originally Posted by ShutUpLutz!

Actually it was Lupica who killed off The Sports Reporters. After he took over as host the ratings nose dived, which given what a dick Lupica is shouldn't have been a surprise. Lupica is interesting in that he's that annoying nerd/twit/twerp who got the shit beaten out of him for his twerpitude in high school who despite remaining a twerp his entire life, when he became moderately successful braying out STRONG SPORTS HOT TAKES in the NY Daily News turned into one of the most insufferable bullies you can possibly imagine. It was guaranteed that if it was a big sporting event (Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament) and Lupica was 'covering it' he would show up and bitch and whine and crybaby about his seat assignment and then bully a newer reporter out of their seat. In later years he took to showing up early and switching around the credentials on seats and had one reporter thrown out when the dude caught him.

As for Mitch Albom, this story should tell you all you need to know about his smug smarmy sack of stinky dicks. He was on the Sports Reporters along with Dan Lebatard who is known in the reporting business for being a contrarian. this was back when Barry Bonds was closing in on one of the home run records and so of course the discussion was about how Bonds was an uppity filthy cheater blah, blah blah because STEROIDS.

Lebatard said, Well if you're going to go there then Kirk Gibson's walkoff home run in game 1 of the 1988 World Series shouldn't count either because he was on steroids, in fact he needed both cortisone and steroid injections just to be able to walk up to the plate and in that case both of those were PED's right?

Albom said, "Come on, don't do that. Don't do that. We're talking about one of the most iconic moments in the entire history of sports and you're accusing one of the greatest baseball players of his era of cheating. C'mon, we don't need that."

I doubt it was a coincidence their reactions and comments were based at least somewhat on the fact that Bonds is black and Gibson is white.

Lupica, Albom, most of the commentators/reporters who go national are smarmy, precious few remain humble.

Lebatard...I seem to recall a couple years ago there was a story where he actually "sold" or gave away his baseball hall of fame vote ? if true, I would use a stronger less complimentary term than contrarian. then again, most baseball hall of fame writers/voters are sanctimonious twits. there is one reporter in Worcester Mass who feels Mariano Rivera should not get 100% of the vote. talk about a God complex !

no doubt race entered into the Bonds/Gibson equation. Bonds was also surly with the press ( due to the fact the press reported EVERY mistake Bonds' father ever made ).

[ShutUpLutz!]

Originally Posted by FrankDobe

Lebatard...I seem to recall a couple years ago there was a story where he actually "sold" or gave away his baseball hall of fame vote ? if true, I would use a stronger less complimentary term than contrarian. then again, most baseball hall of fame writers/voters are sanctimonious twits. there is one reporter in Worcester Mass who feels Mariano Rivera should not get 100% of the vote. talk about a God complex !

no doubt race entered into the Bonds/Gibson equation. Bonds was also surly with the press ( due to the fact the press reported EVERY mistake Bonds' father ever made ).

Deadspin had been running stories about how the BBWA was a bunch of asshats and the voting process was bullshit and how the fans should have some input and Lebatard got in touch with them and they worked out a deal where Deadspin would crowdsource Lebatard's vote through it's readers ie; the readers would actually vote on who would get votes on Lebatard's ballot.

To say this caused some unpleasantness is an understatement.

The BBWA went apeshit, stripping Lebatard of his ballot and permananently banning him shrieking that he and Deadspin had 'perverted the voting process by using outside sources,' ie; having someone other than the actual voter make the choices.

Which is a might shiny speech, except it's bullshit. There is or was a BBWA voter who I believe is located in Houston who would get together with some of his buddies at a bar and together they would fill out his ballot. he was quite open about it even bragged about it on Twitter/his blog and did the BBWA permanently ban him?

FUCK and NO.

Of course they didn't.

Honestly I don't think what Lebatard did was so awful, though I do give the BBWA credit for keeping Pete Rose out.

[FrankDobe]

Originally Posted by ShutUpLutz!

Deadspin had been running stories about how the BBWA was a bunch of asshats and the voting process was bullshit and how the fans should have some input and Lebatard got in touch with them and they worked out a deal where Deadspin would crowdsource Lebatard's vote through it's readers ie; the readers would actually vote on who would get votes on Lebatard's ballot.

To say this caused some unpleasantness is an understatement.

The BBWA went apeshit, stripping Lebatard of his ballot and permananently banning him shrieking that he and Deadspin had 'perverted the voting process by using outside sources,' ie; having someone other than the actual voter make the choices.

Which is a might shiny speech, except it's bullshit. There is or was a BBWA voter who I believe is located in Houston who would get together with some of his buddies at a bar and together they would fill out his ballot. he was quite open about it even bragged about it on Twitter/his blog and did the BBWA permanently ban him?

FUCK and NO.

Of course they didn't.

Honestly I don't think what Lebatard did was so awful, though I do give the BBWA credit for keeping Pete Rose out.

thanks for the Lebatard story. the BBWA, as with any organization, have a certain number of cretins.

100 percent agree with you on Rose. And if they ever DO let him in...they better open the books on Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe Jackson at a MINIMUM ! baseball prior to 1919 was VERY close to becoming jai alai.

[bigtrain45]

It's hard to decide which broadcasters are the worst, but Joe Buck is at the top of my list. His attitude, vocal swagger, and overbearing self-importance combine to ruin any game he's covering. When he's doing the NFL, Troy Aikman is no help at all, but at least on baseball games he now has John Smoltz, whose analysis is almost always useful and cogent. The worst team is the ESPN Monday Night group, except for Suzy Kolber. The rest of them are in love with the sound of their own voices, make little sense, and usually just confuse the issue, whatever it is. Jason Whitten stumbles over his words and contradicts himself so much he should probably be in concussion protocol the rest of his life.
On a brighter note, it is so refreshing to wake up on a weekend morning, switch on NBC Sports, and hear Rebecca Lowe, Kyle Martino, and the two Robbies preview the day's Premier League matches, and then get the excellent, experienced game announcers for each match.

[blumpkin]

Usually i watch sports with the sound muted these days.
hard to listen what passes for " analysis " today, having grown up during the heyday
of such stellar broadcast talents like : vin scully, dick enberg & keith jackson .


Christ, i'd even enjoy hearing ol' windbag howard cosell one more time !

[vo1v0d]

NFL is the only yew ess sport I have watched continuously for decades and I miss John Madden. When the zebras were conferring he would predict or interpret their decisions.
Plus, as a Raiders fan, listening to an ex Raider saying 'you never know which Raiders are going to turn up' gave me insight into the Raiders affection for the self-destruct button.

[SanteeFats]

Originally Posted by vo1v0d

NFL is the only yew ess sport I have watched continuously for decades and I miss John Madden. When the zebras were conferring he would predict or interpret their decisions.

as a Raiders fan,

I knew there was something about you I didn't like. Now I know what it is.

Raiders---
I hated Madden when he was coaching but I did enjoy his announcing.

[vo1v0d]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

I knew there was something about you I didn't like. Now I know what it is.

Raiders---
I hated Madden when he was coaching but I did enjoy his announcing.

Only one something I must be slipping and so must you

[tybalt50]

I think Venus Williams shone a bright light on all that's wrong in sports media this past week, when she pointed out no one asking her questions could ever play the game better than she could, and so there was nothing they could ever say or ask that would have any real merit.



Vin Scully couldn't play baseball, and he's a baseball legend. Why? Go to Game Six of the 1986 World Series, when that grounder went through Bill Buckner's legs. Scully never once inflected himself on the images. He simply allowed the scene to play out with as little commentary as possible. Or better, Gibson's home run that won game one of the 1988 Series. Again, Scully didn't inject himself into the scene.



On most sports networks, personalities like Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayliss, Colin Cowherd, et al, think they know more than players and coaches, because they've watched games for a long time. Watching it being done and doing it are two different things. (The porn principle.)


The giants of sports journalism, Red Barber, Haywood Hale Brune, Curt Gowdy, Jack Buck, and on and on, respected that principle. Barber wrote poetically of sports, but never EVER presumed to know more about the subjects of his poetry than the players and coaches themselves.