OT: - Best former-pro tv analyst/play by play (any sport) | The Boneyard

OT: Best former-pro tv analyst/play by play (any sport)

Jaydumo20

Jaydumo20

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As a break from transfer portal anxiety who are some of the best former player, on air analysts, in any sport? I'd have to say Smoltz in baseball is hard to beat. Thoughts?
 
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Gary Stevens in horse racing. Bob Roll in cycling. Boxing had quite a few.

Charles Barkley in basketball.

This exchange did not happen today, but I heard this today….

Kenny Smith - “One thing Hakeem always said to me…”

Charles Barley - “Kenny, bring me some water.”
 
David Cone is great on YES. He understands analytics, but balances it out with tons of big league experience and a sense of humor. I also enjoyed Ken Singleton. My favorite attribute in former players is that they’re not down on modern players and also try to promote the good in sports.
 
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Gorilla_Monsoon_&_Bobby_Heenan.jpg
 
navery12 said:
I'll have to give this some thought. I got tripped up by the posts so far because Smoltz is absolutely insufferable and a complete idiot as an analyst
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He has an Emmy. But I'm assuming they didn't ask you for your vote.
 
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navery12 said:
Congrats to him. He's bad at his job and completely out of touch with modern baseball
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I agree he hasn't embraced the changes but nobody gives insight into pitching like Smoltz. Just for that alone, he is different.
... And I don't need to state the obvious that you don't work the biggest games, win the most prestigious award in TV if youre bad at your job.
 
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Romo is solid in the booth, although the shine of predicting plays before they happen has worn off. Greg Olsen was fantastic on Fox this year, and doesn't deserve the coming demotion from Brady joining

The Inside the NBA guys are all solid as well. Jim Jackson did a bunch of our games and is very good. I won't mention the guy out west who loves the Pac 12, but he follows the teams in one conference which puts him ahead of 99% of analysts
 
navery12 said:
Romo is solid in the booth, although the shine of predicting plays before they happen has worn off. Greg Olsen was fantastic on Fox this year, and doesn't deserve the coming demotion from Brady joining

The Inside the NBA guys are all solid as well. Jim Jackson did a bunch of our games and is very good. I won't mention the guy out west who loves the Pac 12, but he follows the teams in one conference which puts him ahead of 99% of analysts
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100% Greg Olsen was fantastic. The Brady thing is a sin, he won't be half as engaging.
 
I'll go the obscure route and be a total homer here, but I'm partial to Bob Walk and John Wehner, two of the color guys for Pirates broadcasts. The Pirates have been worse than terrible for most of the past seven years, so it's a tough job. Wehner has the added bonus of being a genuine yinzer.
 
TheHorde said:
Or Pat Summerall
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100% Yes.

Anyone over 35 years old who listened to Summerall and Madden together in their heyday has to say this pairing. They made every game they did more interesting and entertaining. Sure, Madden would get a bit crazy at times, but Summerall's even keel demeanor always kept Madden from going too far. There is no pairing that has ever done it consistently better and more entertaining. Summerall was so good because he was able to sublimate his own ego to let Madden have free reign with his schtick. For someone that high up the totem poll as Summerall was, that is a lot harder to do than people realize.

Also deserving of mention: Anyone who grew up listening to New York Ranger and Knick games on the radio... Marv Albert was the best radio play-by-play announcer I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. He and Sal "Red Light" Messina were a "must listen" growing up as a kid doing Ranger games. I realize that scandal tarnished his reputation, but Marv Albert is the single most natural and polished play-by-play man I have ever heard. He always seemed to know when to emphasize a big play just right, without going overly hyperbolic (ala Gus Johnson, who constantly over-states good plays and screams almost unintelligably as if he just witnessed the greatest play he has ever seen... at least half a dozen times in every game!).

Al Michaels in his prime was great also. His call of the 1980 Winter Olympic semifinal game between U.S. and Russia (the greatest hockey game ever played for us Americans) will always be one of the great play-by-play jobs ever done. Not just the ending, which of course is iconic, but the whole game. He and Ken Dryden did a phenomenal job that night.
 
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Our own Dan Orlovsky deserves a mention, he is excellent, a true rising star in the profession.

Walt Clyde Frazier has always been a favorite of mine. Keith Hernandez and Tim Mccarver are my Mets favorites, Ron Darling is also terrific.

If John Madden didn't have a career ending injury in Eagles training camp he would be the winner.
 
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Who was the guy that had that Sled Dog thing for one of our games? Him.
 
Fishy said:
Gary Stevens in horse racing. Bob Roll in cycling. Boxing had quite a few.

Charles Barkley in basketball.

This exchange did not happen today, but I heard this today….

Kenny Smith - “One thing Hakeem always said to me…”

Charles Barley - “Kenny, bring me some water.”
Expand ...
Gary Stevens was once a race horse? Who knew.
 
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