ESPN announcers’ grade: D-

[ChicagoGG]

My two cents....Nell Fortner at the breaks got WAY too excited (especially when she couldn't say anything bad about Geno/UConn), and her voice raised to the glass-shattering level. Andy Landers, in response, S-L-O-W-E-D down his speech and lowered his voice to a very quiet tone. I swear, the third time she interrupted Andy, a voice in her head set told her to stop it, as she just shut up in mid-sentence. The third announcer in the studio, who is such a cipher I can't remember her name, was a nonentity.

Thank heavens for Bob and Debbie being synced perfectly to the game!!

Becca and Kara deserve better than the situation they were put in last night. So does Holly.

 

[OldAlum]

I don't understand the thinking that believes that people want to listen to off-topic chit chat throughout a basketball game. How would you feel if they were in your living room talking about that stuff?
I get that the game was out of hand early. But if you weren't then interested, would you stay watching for the banter? And nearly disregard the excellent plays before you?
To me, the announcers could and should do more to promote WCBB in general when not talking about the game (And make no mistake, someone should talk more about the game!). They do talk about it some, but there is plenty more to talk about and ESPN covers much of it on their various platforms. Instead they seem to go onto other subjects too quickly -Mens CBB, Superbowl, tomatoes, dogs wearing clothes. And when the game is out of hand it seems like the "analyst" could take some time and dissect more plays and offensive and defensive schemes.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I have only read Nan's opening remark. It was bad, so very bad. But it lost all sense of professionalism or the mission at hand in the second half. The worst job of sports broadcasting I have ever heard and from some of my favorite people. And, while I'm at it, and I mean this constructively: Kara burn that dress!!

 

[Bama fan]

Focused? I switched to mute and radio after just 2.5 minutes, as Rebecca and Kara were ignoring the game and talking non-stop about the SC-Missouri spat (pun intended).

I love the pun! Spot on. Or is it spat on?

 

[vtcwbuff]

"Kara burn that dress!!"

So I wasn't the only one.

My opinion is that Lobo is OK doing color with a PBP guy. Lawson is very good doing color with a PBP guy. Put them together as a threesome and it eclipsed the gawd-awful chit chat performance by Sue Bird and the airhead from a couple of weeks ago.

 

[UConnNick]

As bad and annoying as the broadcast was as the game wore on, I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone that isn't regularly subjected to listening to Bill Walton's blathering nonsense. He doesn't wait for a game to get out of hand, he's off topic and random before the opening tip even goes up, and stays that way during the entire broadcast. He can seldom be bothered to make any comments that have any relevance to the game that is actually happening. Nothing else is anywhere near as bad as a Walton broadcast. Until you experience that routinely, you ain't seen (or heard, as it were) nothin'.

Walton is an insufferable bore whose brain was fried long ago by way too many bong hits and who knows what else.

 

[JordyG]

As much as so many hated the announcer's, one comment had me laughing. That was when Gabby grabbed another incredible rebound and Lobo said something to the effect as, "If I just had that kind of athleticism for one day...". Amin said "What would you do?", and Kara said, "Hang on the rim. All day. That's easy!". I laughed for a while over that.

 

[FridaFriend]

I am a new member of the Boneyard, but I have enjoyed reading posts here for several years. I have only been following UCONN for the last 8 years and this is my first post.

I liked Kara and Rebecca as announcers last night. I like their personalities and I enjoy hearing what they’re thinking as they watch the game, rather than just a constant description of the scoring, rebounds, and fouls. The broadcast last night reminded me of my favorite sports announcers from my teenage years, Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean, who did the Major League Game of the Week. I loved to watch the game and listen to the stories, which often had nothing to do with the game. When I just looked up Dizzy Dean. I found a quote that reminded me of those times: While doing a game on CBS, Dean once said "I don't know why they're calling this the Game of the Week. There's a much better game, Dodgers and Giants, over on NBC."

 

[msf22b]

Just re-watched the glorious 2nd quarter

And I'm really amazed, that someone...either Rebecca, Kara, the guy doing the play by play (allegedly), the director, the Asst. Director, someone in the studio, an exec back in Ct, nobody... seemed to notice that proper attention wasn't being given to this monumental beatdown; shots not called, action not being followed.

This was ESPN's prime-time feature.

The only possible conclusion is that in the absence of a competitive game,
Woman's BB was not pleasing enough for their prime-time audience to warrant
a traditional call...sad.

One would think that either Rebecca or Kara would have noticed and filled in, rather, they were co-conspirators.

Really hard to understand, hardly their first rodeo. Or they were being so instructed.

 

[donalddoowop]

Guess again smart a-- my hearing is fine butI was having such a great time( watching) I didn't let the announcers ruin it. Sorry you had to endure the experience.

I did not notice it while the game was live, maybe because I was enjoying watching the team execute so well. However, after watching it a second time, I heard what so many are complaining about. To me it was bad and it started before the game got out of hand. I'm glad I did not notice it live.

 

[BeetleBailey]

Nope, sorry, no slack from me. If the game is out of hand, talk about the types of defenses being played, point out particularly good plays and how only a handful of college players can do it, etc. Educate the people interested in women’s basketball, don’t blather about Dawn Staley’s dog. I don’t give a hoot if Kara likes tomatoes, either.

I'm really surprised with Rebecca and Kara joining in the nonsense banter offered by the play by play amateur. Rebecca tried, Kara chatted too much on non bb stuff while the pbp guy had no clue. With a week long plus hype flooding ESPN the least ESPN could have provided a quality pbp person .

 

[shizam]

My two cents....Nell Fortner at the breaks got WAY too excited (especially when she couldn't say anything bad about Geno/UConn), and her voice raised to the glass-shattering level. Andy Landers, in response, S-L-O-W-E-D down his speech and lowered his voice to a very quiet tone. I swear, the third time she interrupted Andy, a voice in her head set told her to stop it, as she just shut up in mid-sentence. The third announcer in the studio, who is such a cipher I can't remember her name, was a nonentity.

Thank heavens for Bob and Debbie being synced perfectly to the game!!

Becca and Kara deserve better than the situation they were put in last night. So does Holly.

The Afr Amer girl in the studio is polished and provides some youth. I’m sorry but Andy Landers is not tolerable w his hand gestures . His content can be on target but he talks too slow. Feel uncomfortable picking on him. I’m okay w Nell
PAC 12 announcers are really awesome. They have a natural enthusiasm and make it about the game. Knowledgeable and not haughty like Kara is starting to project in 3 person booth. She bores me now. I like Holly.
Anyone ever see Pam Ward smile?

 

[BigBird]

I won’t defend a bad performance (including some of mine), and Thursday night was just truly dreadful. Perhaps we (BY) disliked it so much because we’ve seen all the broadcasters involved do better work on other occasions or in other settings.

But...

Lawson, Lobo, and Amin have lots of chatty company. Have you seen a NBA game on TV lately? College men’s game? The modern approach to sports broadcasting on TV is to let the video carry the information, with the verbal content consisting of reactions, sounding much like people watching a game in a sports bar with the sound off.

I came up through local radio, as did generations before me. When I got to TV, I knew that a radio PBP style wasn’t desirable for that medium. Adaptation was required. But the newer generations have come to TV from print journalism, side line reporting, playing, coaching, and even Internet podcasting. They have never had to orally describe a game in narrative form to another person in detail. Neither have they received much training specific to their new task. So they lapse into silly digressions and reactionary “bar room” banter.

How one comes to a medium sets the table for future performances.

Another example? If you’ve been to the movies in the last decade, you’ve often experienced problems of not hearing some or all of the dialog. And no, it isn’t your hearing aid batteries. It’s a problem of contemporary film and video makers NEVER having had a course or two in basic audio. The buzz today is the visual, including animation, special effects, editing and action. Audio? Get all the explosion sounds and crank up the music score. And once again, the audience (the purpose of the exercise) gets left out.

As I’ve said here several times, good broadcast play-by-play isn’t easy. But good grief! It isn’t brain surgery either.

 

[GoingPostal]

Well i don't hardly listen to annoucers,I get into the game and I know who has what for fouls,thats the fun of it for me.

I see this is your first post. Welcome Iowa fan! I listen to the majority of the games on the radio and watch the replay the next day. I really like Bob Joyce. He's easy to listen to.

 

[nwhoopfan]

PAC 12 announcers are really awesome. They have a natural enthusiasm and make it about the game. Knowledgeable and not haughty

I agree. A bit of homers, but you have to expect that when they are working for Pac 12 Network.

 

[shizam]

I agree. A bit of homers, but you have to expect that when they are working for Pac 12 Network.

I agree. A bit of homers, but you have to expect that when they are working for Pac 12 Network.

I watched the USC UCLA game last night. Not a great game but I was so impressed with the contrast of announcing of that game and the ESPN SC/UConn game. The Pac 12 crew knew so much more about the players and their backgrounds and they found ways to integrate it into the game for viewers to keep things interesting. They have the advantage of having less teams to cover. One thing too is the announcing teams aren't assigned the same teams like I notice the ACC is. Thus, no homers or announcers that know one team much more than another. They know all the players and the Conference overall so much better. You don't hear fundamental errors on names like I hear in ACC games all the time.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Let me clarify. The announcers on Pac 12 Network aren't homers for a particular team, but they are definitely waiving the banner for the conference. I agree with you, I do enjoy listening to the games. I think Elise Woodward and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude are my favorites, although all of them are good as far as I've noticed. Ann Schatz is another one that is entertaining, she's very enthusiastic.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Biggest win of this year and we get almost 50 posts about the announcers. However bad you folks perceive them to be, I enjoyed the hell out of the game and hardly noticed the announcers

I enjoyed the game, too. Immensely. But I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the announcers had called the game, and had given credit to players who had made a good play while they were jabbering.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Nan you are 100% correct as usual. May I add the sideline reporting was also not up to our normal SNY standards.
I feel bad for Lobo it's really not her fault.

We should always have Culmo and Friel.

Would you be biased?

At least Holly sounded healthy. Hope that's the case.

 

[Gus Mahler]

The announcers stayed focused on the game until the score got out of hand.

? They started the game with a lengthy editorial on the spitting situation. Two fine plays were made (at least) while they were doing that.

 

[shizam]

Let me clarify. The announcers on Pac 12 Network aren't homers for a particular team, but they are definitely waiving the banner for the conference. I agree with you, I do enjoy listening to the games. I think Elise Woodward and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude are my favorites, although all of them are good as far as I've noticed. Ann Schatz is another one that is entertaining, she's very enthusiastic.

I don't know any of the names mentioned above but I'm sure I've watched games they've worked. Another good one is the great Kate Scott. Also, I concur, they all carry the Pac 12 banner understandably so . A goal of every broadcast is to pump up Pac 12 basketball.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Oh my! Can you imagine the pairing of Lobo and Walton? Yikes!

Or Doris and Walton trying to out-comport each other?

 

[Gus Mahler]

Let me clarify. The announcers on Pac 12 Network aren't homers for a particular team, but they are definitely waiving the banner for the conference. I agree with you, I do enjoy listening to the games. I think Elise Woodward and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude are my favorites, although all of them are good as far as I've noticed. Ann Schatz is another one that is entertaining, she's very enthusiastic.

I don't know the last one, and I think I've seen the second one, but Elise, yes, she is terrific doing the Storm games. I would love it if she were ESPN's main color woman.

 

[HuskyNan]

I like LaChina Robinson. I haven't seen her lately - I hope she isn't stuck doing small regional games.

From her Twitter feed:

 

[BrianF]

Where is Dan O'Brien and Doris Burke when you need them? At least they attempted to keep you engaged in the game itself. ESPN has really dropped the ball talent wise. I agree with boreifs, keep Rebecca and Kara in the studio where they are a dynamic team, two color analyst can't even help the male announcer who is absolutely terrible. SNY all the way.

I shudder to think this may be the team for Columbus. I would pay money into a GoFundMe to get Doris Burke there doing game color.

 

[j66kicker]

I like LaChina Robinson. I haven't seen her lately - I hope she isn't stuck doing small regional games.

From her Twitter feed:

View attachment 28297

She’s doing the Stanford-Oregon game on ESPN2 today at 3:00

 

[Phil]

I think the lopsidedness of the score lent itself to the crew straying from the game but it that still was no excuse for the poor all-around job.

Count me as a big fan of both Lobo and Lawson, but I agree this was not a great performance. I re-watch the game and pay particular attention to the announcing.

I get that when the game margin gets well over 20 points, there may be a tendency to talk about other things, but in the opening minutes, when the game was very close, they went on an extended discussion of the South Carolina Missouri incident. I understand why they wanted to talk about it but save that for later in the game. There were some great plays in that opening sequence and they were blathering on about a different game.

 

[Phil]

I did not notice it while the game was live, maybe because I was enjoying watching the team execute so well. However, after watching it a second time, I heard what so many are complaining about. To me it was bad and it started before the game got out of hand. I'm glad I did not notice it live.

Same here.

I was a but surprised by this thread, and only when I re-watched it, did I get it. Like you, I probably tuned out the announcers and enjoyed the plays the first time.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Count me as a big fan of both Lobo and Lawson, but I agree this was not a great performance. I re-watch the game and pay particular attention to the announcing.

I get that when the game margin gets well over 20 points, there may be a tendency to talk about other things, but in the opening minutes, when the game was very close, they went on an extended discussion of the South Carolina Missouri incident. I understand why they wanted to talk about it but save that for later in the game. There were some great plays in that opening sequence and they were blathering on about a different game.

I too was puzzled as to why they went off on the South Carolina/Missouri incident. I think Lawson's support of Staley was off the mark. The AD from Mizzou said it happened and he felt the way Staley waves her arms to get the crowd going may have helped to fuel the flames, not that she directly had say into what reportedly happened.

 

[donalddoowop]

I like LaChina Robinson. I haven't seen her lately - I hope she isn't stuck doing small regional games.

From her Twitter feed:

View attachment 28297

I heard Sue Bird doing color at the NYC boys high school game on Friday or Saturday between Arch Bishop Malloy and Christ The King. I thought she did a good job.