ESPN Crew

[Fairfield Fan]

Renee was good but by the end they were talking about everything but the game. I couldn't take it and just muted them. I'll take the SNY crew any day.

Mowens dumbed it down. She just spews out irrelevant factoid after irrelevant factoid. Doesn't seem to understand the game, or care about the game. And at one point in the second half, Mowens said something like, "Well guess what! High Point is making a run!!" But it was just a few points in a row, and UConn was still up by over 30. Who cares?

I miss Culmo and Wolters! Two of the very best. So much fun to listen to! So much knowledge of the game! And so much insightful comments on not just UConn, but on the other team as well.

I would hate to lose them from SNY, but I'm guessing that at some point, they have ESPN or some other top sports channel with big bucks in their future.

 

[HopJim]

Loved Renee's energy and enthusiasm. Yes, at the end there was a lot of "talking," but compared to 99% of the announcers, her comments were creative and at times interesting, particularly versus the 40 point blow out. Give her a break - she has little booth experience and has great potential, compared to the monotone style we normally get for a non-SNY announced game.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Andraya Cater on the left, played for Tennessee
Gave her all...but at some point in her senior year (?)
Her body was too broken to continue and she retired.
Been a sportscaster, mostly SEC woman for a few years.
Likable, competent and intelligent.

She’s good! McNutt not so much

 

[MilfordHusky]

Monica McNutt is a local D.C. kid who played at Georgetown at the time that Sugar Rogers was there. They gave Maya et al. a very tough Regional Semi-final game in Philly in 2011. Lorin Dixon was key in getting us the win. She was a good and tough-minded player. At first, I liked Monica in interviews and discussions, but she's gotten a little annoying for me.

 

[tower1]

It actually takes a degree of talent to call the game and focus to fill in the spaces with interesting tidbit. They have to be short which these women don't know the meaning of. You can relay information quickly if you leave out extranious stuff. But that also takes talent.

The womens game has beed run like a Mom and Pop organization for some time. If the want more respect they can start by getting actual announcers to call the games instead of ex players and washed up coaches. It used to be like that with hiring ex players as coaches even if they really did not have the skills to run a program. They finally are getting good coaches so now they have to find other areas to playsexist nepotism.

One could also tell how competent the hires by ESPN are by the product they presented as tournament breakdowns. All the did was interviews and human interest stories. Of course to d a real breakdown you have to do some research. I suspect that the field in this area does not have very many women applicants and they do have to walk the tightrope in women hiring percentages. I guess ESPN feels they can do hires for women announcers and analysts because after all the womens game is not that important. so they can just go through the motions.

All this talk of short changing the women in the weight room, but nothing about how the game gets short changed by horrible anouncers and analysts. But of course, since that shot dhanging creates jobs for incompetent women no one says anything.

Very good post ! True i get annoyed listening to most of these announcers all they do is talk about everything except the game. you can't even concentrate on the game. Put a muzzle on some of these woman. Too bad Cara Lawson is coaching now and never got replaced with a good announcer .

 

[Bama fan]

I agree with much of what's been said here, but I have an observation that i think partially explains some of this year's poor announcing. I watched a softball series this weekend and the same things could be said for it. The announcers are watching the games on television much like the fans are. They are unable to see the action in its entirety. So they begin to fill in with jibberish at times. The softball people yesterday were in different states and just could not coordinate their efforts effectively. The time delay and limited view leads to lousy broadcasts. Some are worse than others, but all are suffering the same fate this year. I wish they would just have one person and let them do the best they can.

 

[LoboDays]

The current situation in sports broadcasting has become quantity over quality. Every game in every sport is televised somewhere. The networks airing them need bodies to call the game, analyze it, personalize it, critique it, Yada yada yada. So now, they are putting headphones on people with little or no experience in sports broadcasting.

To make things worse, producers are not helping them to improve their performance. They are just letting them ramble on instead of calling the game in front of them. Last night, Anna was subbed in and not a word about it. Her name was never mentioned the whole time she was on the court. They have no clue who is on the court. Long stretches of time go by when the are talking about various arenas or other irrelevant nonsense and don’t even bother to keep up with the play by play. The mute button helps me focus on the game and keeps my blood pressure down.

 

[jaydee602]

Loved Renee's energy and enthusiasm. Yes, at the end there was a lot of "talking," but compared to 99% of the announcers, her comments were creative and at times interesting, particularly versus the 40 point blow out. Give her a break - she has little booth experience and has great potential, compared to the monotone style we normally get for a non-SNY announced game.

I also enjoyed Renee's enthusiasm & energy. But she tended to tell stories that stretched over several possessions. It would have been fine until Beth Mowins stopped calling play by play midway through the third period. Then it became a studio show with the game in the background. Especially when Holly Rowe jumped in with more commentary.

 

[Patty Bailey]

As much as Renee is the picture of charisma and infectious enthusiasm--in short, everything you would want in a commentator--I found myself cringing at different times. 'Nuff said.

Same here, several spots of terrible grammar...disappointing.

 

[Hist-teacher]

I watch the games on "mute" and listen to Classical music...mostly Chopin.

 

[willtalk]

The major problem started long ago when announcers were replaced at all levels by ex players and coaches. Usually you had an announcer and helping him would be a color guy. The color guy would usually be an ex player who would be able to fill in pauses in the action with stories. The color commentator always would defer to the announcer calling the game. The announcer would make sure that the extranious commentary happened at the right times.

What we have now is that the announcing position is not being treated as a vocation. But rather as a personal platform for those that have control over the mike. They endulge themselves to do and say what ever they feel like totally forgetting the reason they are their. The is just another effect of a society that has lost all sense of propriety. The self discipline that recognizes that their is a time and place for everything. And that being given a " platform" is not a blank check of entitlement to do what ever you can when ever and where ever you want. It has gotten to the point so that people do not even recognize the over stepping of boundries to gratify personal wants. People should stay within the reason that they are there. Using one job as a means to promote an unrelated personal agenda are not proper. Stick with the job you are there for.

So it should be no surprise that people in athletics, who are worshiped by their fans would develop a greater sense of personal entitlement along with a loss of propriety.

 

[Carnac]

Very good post ! True i get annoyed listening to most of these announcers all they do is talk about everything except the game. you can't even concentrate on the game. Put a muzzle on some of these woman. Too bad Kara Lawson is coaching now and never got replaced with a good announcer .

I always liked Kara Lawson doing color for a game.

 

[Boreifs]

Particularly the verb “go”, which is one of the three most common verbs. to Be, to Have, to Go. First three chapters of every language book ever written.