Lets get the announcers situation fixed

[Bestiarius]

There is always an inordinate amount of complaints on the board about poor announcers. Can we come up with some easy fixes and perhaps propose them to the powers that be? Also, what do you think the announcers should talk about?
I’ll start it off:
Scenario: Announcers are blabbing a la Burke. In the meantime there is a foul, a tip in, and both teams put some subs into the game. All of this action is ignored. Announcers finish blabbing and return to the game. What do they have to say?
“Six minutes to go in the first half, x leads y 41 to 38. nine seconds left on the shot clock.” All the freakin stuff that’s on the screen for all to see. Not who fouled, who tipped it in, who subbed in and for whom. Maddening.

 

[alexrgct]

1. "Female announcer voice" is annoying. You're women. You're beautiful. You're awesome. Just talk.

2. If you're a middle-aged white woman, own it. Don't try to talk like the kids. It's just sad and annoying. I don't want to name names but I'm especially thinking of the announcer whose name rhymes with Chorus Smirk.

3. Find more than one or two stories about the kids. I know about Skylar's Twitter followers and her headband thing. Surely there's more to be told? Similarly, every single game of the 2009-10 season, you had to hear about how Geno was all over Tina Charles to get her to play to her potential and now she is. Even good stories get annoying if repeated ad nauseum.

4. Fresh faces. Stop holding back Brook and Ros, or having them call men's games.

5. Less Chorus Smirk.

6. Show Beth Mowins's boots more frequently. They are awesome.

7. Talk more about UConn at every opportunity, no matter who's playing.

 

[Wonkster]

... 7. Talk more about UConn at every opportunity, no matter who's playing.

Nah. Vitale talked about Duke for years nonstop, and now roughly 3.8 billion people on Planet Earth hate Duke.
.

 

[pinotbear]

Somewhere in there, there's a "chorus line" joke to be made, but it hasn't come to me yet.
And, in an Emily Latella moment, when I first saw #6, it seemed to read, "Show Beth Mowins's boo_s more frequently They are awesome!".. Like Emily would say,"Never mind!"

 

[alexrgct]

Nah. Vitale talked about Duke for years nonstop, and now roughly 3.8 billion people on Planet Earth hate Duke.
.

 

[HuskyNan]

You know, Doris started to annoy me in 2002 with her "They come at you in waves" comments re: UConn as well as her well-worn "You need to take a standing 8 count". Geez.

It's difficult to call games; the announcers are literally doing about 5 things at once. I sat next to Joe D' for one game and he was watching the game, listening to his director, watching the monitor that carried the stats, writing notes for the half time/post game highlights and trading comments with Wayne Norman. I don't know how they do it. But they're pros and they need to prepare for each game including adding some worthwhile nuggets that might be new and interesting to viewers. Otherwise the commentating becomes stale and uninteresting.

 

[Wonkster]

.
I do sympathize with the announcers to a limited degree. Sure - you heard the story before, but has everyone else in the TV audience already heard it? (I'm not excusing hackneyed phrases repeated ad nauseam.)

Years ago, when I first started working on my dictionary, someone commented that what they'd really like is a dictionary with only the words they didn't know. I told the fellow that 400 years ago, that's exactly what dictionaries were - collections of uncommon words. What I really wanted to say to him (but restrained myself) was: "So you buy your custom-made dictionary that contains only the words you don't know, then look up a word. Now what do you do - throw it out?"
.

 

[Icebear]

You know, Doris started to annoy me in 2002 with her "They come at you in waves" comments re: UConn as well as her well-worn "You need to take a standing 8 count". Geez.

It's difficult to call games; the announcers are literally doing about 5 things at once. I sat next to Joe D' for one game and he was watching the game, listening to his director, watching the monitor that carried the stats, writing notes for the half time/post game highlights and trading comments with Wayne Norman. I don't know how they do it. But they're pros and they need to prepare for each game including adding some worthwhile nuggets that might be new and interesting to viewers. Otherwise the commentating becomes stale and uninteresting.

They are all ADD multi-taskers.

 

[semper]

Easy...hire Kara Lawson to call and Becca Lobo or Kara Wolters as color to work the games....fixed. Then when Maya retiras, hire her too: smart, articulate, great...

 

[rocky rococo]

Proper basketball announcing:

 

[alexrgct]

Proper basketball announcing:

Doris Burke calling that play:

That's why Havlicek has 50,000 Twitter followers!!! It don't mean a thang if you ain't got that rang!!! I see you Hondo!!! The Cs get their swag from plays like that!!!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Easy...hire Kara Lawson to call and Becca Lobo or Kara Wolters as color to work the games....fixed. Then when Maya retiras, hire her too: smart, articulate, great...

Lobo is kind of too silly at times BUT I like her down to earth style.

LaChina is good BUT I hate that title is "The 6th leading Blocker Shot in Clemson history". (title: like Peck's "The Coach"

I do like "The Big 5-0 (Lobo)

 

[Icebear]

Rule of thumb:

If you have to attempt to justify an announcer by presenting their "resume" they are not good enough to command the audience's attention by the quality of their work.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Rule of thumb:

If you have to attempt to justify an announcer by presenting their "resume" they are not good enough to command the audience's attention by the quality of their work.

Bob P says that for LaChina... I wouldnt even want to be recognized for such a thing.
"The player with the most fouls in UState's history"

 

[Billybonggg]

Easy...hire Kara Lawson to call and Becca Lobo or Kara Wolters as color to work the games....fixed. Then when Maya retiras, hire her too: smart, articulate, great...

Sounds good to me. This isn't rocket science. Just call the game.

 

[Dairyair]

Sounds good to me. This isn't rocket science. Just call the game.

Novel idea, Billybonggg! And to Nan's report on Joe D' doesn't surprise me...he does a good job calling the men's games. IIRC, years ago he did the women's games, but I guess he "outgrew" that gig.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Rule of thumb:

If you have to attempt to justify an announcer by presenting their "resume" they are not good enough to command the audience's attention by the quality of their work.

I don't always agree. Sometimes, I think it is just because folks don't know who they are / were. I never heard of Brook Weisbrod, not too sure on LaChina, etc. That said, what they are really saying is they are qualified because they are former players, which is equally true.

Like some other posters, I'm just tired of Doris Burke trying to sound, well, like whatever she's trying to sound like. Some of the other, younger, group of ex players have shown noticable improvement from year to year, as one would hope. Abby Waner is one who has improved, although not my favorite.

 

[Icebear]

I don't always agree. Sometimes, I think it is just because folks don't know who they are / were. I never heard of Brook Weisbrod, not too sure on LaChina, etc. That said, what they are really saying is they are qualified because they are former players, which is equally true.

Like some other posters, I'm just tired of Doris Burke trying to sound, well, like whatever she's trying to sound like. Some of the other, younger, group of ex players have shown noticable improvement from year to year, as one would hope. Abby Waner is one who has improved, although not my favorite.

But if they call the game well I really don't need their resume because they are good and providing a quality product and if they don't call the game well I don't care because it doesn't give anymore credibility to the lousy job they are doing.

Can the info be interesting, sure, but it is not critical to what they are doing and adds a false sense of credibility.

 

[semper]

1. CALL THE GAME; this is what really matters

2. Find a color person who is really knowledgeable and sticks with the plays.

 

[Shenandoah]

Semper-I whole heartedly agree with you. I'm a big fan of the old fashioned play-by-play and color team. Doris Burke, for all her knowledge of the game and it's players, never lets the game action interrupt her ramblings. Gary Thorne, and Jim Palmer doing the Oriole games on MASN are one of the best teams out there. CALL THE GAME, and fill in with the interesting tidbits in between the action....

 

[phil sampieri]

There is always an inordinate amount of complaints on the board about poor announcers. Can we come up with some easy fixes and perhaps propose them to the powers that be? Also, what do you think the announcers should talk about?
I’ll start it off:
Scenario: Announcers are blabbing a la Burke. In the meantime there is a foul, a tip in, and both teams put some subs into the game. All of this action is ignored. Announcers finish blabbing and return to the game. What do they have to say?
“Six minutes to go in the first half, x leads y 41 to 38. nine seconds left on the shot clock.” All the freakin stuff that’s on the screen for all to see. Not who fouled, who tipped it in, who subbed in and for whom. Maddening.

Your correct there is an inordinate amount of complaining because we have hundreds of different likes and dislikes. It is a visual media
and personally I learned from my wife, I only listen to what I want to hear.This in one topic that has no solution. I happen to like Picozzi and Culmo, Walters & Lobo but I'm sure also that I'm not the only one.

 

[Icebear]

Your correct there is an inordinate amount of complaining because we have hundreds of different likes and dislikes. It is a visual media
and personally I learned from my wife, I only listen to what I want to hear.This in one topic that has no solution. I happen to like Picozzi and Culmo, Walters & Lobo but I'm sure also that I'm not the only one.

Actually, phil, I think the likes and dislikes are pretty consistent and not that diverse at all.

 

[phil sampieri]

Actually, phil, I think the likes and dislikes are pretty consistent and not that diverse at all.

What I am getting at is there are so many different opinions as to what that individual wants from the announcer or color person so why do the same few people ty to impose their dislikes on others

 

[Icebear]

What I am getting at is there are so many different opinions as to what that individual wants from the announcer or color person so why do the same few people ty to impose their dislikes on others

I'm not sure stating one's preferences is in any way imposing one's opinions on others. What I read her is that most folks have stated a preference for solid play by play with traditional color support. They have expressed a desire for analysis over chit chat and repetitive stories. They want to know who is the foul on, who is subbing in and for whom, how many fouls they have, the number of team fouls. They appreciate insights into the types of defense being played and the particular match ups and how one or the other team can exploit them. Just because TV is a visual medium does not mean everyone watches the screen constantly, many folks multitask and rely on the play by play for keys as to when to bring their attention to the screen. Hope that helps.

 

[boontonbomber]

I'm not sure stating one's preferences is in any way imposing one's opinions on others. What I read her is that most folks have stated a preference for solid play by play with traditional color support. They have expressed a desire for analysis over chit chat and repetitive stories. They want to know who is the foul on, who is subbing in and for whom, how many fouls they have, the number of team fouls. They appreciate insights into the types of defense being played and the particular match ups and how one or the other team can exploit them. Just because TV is a visual medium does not mean everyone watches the screen constantly, many folks multitask and rely on the play by play for keys as to when to bring their attention to the screen. Hope that helps.

dead on, Ice. a copy of these words should be sent, not to espn, but to Harriet, in the form of a petition. and i'll be the first to sign it. talk about chit-chat and repetitive stories!