What Irritates You Most About Announcers?

[Icebear]

The very example of "annoying" I was thinking of. Very frequent, highly annoying.

And certainly not a 71" wingspan.

 

[meyers7]

Who's Nicki Minaj?

Attaboy.

 

[Wally East]

Did you know Kara Lawson played football with boys?

(just in case you hadn't heard that )

Also, she plays piano. I don't think anyone knows that, either.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

When I listen to the NBA announcers they just seem to be on a different level than what we get in WBB.

...including Doris Burke, whose color commentary is much more substantive when she is in the booth for NBA games (typically Sunday night games on ESPN). She offers much more thoughtful analysis when she is not covering women's basketball games.

And let's be clear...we are talking about NBA announcers and color commentators. Nothing Kenny Smith has ever uttered in the studio has ever been confused with or mistaken for words like "substantive" or "thoughtful."

 

[ctfjr]

I also dislike commentators whose name rhymes with a female body part (DB)!

I never heard Mulva announcing. Does she do WNBA?

 

[DobbsRover2]

I also dislike commentators whose name rhymes with a female body part (DB)!

Yow, well obviously you hail from one of the British Isles (maybe Manx cat?), because I grew up on a Doris Street in CT and we never pronounced it like any type of body part of either sex. We went with the same as for Boris Becker (bore-us), and I really can't think of any word close to the body part sounding ur-us. But I guess our minds and sound associations all work differently.

 

[sarals24]

It's from a Seinfeld episode.

 

[svetbird]

I hate when they do not discuss the game, only know the 2 or 3 stars in the game while mispronouncing every other players names, and when people try to make catchphrases like Pittsburg's nhl announcer who said things like "move into the fast lane grandma were playing bingo"

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Carolyn Peck drives me batty! She may have been a good coach (unsure of her record), but as an announcer she is AWFUL! Thankfully, they hired Kara to pick up her slack. Can't help but love Rebecca eventhough I do agree with what some of you are saying.

Peck won a NC with Purdue, she is a member of the "rah rah" school of coaching, along with, among others, Agnus Bernato and Brenda Freese off the top of my head. Most serious folks I know don't think highly of her coaching skills, she had some exceptional players that she didn't recruit at Purdue (and Rutgers almost - and I mean almost - took them out before they got to the final four, in the Elite 8 in Normal Illinois IIRC).
She is guilty of the mis-pronouncing of names, as are a couple of other folks over the years, but the truth is that MOST announcers don't mispronounce names at all. I'm with those who find the OT babbling the most annoying thing, and Doris Burke as a major example.

 

[wasolddog]

Bingo! Doris's announcing has deteriorated because of the above and her comportment. Lately, she makes me want to knock three times on the pipe when she is assigned to coverage.

LOL! And I thought I was the only one who learned to hate the word "comport" during the semi final. Burke certainly has NOT "comported" herself well "in the moments that matter most".

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

At least when I watch WB I don't have to hear Jerry Remy use words to say nothing.

 

[FairView]

Anything the announcer says after, "This is Meghan Culmo."

 

[meyers7]

It's from a Seinfeld episode.

I thought that might be where Stray Cat was going with that, but I didn't think anyone on this board was that....hip, cool?? enough to pull out that reference? Well done.

 

[meyers7]

I hate when they do not discuss the game, only know the 2 or 3 stars in the game while mispronouncing every other players names, and when people try to make catchphrases like Pittsburg's nhl announcer who said things like "move into the fast lane grandma were playing bingo"

Boom goes the dynamite.

 

[alexrgct]

I actually really don't like "female sports announcer" voice. It's a strange combination of androgynous and abrasive. Why not just talk like a cool chick you'd want to watch a game with? Is that so horrible?

 

[easttexastrash]

I actually really don't like "female sports announcer" voice. It's a strange combination of androgynous and abrasive. Why not just talk like a cool chick you'd want to watch a game with? Is that so horrible?

That's what I liked about Sue Bird. Just very relaxed and being herself. I loved her analysis.

 

[ScarlettB]

Unpopular opinion, but I actually like Doris Burke. I think she is very knowledgeable. I will admit that she can be annoying at times, but overall, I think she does a good job. My favorite for WBB, is Kara Lawson. Overall, for most sports, I like Bob Costas and for men's BB I like Jay Bilas. For NCAA football. I like Kirk Herbstreit. Not knowing the player's names is my pet peeve.

 

[easttexastrash]

I miss Robin Roberts.

 

[Kibitzer]

A new peeve.

I watch Red Sox games on NESN. Don Orsillo does a terrific job of play-by-play. Jerry Remy provides comic relief. Remy has been absent a lot due to illness, so designated analysts pich hit. Usually Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice, or Peter Gammons. Their skills vary.

The last couple games, a new voice has been heard but, strangely, its owner never appears on screen. His analysis is superlative. I think it's a journalist but if they identified him I missed it.

Must be some weird contractual provision to keep the cameras on the game and fans in the stands. Weird.

 

[RoyDodger]

Cliche after cliche after cliche after.... Well, you get the idea.

That almost goes with the territory. I can't stand it when announcers are full of themselves. When they think they are important and funny, and aren't. And then there are those who simply never shut up. As a Dodger fan, I think back to my youth when the great Red Barber did Dodger games on radio. The best thing about Barber was that he understood he was reporting, and not rooting. And he knew when to shut up and let the listener enjoy the sounds of the game.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

That is because Kara is a MUCH better analyst and announcer. Unfortunately, Rebecca is using Doris Burke, who has deteriorated badly over the years, as a model. Kara just calls the game and doesn't spend time on the personal crap.

Lawson has become much better in the studio. She used to just say things like, "When you talk about [name of school], it all starts with [name of player]. [Name of player] can do it all - offense, defense, inside, outside." There really wasn't much substance. She has become much better, though, and gives more of an analysis of strengths and weaknesses of particular players and teams.

Lobo was always good at doing the one thing very few female color commentators do - dissecting the Xs and Os of particular plays. Men's analysts do this all the time, but for whateve reason, very few (if any) of their female counterparts did. Lobo was one of the few who would diagram the play, explain how it was to be run, what the offensive players were trying to do, what the defensive players needed to do to stop the play from developing, etc.

To me, this is an ESSENTIAL part of color commentary. Yes, there needs to be a way to draw casual fans to women's basketball, as the stories can help sell the product. But if the analysis and commentary is all anecdotal tales, what is the point? At the end of the day, basketball is the product to be sold, not the individual player stories. The stories may help the product, but the analysis should be on the product itself.

 

[hoophuskee]

1-- Get names wrong.

2-- The inevitable "eyes," observation. - "you can tell they are great by the look in their eyes." Yeah sure- DT and Michael Jordan are great because they have a different look in their eyes than others. Basketball skills and athleticism mean little. It's "the look in their eyes." LOL

3--Refs and announcers that don't understand players throwing their bodies into others in order to draw a foul. They let the offensive player off the hook/slow down the game/allow the play to continue.

4-- Tic-tac fouls. Especially late in games. The moving pick in the backcourt on Steph Dolson last year at ND. A shameful call.