Do you care about who announces your football games

[Jkca1]

"The revolution began a couple of seasons ago, when Gridiron Nostradamus Tony Romo got a reported $17 million a year to sit next to Jim Nantz in a CBS booth and predict the Titans are prrrrobbbbbbably going to hand the football off to Derrick Henry.


Now it’s the report—via the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, who’s dominated the beat—that Romo’s Cowboys predecessor, Troy Aikman, is girding to bolt Fox Sports for arch-rival ESPN, where his salary will reside comfortably in Romo-ville.


Holy wazoo! That’s a million bucks per regular season game! A quarter million a quarter! If an NFL game is truly 11 minutes of action—as the Journal famously reported—that’s close to $100,000 per minute of actual football."

 

[bluesmoke]

Can't bring the best back.

 

[Risky Thicket]

I would very much like for college and pro announcers to talk 50% less. The non-stop chatter drives me nuts.

There is too much money in college and pro football. Used to be two teams would meet and it was called a game. Not anymore. Now two teams meet and it’s a media/sporting event. Announcers must be stars to be part of the glamour of the sporting event. Baloney.

Money is rapidly changing the game to an extravaganza. It’s destroying the game.

I’m sure Beth Mowen is a fine person but I don’t think she is right for football.

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

"The revolution began a couple of seasons ago, when Gridiron Nostradamus Tony Romo got a reported $17 million a year to sit next to Jim Nantz in a CBS booth and predict the Titans are prrrrobbbbbbably going to hand the football off to Derrick Henry.


Now it’s the report—via the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, who’s dominated the beat—that Romo’s Cowboys predecessor, Troy Aikman, is girding to bolt Fox Sports for arch-rival ESPN, where his salary will reside comfortably in Romo-ville.


Holy wazoo! That’s a million bucks per regular season game! A quarter million a quarter! If an NFL game is truly 11 minutes of action—as the Journal famously reported—that’s close to $100,000 per minute of actual football."

it's insane how much money they make to call one game a week, maybe sometimes 2.

 

[MamboDervish]

I voted Yes because I prefer both the play-by-play and color commentators be competent at their jobs.

A play-by-play person should always know who's on the field, in every position, and be able to tell me who is doing what as a play unfolds. A "professional sports caster", if you will. I expect a competent one to tell me the reason for a flag before the ref's official announcement about 75+% of the time. When I was a kid watching both football and baseball on TV, I would sometime default to the radio play-by-play because for some reason they seemed more competent at calling the game than their TV counterparts.

The "color commentator" should be able to offer back story, predict tendencies, apply the statistics with context that are fed from the off-air statistician, injury analysis, and usually offer the types of insights that only ex-players or ex-coaches can offer. And I don't mean about the players wives!

I also expect them to know the rules - ALL the rules. And if they aren't telling me something I don't know, and can't see from watching the game myself, then they're not very good. I've been known to turn the sound off on many sporting events, and remember a time when I never listened to hockey play-by-play, preferring to listen to music during the game.

As far as exorbitant salaries, that's a whole other ball game. Networks should know the talent they're paying for, and what their competition would pay for the same person, and none of that has anything to do with the real world. Television contracts come from a different universe than the one I live in.

 

[Slyfox696]

it's insane how much money they make to call one game a week, maybe sometimes 2.

Salaries in major pro sports are insane in every way shape and form, from players to coaches to executives to broadcasters.

With that said, in the relative realm of sports, it's really not that extravagant. First of all, and I'm sure you know this, broadcasters don't just show up on game day. They do a ton of prep, they work other shows, etc. Second of all, these TV networks shell out a fortune for live broadcast rights, so you want to be damn sure that people are going to watch so you can get your money back in advertising. A guy like Romo has personality, he has experience with the game, he can offer decent insights, and he is, for the most part, not offensive. CBS is paying $2 billion dollars a year to carry NFL games...$17 million is just not that much in comparison.

Oh, and to answer the original thread question...yes, I do care. I do not want hacks, I do not want people who are unprepared, I do not want people who spend an inordinate amount of time talking about officials, etc. I want commentators who provide quality commentary and quality insights.

 

[EdwinWillers]

In principle, commentary is ok; however in practice it really detracts from the games anymore because you have a panel of anywhere from 2 - 6 "experts" all wanting to prove their value in being there in the first place, then quite often you'll see/hear them trying to one-up the others. But the worst of it is the non-stop chatter, regardless what's happening (or not happening) on the field. Non-stop talking. No offense to the ladies here, but many of these commentary side shows have become the male version of the View.

I turn their silly chatter off and just - oh, I don't know - watch the game. Second best thing to actually being there, really.

And if I really feel like I need to have some play-by-play commentary, I'll turn on the radio. Infinitely better commentary imho than the celebrities on TV strutting their supposed stuff.

However, just my opinion, I could be wrong. And YMMV.

 

[Rexedgar]

Tony Romo has surprised me. He was an average player and he has excelled at the next level. $ 17 million a year probably tops what he made in his best year with Dallas. He came out of Eastern Illinois, IIRC. Not really an NFL on ramp, are they?

I thought that he was getting the offensive game plan beforehand; with all the money on the table, I wouldn’t put it past the league.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

God no... This past year's playoffs? The games sold themselves.... I don't give a shit about who's announcing the games...

 

[bluesmoke]

I would very much like for college and pro announcers to talk 50% less. The non-stop chatter drives me nuts.

There is too much money in college and pro football. Used to be two teams would meet and it was called a game. Not anymore. Now two teams meet and it’s a media/sporting event. Announcers must be stars to be part of the glamour of the sporting event. Baloney.

Money is rapidly changing the game to an extravaganza. It’s destroying the game.

I’m sure Beth Mowen is a fine person but I don’t think she is right for football.

Football went wrong with Howard Cosell and hasn't gotten better since.

 

[Risky Thicket]

Football went wrong with Howard Cosell and hasn't gotten better since.

Bingo! Howard, Dandy Don, Frank Gifford, Alex Karris.

 

[armycowboy]

Having a good announce team adds to the enjoyment of the game, for me.

 

[bluesmoke]

Bingo! Howard, Dandy Don, Frank Gifford, Alex Karris.

The other 3 were just fine. Knowledgeable of the game and respecting playtime by not yakking off-subject.

 

[dncc]

A target rich environment on this one.

My take is this: Most people don't appreciate the good announcing teams until they encounter a bad one. Seeing a lot of Texan games I usually don't get the best announcers. Often it's an announcer I've never heard of with an ex player I've never heard of. The Texans usually play the early game so I often get to hear good announcers in the afternoon (Buck and Aikman, Nantz and Romo) and I can appreciate announcers that have some chemistry. Romo surprised the heck out of me with how much he adds to the game.

I like Collingsworth and Michaels too but I think both are over-rated. Collingsworth is often repetitive but I'd rather have that than someone who is lesser calibre.
I lost a lot of respect for Michaels lately. I listened to his book on Audible. He actually had someone else read the book except for two chapters. One of the best-known announcers with an unmistakable voice had someone else read the book! In the book he talks about his indignation at working on a movie called Baseketball. He and Bob Costas were in the movie together and were commenting on how juvenile and stupid it was . Costas said something along the lines of "Well, at least we're getting paid $20,000 for an afternoon." Apparently it was more than Al Michaels was making by like $5,000 for one afternoon of work and Michaels got very upset by this --Remember--this is his autobiography--NOT A SECOND HAND ACCOUNT. He was pissed at making $17,000 for one afternoon of work. Couple this with the fact that he takes 4 weeks off during the year--his grueling 17 week "year"...yeah...I'm over it.

The money that the announcers make is ridiculous as is the money the news readers make on the nightly news. George Stephanopolous had his office redone at the ABC news headquarters in New York. The remodel was featured on Architectural Digest.

 

[Integrityrespec]

"The revolution began a couple of seasons ago, when Gridiron Nostradamus Tony Romo got a reported $17 million a year to sit next to Jim Nantz in a CBS booth and predict the Titans are prrrrobbbbbbably going to hand the football off to Derrick Henry.


Now it’s the report—via the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, who’s dominated the beat—that Romo’s Cowboys predecessor, Troy Aikman, is girding to bolt Fox Sports for arch-rival ESPN, where his salary will reside comfortably in Romo-ville.


Holy wazoo! That’s a million bucks per regular season game! A quarter million a quarter! If an NFL game is truly 11 minutes of action—as the Journal famously reported—that’s close to $100,000 per minute of actual football."

Seriously overpaid. Can't say I would turn it down though.

 

[noonereal]

"The revolution began a couple of seasons ago, when Gridiron Nostradamus Tony Romo got a reported $17 million a year to sit next to Jim Nantz in a CBS booth and predict the Titans are prrrrobbbbbbably going to hand the football off to Derrick Henry.


Now it’s the report—via the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, who’s dominated the beat—that Romo’s Cowboys predecessor, Troy Aikman, is girding to bolt Fox Sports for arch-rival ESPN, where his salary will reside comfortably in Romo-ville.


Holy wazoo! That’s a million bucks per regular season game! A quarter million a quarter! If an NFL game is truly 11 minutes of action—as the Journal famously reported—that’s close to $100,000 per minute of actual football."

I dont use the volume on the football games so it makes no difference to me.
Its the folks who don't understand the game and enjoy mindless banter that give a shot about an announcer.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

Joe Buck is following Aikman to ESPN...

 

[Bucky]

Football went wrong with Howard Cosell and hasn't gotten better since.

Howard Cosell was a disgrace.

 

[noonereal]

Howard Cosell was a disgrace.

How do you figure?

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

A target rich environment on this one.

My take is this: Most people don't appreciate the good announcing teams until they encounter a bad one. Seeing a lot of Texan games I usually don't get the best announcers. Often it's an announcer I've never heard of with an ex player I've never heard of. The Texans usually play the early game so I often get to hear good announcers in the afternoon (Buck and Aikman, Nantz and Romo) and I can appreciate announcers that have some chemistry. Romo surprised the heck out of me with how much he adds to the game.

I like Collingsworth and Michaels too but I think both are over-rated. Collingsworth is often repetitive but I'd rather have that than someone who is lesser calibre.
I lost a lot of respect for Michaels lately. I listened to his book on Audible. He actually had someone else read the book except for two chapters. One of the best-known announcers with an unmistakable voice had someone else read the book! In the book he talks about his indignation at working on a movie called Baseketball. He and Bob Costas were in the movie together and were commenting on how juvenile and stupid it was . Costas said something along the lines of "Well, at least we're getting paid $20,000 for an afternoon." Apparently it was more than Al Michaels was making by like $5,000 for one afternoon of work and Michaels got very upset by this --Remember--this is his autobiography--NOT A SECOND HAND ACCOUNT. He was pissed at making $17,000 for one afternoon of work. Couple this with the fact that he takes 4 weeks off during the year--his grueling 17 week "year"...yeah...I'm over it.

The money that the announcers make is ridiculous as is the money the news readers make on the nightly news. George Stephanopolous had his office redone at the ABC news headquarters in New York. The remodel was featured on Architectural Digest.

Collinsworth I can't stand. Michaels is good.

Don't know why Joe Buck gets hate, I don't mind him and like the buck/Aikman

one of my least favorite announcers ever was Joe Morgan for baseball. He was the worst!

I absolutely hate when SNF moved to NBC and you no longer got the Primetime leading into the game. I hate teh NBC pregame broadcast, its so damn boring and unexciting. I miss the NFL primetime days, where they showed so much of the highlights and talked little afterwards. Now they hardly show highlights and just blab on forever. Even the Inside the NFL has become that

 

[RetiredUSN]

I could care less who announces them.

 

[dncc]

Collinsworth I can't stand. Michaels is good.

I like his calling of the game...I have lost a lot of respect for Michaels the person....complaining about making $15K for one afternoon...taking 4 weeks off during a "grueling" 20-game work year....having someone else read his autobiography. Collingsworth is repetitive.

Don't know why Joe Buck gets hate, I don't mind him and like the buck/Aikman

Same here. That broadcast team was better than the sum of their parts in my opinion.

one of my least favorite announcers ever was Joe Morgan for baseball. He was the worst!

Yeah he was bad. Magic Johnson was terrible as analyst--the only thing he ever bombed at maybe. I remember him stating one time something like...."The Bulls are just smoking the Knicks." Like...wow. Such insight! Todd Christensen was terrible too for someone who got so much work doing broadcasts.

I absolutely hate when SNF moved to NBC and you no longer got the Primetime leading into the game. I hate teh NBC pregame broadcast, its so damn boring and unexciting. I miss the NFL primetime days, where they showed so much of the highlights and talked little afterwards. Now they hardly show highlights and just blab on forever. Even the Inside the NFL has become that

Wow...we're in simpatico on this too. The Sunday Night Football telecast--Football Night In America-- has like 5 people talking during the pre-game show? Tirico, Dungy, Brees, Mike Florio, Chris Simms. They interview other people, they seem to show the same highlight s over and over again...its pretty cumbersome. ON top of that you have a 3 person broadcast crew. Its a football game...there are fewer people covering the war in Ukraine.

 

[bluesmoke]

Howard Cosell was a disgrace.

So was/is Trump. But he was entertainment.