Football, particulary the NFL, is a perfect, made-for-television product. Unlike Basketball, Hockey, or Baseball, Football is set up perfectly for television. Ask any NFL fan this question: Would you rather go to a NFL game or watch it on TV. I bet the overwhelming majority of fans would rather stay home and watch on their 55-inch LCD High Definition flat screen. The NFL and television is a perfect marriage. Now that we have established that fact, the NFL always does well with their ratings. It is the only league that still draws exceptional numbers for their product. Watching NFL games on television is a ritual. Men all over the country have a certain itinerary for Sunday viewing habits. NFL fans can watch any game at any time. Just give them some football to watch, and they are all over it. With the advent of Directv and the NFL Sunday Ticket, fans can watch every game at home or at a bar. It is the ultimate NFL viewing experience. As I pointed out in the previous post, you would think that the networks would have the best equipment, graphics, techonology, producers, directors, and announcers for all of the NFL games. The networks spend billions of dollars on the NFL, you would think that every fact of the telecast would be top notch. Right? Not exactly and there lies the problem. Trust me when I say this, but NFL fans really do care about the announcers. If the announcers suck, the game loses something. It is not the end of the world, but it kind of needles the viewer and agitates as the gamce progresses. With all that said, I came up with a rankings for all the announcing teams that do NFL games every Sunday. I am going to omit the Primetime Crews (ESPN, NFLN, and NBC) because all three have new teams this year. Without further ado we start the countdown from worst to best:
14) Ron Pitts and Tony Boselli (FOX): FOX doesn't have a lot of depth on its' bench, and it is highlighted by Pitts and Boselli. Pitts just doesn't have a good play-by-play voice, and he is very boring. Simply, he brings nothing to the table. Boselli isn't awful, but he is stuck with Pitts, and it brings the whole telecast down. It doesn't help when they are always stuck doing Niner-Ram games or Lions-Buc matchups.
13) Chris Rose and John Lynch (FOX): Chris Rose seems to get teamed with various recently retired NFL player. It is like the tryout spot. Rose just isn't that funny, and he is better at being the host of a studio show, rather then doing play-by-play. Lynch wasn't awful, but he is new at this, so there is plenty of room for improvement. This pair just doesn't stand out and brings nothing to the table. A very "vanilla" tandem.
12)Thom Brennaman and JC Pearson (FOX): I know it seems like I am killing FOX, but CBS jus has better game announcers. I like Thom Brennaman, but who the fuck is JC Pearson. He has been doing games for FOX for a few years, and I still can't figure out if he even played in the NFL! Brennaman is a better baseball announcer, but he does a good job with a football broadcast. I think Brennaman could be a top tier NFL announcer if he had someone good to work with. Pearson's lack of notoriety kills his credibility, and he is a below average analyst. Not a good pairing at all.
11) Dick Enberg/Randy Cross (CBS): Finally a CBS crew. No announcing team has been more aggravating then Enberg and Cross. Enberg is just too old. He can't see the players, he can't hear the refs make calls, he doesn't see the time on the clock. I could go on and on. Enberg was as great NFL announcer, but those days are long gone. He should be doing in studio features on players, but get him out of the booth. Cross is terrible. His voice is annoying, and he seems to be wrong a lot. His opinions don't make sense and all he does is state the obvious. A bad group that always seems to get some marquee matchups late in the year.
10) Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston, T0ny Siragusa (FOX): Back to FOX we go for our next group. This is the first "Three Man" team to crack the list. Kenny Albert is a very good hockey announcer, but he isn't a good listen while watching an NFL game. He just doesn't have it for an announcer who is doing the second best game for FOX. Moose is very good, but he is stuck playing second fiddle to that idiot Tony Siragusa. They should stick Siragusa into the Studio Show. He act is old, and does nothing for the telecast. Put Moose back with Dick Stockton.
9) Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon (CBS): I'm disappointed in Harlan's descent. He was a great play-by-play guy for the Kansas City Chiefs for many years. He is a top NBA announcer, but he has lost it doing NFL games the last few years. I don't know how to explain it, but he just isn't the same. THe one thing that annoys me is how he tries to act like a football strategist and explain every tiem the defense is in "Nickel" or "Dime" coverages. Look, it's 3rd and 15, I'm sure the defense has extra defensive backs on the field. Just stick to the play-by-play please! Gannon is pretty good, but he always seems to be biased and can't hide it when he is doing Raider games. Gannon would benefit from being in a "Three Man" booth because he really only gives good analysis of Quarterbacks and QB play. Overall, Harlan has slipped, but Gannon is ascending.
8)Bill Macatee/Steve Beuerlein (CBS): I actually like this combo a lot, but I can't go too high with them because they always get the shitty game on CBS. They do a lot Raider, Bengal, Browns, and Bills games. I feel bad for them because Macatee has a good voice and does a solid job with the play-by-play. Beuerlein has a good voice too, and he provides solid and insightful analysis. That's
all you need for a good broadcast. I just wish they got a few games that were actually meaningful and attractive.
TO BE CONTINUED WITH THE TOP 7!
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