I'm talking about the announcers. The play by play analysts. The guys behind the desk on ESPN or Fox or whatever...
Which ones do you like? Which ones cause you to turn the volume off on the television and grab a radio?
I'll even go first...
GOOD:
Tom Jackson. You've had to have watched ESPN for the past fifteen years to see how much he's improved.
Sterling Sharpe. All ego aside, he's far better at this than Deion Sanders can ever hope to be.
Joe Theisman. Some people hate him. I didn't much care for him as a player but I liked watching he and Chris Mortensen go at it on ESPN.
Terry Bradshaw. What's not to like about Terry? To dislike Bradshaw is to dislike Americans.
Howie Long. He's going to be around forever.
Phil Simms. I have no idea why. Phil is just easy to listen to.
Dan Fouts. A guy that can do play by play and analysis. MNF should have got rid of Michaels and kept Fouts with Madden.
Len Dawson.
TOLERABLE:
Chris Berman. Maybe it's just that come over. That or I've never heard him do play by play.
John Madden. I have just one thing I dislike about Madden. In every game he identifies one player who is the "best in the game" and "made all the difference today". It's almost formulaic.
Al Michaels. The only thing going for Michaels is the fact that he was better than Dierdorff and Gifford. Now that their gone, I wouldn't mind seeing him go to Sunday.
Jimmy Johnson.
OUCH:
Dan Dierdorff. Glad he's no longer on MNF. What a pompous ass.
Deion Sanders. Lots of flash. Unlike Michael Irvin, he can actually speak. Is it worth hearing? Probably not.
Michael Irvin. He's not as bad a Lawrence Taylor, but he's close.
Dennis Miller. WRONG! I like Miller. His cable show is a hoot. He needs to stay the hell away from football. Maybe baseball could use him.
Chris Collingsworth. Makes me want to throw things at the television.
Jerry Glanville. He must be smarter than he seems...
Marty Schottenheimer. I'm so glad he went back to coaching. He's got a style of speech that's just painful to listen to.