What pro athletes have become really successful in becoming part of a TV team covering games?

SanctionII

I like Tom Jackson. He has been doing the TV thing for quite a while and is pretty good. Steve Young is pretty good also.

perkdog

Sterling Sharpe does a good job IMO.

thegemmintman

Bradshaw cracks me up. Simms does a decent job calling a game.

Mercury10c

I like Boomer. And Young is good too. I don't know if we can count Madden, but he's the greatest of all time.
On the other hand, some of the ex-baseballers hired by ESPN leave a little to be desired.
Fernando Vina? Ack!!!

stown

<< <i>Sterling Sharpe does a good job IMO. >>





Howie is pretty good too.

Clementefan

You have to include Frank Gifford. He was on Monday Night Football for a long time.

TheVon

<< <i>I like Boomer. And Young is good too. I don't know if we can count Madden, but he's the greatest of all time.
On the other hand, some of the ex-baseballers hired by ESPN leave a little to be desired.
Fernando Vina? Ack!!! >>



It's almost too easy to pick some of these guys apart. So I'll pile on because I have no problem with that. My all-time least favorite ESPN analyst has to be Orestes Destrade. I can't understand 95% of what he says and the 5% I do understand is nonsense. He makes Paula Abdul look like Winston Churchill.

Bottom9th

Tim McCarver??? While a case can be made for him being successful since he's been around so long, I still can't stand him.

perkdog

<< <i>Tim McCarver??? While a case can be made for him being successful since he's been around so long, I still can't stand him. >>




Ditto that!

thegemmintman

<< <i>

<< <i>Tim McCarver??? While a case can be made for him being successful since he's been around so long, I still can't stand him. >>




Ditto that! >>





I'm convinced that I'm the only person in the world that thinks he's great

Clemaz

Joe Gariogola (spelling?) was great.

Connecticoin

Joe Morgan has to be the worst. Great player, seems like a nice guy, but just god-AWFUL in the booth.

baseballfan

barkley

and i don't like mccarver either

MPeter

The Champ Sean O'Grady!

mrguby

howie long makes lots of money/comercials

Michigan

Howie Long does a decent job on the Fox NFL pregame show, don't know if I have ever heard him on a team announcing a game.

I remember those Radio Shack commercials with some blonde, I think they were selling cameras. Wasen't he also in some tough guy
biker movie?

jdip9

Football - Collinsworth and Boomer (he shouldn't be relagated to radio).

Baseball - Al Leiter should replace McCarver. McCarver has no business covering the World Series. I hate his voice, but Tony Gwynn is pretty good, too. Jerry Remy (Red Sox analyst) beats them all, and should move to the national scene, but he makes too much money from side ventures in Boston to do that.

Baskeball - Kenny Smith

yankeeno7

I'll take anyone as long as I dont have to listen to Joe Morgan, Michael Kay, John Madden, and Joe Buck. Yes, I'll even listen to Tim McCarver.

GOODLIEU

As God-Awful as my Knicks have been I still have my personal sports idol Walt Frazier to 'Pontificate" on the Players and the Game and manage to be the only Knick in the building to score a winning shot.

promodeltodd

No one brought up Bob Uecker?

estang

Ex-Players that called or analyzed games that I like (in no particular order):

Football:

1. Frank Gifford
2. Don Meredith
3. Fran Tarkenton
4. Phil Sims
5. Darryl Johnston
6. Troy Aikman
7. Ron Jaworski
8. Charles Davis (guy was great on Golf Channel)

didn't like: Merlin Olsen, Alex Karas, Dan Fouts (bland), Bob Griese (bland)

Baseball:

1. Bob Uecker
2. Jim Palmer
3. Bert Blyleven (Twins)
4. Tony Gwynn
5. Don Drysdale
6. Jim Kaat

didn't like: Harold Reynolds, Tim McCarver, Steve Stone (bland), Kevin Kennedy

Golf:

1. Johnny Miller
2. Ken Venturi
3. Nick Faldo

didn't like: Lanny Wadkins (boring)

Basketball:

1. Tom Heinson
2. Kenny Smith
3. Bill Walton
4. Rick Barry

didn't like: John Thompson, Trent Tucker

Favorite play-by-play guy: Dick Stockton

Ichiro51fan

<< <i>Joe Morgan has to be the worst. Great player, seems like a nice guy, but just god-AWFUL in the booth. >>



Oh man! I couldn't agree with you more! He is by far the worst on my list. If he's calling a game, I will turn down the tv and pull in the radio broadcast from MLB.com instead. If my PC isn't around, I will watch without any sound rather than hearing Morgan's constant comparisons of current players to how great he "thinks" he was. And his takes on most situations are just simply outright wrong, yet he seems to think that they are inarguably correct. The guy just doesn't have a clue, but he comes across as so damn arrogant, I can't feel sorry for him. Chris Bermann is another one that I will not listen to under any circumstances, although he's certainly not an ex-athlete, lol!

I like Steve Young, Boomer, & Tom Jackson... and as much as I hate to admit it, Montana never did come across very well in the booth... although, he was pretty good in that recent commercial where he's in the Joe's Bar...