Best/Worst NFL Announcers
markj111
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in Sports Talk
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/66008790/
To the surprise of no one, Dierdorf is the worst (but only because Theisman is retired).
To the surprise of no one, Dierdorf is the worst (but only because Theisman is retired).
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<< <i>Howard Cosell was both. >>
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Ralph
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Personally, I really like Mike Mayock. I think he's not great when doing Notre Dame games, thanks to the "BE BIASED!" mandate he gets from NBC, but he's good doing NFL games. His analysis is far more technical and insightful than most.
<< <i>
Personally, I really like Mike Mayock. I think he's not great when doing Notre Dame games, thanks to the "BE BIASED!" mandate he gets from NBC, but he's good doing NFL games. His analysis is far more technical and insightful than most. >>
Are you sure you know who Mayock is? He is always the last guy in the stadium to realize there is a flag on the field. He's the guy that said the team was in prevent defense on a kickoff. He's the guy that always says "he looks to be close to a first down, so that will bring up 3rd and 6". He's the guy that doesn't even know the name of half the players on the field.
Link
"Aaron Gordon at Sports On Earth has a fascinating statistical breakdown of every NFL broadcast team, analyzing the worst announcers in the sport. As part of the study, Gordon watched 2 full games broadcasted by each announcing team and chronicled the number of mistakes made in 6 categories - cliches, factual errors, nonsense, self-references, taking plays off, and being off topic.
Some of the results were quite predictable, while others were quite surprising.
The individual announcer who made the most mistakes was the retiring Dan Dierdorf with 61 infractions in 2 games. That's a broadcasting no-no every 2 minutes of game time from Dierdorf! That seems like a massive amount of mistakes that's hard to do even if you tried, but if you've ever listened to him try to explain a replay decision then it shouldn't come as a massive shock.
Here's the full list of announcers and their number of mistakes over the two games and then some more takeaways below. Remember, it's better to be at the bottom of this list rather than the top.
Play by Play - Best: Joe Buck, Kenny Albert. Worst: Chris Myers, Marv Albert
Analysts - Best: Mike Mayock, Cris Collinsworth. Worst: Dan Dierdorf, Tim Ryan
* Chris Myers and Tim Ryan are not usually among the most critically acclaimed announcers, and now we have statistical evidence to back up that perception. Myers ranks #1 in most mistakes for a play by play man with 33 while Ryan ranks 2nd among analysts with 55 infractions. That makes it a wearying experience to try to get through a game.
* I'm stunned to see Dick Stockton in such good standing here as it's no secret the veteran announcer doesn't have the same zip on his fastball anymore. (Point deducted from myself for unapproved cliche usage.) At the other end of the spectrum, Marv Albert quietly has had a bit of a spotty tenure since joining the NFL on CBS a couple years ago and ranks 2nd in play by play infractions.
* Given the fact that Tony Siragusa has half the airtime as the other analysts on this list, it's a remarkable achievement to rank 4th in analyst mistakes. He made 3 times as many mistakes as either Mike Mayock or Cris Collinsworth in a fraction of the airtime. Basically, he's the Brandon Weeden of NFL analysts.
* On the plus side, it's no surprise to see Mayock and Collinsworth as the analysts that make the least mistakes as they are widely regarded as the two best analysts in the sport. However, I wonder if Mayock's unique idioms such as "burp the baby" could be counted as cliches, nonsense, or both.
* Both Joe Buck and Kenny Albert rank very well in this list. Again, more evidence that Buck is slowly turning around the narrative against him. Two years ago, our social media mentions would be flooded with football fans annoyed or angry with him. Now, there's hardly a peep criticizing Buck for his announcing from the masses. Give him credit for showing more energy in his calls while maintaining a high quality.
* Another interesting revelation is just how many more mistakes analysts made versus their play by play counterparts. Analysts made approximately double the announcing errors as their counterparts in the booth, which makes you wonder if networks should consider expanding the roles of people who aren't ex-jocks.
One final note is that while this great Sports on Earth study analyzes the mistakes, it doesn't provide positive points for analysts who are exceptionally insightful. That would provide another layer of analysis in separating the best and worst NFL announcers. Take someone like Jon Gruden for instance - who has his fair share of nonsensical ramblings, but has one of the best X's and O's minds in NFL broadcasting. Ronde Barber and Steve Tasker may not make many mistakes, but they may not wow you with their analyst skills either. Al Michaels may go off topic more than other announcers, but there's likely nobody on this list you'd rather have call a big game.
And then again, in spite of what numbers may say, individuals and networks will always have certain preferences when it comes to the announcers they choose for the face of their network coverage. It's a subjective industry. While the majority of critics appreciate Cris Collinsworth's work, do a Twitter search for "Chris Collingsworth sucks" on a Sunday night and you'll see plenty of examples of people who think differently. Charting announcing mistakes in a statistical study is a useful tool for grading announcers, but this will likely always be an industry that is largely governed by subjective opinions.
In Mayock's defense, he has to prepare for both Thursday night games and Notre Dame home games. Most announcing teams have all week to prepare for their one game. I'm willing to cut him some slack on that. I think he's pretty good.
I used to like Simms, but he gets strategy wrong so many times now, it's not funny. Nantz does everything he can to not show him up, but you can tell Jim is getting tired of it.
Chris Myers is the worst play-by-play guy, by far. His games are unwatchable.
I agree with the article that Michaels and Collinsworth are the best. You can always count on Michaels to throw in a Vegas reference when the game is near the point spread or over/under late in the 4th. Gets me every time.
Trent Green is fantastic on radio. I wish he were on TV broadcasts.
<< <i>Are you sure you know who Mayock is? He is always the last guy in the stadium to realize there is a flag on the field. He's the guy that said the team was in prevent defense on a kickoff. He's the guy that always says "he looks to be close to a first down, so that will bring up 3rd and 6". He's the guy that doesn't even know the name of half the players on the field. >>
Yes, I'm sure I know who he is.
Personally, my-all time favorite pairing was a college pairing ESPN had for several years with Chris Spielman and Pam Something-or-other. Neither of them was particularly colorful but they were sharp, they were on-task, made few mistakes, and Spielman provided very good insight.
<< <i>Any article that ranks Joe Buck among the best is an article not worth reading. >>
^
This. His smugness is just unbearable. Nothing like his late father, that's for sure.
<< <i>Al Michaels has to be the best, if not my favorite, just because of all the losers he's been contractually paired up with all the years. He must be considered the consumate professional by management. Every bad announcer named in this thread, Michaels has had to carry at some time or other. >>
Funny you say that. One of the complaints from a number of Al's partners is that he is overbearing, obnoxious, and will run right over them in the booth. Just ask Boomer Esiason (who was good when paired with Al).