Unfortunately, I don't read the blog enough to know if that "Who are the Bobcats?" line was a joke. If it is, very nice. If not, the NBA team in Charlotte.

Whoops....I read that Bobcats line completely wrong. I skipped over the David Lee part. Fixed.

I'm pretty sure Gus shouted "TAKES IT HOME!!!!" after that 3 pointer.. I was fucking pissed that OSU came back, but Gus made it somewhat tolerable

i like gus johnson but he gets carried away at the wrong times. i generally don't like people screaming because not only is it not natural (do they scream in delight at the cashier when they are offered a two-for-one deal on eggo waffles at the grocery store?), it's unprofessional.

i can somewhat tolerate the analysts wailing. play by play men are first and foremost storytellers. they are describing the action. when some guy is just screaming like some woman giving birth, then i dare say he's not doing his job, he's not telling me what happened, he's not telling me the story.

anyway, the game will determine if it's exciting or not. and if i need a play-by-play guy to get me excited, that tells me the game isn't exciting so why am i watching to begin with?

there are exceptions. like jack buck's call of ozzie smith's (first) home run against the dodgers in the playoffs. it was a monumental moment, turned a playoff series around with one historic swing of the bat and, btw, buck was broadcasting for a local audience, not a national audience.

i can understand a local broadcaster getting carried away. but a national play-by-play guy, no. there should be a modicum of objectivity.

yes, i'm mid-40s. but i LOVE dick vitale. what you see with vitale is what you get when he's walking down the street. he's not a fraud which is why i like him. he's genuine.

(i'm glad i'm not the only one who hates thorne. the guy IS ALWAYS SCREAMING AT ME EVEN DURING PREGAME, WHY!?)

let's put it this way, if johnson, et al, get all lathered up for a second-round upset (not even a monster upset -- that would be, say, a 16-seed knocking off an undefeated team), then how would he have reacted say, when keith smart hit his championship-winning basket against syracuse?

would johnson be so worked up would he have an orgasm? why not?

bah, my comment got erased. that's annoying. anyway, i was going to say that i thought the announcing complemented the game very well. I was only half watching until OSU started coming back, and their excitement matched the game. At the time, I didn't care if Oden's foul was flagrant or not, and I still don't.

I think the votes speak for themselves...35-0 at the moment at least in favor of Gus. I love the energy and excitement Gus brings to the broadcast booth. Maybe it is slightly over the top at times, but during a fantastic finish or just outstanding agme, he really makes the viewer feel like he or she is witnessing something extraordinary and rare. And I think the fact that Johnson has the ability is what makes him so special. I do respect the elders as well, such as Lundquist and even Nantz to an extent.

I do have a huge problem with James Brown calling games instead of Johnson. In fact, I created an online petition asking that next year CBS allow Gus to return to calling Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. Without Gus, these regional semifinals and finals won't be the same.

Look, my favorite of the teams was Lundquist and Raftery, despite Billy's tendency to punctuate with growls.

My vote for Gus has to do with the fact that if I were in his place, I would have probably reacted the same way, and while I was drunk in the sports bar watching this game, it was a great call to have coming in over the speakers.

Besides, if you're going to replace him with James Brown...eesh, he did a mediocre job at best.

Anon: An announcer can be objective while still being excited. They are not mutually exclusive. As a general rule of thumb, I like listening to announcers who sound like they love their jobs and are completely into the game. Thus, Lundquist/Raftery and Johnson are my favorite college bball announcers, while I can appreciate Dickie V. even if he does go over the top often. Johnson's yelling at the moments of high drama reflects what fans who care about the game are thinking. Lundquist is held up as a model of restraint for his call of the Laettner-Kentucky game, but he, too, yelled "YES!".

A contrast from a different sport illustrates exactly why I love Johnson and would much prefer him announcing than someone like Nantz: the 2004 World Series game that Scott Podsednik ended with a home run off Brad Lidge. On Fox, Joe Buck was the detached "professional" (I say bored-sounding) announcer he always is. Soon after, I was driving and listening to the radio and heard a replay of Jon Miller's excited, almost delirious, call of the same play, and wished I'd been listening to the radio at the time.

We agree that the announcer's primary job is to inform, but where I think we differ is that I think part of informing means conveying the sense of the moment and the atmosphere through the performance. Nantz/Joe Buck don't do that at all, and it hurts the experience.

Well said. I'd say the poll results are, to understate the fact, conclusive.

In this world of Tim McCarver and Mike Patrick, is Gus Johnson really the one causing people this much angst? More focus on the real enemies of freedom, I say.

James Brown over Gus Johnson? That's just wrong.

Hey! I like Mike Patrick!

Really? I thought only his wife liked him...wait, are you Mike Patrick's wife?

Everybody should hate Mike Patrick just because of the fact he replaced Ron Franklin. You don't even have to bring his "skills" as an announcer to the table.

I don't like Gus Johnson on football, but few can match his knowledge and enthusiasm in the game of hoops. I really hope this is JB's only year doing the regionals. Any of the other announcers who only do the first week would do a better job, plus Craig Bolerjack who was out of the loop entirely this year.

Gus Johnson can make the most in the bag NFL game for your favorite team feel like it's in jeopardy and he can make the most out of hand game for your favorite team feel like it's in play. Half of the time you hate him and half of the time you love him.

I knew Gus when he was a student at Howard University. In fact, I was Gus's first broadcast partner when we did Howard Football in 1993.

Gus has come a long way both as a play-by-play man and a studio host. He is solid and I think he will continue to do well.

Gus is good. I was listening to the Florida vs Oregon game today. James Brown used the words "left in regulation" every time he let us know how much time was left. I know this tells us that the game is probably in the second half (no one ever says 37 minutes left in regulation) or that it is not in overtime, but when he says it every single time, it gets annoying to listen too. If I'd taken a drink everytime JB said "left in regulation" I'd be passed out.