TNT's Announcing Teams Have Been Very Underwhelming in These Playoffs- Part 2 (The Reggie Miller Edition)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
From the moment that Reggie joined TNT I was skeptical that it could work. He was just another athlete put in an analyst position without anyone checking to see if he could put a sentence together. Well, he can't. Join my guest and I after the jump as we explain why. But before you do so.....enjoy this video of Miller's first day on TNT, I'll see you on the otherside.
That was enjoyable right? That living room was just gorgeous....and that Washington pick turned out to be Mugsey Bogues. Good stuff.
Please join me in welcoming my guest, none other than Bethlehem Shoals from Fanhouse and a site much more clever and intriguing than mine.....Free Darko. Here's how it went down. I get an IM from Bethlehem Shoals in the middle of the Jazz/Warriors game stating that he didn't exactly "like" Reggie Miller. I reply that I concur and that I can't believe he's top 50 in anything. Shoals than makes the perfect analogy for Reggie....
"Miller sounds like a kid playing dress-up"-BSIn a million years I couldn't have come up with a better comparison (I'm jealous in fact). It was perfect...he just sounds as awkward as his jumper looks. There is no real analysis, and Dick Stockton has no idea how to respond or identify with him. And that's when it hit me.....
Reggie Miller is the Joe Theismann of the NBA.
Not even a minute after telling this to Shoals, and getting a chuckle....Reggie proved my point. About the middle of the 4th quarter a Jazz player (Boozer I think) lost control of the ball and it hit off of a GState player's leg (Barnes' I think), and rolled out of bounds. Well, two refs had a mini-conference and gave the ball to Golden State and the Jazz players went nuts. A third ref came running in and the three walked away from the baseline to have a conference. That's when Reggie Theismann'd the whole situation......
"If I were Golden State I'd be upset. Even if it's the right call.....I don't agree with it"- RM
Umm what? I asked Shoals if he heard it and he replied yes. "What does that even mean?", he asked. I didn't have an answer....not even two seconds later.....
"Well I guess it's good that they had the conference and figured out the call."- RM
Huh?!?!?! That immediately gave me an epiphany, so I searched for old live-blogs where Theismann did the exact same thing. Here's just one example.....Week 8: Giants/Cowboys.
"That's definitely a fumble arm never went forward"- JT(...one minute later)
"His arm was going forward"- JT
It all makes so much sense.....and then Shoals hit me with the Piece de Resistance.....
"He keeps saying stuff like "If you've never watched the warriors before" and then tells us that baron needs to bring the ball up every possession and the warriors aren't going to win without points in the paint."- BS
Basically just saying obvious things over and over again because he has no other way to give factual evidence or analysis of the game. The best part is the statement is a contradiction within itself......Shoals explains, "The Warriors won the last series with a variety of guys bringing the ball up and jacking up three's late in fourth. If he'd seen the Warriors before, he would know that they really could care less about that particular obvious advice."
Guess who that reminded me of? You guessed it! From the same Week 8 live-blog.....
"If you're tall your feet get out from the center of your body"- JT
"Here's a guy that plays well and will play well tonight."- JT
"You don't have many plays in your playbook that will get you 15 yards."- JT
"For the empty palm rule you have to have an empty palm"- JT
It all makes so much sense now.....That's it! Miller is Theismann! Theismann is Miller!
Thanks for helping me come to the realization Shoals, and check out his views on the game last night.
Oh and...F+ for Dick and Reggie these Playoffs. I don't know how you make two 220+ point games boring, but you succeeded.
11 Comments:
I know i have said this before but the greatest (in terms of just being so bad its good) announcing ever was the first preseason game this year in mnf.
here is what happened
bledsoe threw a pass to glenn who made a great catch to keep his feet in for a touchdown, it was the second td pass they had connected for.
the announcing transcript (estimated)
touchdown thrown
nothing nothing for ten seconds
tk " uhm joe you can say something."
jt. " well that was goodly."
tk. "uhm what."
jt > "well touch down throw pass ball catch bledsoe but not really glenn catch 2 touchdown nice."
tk. "well on that note commercial."
Get off Reggie's back...this is his 1st seasaon. Reggie is very enjoyable in the studio, the commraderie with Kenny and Charles is fun to watch. I admit, I am not as impressed with his color commentary, but he is knowledgable and with time he will become comfortable and easier to listen to.
I think Reggie has the potential to be good...he is just paired with someone he has nothing in common with. Imagine if you had to have a conversation with your buddy's grandpa. What the hell do you even talk about? There is just no way to relate.
Reggie was a top-tier trash talker in his day; he obviously has something to say. Pair him with someone who may or may not croak before the next time out, and I think he'll improve.
And as for that out of bounds call, I think his point was that there was no way for any other ref to see what happened except for the guy who made the initial call, so any change in the decision was worthless. Could be wrong, but that's what I took it to mean.
And hey: at least its not Magic.
I think Inside the NBA is the best sports thing on TV....Reggie Miller ain't too bad as an analyst either.
Forget the suckatude on the mic, what the hell is that on his stomach?
Isn't Reggie's first season; he did games with Stockton (and sometimes joined Albert and Kerr) last year.
How do you pronounce Biedrins? Most of the TNT people say Biedrivich? And Miller seems to use both.
Miller's comment about the ball going out of bounds off a Warrior and the refs conferencing, etc. was confusing but not Theismann like.
What Reggie was trying to say is "the other official didn't have a good view of the call, so overturning a huge play like that at a crucial stage in this game is total bulls***". It just didn't come out that way.
And what is this mess "Dick Stockton can't identify with Reggie"??? No s***. There's just a huge gap between the two in so many different ways. And I think it's more of a case of Reggie can't identify with Dick. Since anyone who could is likely hanging out at Shady Acres or playing golf in Del Boca Vista. Granted he's only like 65, but I think Reggie would be fine if you gave him someone closer to his age. It really boils down to what Simmons talked about, in that announcers need to have a friendship like atmosphere in the both for it not to sound horrible. Dick and Reggie don't have that. And like someone said above, Reggie is new at this; he'll be fine.
re: Biedrins - the "s" is pronounced "sh" which makes it a little tricky.
you're a fucking douchebag
Reggie's voice is grating. I'm not sure if its the lisp or what, but its irritating.