Chris Berman Thinks You're Not Paying Enough Attention To Him
Friday, June 06, 2008
I once thought that I hated Chris Berman, but I didn't know the guy so I couldn't really justify it. Then those old MNF Halftime vids came out and it drew my a little closer to my theory. I still haven't met the guy, so I can't say I hate him, but after this interview with Sign On San Diego I can say that I absolutely hate his schtick and how he comes across on-air and in interviews.
Berman actually thinks the reason people can't stand him is because they aren't paying enough attention to his "work". Seriously....
“First of all,” he said, “it's unfair because if you're on the air for six hours and heaven forbid I say, 'Ground control to David Toms,' you're writing it like I said it 500 times. Not the case.”I'm trying not to be angry about this, but when someone is this clueless it's just frustrating. The problem is that he IS doing the David Toms thing these days and others 500 times and he just doesn't realize it. I would love to listen to you Berman but I just can't. Everything is such a joke that when he tries to sound serious that comes across as even more funny than the cheesy joke. He's the reason for the movement in where announcers and writers make themselves bigger than the game. If you like him then good for you, but I think you're in the minority.
Said Berman: “It's unfair if people say I'm trying to make it my show. Then you haven't paid attention. Then you haven't done me fair. 'Cause I'm not. But I'm trying to be me and have a good time with it as someone who's an avid follower of the game; someone who's like most of the audience who are watching, a 16-handicap give or take, not a 3 (handicap) or a scratch.
“I would think that's someone loaded for bear before I even come out of the woods, and I can't help that. . . . You should deliver your columns or your sportscasts in the way that you are. And so that's the way I am. So is it going to please everybody? No. I'm not doing the final round, either. You've got to remember that. I'm doing the early rounds.
“It's the only way I know how to do it. There's a lot of ways to announce it; I'm just being me. I'm not trying to overdo it at all. If anyone thinks I come in to overdo it, you're not being fair and you're not listening.”
Oh and he also ended the interview with this....
Still, he added, “You can't fault me. I've been doing it for 28½ years, but maybe this guy heard it for the first time. I view myself as not a rock star, but if you go to see Rod Stewart, at some point you want to hear him sing 'Maggie May.' You don't want to hear him sing 'Maggie May' 50 times. But I owe it to the audience to sing 'Maggie May.'I give up.
C'mon, you can take Berman for two days (Sign On San Diego)
21 Comments:
Chris Berman thinks* you're not paying enough attention to him
Great, so someone whom people think is outdated and out of touch justifies himself with a Rod Stewart. Well played, sir.
For the US Open in California, get ready for "prisoner of his own device" (shot into greenside bunker), "pink champagne on ice" (someone ends Friday with a 3 shot lead), and God forbid someone gets two below par on one hole.
Less than six weeks until Home Run Derby balls get hit to Yonkers, White Plains, Massapequa, and the like - yay!
No, fat ass, I'm not paying ANY attention to you and haven't for 10 years because you're an obnoxious, self-important, loudmouthed blowhard who thinks he's bigger than the event he's supposed to be covering.
I think everyone is well aware of his "work". It's the same work that he has been doing for 28.5 years. It hasn't changed at all. The Eagles sucked then and they still suck today.
Berman is so delusional, but I blame ESPN as much as I would blame a parent for raising a spoiled kid. He's been allowed to conduct himself this way for years, and the network has embraced and encouraged this behavior. He is the epitome of ESPN: More is less.
well said miket.
I think what's happening is berman's lived in this self-deluded reality where he's beloved by all.
Now, however, with the ride of 'net based blogs he sees he's not as loved as he though he was, he sees his time covering golf gone, and he sees the writing on the wall - his shtick at first was good, was original, now, he's just tired and done.
How many times do I need to hear him say 'back, back, back' at the home run derby? Hey, douchebag, we know it's a home run - its an EVENT celebrating them.
maggie may > john "tonight, let it be" lowenstein
-dan
Well, I'm sure the majority of watchers do enjoy what he does. My grandma thinks he is the most hilarious person who ever appeared on television.
She's 82 and loves football more than anybody I know, by the way.
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There are things in life I don't understand: Quantum physics, free will, E=MC2, and Chris Berman.
This guy is just a self-absorbed, attention-starved, delusional schnook. How much longer do we have to put up with this sweaty, bulbous, puke-inducing goofball? Blecchhhhh!
I used to think he was funny and NFL PrimeTime was the best football highlight show. But somewhere a long the way he became a parody of himself and his music references from 20-plus years ago. Has anybody heard him reference any music from the past, oh, 10 years? Me neither. Better question: with the US Open at Torrey Pines, how many "Hotel California" references will he splash on us? I saw at least 10.
Did he just compare himself to Rod Stewart. I'm no Stewart fan by any stretch, but c'mon, you're a football highlight guy. Not quite the same. The nicknames were cool I guess the first time...I guess. Go to sleep Chris, your very, very, very, very, very, very tired.
cock. balls.
Around the same time Jim McKay, a legendary broadcaster that extended far beyond the sports genre, has passed away we have to hear about this blowhard getting his feelings hurt. It is the Berman brand that gets the Curt Gowdys and Jim McKays of the world rolling in their graves.
Well put by the prior poster - to lament the passing of Jim McKay and read what this hack has to say about himself in the same day just makes your head spin. He's exactly 180 degrees from the classics in the profession - Ray Scott, Curt Gowdy, Jim McKay, Chris Schenkel, etc. No one deserves his "fame" less.
Ya know, I actually was going to give him the benefit of the doubt--that I would judge him on his upcoming performance alone. Until I read his Rod Stewart comparison. Simply ridiculous.
AA said it all--I give up.
Berman hasn't changed his antics, nor has anyone else in that stable of joke tellers and screamers that masquerades as sportscasters. The best thing to do is turn down the sound.
He is just not a golf announcer. How many grunt reactions can you do when someone hits a bad shot. He is God-aweful!!
Do you think he needs to butter up his head to squeeze it through doors and hallways around Bristol, or do you think they just lower him into the facility through a large hole in the roof everyday?