There's An Announcing Dilemma In San Fran
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
A few months back I posted a hilarious video of Giants Announcers Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow providing the commentary for a male-female interaction on a Prom cruise in McCovey Cove. The clip worked on so many levels and you could tell that the two were just having fun with what they'd been given that day.
Well apparently the two have gradually gotten worse and according to Tim Goodman of San Fran Chronicle they rarely even talk about the game anymore. Goodman has had enough and decided to dedicate a 1,000 word piece on the subject. Here's a snippet....
But the telecasts? Apparently nobody in Giants management sent a memo to their own TV producers to cut the clutter. With the games more interesting (if not always resulting in wins), viewers are instead forced to suffer through a relentless barrage of inane crowd shots. The camera crew loves people eating (what is it with watching people stuff their faces that can be deemed entertaining?) and often goes out of its way to find shots that Krukow is then obligated to talk about.So what's the dilemma you ask? Well the Giants were picked to finish last by just about every publication in America that wasn't picking the O's in their season previews. While the Giants are still eleven games under .500 they're actually only five games out of first in the dreadful NL West. I can understand filling time with other goings on if a team is losing (trust me....I watch my fair share of Nationals games), but you really should give the team a chance at times. Especially when they're playing well above expectations.
Thursday's game had two guys with ties walking - just walking - and that apparently demanded two separate shots. And while it's great to show kids at the ballpark, if only to dispel the notion that baseball is boring to the youth of America, Giants camera operators think it necessary to show every kid with a ticket, often focusing on them long after every member of the kid's extended family has seen Junior on the tube.
Maybe it's time to stop with the random crowd shots and focus on Baseball for a bit guys. You know at least until the Giants tank and are in last place. Oh and here's the Prom video in case you missed it.....
Giants telecasts should just play ball (San Fran Chronicle)
"Salesman Of The Year Right There" (Awful Announcing)
(Thanks to AL for the article)
8 Comments:
HAHA, Bruce, exactly...Good one on Shannon - I quote him, verbatim one time on the air:
Rooney: "It's Military Appreciation Day here in Milwaukee, a terrific sight to see all the men and women in uniform who support our country being honored..."
Shannon: "How bout them astronauts too, can't forget about them!"
Rooney: "Right. Doing lots of work in the fields of astronomy and aeronautics [Long pause] ... The 2-2 to Ludwick!"
I watched the Giants on the MLB package this past Saturday night for the first time this season. I mentioned to a friend that the crowd shots were gratutious, even for an FSN broadcast. Of course, as an Indians fan, crowd shots are about all I have to look forward to during broadcasts these days. And there is very little crowd to be shot.
I live in the Bay Area, so I've been watching 'The Kruk and Kuip Show' for years. They're good, although they're an acquired taste(Kuiper has improved, but still sounds like Lurch from the Addams Family on occasion!) Kruk has evolved from a shameless homer to a polished announcer who can balance goofy schtick with knowledgeable baseball discussion.
Personally,I like Krukow better when he works OTA telecasts with Jon Miller. However,Krukow and Kuiper have been teammates/buddies/broadcast partners forever, so it's not likely they'll break up the act any time soon. They just try a bit too hard sometimes to bring the feelof 'two baseball lifers joking around in the dugout during the game'.
Aside: Krukow's 'elimination' bit, crossing out people with the telestrator, is hilarious! If you've ever seen Blyleven 'circling' random idiots at Twins games, this is the next logical step!
Who really cares?
I actually don't mind this segment. There's not much going on in San Fran baseball because the team lacks any excitement at all.
If you're looking for excessive fan shots, watch the BCS on FOX. Those can get tedious. They're cool from time to time, but every time I run back through the Boise/OU game on my DVR, I get about 20 different fans per minute.
Fan shots are fine every once and a while. Being a Phillies fan, I can tell you that the crowd shots during Phillies games on Comcast Sportsnet are overdone as well.
Yes the fan shots are excessive but when they do talk baseball Kruk and Kuip are the best in the business.
random crowd shots = FOX Sports standard operating practice, otherwise known as the inane "fan cam."
And these guys aren't the only ones who stray. Try listening to Mike Shannon once, and tell me if you can even tell what's going on. Or try to watch Al Hrabosky, Darren Sutton, or the Sominex team of Lanny Frattare and Steve Blass.