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.

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.

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.

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)

The last thing I want to do is delve back into the craziness that went down last week in regards to Joe Buck's comments about Baseball and Sports, but I feel it's necessary to post his side of the story. I'm not saying I believe him or feel any different about him but it's only fair. Here is response via the New York Times....

On Thursday, Buck said in an interview from his home in St. Louis that he was joking about his TV habits — even if neither the host nor the guest sounded amused. He was too flippant, he said. And so, a little verbal damage control.

“To me, baseball is, in some ways, other than my family and wife, my life, and it always will be,” he said.

“Let’s say I didn’t enjoy sports,” he said. “I’d have to do it for my own job’s sake. There’s only so much you can read, so watching is the best way to catch up. I watch ‘Extra Innings’ when my kids go to sleep. My viewing habits are sports first.”

Six years ago, as Joe Buck was about to become Fox’s lead football voice, he said: “I feel like a baseball guy doing football, but I’m enjoying the football more. The baseball ‘Game of the Week’ isn’t what it was. I put a lot of work into those games, but you don’t get the same payoff as you get from a great football game.”

On Thursday, he said: “I caught grief from guys at Fox because obviously, I didn’t express myself well. The challenge then was getting better at calling football.”

He said he still enjoyed baseball more for the time it gives him to express himself.

“I live for baseball,” he said. “That’s how I grew up.”

This really seems like a case of foot in mouth disease but in the end, Buck could have said at any point during his interview on ESPN Radio that, "I love Baseball, but....," and none of this would be an issue. Just like Buck, I'm a realist and my thoughts on him and his attitude haven't changed, but at least he recognized that he was out of line by saying what he did.

Buck Makes Waves by Channel Surfing (NY Times)

I'm borderline furious this morning and not just because I have to mention Colin Cowherd. Joe Buck was on ESPN Radio this morning, and you can't make this stuff up, said he doesn't enjoy Baseball anymore and chooses to watch the Bachlorette over nightly Sports telecasts during the week.

The talk began with Cowherd complaining about Sports during the week and how the average Sports fan doesn't pay attention. He then brought Joe Buck on for the following conversation....

I'm just at a loss for words. FOX's national voice for Baseball openly admitted to not enjoying the game he covers, cramming for weekend matchups, thinking that the games are too long and that the game just isn't the same. Unbelievable. You're getting paid millions of dollars for watching a game three hours. Cry me a river! What's even worse than that was the fact that he was on for another 4 or 5 minutes talking about a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Are you kidding me?!

Without going off my rocker I just want to point out that this is the reason why everyone is upset with a lot of broadcasters in Sports. You have the coolest damn job in the World in Sports Fans eyes, and while you're supposed to be serving as the voice of the fans, you act like you're above the game. This is the main reason why Joe Buck and his kind are probably the worst thing for Sports. Buck wants to be a Hollywood star and doesn't have time for the Sport that brought him to the dance. Well his father brought him to the dance in the family station wagon, but Baseball is ultimately who he's partying with. You get my point.

I completely understand the average American not watching Baseball during the week. You have kids, your job is demanding and you're just tired as hell. I get it and that's what the internet is for. But for a daily Sports talk show host and the voice of the World Series to bash Sports this way is just wrong and shows how much the game suffers when you continue to put them on air. It's your g'damn job to know what you're talking about. It's people like this that give the whole profession a bad name and make those who do their homework and bust their ass look bad by association.

There's always a disparity in the way I cover announcers on the site. One of the main things I say during radio and online interviews is that there's a HUGE difference between an announcer who makes a ton mistakes and one who makes mistakes while putting himself above the game. I'll take John Madden's insane ramblings any day because you know in the end he loves the Sport of Football and he's just crazed at the moment and can't put his thoughts together.

Joe Buck is the worst of the worst in my book and if he doesn't want to call Baseball anymore there are a million of people that would jump at the chance. Hurry up and give him a talk show FOX so I can completely tune him out.

Ron Jaworski sat down with the now must listen On The DL and the MNF Analyst talked about everything from QBing in Philly to athletes who automatically get spots in a booth upon retirement. The whole thing is worth a listen but here are a few quotes....

On Kornheiser: "I love Tony Kornheiser and I love his role. Just how I love Mike Tirico and what he has to do."

On the nixing of sideline reporters: "I think the focus is going to be on the game.....I tune in for the game and I think the game needs to be the centerpiece of the telecast. And Suzy and Michele are absolutely fantastic. I couldn't think of two better sideline reporters, two better people. They're absolutely incredibly talented ladies, but the focus now is going to be more on the game.

On athletes on TV: "There are a lot of great names that made the transition to television and failed. You know Joe Montana comes up rather quickly......I'm doing Monday Night Football now but it took me 17 years to get to the position. In the interim I've worked every position in television."

On Michael Strahan: "I think the networks do care about fan perception. I think Michael Strahan is guy that's done studio shows in his bye week, we've had him at ESPN....I think the personality will come across well on television. The only thing I question is the depth."

On his glasses: "You know, it's amazing, after 17 years in broadcasting I get more blogs and emails about my glasses then about anything I’ve ever done on television. I look at it this way – at least people are watching. I change them up every year, so I’ll have a new look this year."

Great interview and he really didn't even hold any punches outside of not commenting on Emmitt Smith. He's the perfect example of how hard work can get you prepared for the booth and is basically the anti-Smith. It's one of the main reasons that people love him as an analyst on MNF.

Ron Jaworski talks with the DL (On The DL)
Ron Jaworski: Yes, I Know I Look Like An Old Lesbian (Deadspin)

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.”

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.”

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.

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)

One of the phrases in the booth that announcers need to learn in the booth is a very simple one that doesn't have anything to do with the game itself. According to Phil Mushnick of the NY Post it's "I'm Sorry", and I couldn't agree more. Mushnick shares an example with the biggest culprit when it comes to breaking this rule....

Home plate ump Tim Welke made an emphatic "safe" sign to indicate that Ethier was not yet out, that the ball was alive. Schneider picked it up and tagged Ethier, who'd started toward first. Welke signaled "out." Baseball 101. End of story.

Except on FOX, where Joe Buck, a career baseball play-by-player who has demonstrated shocking weakness on baseball rules, made a fantasy-filled mess of it.

With a knowing chuckle, Buck stated that Welke had at first got it wrong, then changed his call to make it right. Welke, Buck claimed, "put his hands out to signal foul tip." (No he didn't, that's signaled with a hand-on-hand brushing motion.) But by starting to run to first, Buck continued, Ethier let Welke know that he'd actually swung and missed. That, Buck affirmatively concluded, was why Welke called Ethier out.

Huh?

Tim McCarver, without actually telling Buck that he might have been the only one watching who didn't understand what had just happened, then straightened it out for all of us - a clarification politely designed to get only Buck straightened out. Ethier, McCarver explained, swung and missed but was not out until he was tagged by Schneider.

Buck didn't say another word about it. It was as if he'd never said anything to the contrary in the first place, and that either way, we wouldn't know any better.

I don't know if production people are afraid to tell some of the egos in the booth that they're wrong or announcers just don't want to admit it, but trust me it goes a long way. Part of the reason people can't stand Buck is because of his "I'm better than you attitude". At one point in his career he was great at identifying with the fans, but he lost it somewhere along the way. If you mess up a name or a rule, don't try to blame it on someone else....just say you screwed up. Unless it's something like the batter being out after bunting foul with two strikes, I and everyone else aren't even going to pay attention.

Also, when someone like Tim McCarver has to explain a rule to you it might be time to re-evaluate your knowledge of the game. Just sayin'.

In The Wrong (NY Post)

One of the biggest traffic days AA has ever had was the day I posted the audio of Suzyn Waldman crying on-air after the Yankees lost in the Playoffs last year (the audio is still there if you missed it). Well Waldman you may remember was the same person who went all JR on us with a WWE style announcement that Roger Clemens was coming back to the Yankees last year, and today she's still singing his praises after all that's happened.....

Twelve months later, is Waldman shocked by what has unfolded in the life of Roger Clemens?

"Nothing shocks me anymore," she said on a rare day off yesterday. "The only thing that has surprised me and disappointed me is the glee with which people are going after Roger.

"I think the more people accomplish, the bigger people are, the more excited people are to bring them down, and there's a real feeding frenzy on this man."

Waldman said she does not know whether Clemens took steroids or committed the personal indiscretions of which he has been accused.

"I can only judge people on what I observe and how they treat me," she said, "and since the mid-'80s, I've known him and all of his family and watched the kids being born and knew his mother and know his sisters ... I never saw this stuff. I don't know if it's true. Does it change what I think of Roger Clemens? I don't think so."

By all accounts Roger Clemens is a completely awful human being, but I can understand Suzyn's devotion to someone who's been in her life for 20 years. Even with evidence stacked up (most of Roger's is circumstantial) some people will just never turn on someone in their lives and you can't really blame them. Ms. Waldman even decided to compare Roger's situation to her own....

"The only thing that surprises me about anything that happens is the glee with which people are dealing with this venom," she said. "It surprised me last year when it happened to me."

Riiiiiight crying on-air is exactly the same as cheating on your wife and cheating the Sport of Baseball. She almost had me there, but I knew something asinine was coming. Good try Suzyn.

Waldman: Nothing shocks me anymore (Newsday)

This starts out as a very innocent exchange between Denver Nuggets announcers Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings. See Marlowe has the hiccups and can't do anything to get rid of them. Hastings awkwardly asks if he can scare him and then somehow thinks squeezing him will do the trick. As a last gasp they turn to the fans behind them for ideas.....

I don't know how Scott Hastings could have made that any awkward. "Squeeze the air out of you"??? That just sounds evil.

(Video via Odenized)

Figured I'd combine these two since I've still got the open thread going on. First, how could ESPN post this headline and think they would be able to slip it by me and tipster WM (click for larger)?



I guess they aren't shy about their Duke bias anymore are they? Also, can someone please tell me what the hell Bob Wenzel is talking about here???

I don't know how you can be looking at the clock and have your partner tell you three seconds and immediately try to recall rules for when tenths of a second are left in the game. Seriously, people who don't know the rules should not get to call games. It's that simple.

Sit down Wenzel....Gary Danielson saved you a spot on the bench. Thanks again to WM for the screencap.

Yet another great clip from Odenized today as Robert Horry fills in for Sean Elliott before the Celtics-Spurs game last night....

I'm not sure there's a current analyst who says "peace" when he signs off, but I guess there's always room for one. Oh and to the play by play guy who growled....don't do that again.

Horry tests his announcing skills (Odenized)

One of the biggest pet peeves I have is when local announcers just go above and beyond the acceptable level of Homerism. It's not as bad in the NBA as other leagues, but David Stern seems to think so....

"Some night you should watch the same game on the two telecasts."- David Stern

That's hilarious. I love how he just jumps all over the guy right away.

David Stern broadcasts the Blazers (Odenized)

The last time we brought up this issue it was when John Saunders and Bill Walton were covering the FIBA Basketball Championships from Bristol. While I didn't agree with the practice it sort of made sense because the Championships were ALL THE WAY in Las Vegas.

Well CSTV decided to cover the sold out Cornell-Boston U. hockey game at Madison Square Garden in similar fashion. The only problem, their studio is less than a mile down the road....

In particular, the game Saturday was televised, but was done so using the in-house MSG video feed. The regular broadcasters, Matt McConnell and Dave Starman, were not at the event, but rather called the game off video monitors from CSTV's studios about a half-mile away from the Garden.

Clearly, budgetary concerns are at play. Advertising revenue has not been there for CSTV. And when CBS bought the network almost two years ago, it was unwilling to continue absorbing those losses. As a result, hockey has gone from the network's signature sport, to a somewhat lesser role.

This is obviously not a new practice, but what struck me is the amount of money the network saved. CSTV pocketed tens of thousands of dollars by not making the trek down to the Garden. This obviously stinks for Hockey fans and the teams involved, but in the end it makes sense for a struggling Network under the CBS umbrella.

CSTV Slashing Hockey Coverage (College Hockey News)
CSTV covers big hockey game without attending it (Watchdog)

Had this video in my inbox this morning and I almost didn't watch it. I'm glad I made it though the whole thing though because it's homerism at its finest. This is the Oregon feed of the Ducks' loss to Arizona last week and for a good 4 minutes Oregon portrays the Arizona Fans as heathens and classless for being on the field.

It takes awhile to pick up and the audio to kick in, but take a listen/view....

I can't really judge because I wasn't there, but it really seemed like the Wildcat fans were just happy to have the game locked up, and an upset on the books. I seriously doubt if they were taunting Dixon and if that's the case the OSN commentators just like sore losers and homers.

Also, hasn't the student body at Oregon rushed the field like 14 times this year. I know they did against USC and ASU. This is DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL!!! Someone is going to be taunted, but to trash a whole fan base is just nonsense.

Update: Cameron who originally sent us this video had a letter published in the Oregon paper. Kudos to him.

OSN commentator Giansante showed unprofessionalism in Arizona game (Daily Emerald)

(Thanks to Cameron for sending the vid)

I really didn't think Bryant Gumbel was THAT bad last year, well actually yes...yes I did, but I'm hear to tell him and you that I'm giving him a 2nd chance. Just like Kornheiser and Reggie Miller, I'm giving him a 2nd look and hopefully he's learned from his first year on the mic.

First step, admit that you have a problem. Via Watch Dog....

"Quite frankly, if you'd have asked me in January was I going to do it again, I didn't know the answer to that,'' he told WatchDog at an NFL Network luncheon in Manhattan that also was attended by analyst Cris Collinsworth and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

"I really didn't know the answer to that, because I was disappointed. On the other hand, I did feel that Game 8 was a far cry from Game 1 and I didn't want to walk away from something saying, 'Hey, you know what, I really didn't do it very well.'

"I learned a lot from the first year. I think and fully believe this year will be a lot better."

"Quite Frankly Bryant Gumbel....you need more practice! Practice?!?! We talkin' bout practice."

I think it's good to admit mistakes, and when you do admit to them it makes people think you are trying and that you actually care about the Sport you're covering. It's really that easy to get out of my doghouse folks, but the leash is short Mr. Gumbel. I'll see you on Thanksgiving!

(I think I deserve an award for that online portrayal of Stephen A. Iverson. Don't you?)

Bryant Gumbel disappointed with rookie year on NFL Net (Newsday: Watch Dog)

I can't believe the fervor this story has created, but it's gotten all the way to the person herself. Suzyn Waldman addressed her on-air crying in an interview with Newsday's Neil Best, and I have to tell you......I respect her even less. You would think that after someone goes back and listens to themselves....after a breakdown like that....they would make an apology, say they went a bit over-the-top and we'd all move on. But of course not.....not within the Sports Media. Before I tear her argument apart get into the quotes I just want to make just one thing clear......

To me this is not a woman/man issue (and was never portrayed that way on this site) on the surface, or a local/national broadcaster issue. This is about being professional at what you do, and remembering that this is just a game. Just wanted that to be known.......onto her reaction....

"This one's getting me angry, because I don't play this card a lot, but this is as sexist as it gets," the Yankees' radio analyst said Wednesday. "What's the big damn deal? That I cried for four seconds of a 10-minute postgame?

"The idea that I can't choke up because a man I went through cancer with 11 years ago is going to lose his job and I was describing his coaches crying? It's absolutely ludicrous."

Here's the thing Suzyn, and everyone....the criticism from this site has NOTHING to do with you/her being a woman! Nothing at all. If John Madden cried on-air after Brett Farve retired, I would have (and everyone other right-minded individual would) hammer him too. As a newscaster/broadcaster/journalist covering Sports you don't cry unless someone has died or there's a National Tradgedy. You just don't! Why do I have to explain to anyone that what you/she did was unprofessional? It's a game.....A GAME! Why can't people (especially Sports Talking Heads) EVER admit when they do/say something wrong?

As far as everyone else......Women should be just downright pissed at you/her. You/everyone knows that people already discredit and demean women in Sports. Think Lisa Olson in the Patriots locker room or more recently Suzy Kolber and Joe Namath. When women are already relegated to the sideline, and not given opportunities like you to be in a booth, incidents like this (and everything Pam Ward says) make it even harder for the Pam Olivers, Suzy Kolbers, and Erin Andrews of the world. I have no idea whether they want the opportunity to be in the booth or not, but they sure the hell deserve it. I don't think that being a woman has any bearing on whether you should be a lead play by play person, but you know the rest of the world does.

"I'm not Walter Cronkite," she said. "Who are these arbiters of journalism who are. ripping me on the radio?"

"I take it seriously that I am a conduit between that locker room and fans," she said. "Every person was so busy ripping me for crying, they didn't hear what I was saying. ... If I got choked up doing it, so what?"

See it's quotes like this that make me lose all respect for someone. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! We couldn't understand what was going on because we couldn't get over the fact that a grown person interrupted a broadcast by crying on-air. Suz, we're people and fans who understand that what you did was ridiculous and unprofessional (well most of us). For some reason broadcasting is all about shock and awe now, and your over-the-top antics have caught up with you. Homerism is one thing, but this is/was just a joke. Local broadcasts have turned into just person after person trying to get ESPN to notice them. Well guess what? Combine this with your WWF Roger Clemens rant......they've noticed you.....and Sports Center mocked you. Congratulations.

Sorry but that's the bottom line.

(Yes, pun intended)

Waldman defends her on-air tears (Newsday)
Suzyn Waldman Cries On-Air Following Yankees Defeat (Awful Announcing)

UPDATE: For another hard hitting report watch this YouTube Clip from the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentleman.....

Leave Joe Torre Alone!

I understand that Fans get upset when "their" team loses, and sometime cry. But a broadcaster live on-air? I think that's unprecedented. Well that's exactly what Yankees radio announcer Suzyn Waldman did during the postgame show on WFAN last night. Here's the audio.

WCBS 880 Audio

“No I was okay actually until I went into the clubhouse and the coaches are sitting in Torre’s office and they are watching this. And the tears you hear in my voice are coming down the faces of the coaches in that coach's room.”- Suzyn Waldman
"Well Suzyn, in life all good things come to an end.”- John Sterling

God schadenfreude is so rich sometime(s). But in all seriousness there is NEVER an instance when a broadcaster should cry live on air. I understand her allegiance to the team and the emotions tied to working for them, but even John Sterling sounded shocked that she was tearing up.

You can also relive Suzyn's greatest moment ever when Roger Clemens came back earlier in the year if you'd like. I'm trying my hardest not to pile on here....trust me.

(P.S.- Thanks to the anonymous tipster for that clip.)

UPDATE: There was a good opinion in the comments that I wanted to share.....

I don't agree 100%. There are acceptable times for a broadcaster to cry on air, but never over wins or losses.

It would have been acceptable, to me at least, if a broadcaster had cried over Mike Coolbaugh that night or something along those lines. Not that you want to or that you'd be trying to. When the Memphis Grizzlies' pbp guy passed away on a road trip 2-3 years ago, his replacement couldn't keep it together in the postgame show when he talked about what had happened...and that was extremely moving, especially because the game was that night.- Anon

Point taken, and by me saying never that was in reference to wins and losses. Death and real life issues like that are the exception.

Update: Just wanted to mention in this space that I've deleted some of the hateful comments in the comments section, and I apologize if anyone was offended. You have to understand I'm only one person running this site (and have a separate full time job)...I can't immediately delete things as they come through.

Let's keep the name calling to minimum please. Thanks for your understanding.

BP- Awful Announcing

Announcing rule #1- If you don't know the rules of the sport you are covering you probably shouldn't be covering it.

I know some sports have iffy rules, but doesn't everyone in the world know that once your knee is down in College Football the play is over? Well not Michael Reghi. Here he is discussing a challenged touchdown with Doug Chapman.....

How many times does Chapman try to tell and he STILL tries to say the guy was down by contact. I would want to strangle him by then if I was Doug. Reghi is the ex-O's play by play guy, and I think it might be time to head back to baseball.

I've picked on Olbermann enough the past two NBC games....let's move onto someone else. Umm Tiki you're not ON the Giants anymore friend....

Our, Us, We? It's one of my pet peeves when fans talk like that, but an analyst talking that way is just ridiculous. Remember this is the team you've been trashing for the past two months too Tiki. Good lord he is dreadful.

And Spinning Class? I would love to be a fly on the wall in that gym. Al and Tiki just sweating to the oldies. Good times.

Here's The Rest Of Your Sunday In Quotes:

"In his seventeenth season which means he's probably on the seventeenth hole."- Chris Berman introducing Chris Mortensen

Emmitt Smith had to of called Tank Johnson, Tank Williams about 17 times.

“If that had been perfect it would have been a completition”- Dan Dierdorf, Wouldn't they all be Dan?

"James Jones has great hands at the point of the catch."- Daryl Johnston

Kevin Harlan: "Hines Ward always lines up outside in a 4 receiver set." This contradicts the previous series when he noted Hines was in the slot in a 4 receiver set. Wonder if he's listening to himself.
(Via Dave)

“Jay Feely to kick the Field Goal…..What a good FEELing.”- Greg Gumbel

Just wanted to send in a comment I heard during a game on Sunday. During
the Browns-Steelers game, Rich Gannon dropped this little diddy about Browns
Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham's intensity....

"He'll go into the locker room, he's gonna choke somebody."- Rich Gannon
(Via Mez)

“This is going to be a red-shirt year for Jamarcus Russell”- JC Pearson, Umm that analogy would work if there were years of eligibility in the pros.

“About LT’s lack of production he attributes it to the Bears stuffing the box.”- Pam Oliver

“We’ve got all the action and emotion you can have with a 3-0 game”- Joe Buck, Smugness personified

Dick Stockton mispronounced several names - even calling the Buccaneers coach "Josh Gruden" at one point. "Baldie" doesn't even merit any criticism. REALLY disappointing!-
(Via Bryan)

....and my personal favorite taken down verbatim (I had to rewind the TIVO 7 times)....

“I was just going to say that with the tightness that’s a cramp. That’s what we talked about you know dehydration and we were just talking about this and you know dehydration and you get dehydrated and you get cramps.”- John Madden
“Very infrequently will you see the KICKER dehydrated.”- Al Michaels
“You know sometimes they warm up so much and kick so many balls into the net they have these little drills they do……they just hyperventilate themselves.”- John Madden

Since Baltimore is such a dreadful city these days and the O's are worthless all we've been hearing about in the area is "Caaaal going to the Hawwwl" (Baltimore speak for Cal Ripken going into the Hall of Fame). The guy was even on QVC last night getting rid of some pillows and whatnot from his closet.

Well anywho, the Baltimore Sun has collected some quotes from the people around Ripken, and they are exactly what you expect them to be....all but one. See if you can pick it out....

"More than any other player in its history, Cal Ripken understands what makes baseball a great game. It's not the great players, but the great fans."- Steve Phillips (Aww!)

"He emptied the bucket, then walked around the field retrieving all the balls himself; there was a nation of baseball fans and some clubhouse kids who would have done this for him, but Cal did it -- his penance, it seemed, for his slump. Then he returned to home plate, and started over, hitting balls into the twilight."- Buster Olney (Good story Busta Bust)

"He had this boundless energy. He'd wrestle his teammates in the dugout, and finally we turned to Earl [Weaver] and said, 'Please, please, please put him in the lineup.'"- Mike Flanagan (Coming from the best GM ever!)

"When Cal arrived in the clubhouse before the game, we were set up to meet him to conduct a brief interview. I looked at him with a straight face and said, 'Cal you think you might get in tonight?' Cal laughed, and then we had a great interview for the telecast. Next time I saw him, he thanked me for, at least for 30 seconds, letting him laugh and relax on that unbelievable night."- Chris Berman

What a dick! He takes one of the best moments in the history of the league, and makes it entirely about himself. Seriously, could you be more into your own "beached whale" of a self?

Announcing Rule #1- Do not put yourself above the game or its players

Thoughts on Ripken (Baltimore Sun)

It's pretty funny how slow Mainstream Media reacts to certain things. I guess it has a lot to do with not wanting to ruffle any feathers, but you would think in a business as critical as Sports Reporting that more items like this would surface. I mean I've been trumpeting this for a year, and FJM has been at it since 2005. What's the delay? If something is that horrible you should say something. Well someone has....

New York Post writer Phil Mushnick has "Had His Phil of Joe Morgan" (Get it? Phil instead of Fill...you know...his name? Hilarious). I poke fun, but it's refreshing to see the rest of the world catching up. From his column....

The year, Morgan told us, was 1964, that calamitous season when the Phillies blew a 61/2-game lead with 12 games left by losing 10 straight. Morgan said he made his major-league debut late in '64, against the Phillies. And it was in that game that his RBI single beat the Phillies, extending their infamous losing streak to eight or nine.

Morgan added that Phillies manager Gene Mauch was so upset he threw over the buffet table in the clubhouse, hollering that his club had just been beaten by "a Little Leaguer!"

Great story. But unless Morgan was confusing himself with Reds rookie infielder Chico Ruiz, it never happened. As several readers were moved to write, the Phillies played the Reds, Braves and Cardinals during that losing streak; Houston wasn't in the mix.

Furthermore, Morgan, though called up in 1964, did not have an RBI that season for Houston.

And he did not make his big-league debut in '64, either. That came Sept. 21, 1963, when he went 0-for-1, pinch-hitting against the Phillies.

Welcome to the club Phillip, and just so you know.....THIS HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE GAME (And interview and ESPN Chat)!!!!! Someone please do something about this guy. He's ruining Summer Baseball viewing for me and the rest of the Country.

I'm instituting a new rule. If you are an ex-athlete and you can't remember the year in which your first start occurred was....you're fired. Right there in the studio and on-air. This one rule alone would get rid of Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, Bill Maas (prior to his arrest), Shannon Sharpe, Paul Maguire, and hopefully Sean Salisbury. A boy can dream right?

Had Our Phil Of Morgan (NY Post)