What are your best sports announcer memories?

[HouWarrior]

Here is a good offseason topic.

You are a gourmet sports enthusiast. Watching TV, or radio listening, you appreciate the announcer's style and artistry as much as, and sometimes more than the action. The only requirement here is that you actually heard the announcer's work...ie no claiming you loved Red Barber announcing Brooklyn Dodgers games, Marty Glickman calling the NY Giants, or Vin Scully on LA Dodgers games.

Here are a few of mine:

Pleasant professional talker smoothly flowing with the play.

Ray Scott calling Packer games in the 60's heyday. He was easy to listen to, a homer without being too opinionated, and his timing of his calls was always well timed to the action. Pat Sumerall also was a good compliment to the NFL action he called. Any Kieth Jackson college football game was an easy listen, too.

Honorable mention: Verne Lundquist on Cowboys games; Marv Albert (a Marty Glickman legacy) on NBA games. Dick Enberg (esp. MU champ game) and Curt Gowdy (esp. AFL football on NBC) fit well here. Joe Buck on his World Series calls is closing in to this level, too

What the heck did he just say---I love it!

The NBA came to to Milwaukee, and I learned the game and a bunch of odd terms like toaster, the eye,skyhook, etc from Eddie Doucette calling NBA Bucks games, on the radio. You had to learn his code to understand his call, but once learned, it added to the fun of an expansion franchise's quickest rise from worst to first in sports history.You'd be amazed at the now common BB announcer terms that are credited to him, See:
http://www.eddiedoucette.com/articles/doucette_dictionary.pdf
Of course,Al McGuire bouncing off the action and Billy Packard using his instincts and unique vocabulary (see: http://espn.go.com/classic/s/McGuirisms.html) made it worth watching any college BB game they called.

Honorable mention:Today, Bill Raftery adds those strange words to the action, at just the right time. Also, the Don Meredith/Howard Cosell banter on MNF is ageless. Heck,even Jeff Van Gundy on NBA/TNT has his moments.

The voice and delivery add to the drama of the event

 I have an odd one here. I am not a big golf fan, but annually, I am drawn to the perfect match of Jim Nantz' smooth voiced calling to the Masters, and to the drama that plays out on Sunday. Somehow, the two go well together. Whether it was ABC Wide World of Sports, or the Munich Olympics, Jim McKay's announcing alone, somehow made it worth watching... yes, even cliff diving in Acapulco, and barrel jumping at Grossinger's.

 Honorable mention: The 1980 Miracle on Ice had its own drama, but Al Michaels game call paired perfectly with the play, culminating in the "Do you believe in miracles?" moment. Also, Bob Costas has had his good performances, too, especially on the Olympics, and on his first passion, baseball.

Pure wordsmiths, like listening to Hemingway.

 CBS News sent Heywood Hale Broun out to cover a sports story, and I'd almost want to send out for the transcript, as his words elevated sports to literature. Not an announcer, but George Will talks baseball in an erudite way that elevates the subject.

Honorable mentions: It overlaps, but Jim McKay, Marty Glickman (sports newsreels), and Bob Costas all are gifted wordsmiths, drawing you  into the action with their wonderfully crafted verbiage.

Announcers you love to hate

Whether they were homers, jerks, their voice grates on your ears, or you just dont like them, this one picks up the hall of shame. I have Brent Musburger, Howard Cosell, Billy Packard, Dick Vitale, and Bryant Gumbel.

Add anything you'd like to, its the off season, man.

Please add your own take in any direction, with the proviso you actually heard it...good games, great memories, jerks, guys you'd turn the TV down on and listen to the radio, or just telling my list is full of BS. Some one may want to add the equally important, but not covered here, area of best/worst color commentators...the ex  jocks we enjoy or hate in adding or detracting from the game.

Enjoy.
 

[manny31]

Keith Jackson doing college football ... "Whoa Nelly"

[real chili 83]

There is something about baseball announcers on AM radio.

Used to love Milo Hamilton, Vince Lloyd, and Lou Boudreau on WGN.

One of my favorite radio calls was by Harry Caray.  August of 1990 night game.  Harry was doing radio, middle innings, against the Cardinals.  Whitey Herzog had been bitching about the umps not calling balks all season.  Cubs loaded the bases.  Cardinal pitcher was called for a balk.  Run scores.  Harry simply says, "Whitey, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword".

[4everwarriors]

Earl Gillespie and Blaine Walsh, ai na?

[4everwarriors]

Ted Moore, Jim Irwin, hey?

[MU82]

I grew up listening to Marv Albert calling Knicks and Rangers games on the radio.

"Frazier drives and hits ... YES ... and it counts ... there was a foul on the play!" with the Garden crowd going wild in the background.

"Potvin shoots ... kick save and a beauty by Giacomin!"

He is still the very best for basketball, and it's not even close IMHO.

I am always sad when the playoffs go from TNT to the ESPN family because it means Marv's season is done. I have long since moved from the East Coast and I don't even know if he does hockey any more. I'm guessing not.

So obviously, Marv is my favorite. For a singular announcing moment, I'm not sure how anything possibly tops Al Michaels in 1980 -- and I'm not the biggest Michaels fan. It was just the perfect thing to say at the perfect time.

[PBRme]

Howard Cosell (boxing only). Down goes Frazier

Worst was Butkus on bears games

[warriorchick]

I have very fond memories of living in Boston and listening to Johnny Most, the Voice of the Celtics, on the radio.  We used to listen to him while tuning in on TV and wonder if he was watching the same game.

Great whiskey-and-cigarette voice.  Unapologetic homer.  One time he thought the refs were in the tank for Milwaukee and ignoring the obvious manner in which they were running over his beloved Boston team.  Towards the end, he was referring to the "Milwaukee Trucks".

Twenty-eight years later, whenever we believe a foul is unfairly called on Marquette and the other team's player misses the free throw, jsglow and I say in unison in the most gravelly voices we can muster, "And justice is served!"

[HouWarrior]

We used to turn down the NBA Rockets TV broadcast to listen to radio play by play with Gene Petersen and Marquette's former SID ('65-'69) Jim Foley handling the color.

Jim joined the Rockets, following Ray Patterson here from the Bucks. Jim was great with incredibly odd research and info....one of the few non jocks who was also a good color man.

Here is a great Foley link, incl. his stories on his time with Al at MU:
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Foley_Fun_Facts_102308-286217-34.html

[keefe]

Earl Gillespie and Blaine Walsh, ai na?

I remember being stoned watching a show entirely about Earl Gillespie fishing for muskie around Hayward.

Bizarre

[Eldon]

No one memory in particular, but I know it definitely involves Al Michaels.  I love that guy.  He gets pumped and his voice is so distinct.  I associate his voice with almost all major sporting events in my life, even if he didn't actually call the game.

[tower912]

Ernie Harwell.   

[real chili 83]

I remember being stoned watching a show entirely about Earl Gillespie fishing for muskie around Hayward.

Bizarre

Getting stoned in Hayward is bizarre.

 

[21Jumpstreet]

Pat Foley on WBBM in the old stadium and, of course, Harry mid afternoon after school "holy cow."

[GooooMarquette]

Eddie Doucette - the toaster, the pancake jumper, Mr. Clean.
Bill Raftery - Put it in, medium size fella!
Al - Holy mackerel! Holy mackerel! Holy mackerel!
Cosell - down goes Fraziahhh....
McIlvaine - No mercy in the dojo!

[LloydsLegs]

Lloyd Pettit; at age 8,9, listening to Blackhawks in bed with transitor radio and earphone ("we lose a puck and gain a faceoff"; "a shot...and a goooaaall!")

Al Michaels Team USA call (trite but oh so true)

Scully (by himself on radio) and Buck on baseball, anytime anywhere (as long as Mike Shannon was not in the booth with Buck--he is unlistenable in the Butkus mode for me)

Homer and Mac when driving down the highway with TuneIn radio praying that the stream stays alive

Jim Durham on the Bulls

Steve Stone - as good as any baseball color guy around-even when Hawk is insufferable, Stone is worth listening to

Pat Foley play by play b/c I love the Hawks, but the best crew in hockey is his Hawks partner, Eddie O (the Steve Stone of Hockey "for all you young players out there..."  and a marvel with the telestrator) when teamed up for the national games with Doc Emerich ("fiddles the puck ahead" - an unlimited array of puck moving descriptors at his disposal)

[Lighthouse 84]

I hate the Domers, but I always think of Harry Kalas announcing old ND games, saying, "Yes by Barlow and the Irish lead by 15."

Harry Carey eons ago saying, "Hey, how about a Falstaff?"  Then he had another.

[real chili 83]

http://www.pmaxinc.com/Harry%20-%20Marla%20Collins.mp3

http://www.pmaxinc.com/wrigley.wav

http://www.pmaxinc.com/Harry%20-%20Play%20By%20Play.mp3

http://www.pmaxinc.com/cubswin.au

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I routinely fall asleep to Scully doing Dodgers games on Extra Innings.  I'm not familiar with why locals are not getting Dodger games, but that sounds like an absolute crime.

[GGGG]

Jim Irwin and Max McGee on Packer radio.  Always had the television sound down listening to those two.

[Eldon]

Jim Irwin and Max McGee on Packer radio.  Always had the television sound down listening to those two.

Doesn't the lag piss you off?  My buddy's dad used to always do this when we watched games and I hated it.  Even if the radio guys were better, they weren't good enough to make up for the lag between TV and radio

[GGGG]

Doesn't the lag piss you off?  My buddy's dad used to always do this when we watched games and I hated it.  Even if the radio guys were better, they weren't good enough to make up for the lag between TV and radio

Back in the day, the lag was negligible.  This change in the late 90s so now I never listen to the radio.

[warriorchick]

Dick Button and Peggy Fleming.

Sorry, Scott Hamilton and Elfi Schlegel just don't cut it.  However, Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are showing some promise.

[Warrior Code]

I used to get a kick out of Pat Hughes balancing out Santo. Pat would be trying to paint a picture while Ron would just react.

Pat - "And Pujols lines an absolute screamer over the outstretched glove of Juan Pierre, who tumbles to the turf. Two Cards will come around to score and Albert trots into 2nd with a stand up double."

Ron - "Ah GEEZ. Ahhh."


I used to purposely time long drives to correspond to the Cubs games to listen to them.

[Spotcheck Billy]

No love for Bob Uecker?