Elmore kept pounding away that "neither team had anything to play for". I swear he said this at least 5 times. Am I wrong, or isn't their an NCAA tournament bid on the line for St. John's? If they won last night (and 3 more nights thereafter), they'd be playing to get into the tournament! Marquette is already in the field, but they certainly were playing for a higher seed in the NCAA's. Also, anytime you play in any type of tournament, aren't you playing for a championship??? Shouldn't that give you something to play for no matter what?
I thought it was garbage that he said "both teams are just playing for pride". Why even bother playing the game then?
I was sick of the constant talk of Anthony Mason, Jr. While he was made out to be a hero, Hayward and Fitz were flying under the radar despite scoring just as many points.
And how many times did they show his Dad, as if he was the only Dad at the game!
And after about a dozen times, continuing to say "Marquette isn't a good free throw shooting team" or "James has been in a shooting slump" simply demonstrates an inability to add color to the game.
Yes, we get it MU isn't the leader in FT shooting and James is in a slump--think of something additional to say, or let the play by play continue.
Ive said this plenty of times on the board, but the older I get and the wiser of a sports fan I become, the more I can't stand announcers on big channels, seems like bigger stations ask there announcers to do too many games of a wide range of teams (like Majerus, who is announcing the WI, MSU game then has to fly to do the WCC games)... no time to research on teams, what is on the line, and who has been hot as of late, just the basics
And how large is Anthony Mason Sr. these days? I can't believe he's like 40 now and still shaving words in his head!!! The guy was a decent pro, minus that year or two with the Bucks, but he and his son definitely were the story of the night...The night belonged to Dan Fitzgerald!
I appreciate Len Elmore's knowledge of the game, enjoy (occaisionally) his take on defenses or changes made by a coach, but! he gets on my nerves by halftime, and I can only stand the repetitions for so long, and adjust my surround sound so that the crowd noise is dominant. As a result, I miss most of what is said, but truly enjoy the game more. It would have been difficult to ignore the St. John's (johnnies) bias, the over-kill on the masons(get a haircut- and jr, close your mouth), etc. otherwise.
"Ive said this plenty of times on the board, but the older I get and the wiser of a sports fan I become, the more I can't stand announcers on big channels, seems like bigger stations ask there announcers to do too many games of a wide range of teams (like Majerus, who is announcing the WI, MSU game then has to fly to do the WCC games)... no time to research on teams, what is on the line, and who has been hot as of late, just the basics"
- I tend to agree. That said, did you hear one of the two commentators, in talking about Hayward, mention that he had some NCAA issues which kept him out of the starting line-up earlier in the year until he replaced Jamil Lott. That was either a very knowledgeable commentator, or some very good research. I, myself, had almost forgotten that Lott started off the year starting at the 4.
How many times is the ESPN crew going to say that MU is struggling with their wins and losses of late? For the record, MU has now won 3 of 4 and 6 of 10. Those "many" losses were: 1) Buzzer beater to hotest team in Big East and the number 2 seed in the BET 2) @ G-Town - number 1 seed in BET 3) @ ND - where nobody won and the number 4 seed in the BET 4) @ DePaul who was tough at home and is considered a rival. By the way, MU still finished 4-4 on the road in conference.
Also, when mentioning that Kinsella never played until last Sat night, how about stating that it was mostly due to the numerous INJURIES he sustained throughout his career.
Just a little research before blurting out statements would be nice.
Shulman is the one who knew about Lott starting early in the year and that's the reason he's the lead announcer for ESPN -- very prepared.
Elmore is fantastic. Knows the game very well and doesn't have an overbearing style. Last night could have been a bit different because they are calling a SJU game in NYC and Elmore and Norm Roberts have known each other for a long time.
Tonight might be a little different without that element.
I think you have to give these commentators a break... it is difficult to know the entire career of every player on every NCAA tourney team. Do you really expect him to know the exact reason our #8 or 9 man for most of the year didn't play much three and four years ago. If you look at the number of games these guys cover it is difficult to add much knowledge to the true fans of those teams... that is what MUScoop is for!
Or if you listen to Homer while watching the game, if you don't mind knowing what happens a few seconds early.
I will take Elmore over Dukie Hypemaster
Mid-way through the first half Shulman had me convinced that my alma mater had changed its name to "Favored Marquette", i.e. "St. John's pulls within two of Favored Marquette" or "Fitzgerald scores for Favored Marquette."
Quote from: Sweenz on March 08, 2007, 12:20:21 PM
I think you have to give these commentators a break... it is difficult to know the entire career of every player on every NCAA tourney team. Do you really expect him to know the exact reason our #8 or 9 man for most of the year didn't play much three and four years ago. If you look at the number of games these guys cover it is difficult to add much knowledge to the true fans of those teams... that is what MUScoop is for!
Or if you listen to Homer while watching the game, if you don't mind knowing what happens a few seconds early.
I wouldn't go as far as you do here, but for what these gentlemen are being paid (six figures for most of them), they should know something about everybody that has some sort of shot of making a contribution in a game. There are plenty of resources at their fingers; every school has an SID and staff dedicated to getting as much info to them as they desire. It's not terribly hard to recognize the announcers who do their homework and those who don't. A lot of times IMO it's a home-team announcer who knows something about the opposition, or in neutral broadcast, someone who knows something about both teams, not just one team.
BTW, I was leaning negative on Elmore, and that ended tonight. His comment about the Big East being a league that's trying to build a basketball conference, but it's a football-dominated conference is unforgivable. Why aren't McDonough, Raftery and Bilas doing the games tonight? That trio is among the better teams in college buckets IMO, knowledgable and entertaining.
I think Shulman usually does a great job. Elmore is just phoning it in at this point. I like McDonough (who my beloved Red Sox dumped many years ago for basically being honest. My favorite comment of his after a stinging loss during Butch Hobson's reign as manager was something along the lines of, "The Red Sox have to get Butch a bench coach who has some understanding of basic baseball strategy.") and Raftery and Bilas, but three is too many guys.
My favorite color guys are Raftery and CBS' Clark Kellogg, who now just seems to be in the studio all the time.
Being a Full Court subscriber the last couple of years and a Big East junkie, I was sick of Len Elmore way before tonight. My least favorite ESPN announcer. Maybe my imagination, but whenever I watched a game he was doing involving a C-USA refugee (MU, Louisville, Cincy, DePaul) vs. a longer time Big East member, it seemed like ol' Len was a "homer" for the Big East team.
Elmore is a very knowledgable color guy-----(everything else aside) has an ability to point out the significant elements impacting a game!
I'm not an Elmore supporter, just indifferent.
But after watching last night's Big East Tourney, I miss him calling MU games.
:'(
I am totally sick of Len Elmore and frequently turn off the sound while he's giving color on a game. Despite (because of?) his degree from Harvard Law, he mostly states inane things that don't add anything to the game.
Quote from: Crazy Echo on March 10, 2007, 01:09:01 PM
I am totally sick of Len Elmore and frequently turn off the sound while he's giving color on a game. Despite (because of?) his degree from Harvard Law, he mostly states inane things that don't add anything to the game.
Are you sure that last part is referring to Dick Vitale, the owner of the most obnoxious voice in sports broadcasting today?
At lest Dukie V brings some enthusiasm to the game. I'm not sure Elmore offers anything.