Worst Announcers

[MaineRed]

Saw this linked on another site, It is a blog that covers sports, mostly Cleveland sports and they had a piece on their least favorite sports announcers/anchors.

http://myteamsarecursed.blogspot.com...oooooo-ya.html

Who are our least favorite people on sports TV today abd why do we feel the way we do. Time for the list technique.

1. Stuart Scott - The guy puts the "B" in Buffoon. Is there anything less fresh than his awful catch phrases like "hater in the house" and "cooler than the other side of the pillow?" The suits are bad, the glasses are worse. Watching Stu-ya with Emmitt Smith and Steve Young live at the Monday Night location is train wreck TV at its finest. How he has stayed on ESPN this long is a complete mystery. Sports Centers with him are unwatchable.

2. Joe Morgan - Wins the Cal Ripken award as the single most overrated sports color man in history. Count how many times he repeats himself during a game. Here is a vintage Morgan take: See, that pitch was a sliiiiiiider, because his out-pitch is a sliiiiider, so he decided now was the time to throw a sliiiiiiiider, which is his best pitch." John Miller has been carrying him for years.

3. Stephen A. Smith - Someone, anyone, please explain to me why ESPN thinks this guy is a talent. Because he talks fast? Because he says "the bottom line" a lot? Because he was once the link to Allen Iverson in Philly? The one-time Larry Brown mouth-piece has lost all credibility since his quick rise and even quicker fall at the worldwide leader. The worst show in ESPN history (next to Bonds on Bonds) has to be Quite Frankly. What a joke! Screamin A. must go.

4. Chris Berman - You have to give credit to him as being the original and longest lasting guy at ESPN. That said, talk about someone who's schtick is as tired as his Green Jacket he wears during baseball season. The schwam? Old bit. Nicknames for players? great in the late 80's and early 90's, except its 2007. Things you can count on: Death, taxes, and Chris Berman quoting Maggie Mae at the end of September and The Boys of Summer at the end of August. But mad props to the infamous "your with me, Leather" story. Stuff of legend.

5. Fred McLeod - Nationally, he isn't known, but he is the Cleveland Cavaliers TV play by play man. This is a guy who left Detroit with a reputation of being a homer. It was well deserved. You would think Lebron James is fouled on every play and never walks. He is ridiculously excitable and equally as cheesy. In the second quarter of Sunday night's Cavs/Suns game, Freddy boy watched Steve Nash travel and screamed "he shuffled the shoes!" Look up cheese-dick in the dictionary and there's a picture of him.

6. Chip Carey - The man dubbed by my brother "Cheesy Cheerleader Chip" has gladly taken advantage of a career essentially built on being the grandson of Harry and the son of Skip. His work in the AL division series was panned brilliantly by the New York Times' Richard Sandomir for his lack of knowledge and stretching of the truth. You would have though he was the Yankees announcer that series. Long before that, he was a homer for the Braves, a homer for the Cubs, and now back to being a homer for the Braves.

7. William C. Rhoden - Ok, he's not really a TV personality, but he has spent years on ESPN's the Sports Reporters. Plain and simple, the guy is a reverse racist who takes the African-American side of every story. Nobody loves bringing the race card up more than Bill. Only he could make Mike Lupica seem like a pleasure to be around.

8. Skip Bayless - ESPN did its best to phase him out, you only see him now on ESPN's first take (which has less viewers as Quite Frankly did) and First and Ten. There is nobody more outlandish and ridiculous. He is a classic local sports talk radio kind of guy. he says things just to be outrageous to see if anyone cares. Unfortunately for the Skipper, nobody does.

Not even sure I could narrow it down to the top 8, but I'll try:

1. Stuart Scott. Pretty much agree, word for word with what was said about him above.

2. Johnny Miller. Man I hate this guy. He is so smug. What is most annoying is how the entire NBC golf team cowers to him.

Miller: "headed to the right isn't it Rog?"

Rog: "started out right John but it actually is going to end up four fairways over, to the left."

3. Chip Caray. Really upsets me that I wasn't able to put him first but Scott and Miller are that bad. His horrid performance has been well documented. If he were a player he would have been shipped to the minors a long time ago. He is the Pete Rose Jr. of baseball announcing. But nobody in charge has figured it out. Nepotism gets blamed. But nobody is handing the Junior Rose an A-Rod contract. How does such a bad announcer get a top gig?

4. Mike Tirico. He wants to be involved in every issue known to man but pretty much refuses to give an opinion on any of them, even though he now has a radio show. He goes out of his way to be neutral and I feel like he thinks his target audience are sports fans who just returned from 20 year journeys to Mars.

5. Gus Johnson. He screams, for the entire game. A QB doesn't drop back to pass. He DROPS BACK TO PASS, GOING DEEP, INCOMPLETE. I-an, not Ian, I-an Eagle is just about as bad. If I was forced to work with either I would just drive myself straight to jail, because I would choke both of them before the game was over.

6. Chris Berman. Agree with the comments above. I loved the nicknames and the schwam. Then I turned 14. Lost all respect for Berman when he was dropping his silly nicknames while working the US Open Golf Tournament a couple of years ago. He will be watching the Masters with Gary McCord if he goes anywhere near Augusta with that crap.

7. Tim McCarver. Not a real big fan of Joe Buck but without him it is scary to think where McCarver might go some of the time. The guy knows his baseball. He just sees a lot of things that don't actually happen. Not sure why he isn't a NBA ref.

8. Dick Vitale. Like Berman I once thought Dukie V. was the coolest thing on earth. I had all his books, videos, cityrock basketball and everything else with his name on it. Then got my license and started dating girls. Vitale would have his lights knocked out by a co worker in any other profession. He wouldn't last as a fry cook at McDonalds with his enthusiasm. Guy needs to relax. Sad thing is he isn't just passionate about hoops, it is everything. Baseball, tennis, Notre Dame football, everything.

Anyone missing?