Throwdowns > Closed

Gruden said 06/30, 11:09 AM
Summerall was great when he was sober. Not so much in the 2nd half of games.

My pick for best ever is a guy that has rolled with the changes regardless of who they put in the booth with him. His style is pure grace up there. And his name is Al Michaels. The great thing about Michaels is that it doesn't really matter what sport he's announcing. He simply has a way of drawing the view in and making them feel like they are an intimate part of the broadcast. If it were baseball, I'd say Vin Scully. But for any other sport, or just sports announcer overall, its Al Michaels.

My pick for worst still has me scratching my head as to how he got hired in the first place. Dennis Miller had no background in sports, no background in television announcing on analyst. He lasted two seasons. He shouldn't have lasted two games. "Hail Mary is denied...separation of church and state". That was his idea of announcing a football game. At least Deirdorf understood football. Miller knew nothing about sports.

Gruden said 06/30, 03:12 PM
My second choice for greatest is the one and only Curt Gowdy. Curt had more insight into the game than most any announcer I can think of. And he was the voice of several generations of football lovers. He called the very first Super Bowl; AND Joe Namath's upset win two years later; AND Pittsburgh's Immaculate Reception; AND the Heidi game. And his call of the 1979 Pittsburgh - Dallas Super Bowl should be used as a class for would be announcers.

For worst, my second pick is easy. Joe Buck. He's absolutely useless as an NFL caller. Having a father with one of the greatest voices in sports history makes him think he's an announcer too. The joke is made about John Madden speaking the obvious, but those jokes are far more appropriate to Joe Buck. For an example of his ineptitude, in a Dallas - Detoit game he went on an on at the end about how Dallas was now in position to throw the hail mary and possibly win the game!!!!! YEAH!!! Except the game was over. Buck just didn't know it. He doesn't know much.

Gruden said 07/01, 03:44 PM
Well if ranks right up there "with" Al Michaels, I'll take it you agree Al Michaels is simply the best in the business.

My final choice is the great Frank Gifford. For 26 years he was the voice of Monday Night Football, and he simply has not been replaced since. He had a way of discussing a game that made you feel like he was sitting next to you on the couch, with a beer in his hand. And with his knowledge of the game, combined with his easy ability to discuss it, he simply cannot be beat as an NFL announcer.

And my final choice for worst makes Bryant Gumbel appear to be a Harvard Scholar. And that person is the one and only Tony Kornheiser. How he works in the sports world, let alone is able to commentate on a nationally broadcast show, is beyond comprehension. Nothing he says even remotely applies to the game, because he simply does not understand the game. he's boring and mindless and a complete waste of time; and he makes me watch with the sound turned off. He is by far the worst of the worst.