Defending the announcers

[Tar Heel]

Hi Mark,

Boy, some of you have been on this board since the days of the old discussion board software... many, many years.

I spent two years as a PbP color announcer for the Fresno State women's broadcasts, and they truly do not know the rules. Many times I had to interject and remind my partner about such things as "They don't shoot player control fouls..." and explain the seldom-seen Balk in foul shooting (intentionally faking the foul shot to induce a lane violation). They are basically fans with a microphone, nothing else. They never study the rules; I gave our association's 50-question-test to my partner once and he failed with flying colors. Sad, but true. What was worse was he could have cared less.

Phil