The great sports announcer Curt Gowdy died today.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?cnn=yes

Here's a link showing all the WS announcers, TV & radio.

http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of...s-broadcasters

Gowdy was at the WS TV play by play mike through most of the 60's & 70's. Interesting to note that during the 80's there was a period where Vin Scully & Al Michaels alternated WS play by play, which is why most baseball historians call this period "The Dark Ages" of baseball.

Note that the 3rd most annoying sporstcaster on the planet, Bob Costas, made some appearances in the 90's. Speaking of Costas - if you've been watching NBC's Olympics coverage, how many quarts of botox do you think is in that man's forehead?

That's too bad. As soon as I saw the thread title, I had a feeling that's what had happened. He was terrific at what he did and seemed like a genuinely decent human being.

Bob Costas, however, is nowhere near #3 on the annoying list (unless -- maybe -- you're talking only about announcers for championship events). I could list 5 or 6 before him without even thinking about it.

Starting with Bill Walton.

I absolutely agree, Chuck. Costas is easily one of the best in the business. I like Al Michaels alot too. Evidently others around the country do as well. If no one liked him, he would not have been involved in what may be the first trade for a broadcaster in sports television history.

My list of top annoying broadcasters...

1. Bill Walton- BRUTAL

2. John Madden- Hard not to like the guy, but man can he go off on some annoying tangents. "Boom, Tough Actin' Tinactin"

3. Lee Corso- Not in the booth much anymore, but still gets on my nerves on College Gameday. Plus, I had the opportunity to meet the guy in person and he has a nasty, vulgor mouth off camera.

4. Stephen A. Smith- If he was as cool as he thought he was, he would be the Beatles in their prime.

5. Keith Jackson- One of the best in the business during his prime, but he is on the cusp of becoming the sober Harry Caray. He is hanging on too long. Constantly making mistakes during the broadcast. Time to hang it up, Keith.

Good call on Curt Gowdy. [Thank you, Mr. Gowdy !]

Good call on Bob Costas. [Theisman, Walton, Mcarver.]
mick

No list would be complete without Brent "The Road to _____" Musberger.

Joe Theisman will cause me to not watch MNF. He talks TOO much! He is the most obnoxious.

Best pair of all time: Jack Buck and Hank Stram on MNF Radio. I'd watch the game and turn the sound off and play the radio. Much better than Howard and Dandy Don. Keith Jackson got screwed when he was replaced by pretty boy Frank Gifford after one year on MNF.

Tim McCarver has to be the worst. He's very knowledgable, but he'll use 1000 words when 50 would suffice, and his diction and pronunciation are so precise its maddening. Plus, he's so pompous talking to the audience like we're all a bunch of second graders.

There, I said, I'm out with it, I feel better. :)

We could use a bunch of new Curt Gowdy's

As I recall, McCarver makes lots of mistakes and uses those 1,000 words for decorative bluff.
mick

Here is another article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2337202

I don't know...I pretty much quit listening at word 51.

I remember Curt Gowdy more from the American Sportsman series and the Wide World of Sports than anything else.

As for annoying announcers I can't stand Dicky Vitale. I witnessed his coaching in 1974 at the Milwaukee Bradly Center. Detroit Mercy vs Marquette with Bo Ellis and Earl Tatum. Marquette won by 20 while a bunch of Detroit starters fouled out. I can't prove this but I think the game set an NCAA record for fouls called. Dicky got tossed and had to be restrained and escorted off the court by sheriff deputies. What a fool.

As for baseball color I like Joe Morgan. His insight and communication are far superior to any other, IMHO. But then ...I'm a Reds fan.

I remember listening to Al Michaels as the Reds play by play guy with Joe Nuxhall. I was annoyed when Michaels left and the Reds hired Marty Brennaman. Little did I know Brennaman would last 30 years and be elected to the broadcasters hall of fame.

I can still hear him now: "hey neighbor, have a Gansett"
RIP Curt

(someone else I thought was great was Lindsey Nelson)

As long as we are digressing and talking about the Reds, I will fill you in on a true story at a game at Olympic Stadium in 1978. My buddy and I got tickets for about the 5th row up down the left field line just barely in fair territory. I was keeping score and the guy in front of us went to get rid of some liquid. The Expos were ahead 2-1. A guy walked and Johnny Bench came to the plate and hit a rope. I said to my buddy "You better catch it because my hands are full and it is coming right at us." So he reaches out over the empty seat, the ball bounces [if you can call a screaming liner off someone's hands a bounce] off his hands and into the aisle where one of the leaker's buddies pounces and recovers the HR ball.

The guy comes back after the Reds go down and he asked his friends if he missed anything. His friends say "Yes. The Reds scored." "Oh, dang*. How did they score?" "Johnny Bench hit a home run." "NOOOOO*." "Yes, see? They have 2 more runs and only one more hit." "Did he hit it to LF or RF?" "LF." "Oh, dang*." "In fact, if you hadn't gone to the can it would've come right to you." "NOOOO*." "Here it is!"

Of course, I found this whole exchange to be a lot funnier than my buddy did for some reason.

*--denotes not his actual words