Bill Raftery

[A-Tex Devil]

Bill Raftery is the best color guy in college basketball.... he's knowledgeable, enthusiastic, positive, TOPICAL! <cough>Dickie V<cough> and points out at least 4 or 5 things a game, where I'm like, "Wow, I just learned something."

Discuss....

[Troublemaker]

Agreed. For overall experience, he can't be beat. He's like a lovable uncle or grandfather.

[freedevil]

I gotta disagree. The whole "KISS" thing he uses every time the ball hits the backboard is just as annoying to me as anything Vitale does.

I'm a Gus Johnson guy.

[A-Tex Devil]

I like Gus, too, but never learn anything. Gus stays on topic, though.

ONIONS!!

[Troublemaker]

I like Gus Johnson, too. He's like a young Raftery as far as enthusiasm that doesn't get on your nerves.

[Jumbo]

I like Gus Johnson, too. He's like a young Raftery as far as enthusiasm that doesn't get on your nerves.

Well, one does play-by-play and the other is an analyst, so they could be a team some day. I love both of them. But Raftery is REALLY great, and has stood the test of time. He teaches you about basketball AND entertains you. And he just has such a nice perspective on the whole deal.

[dukemsu]

Well, one does play-by-play and the other is an analyst, so they could be a team some day. I love both of them. But Raftery is REALLY great, and has stood the test of time. He teaches you about basketball AND entertains you. And he just has such a nice perspective on the whole deal.

I agree-Raftery is a lot of fun and gives real info to the hoopheads. That passed Vitale by long ago, and Packer wouldn't know a good time if it fell out of the sky and hit him.

The only thing I don't like about Raftery is when he does UConn games and makes jokes about going out drinking with Calhoun. I can't imagine anyone choosing to go out drinking with Calhoun.

[godukerocks]

I like Gus Johnson, too. He's like a young Raftery as far as enthusiasm that doesn't get on your nerves.

There was an article about Gus Johnson the other day in USA today; the focus being on his enthusiasim and whether he sometimes was too loud. In it he says that the one time he tried toning down, he got a phone call from a guy at the studio saying that wasn't him, and to call the game he always had.

I would love hearing Johnson and Raftery together. Both are some of the best in commentating.

[freedevil]

I do like that Raftery stays on topic, so I must concede that.

Not to get off topic, but I love what the addition of Bob Knight to ESPN has done to Phelps and Vitale, by far the two most absurd analysts on TV. Vitale never says anything of substance and Phelps seems to get every prediction dead wrong. They have been reigned in, albeit a little, under the watchful eye of Robert Montgomery.

[Karl Beem]

Raf has been a favorite of mine since '86, when he used 'devastating' twice in describing Duke's low post defense.

[dukemsu]

I do like that Raftery stays on topic, so I must concede that.

Not to get off topic, but I love what the addition of Bob Knight to ESPN has done to Phelps and Vitale, by far the two most absurd analysts on TV. Vitale never says anything of substance and Phelps seems to get every prediction dead wrong. They have been reigned in, albeit a little, under the watchful eye of Robert Montgomery.

Phelps' next insightful comment will be his first. I don't even know how he still has a job. No one has ever gotten more mileage out of one night (Notre Dame beating UCLA in '74) than Phelps.

[freedevil]

^ HA! Completely agree.

[Ben63]

Raftery is good, but he is no Dick Enberg. Enberg is the best ever except for the classic baseball voices (Vin Scully, Harry Kalas, Ernie Harwell, etc) but it isnt fair to compare the two.

[jipops]

Raftery is the only color guy that can make an incredibly boring game fun to watch. He'll always point out facets of the game that can fascinate you. He's a true color guy.

[mr. synellinden]

BIG TIME ONIONS!

YOU GOT TO LOVE THE TICKER

Billy Raf is the best. Why are people comparing him to Gus Johnson and Dick Enberg who do play-by-play?

[kinghoops]

Raftery is the only color guy that can make an incredibly boring game fun to watch. He'll always point out facets of the game that can fascinate you. He's a true color guy.

do you remember " SEND IT IN JEROME""!!! . maybe one of the greatest calls in college basketball history

[brtnsbs]

I believe Gus Johnson and Raf have done games together before. Definetely one of my favorite combo's. I wish Gus would do the final four and championship game but Nance will be doing those for years to come.

[A-Tex Devil]

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Shoulder ... shake ... a little lingerie!"
"A little pirouette, and they said this was a beer town!"
“I wheel the wheel barrel down the street to the tin!”
"With the teardrop, that'll make you cry"

and of course....

"Send it in, Jerome!"

[godukerocks]

Billy Raf is the best. Why are people comparing him to Gus Johnson and Dick Enberg who do play-by-play?

Because they're all better than everyone else.

Yeaaa, post 100.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Bill Raftery is the best color guy in college basketball....

But he sounds so much like Bob Wentzle.......:D

[kinghoops]

do you remember " SEND IT IN JEROME""!!! . maybe one of the greatest calls in college basketball history

any dude that uses" onions "to describe taking a big shot is pretty damn cool!!!!

[jipops]

"... and the Orangemen go ZONE... with MAN-TO-MAN principles!"

[ugadevil]

My favorite tandem is Raftery and Verne Lundquist. The two seem to work together a great deal and have fun covering a game. It's good to have a crew work together, discuss the game, and remember that it's about playing hard and having fun.

[Jumbo]

My favorite tandem is Raftery and Verne Lundquist. The two seem to work together a great deal and have fun covering a game. It's good to have a crew work together, discuss the game, and remember that it's about playing hard and having fun.

Verne might be the most underrated play-by-play guy in the business. Whatever you give him -- football, hoops, The Masters -- he delivers. He's got a great voice, he does his homework, he follows the game. I've got to give CBS props -- for the most part, they assemble excellent crews for the Tourney, considering they need eight different pairs for the first two rounds.

[dukemomLA]

I really like Raf -- and I agree with earlier posts about Verne L. I also like the G-man.

Most of the play-by-play and color folk for NCAA MBB are pretty lame. Jay Bilas annoys me, but we can't discount his intelligence and insight. Bobby Knight has added an interesting dynamic to the mix.

Too bad they don't add any of the woman folk to the mix. There are some TERRIFIC women working those games!!

[nyr484]

Send it in Jerome!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sqSwZgpOad8

[Rudy]

This might deserve a separate string, but I have been impressed with Jay Bilas's work during games. I've liked him as a commentator too, but I don't remember hearing him work a game before this week.

[Edouble]

I do like that Raftery stays on topic, so I must concede that.

Not to get off topic, but I love what the addition of Bob Knight to ESPN has done to Phelps and Vitale, by far the two most absurd analysts on TV. Vitale never says anything of substance and Phelps seems to get every prediction dead wrong. They have been reigned in, albeit a little, under the watchful eye of Robert Montgomery.

Coach Knight has been a breath of fresh air. I can't believe I saw him wearing a Miami Vice-pink sweater this morning. Does he have a closet full of sweaters in every color?

Raftery is brilliant. Fun, insightful, treats the fans as if they are intelligent and not watching their first college basketball game. I'd say he doesn't overuse "the kiss", so it's not annoying, but a nice trademark.

[sagegrouse]

I think one of the main things that separates Raftery from other knowledgeable commentators is that he treats basketball like it is a game that is played for fun not a matter of life and death.

sagegrouse

[Karl Beem]

Coach Knight has been a breath of fresh air. I can't believe I saw him wearing a Miami Vice-pink sweater this morning. Does he have a closet full of sweaters in every color?

Raftery is brilliant. Fun, insightful, treats the fans as if they are intelligent and not watching their first college basketball game. I'd say he doesn't overuse "the kiss", so it's not annoying, but a nice trademark.

That's a breast cancer shirt.

[91devil]

I briefly met Bill Raftery about ten years ago in Georgetown. At the time, I was in graduate school there and his daughter, I believe, was an undergrad.

I was at 'The Tombs' one Saturday evening (he had called a G'Town game earlier that day) and the two Rafterys came to the bar area (if you've been to 'The Tombs', you know how small it is). The crowd applauded him as he entered and he took the time to walk around and shake everyone's hand and introduce himself.

He was very cordial and chatted basketball with most of the folks. As nice as he seems on television (echo the above comment someone made about him calling the game as if it is meant to be fun), he was even more so in the brief time I spoke with him.

[dyedwab]

Raftery combines Packer's knowledge of the game, Vitale's enthusiasm for the game, and his own brand of humor to be the most fun color commentator on NCAA Games.

And Gus Johnson is just the consummate pro. This year during the Super Bowl, the Knicks were playing a home game that Gus was announcing. A timeout took place with about a minute to go in the Super Bowl, and the Garden showed the last minute of the Super Bowl on the big screen. After Gus made it clear that it didn't look like the Basketball game would resume untll the end of the Super Bowl, he sequed seemlessly into doing play-by-play on the Super Bowl for the last minute of that game...Just a great pro who understood what was needed at the moment.

[dukepsy1963]

My wife and I call him the "growler"...listen to him next time and see if you don't agree; especially after a nice play...:) After awhile it will begin to get on your nerves.

[dkbaseball]

If Raf would just, once, complete a sentence. I guess it's the pedant in me, but I find him hard to listen to because he speaks mostly in sentence fragments. OTOH, he does know ball, and is a refreshing throwback to the days when people in sports liked each other well enough to have a beer together.

[gw67]

I like all the announcers and color men that CBS uses for the NCAAT and agree with Jumbo that they have done a nice job putting together their announcing teams. Enberg and Lundquist are my favorite announcers while Raferty and Spanarkel are excellent color men. A color man on the rise, IMO, is ESPN's Steve Bardo. He has a nice mix of enthusiasim and knowledge. He remembers the game from 25 years ago while relating to the youngsters playing the game today. I got a kick watching a game the other day (NIT?) when a player made an old fashioned finger roll on a drive and Bardo remarked that he could join his 40-and-over team with that move.

gw67

[lmb]

I love Raftery. Or Raferty as some pronounce it.

During one of the tourney games last week he commented on a hand-check, perimeter foul that he thought shouldn't have been called.

"Nickel-dimer. McCrory's bargain basement."

That had me howling!:D