I mean, I'll give Jay the benefit of the doubt on that one, but not Boeheim.
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Before this all gets dumped over to the "announcer discussion" thread where it belongs, I'll throw in my great appreciation for Doris Burke. That woman knows basketball as well as anyone and can breakdown tape.
I wasn't able to watch the Syracuse game (and badly miss the days when full video replays were available for goduke subscribers, sigh), so I missed the commentary and don't really have an opinion on Bilas v. Boeheim: Judgment Day. But in my review of the post-game thread to keep somewhat current, the bolded gave me a chuckle that I felt should be shared. I know what you meant, tommy (and agree), but I am also glad I wasn't drinking my coffee when I read your post. :cool:
I blame the tangents on the producers as much as the announcers. For some of the tangents, they have graphics teed up (often the annoying ones that take up half the screen during live game action) so clearly the topic of discussion was pre-planned. I'm sure the announcers have some discretion regarding talking about it for 15 seconds vs. 3 minutes, and some announcers do a better job than others of sprinkling in what is actually happening in the game while going off on their tangent.
On the other hand, I am pretty sure that the Corey Alexander "I'm going to spend half the game name dropping all of my AAU relationships and how close I am to everybody" tangents are not being encouraged by the producers.
My general take is that some of these tangents might be kind of interesting, but not in place of talking about the game, and not when they go on and on about them. If ESPN wants to sacrifice a 30 second commercial during a timeout for 94 feet with Jay Bilas, I am OK watching it. But if ESPN wants to show 94 feet with Jay Bilas when I am trying to watch the game, that doesn't work. But I would rather watch ads for hemorrhoid cream than see Lunardi - keep him away.