2016-2017 Announcer Thread

[Clipsfan]

I totally agree. I have never been a fan of Tim Brando, but after yesterday, I like him even less. He was totally anti-Duke in his comments yesterday. He kept going on and on about Duke not stopping Wake from driving to the basket, when he knew that Duke was saddled with foul trouble and couldn't afford to foul anymore.

Have to agree that he was awful and I normally ignore the bad announcers. I think he was talking excessively about Wake's foul trouble when Collins got his 3rd and Duke had 3 guys with 4 at the time if I remember correctly. One that really bothered me was his comment in the first half saying that Duke's best offense was throwing it at the rim and putting it back. I think Duke had 2 second chance points that entire half. Just embarrassing overall.

[duke4ever19]

Who else would love it if espn offered an alternate feed online without announcers, perhaps on espn3, or even a button you could click to tune in-and-out of the announcer feed?

I got the idea from watching "sky-cam" during bowl season, which only had stadium noise, and found I much preferred hearing the sounds of the stadium, as if I were there.

[westwall]

Sorry, I cannot contribute to the tone of this thread. Tim Brando has been around for years. He is a generic sports announcer; he is not particularly good, and he's not particularly bad. He makes mistakes, but I attribute those to his not good/not bad nature, not to any bias. And yes, he did SEEM to be cheering when WF scored, but that is what generic announcers do, they emphasis plays by the team leading, as WF was, right to the end. Had Duke been leading, the opposite might well have been true.
And with regard to his mistakes, mis-identifying players, missing Childress' take-down of Grayson, I give the benefit of doubt; both announcers were far from the action, and G-Man was unable to provide any clarity from the booth. And, based on the TV feed, I also was unable (a rarity) to distinguish some of the players. Thus, I say, focus outrage on the bias generated by ESPN, not on these two non-ESPN broadcasters.

[wavedukefan70s]

Brando is decent .he could be a lot worse .G man more than made up for his generic partner.
I like bilas .i may be one of the few but i do like doris burke sometimes.

[budwom]

Who else would love it if espn offered an alternate feed online without announcers, perhaps on espn3, or even a button you could click to tune in-and-out of the announcer feed?

I got the idea from watching "sky-cam" during bowl season, which only had stadium noise, and found I much preferred hearing the sounds of the stadium, as if I were there.

The mute button essentially serves the same purpose...it has been my home MVP for years and years

[elvis14]

Who else would love it if espn offered an alternate feed online without announcers, perhaps on espn3, or even a button you could click to tune in-and-out of the announcer feed?

I got the idea from watching "sky-cam" during bowl season, which only had stadium noise, and found I much preferred hearing the sounds of the stadium, as if I were there.

I would love a feed that would let us hear the game but not the announcers. Using the mute button takes away from the game experience too much. I'm pretty used to ignoring bad announcers (although when they are as bad as Brando was the other night it's difficult...and he was ridiculously bad not just generic).

[killerleft]

Sorry, I cannot contribute to the tone of this thread. Tim Brando has been around for years. He is a generic sports announcer; he is not particularly good, and he's not particularly bad. He makes mistakes, but I attribute those to his not good/not bad nature, not to any bias. And yes, he did SEEM to be cheering when WF scored, but that is what generic announcers do, they emphasis plays by the team leading, as WF was, right to the end. Had Duke been leading, the opposite might well have been true.
And with regard to his mistakes, mis-identifying players, missing Childress' take-down of Grayson, I give the benefit of doubt; both announcers were far from the action, and G-Man was unable to provide any clarity from the booth. And, based on the TV feed, I also was unable (a rarity) to distinguish some of the players. Thus, I say, focus outrage on the bias generated by ESPN, not on these two non-ESPN broadcasters.

Yeah, Brando isn't that bad, I guess. I thought that Mike Gminski, my hero, had a lackluster game, too. Maybe they just fed off each other's blah and ended up blah-blah.

I would love to watch the game and only hear only the actual arena noise, also. There's less to clutter the mind, it causes less angst, and makes the experience more enjoyable.

[Faustus]

Years ago (like early 1980s? I bet numerous readers here remember better than I do) NBC as a gimmick experimented with showing one NFL game without ANY announcers in the booth. I recall it being a Dolphins game in Miami. The only aids were down and yardage, and I guess clock, shown at the bottom of the screen. I'm pretty sure they showed the scoreboard a good deal as well. I don't recall what they did for instant replays, but those would have been without commentary as well. Evidently the entire nation hated it and there was never any mention of repeating the attempt, but I rather liked it. It's very understandable why it wasn't successful: there would be no one to explain how a play had just gone, what a penalty was all about, not to mention anything about strategies or supplementary information about anything, and, worse yet, you actually had to pay attention to the game itself and actually think about these things on your own (by the twenty-teens, an almost inconceivable concept - some people can't even drive their own cars today without a little voice from a speaker telling them what to do).

But on the other hand, I never felt more like I was actually there in the stadium, and the game seemed far more immediate and surrounding you as the crowd noise and sounds from the field itself were far more pervasive than the mere background noise we otherwise get, with some inarticulate boob of an ex-player babbling nonsense like "He really came to play today" (Gee, really?) or "He really wanted it more than the other guy!" (Possibly, but maybe he's just a better player. Thanks for passing that insight along to us). Basketball games would be even more difficult, if not nearly impossible, to air coherently without SOME commentary, but it might be refreshing at some point for a network to provide only a single commentator who realizes his job is to provide minimal but critical information, that viewers can actually see the action itself and not require an all-inclusive account of it, and that every second of air space does not have to be filled with verbal noise. I don't think anyone argues that the most effective act of announcers at the very conclusion of a dramatic and important game, as the camera pans the celebrating team, the emotionally crushed losing team, the crowds (remember the crying flutist from Villanova after the State loss the other year?), is just to shut up. I wish they could do that more often. But we all know it ain't gonna happen.

[rsvman]

I would love a feed that would let us hear the game but not the announcers. Using the mute button takes away from the game experience too much. I'm pretty used to ignoring bad announcers (although when they are as bad as Brando was the other night it's difficult...and he was ridiculously bad not just generic).

This! A thousand times this.

The mute button is great but it takes away the cheering, booing, etc., which I miss a great deal. In general I find it better (most of the time) to put up with boring or idiotic announcers than to not be able to hear the atmosphere of the game.

[bluedev_92]

The problem with Brando last night wasn't simple mistakes. It was his tone. When WF scored or made a good play he was loud and cheering. When Duke would score he was just ho hum: "and Allen hits a three on this end" vs. "Collins DOWN THE LANE WITH CONVICTION!!!! Duke HAS NO ANSWER FOR HIM TONIGHT. That young man is so talented!!!!" etc. etc. If there's one thing we knew by the end of that game, it's how great each and every WF player is and could be.

He claimed that Jayson threw an elbow (on a "foul" where the WF player hit his face on the ball). He was anti-Grayson Allen all night. He said nothing when GA was tackled (Childress should have been ejected, BTW, that wasn't a simple reaction trip he ran across the floor grabbed another player and tackled/threw him into the chairs). There was no talk of how outrageous Childress' actions were. I never knew TB was a Duke hater...he was last night.

My best friend generally thinks I'm too sensitive about the anti-Duke announcers. He hears it but doesn't think there's much too it like I do. He texted me last night that he wanted beat Brando with a baseball bat (he's normally the more reasonable between us). That put the hack job that he did last night in perspective for me.

+1 Was restraining myself from throwing items around the room! Can't believe his whole mindset...

[elvis14]

Not to beat a dead horse but I don't usually pay much attention to the announcers (although Elmore and, sadly, Bilas get to me). So I'm not making a blanket "Brando is bad" statement, I'm just talking about last night's game. He was awful last night. Don't know if hating Duke is the norm for him because I couldn't tell you who he is or when I've heard him do other games because he was mostly ignored.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I recently read an article about a women's game (I think it was Seton Hall vs. St. John's or something like that) where they miked both coaches for most of the game. They had announcers but told them to talk as little as possible so the audience could mainly hear the coaches. I'm thinking that producing this in real time would have to be very hard in terms of figuring out which coach to have active, keeping it PG, etc., but it sounds like a great idea.

Unrelatedly, as someone who deeply enjoyed their time down south but now lives in the northeast, I really enjoy the ACC Network games for the local advertising flavor - it makes me really miss my years in Durham.

[jv001]

Not to beat a dead horse but I don't usually pay much attention to the announcers (although Elmore and, sadly, Bilas get to me). So I'm not making a blanket "Brando is bad" statement, I'm just talking about last night's game. He was awful last night. Don't know if hating Duke is the norm for him because I couldn't tell you who he is or when I've heard him do other games because he was mostly ignored.

I've heard Brando and Cremins on XM-Radio and they both seem to like Duke and especially Coach K. However I agree, Brando was really bad in the Wake game. G-Man was off his game as well but I usual like him. GoDuke!

[Danke Shane]

I would love a feed that would let us hear the game but not the announcers. Using the mute button takes away from the game experience too much. I'm pretty used to ignoring bad announcers (although when they are as bad as Brando was the other night it's difficult...and he was ridiculously bad not just generic).

About 6 or 7 years ago I used a 5.1 surround sound speaker system with the tv. I noticed that the rear speakers on sports broadcasts were usually just the crowd noise audio. I set up a profile on my audio receiver box for "sports" that muted all but the two rears and it was a legit workaround and achieve the broadcaster free viewing experience. I'm not sure if surround sound broadcasts are still set up this way but it might be something to explore.

[arnie]

Announcers tonite calling the game are analyzing the flow, discussing player strengths - except for 10 minute stretch on Mussberger. Refreshing sounds.

[itshoopsbabee]

Announcers tonite calling the game are analyzing the flow, discussing player strengths - except for 10 minute stretch on Mussberger. Refreshing sounds.

Dan Dakich is a VERY refreshing change - no whining about the NCAA or Grayson or ...

Just calling the game.

[arnie]

Announcers tonite calling the game are analyzing the flow, discussing player strengths - except for 10 minute stretch on Mussberger. Refreshing sounds.

Disregard previous post. Dakich and Davis loving they're run of mill ESPN hacks. Of course Dan Dakich will always be my hero. 23

[Bluedog]

Dakich defended Grayson and even espoused some of the Grayson hate perspectives that have been posted here. I personally thought he was pretty solid. I'd like more Duke games called by him.

[arnie]

Dakich defended Grayson and even espoused some of the Grayson hate perspectives that have been posted here. I personally thought he was pretty solid. I'd like more Duke games called by him.

Agree, Dakich focused on game flow and actual X's and O's. He did trash the Grayson haters. Wonder if Jay Willuams gets him terminated.

[Saratoga2]

Agree, Dakich focused on game flow and actual X's and O's. He did trash the Grayson haters. Wonder if Jay Willuams gets him terminated.

The difference between Dick Vitale and Dakich is night and day. Why ESPN sticks with Dickie is beyond me.