Annual Announcer Kvetch Thread, 2022-23

[ClemmonsDevil]

haha I had noticed the commercials were particularly bad last night. The eye candy thing was hilarious. I do like the Progressive ad, though, where the couple disagrees about who was supposed to bring the life jackets, so they throw a challenge flag.

I like all if those. Hit close to home. But I like them.

[kako]

Sorry, but the Reese Davis/Debbie Antonelli pair should never be allowed to call another Duke game. Practically every comment they made was about what Wake needed to do to get back in the game or how important something Wake did was. It felt like I was listening to a Wake Forest home team broadcast team. Debbie has always been anti-Duke women, but has generally been fair about Duke men. Not last night. My wife never wants to turn the sound off, but man I was itching to use the mute button last night.

I don't think Davis is a good play-by-play guy. Perhaps just because I'm used to it as being such, but I think he's voice and cadence is much more suited for the studio, not live action. Offhand, I'm not sure if I think anyone else is worse at it on the mouse channels.

IMO Antonelli is good as far as analysis, but I would tend to agree sometimes about sentiment.

The reality is that there are more anti-Duke fans than pro-Duke fans. So I get that sometimes the announcers lean that way, it's just how it goes. Plus announcers and networks always want a competitive game so some people won't change the channel, so they will usually be rooting for whoever is losing. Still, ideally announcers should appear unbiased and be even-handed/equal.

9F

[MChambers]

Seth Greenberg is doing this game, while Chris Spatola is in the studio. Weird.

All I can think is that since both teams are on the bubble, Seth would be a perfect fit, since his VT teams were always on the bubble.

[sagegrouse]

The cheap ads are really annoying. I would think ESPN could do better for a prime time game on the main network. I often watch the games with my pre-teen boys and some if the ads are a bit awkward. Fortunately there were no Bent Carrot ads last night…

My "favorite" ad from two years ago on ACCN was for night vision binoculars that also had adjustable magnification. They were priced way under $100 -- I forget if you got a second pair. Funny, but as a serious bird-watcher, my 8x40 Nikons cost over 20x as much. I guess I got rooked.

[Phredd3]

My "favorite" ad from two years ago on ACCN was for night vision binoculars that also had adjustable magnification. They were priced way under $100 -- I forget if you got a second pair. Funny, but as a serious bird-watcher, my 8x40 Nikons cost over 20x as much. I guess I got rooked.

I see what you did there.

[kmspeaks]

For the college football playoffs, they had some alternate broadcasts available on TV where there were no announcers, but you heard the stadium announcer just like people in the arena. It felt weird to watch on TV that way, but I'd like to try that for a Duke basketball game.

That is my favorite way to watch and I always check the ESPN app for alternate broadcasts. Unfortunately for basketball most of the no announcer games come with the above the rim camera angle which is garbage.

[DukieInKansas]

Have I just missed Jay talking about what Duke needs to do at the start of the 2nd half? I caught what he thinks unc needs to do so I must have just missed the Duke part.

[SouthernDukie]

Have I just missed Jay talking about what Duke needs to do at the start of the 2nd half? I caught what he thinks unc needs to do so I must have just missed the Duke part.

But he’s not biased. 🙄

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Duke did exactly what they needed to do.

[weezie]

Here's something wonderful: LaPhonso Ellis was standing near the band filming the last big musical riotous burst out of the Crazies.
He's wonderful. See, I said something nice!

[TheDevilMadeMeDoIt]

So far the ESPN “experts” from Game Day this morning are 0-3 on predictions. Gonzaga still playing so they could be correct on one of the games. Greenberg, Ellis and Reese all picked the cheats to win. Bilas demurred, based on calling the game.

Speaking of Game Day how did Duke let those Carolina fans in Cameron? I hope they enjoyed the game tonight as much as I did.

Personally I was happy to finally have ESPN’s A team calling our game tonight.

[sagegrouse]

I have a higher opinion of Bilas than most here, but I thought Bilas and Shulman gave the most professional and informative basketball telecast and commentary that I can remember.

[Southgate0809]

My girlfriend is completely new to basketball. She sort of started watching with me during March Madness last year, hasn't paid too much attention this year, but she watched the game on tv tonight while I was there in person. She texted me near the end of the first half saying that Bilas was insufferable, and she had to watch on mute.

[Matches]

I have a higher opinion of Bilas than most here, but I thought Bilas and Shulman gave the most professional and informative basketball telecast and commentary that I can remember.

I agree, I didn’t think they were bad. Bilas was a bit too effusive in his praise for UNC’s 8th and 9th guys whose names I can’t be bothered to learn for my taste, but overall they did a solid job and didn’t lapse into schtick too often. Bilas in particular spent much less time than usual complaining about the refs and/ or the NCAA.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

As I wrote above, I thought Bilas was fine. I am middle of the road on him - I don’t despise him as much as others here do but I have grown to find him annoying, largely because he is over-exposed so his shtick has grown stale. I thought he was less cliche thsn usual last night.

My biggest complaint about last night goes to the producers. The segment where Bilas was watching film with Scheyer ran well into live game action. It was bad enough when it was on split screen for a while but I think they briefly had it on full screen instead of showing the game.

[OldPhiKap]

I have a higher opinion of Bilas than most here, but I thought Bilas and Shulman gave the most professional and informative basketball telecast and commentary that I can remember.

Agreed. But I am not anti-Bilas either so ….

[MChambers]

I agree, I didn’t think they were bad. Bilas was a bit too effusive in his praise for UNC’s 8th and 9th guys whose names I can’t be bothered to learn for my taste, but overall they did a solid job and didn’t lapse into schtick too often. Bilas in particular spent much less time than usual complaining about the refs and/ or the NCAA.

I found Bilas to be much better than he is in most of his games. Over the years, he has seemed to lapse into self-parody, especially with his complaints about the officials, the rules, and the NCAA. He toned that down last night.

[tommy]

I thought Fran Frischilla was excellent tonight. He was friendly, self-effacing, and most importantly analyzed the game and did so in a straightforward manner without drawing attention to himself and without the need for some kind of shtick. Like an adult talking to other adults, in an interesting and entertaining way. I appreciate him taking the "analyze it as a coach sees it" approach, as to me that provides the most interesting insights. He also was well-prepared, knew what has gone on before tonight with both teams, and didn't rely on hackneyed un-funny anecdotes. Wish there were more like him.

[heyman25]

I thought Fran Frischilla was excellent tonight. He was friendly, self-effacing, and most importantly analyzed the game and did so in a straightforward manner without drawing attention to himself and without the need for some kind of shtick. Like an adult talking to other adults, in an interesting and entertaining way. I appreciate him taking the "analyze it as a coach sees it" approach, as to me that provides the most interesting insights. He also was well-prepared, knew what has gone on before tonight with both teams, and didn't rely on hackneyed un-funny anecdotes. Wish there were more like him.

He was the best analyst of the year on a Duke game.

[sagegrouse]

I thought Fran Frischilla was excellent tonight. He was friendly, self-effacing, and most importantly analyzed the game and did so in a straightforward manner without drawing attention to himself and without the need for some kind of shtick. Like an adult talking to other adults, in an interesting and entertaining way. I appreciate him taking the "analyze it as a coach sees it" approach, as to me that provides the most interesting insights. He also was well-prepared, knew what has gone on before tonight with both teams, and didn't rely on hackneyed un-funny anecdotes. Wish there were more like him.

He should have said, "This Duke team is so bad, Scheyer should pull his team off the court and head for the airport. No, I wouldn't show the video to the team -- I would hire an illusionist to explain to the team that the game never occurred."