2024-25 Announcer Thread

gumbomoop said:
I’m not a fan of Bilas, either. But as he and Shulman are doing the SECT, my point is that the relevant comparison is between the announcing teams of O’Brien/Alexander and Brown/Crispin. Imo, Brown and Crispin are much the superior team, and it’s not close. I agree with you that CA has plenty of experience with ACC play, but too seldom does he actually analyze the play on the court. He spends a lot of time on extraneous matters, even if those are ACC-related.

But it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that CA well understands the several interesting story lines that will organize this year’s ACCT drama, and will realize he’s not the story.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. I know the ACC is down but this is still a premier event. CA seems like a perfectly nice guy but I don't want to hear him doing a major game. It is too much about him and too many of his attempts at humor just don't land.

I know that ESPN has analytics people out the wazoo but I tend not to trust their work. But I also guess I'm not their target audience. ESPN tends to pick hot announcers and over-expose them.

I was half watching the Wofford-Furman game last night and the announcers seemed perfectly fine. Told me about the game, which included a bunch of guys who I knew nothing about. Did a good job of getting excited during the many exciting moments, but not going overboard. There are plenty of other pairs out there like them who are perfectly fine who I would prefer.
 
gumbomoop said:
I am dumbfounded by ESPN’s selection of CA and OB as the lead team for the ACCT. After Wes Durham and Boeheim join with CA for Tuesday’s afternoon doubleheader, it’s OB and CA for the Weds-Thurs aft games, plus the semis and final. Meanwhile, the superior pair, Brown and Crispin, are the second team and so get the Tues-Weds-Thurs night games.

Does ESPN actually get positive fan responses to CA’s self-absorbed schtick?
Click to expand...
Stephen A Smith, Pat McAfee, Jay Bilas, Corey Alexander, all employed by ESPN and given more and more prime assignment/promotion. I can only assume we are in the minority and the rest of the country either likes (or at least doesn't mind) people who talk just to talk and never really say anything.
 
kmspeaks said:
Stephen A Smith, Pat McAfee, Jay Bilas, Corey Alexander, all employed by ESPN and given more and more prime assignment/promotion. I can only assume we are in the minority and the rest of the country either likes (or at least doesn't mind) people who talk just to talk and never really say anything.
Click to expand...
I know other ACC fans who very much enjoy Corey Alexander. When I brought up his "my guy" schtick, they all looked at me like I was losing my mind.
 
wavedukefan70s said:
Ncaa announcers set.
Click to expand...

Who's "GRANT HLL"? Is this one of those "There's no I in TEAM" sentiments?

CBS reveals 2025 NCAA Tournament announcers

Jalen Rose is the big addition as CBS and WBD reveal their announcing lineups for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
awfulannouncing.com awfulannouncing.com

Looks like they dropped Avery Johnson and brought in Jalen Rose. This move might have been made to punish Lisa Byington after her recent poor choice of words: "JuJu Watkins has caught the women’s basketball world by storm. Certainly lit the world of Los Angeles on fire." Wow -- that is a Doug Gottlieb-sized unprompted, unforced error.

It will be interesting to see if the broadcast CBS A-Team of Eagle/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson sticks with Duke (like they did last year for the second weekend, keeping Connecticut on basic cable with other announcers) or if they defect to Auburn or some other SEC team.

Right now, for opening weekend, it's looking like Raleigh/Lenovo Center would host the Duke and Florida pods on Friday/Sunday, while Lexington/Rupp Arena would host the Auburn and Alabama pods on Thursday/Saturday. So CBS is almost certainly going to spend the first and second rounds at those two sites. I think that Duke and Florida are, combined, still a bigger draw than Auburn and Alabama, so I suspect we get the A-Team, though I wouldn't mind Harlan/Bonner/Van Gundy/Shehadi as an alternative.
 
MChambers said:
Spanarkel deserves better.
Click to expand...
You mean in terms of working the Regionals, too? As far as his team is concerned, I think Spero Dedes is a really strong play-by-play guy and Spanarkel doesn't have to share air time with a second analyst....


...just realized Rothstein is a second analyst, not a sideline guy. Rothstein is kind of a scenery chewer.
 
Billy Dat said:
You mean in terms of working the Regionals, too? As far as his team is concerned, I think Spero Dedes is a really strong play-by-play guy and Spanarkel doesn't have to share air time with a second analyst....


...just realized Rothstein is a second analyst, not a sideline guy. Rothstein is kind of a scenery chewer.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about Rothstein? He did sideline last year and they don't have anyone else assigned to that crew as a sideline reporter. I would definitely prefer to have Spanarkel as the sole analyst.
 
DallasDevil said:
Are you sure about Rothstein? He did sideline last year and they don't have anyone else assigned to that crew as a sideline reporter. I would definitely prefer to have Spanarkel as the sole analyst.
Click to expand...
Now that you say it, I think you are correct because the other groups all have their sideline people (e.g Allie LaF, Evan Washburn) listed next to their play-by-play/color duos. Thanks...so I go back to my original point that Jim S has room to operate with Spero!
 
Billy Dat said:
You mean in terms of working the Regionals, too? As far as his team is concerned, I think Spero Dedes is a really strong play-by-play guy and Spanarkel doesn't have to share air time with a second analyst....


...just realized Rothstein is a second analyst, not a sideline guy. Rothstein is kind of a scenery chewer.
Click to expand...
Yes, I simply meant in terms of working the Regionals. Spero Dedes is fine.
 
I don't think Cory Alexander understands that by taking every opportunity to gas bag about everybody he's ever played with, against or met at the grocery store, he's making it much harder to sell his autobiography. Which no one would ever read anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top