WE BRING TO YOU THE 2009 "Vinnies"--our holiday stocking stuffers of cracked crab, a nice pinot, and about 10 shamwows for our elite friends in the SF-Oakland Bay Area media.
**TED ROBINSON: steady, polished, and undeniably one of the best and nicest guys in the business. Robinson does it all, from the radio play-by-play for the 49ers, to Wimbledon for NBC. (As an aside, it's also nice to hear a guy on KNBR who's knowledgeable, interesting, and doesn't insult his listeners with dumb sound effects and hollow gimmicks)
**FRANK SOMERVILLE: The Bay Area's best anchor on perennial classy, #1-rated KTVU's "10 o'clock News." Somerville has provided a smooth transition at the Fox outlet, since taking over for retired Dennis Richmond. He is first-rate in delivery, epitomizes the KTVU "no-nonsense" approach, and wears some of the nicest Armani suits in the business.
**MARK IBANEZ: Channel 2's three-decade-tenured weeknight sports anchor with a solid performance on the KTVU news shows. Ibanez is a terrific writer, provides unusual, often provocative opinions from time to time and is not afraid to take an unpopular stand, most evident during his post-game analysis on the 49ers "Playbook" show.
**RITA WILLIAMS: If it appears this is woody for KTVU, no, it isn't; its just that the FOX2 affiliate in Oakland has some of the best reporters in the business, and Williams is one of them. Tenacious, fair, tough and innately credible, Williams astute street reporting is network quality; I'd love to see thirty minutes with her and Gavin Newsom, unedited.
**DIANE DWYER: NBC Bay Area Weekend anchor/reporter is a solid newswoman who has become adept at the art of keeping it simple, yet refreshingly interesting. And yes, sorry, but she's nice to look at too, which is always helpful, thank you very much.
**KEN BASTIDA: Its not that easy to go from radio to TV and become as good as Bastida, but the Bay Area native, who used to tonsil for both KCBS and KFRC, has managed to excel in the main chair for CBS5. Bastida also has some of the best pipes in the local TV biz. Ho. Ho. Ho.
**RONN OWENS: Owens is still king of the morning AM radio talk-show circuit and KGO radio's dean of hosts. Hard to believe that Owens has been at the mike for over 34 years. He still does the best interview in local media, and can yak the yak from politics to sports, and yes, even rock trivia in between.
**STAN BUNGER: KCBS' informative, smart and peripatetic morning news anchor is still strong and versatile after nearly 30 years of announcing the news from the early days in Sacramento to his home base in SF. Bunger is consistent with a capital "C", and his weekly chat with DC political analyst, Marc Sandalow, is required listening.
**BOB MELROSE: Simply put, the BEST radio street reporter in the SF market. If there's a five-alarm fire on Market St, expect to hear Melrose down at the scene. If he isn't, someone start an investigation. KCBS has many of these talented reporters; Barbara Taylor at SF City Hall, Mike Colgan in the San Jose bureau, and Doug Sovern, but Melrose is in a class by himself.
**JOHN ROTHMANN: KGO radio's 10PM- 1AM talker knows more about the history of all 44 US Presidents than anyone on the planet; has a great knack of making politics interesting to all, and yes, also some great pipes himself. And if you dare want to enter into anything about the Middle East debate, listen to Rothmann, whose knowledge of the subject is second to none.
**KEN KORACH: The Oakland A's radio play-by-play man is one of the most underrated announcers in the Bay Area and beyond. Korach's style is crisp, clear, and critical, when necessary. He's also one of the few guys that remembered the age-old line, "You can never give the score too often." I forget who said that, but fortunately Korach hasn't.
**TONY BRUNO: The syndicated radio talk-show host is funny, knowledgeable, and can pound away any subject matter from Philly sports to Rachel Ray on the Food Channel. His nightly show on KNBR 1050 is a must-listen and yes, "Send it in, Jerome!"
**DAMON BRUCE: KNBR's nighttime voice has often biting commentary and isn't a tedious homer, particularly when it comes to critiquing the 49ers, Warriors and Giants, all of whom, by the way, appear on the station. In fact, it was the Giants that were so annoyed with Bruce' spot-on takes, that they were instrumental in banning him from doing the post-game shows at Giants' home games. Honesty is no virtue for Larry Baer and company.
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