Sunday, August 19, 2012

KPIX Makovec/Matier Good TV; Political Roundtable Also Nice; Bay Area's Best Sports Announcers; Sunday Scrambled Eggs

Anne Makovec and Phil Matier are not the sexiest team on Sunday morning local TV, but are a refreshing mix of news, conversation, and just enough bite that makes KPIX the best presentation of weekend fare.

Even better is the meaty political roundtable with Matier and fellow Chronicle political writer, Carla Marinucci and Willie Brown.

If you like politics, then this is must-view. The banter is straight-forward, revealing, and pointed give and takes. And better yet, interesting as all get-go. Perhaps it's the setting in a local coffee shop that lends some down-home authenticity, but it works.

Here's hoping PIX keeps Makovec and Matier a permanent fixture every Sunday and the roundtable with Matier and Brown a regular feature.

*On Twitter, I was picking my all-time favorite Bay Area sports play-by-play broadcasters. Here they are in no particular order:

Baseball:

Lon Simmons
Bill King
Hank Greenwald
Ken Korach
Jon Miller
Ted Robinson
Monte Moore
Dave Flemming

Basketball:

Bill King, (the best ever, and with Lakers voice, Chick Hearn, the two greatest PBP guys in broadcasting)

Greg Papa
Hank Greenwald
Roxy Bernstein

Football:

Bill King
Lon Simmons
Don Klein
Ted Robinson
Greg Papa
Joe Starkey

Notes: I know Russ Hodges is left out and only because I never heard him live. Here just including those of my lifetime...King, in my opinion, was the greatest Bay Area tonsil; first off, he did three different sports, many years simultaneously. Basketball was his best, (Warriors), and football, (with the Raiders/A's) were his next best. King was a master wordsmith and elite broadcaster--never a homer and always prepared with the best ingredients: the voice, the detail, the cred. Holy Toledo indeed...Lon Simmons was gifted with knowledge, dry, sly sense of humor and again, never a homer--told it like it is/was. Baseball was his kingpin, but he was great on the 49ers...Don Klein was very understated, maybe a bit too much for me, but he was consistent, sharp, and straight....Ted Robinson was an underrated announcer on baseball and I love his football work for the 49ers...Hank Greenwald, to me at least, was the best Giant's PBP guy,  A small notch over Simmons. I like Jon Miller a lot, but  he's not above Greenwald and he's not close to Simmons...Yes, you read it right: Roxy Bernstein is on the list, (my list); he calls a good game and keeps it straight and simple. Good flow of the game...Monte Moore was a homer, sure, but he knew baseball pretty darn well and managed a long career...Greg Papa is a complete professional. Love him on basketball and his football radio PBP is good, just a little less cheering and he'd be a straight A. Master on radio, miss him mightily calling Warriors games...Joe Starkey makes the list as a dedicated Pro-Football and college announcer. He was good on hockey too.

ADD: Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda broadcast hockey. I'm evolving into a hockey guy, but not quite there yet...but Hahn is simple so good--knowledgeable, entertaining, and quite capable of controlling the flow of the action, just a superb broadcaster. And Remenda too, who obviously prepares, loves his subject and has a very dry sense of humor.

Who do you like?

60 comments:

  1. Ken Korach is really good and is underrated as a broadcaster. He always makes his broadcasts fresh.
    Randy and Drew are fantastic as hockey is the fastest moving of all sports and they get it right. Not easy to do with all the action going on in a hockey game.

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  2. I can never forgive Papa when he defended Sprewell's choking of PJ Carlisimo. It was unconscionable and utterly unbelievable.

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  3. You left off Wayne Walker for football. Simply the best color guy the 49ers ever had.

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  4. Rich -- I'm rarely in disagreement with you but in my opinion Joe Starkey was an abomination as a broadcaster. (Although he is, by all accounts, a very nice man.) I think he is hands down the worst professional play-by-play announcer I ever heard doing major college/pro sports. You couldn't listen to a game without him missing the down-and-distance details about 20 times, getting turnovers wrong, and completely botching the description of a critical play. Oh, and then correcting his mistakes about four plays later after leaving listeners mired in a fog of confusion. Listening to a 49ers game on the radio during his lamentable tenure was an excruciating exercise in patience and a true test of loyal fandom. He was the epitome of the term "lightweight" in his profession and basically lucked in to the Niners job because Lon Simmons got in a to contractual disagreement with the organization on the eve of the first preseason game of the 1989 season.

    No disagreements with you on Bill King, however. His baseball work is often given short shrift because he was otherworldly in the other two sports, but he was fantastic as a baseball announcer. And if there was ever a better football announcer on the radio, I never heard him, and his football work wasn't even as great as his basketball announcing which was simply sublime. He's a local secret because he was not a national voice, and Lakers fans always say Chick Hearn was the best (and he was great) but King could call the action on the court like no other -- with machine gun descriptions -- and never left the listener lost or confused. I've never heard anybody else come close. He was a once-in-a-century talent. Thanks to the endurance of NFL Films ("Robiskie and Banaszak are the backs, slot right, Branch inside Bradshaw, Stabler back...!") and the recent Moneyball movie ("Just plain crazy!") younger fans, and those outside of the Bay Area, can at least get a brief glimpse -- like a face in the window of a passing train -- of the master's prodigious talents.

    One last thought: Starkey's call of the Cal-Stanford play has been replayed a bazillion times, mostly because it's amusing to hear since he lost all of his composure during the call and was reduced to sounding like a 9-year-old kid. (And was making about as much sense as one by the time the play was over.) But if you aren't watching the video of the play in coordination with Starkey's call, would you have any idea about what was happening on the field? Ask yourself this -- how would King have called that play? And how much better would it have been (with a Holy Toledo or two thrown in for good measure) in his words? The difference between a transcendent talent like King and a pedestrian talent like Starkey, is like the difference between F. Scott Fitzgerald...and Bob Fitzgerald.

    DarbyO

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    1. i am with you on the starky bashing....althoough he was OK early in the cal he got to b horable. And don't question a ref when you have no understanding of the rules, i remeber a fan came in front of the box and threw a rule book in one saturday.
      And his most bigest call is non decriptive ...if sports broadcasting is like painting a picture why did Cal hire jason pollick...

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    2. From Gaga V

      DarbyO, you nailed it. While I was reading your thoughts on Starkey, I was thinking exactly of that histrionic, amateurish call he made at The Play '82. And how it is only justified by the accompanying video.

      Starkey never understood how important it was to tell the listener exactly what yardline each play ended on. How a professional broadcaster just could not grasp that one basic concept.... was baffling.

      3 of my favorite Bill King calls:

      1) The whole Holy Roller call. YouTube has the actual TV footage -- not the NFL Films slo-mo, with the end-zone camera angle -- with Bill's whole call.

      2) "Yascha Jeifetz has never played a violin with the same dexterity as Kenny Stabler has played the Minnesota Vikings defense here today in the Super Bowl." What sports announcer has ever referenced Yascha Jeifetz? What Raider fan knew who he was talking about?

      3) "John Madden's grin is from ear to ear; he looks like a slit watermelon." (Same Super Bowl as #2. Rick Barry, doing NBA color commentary in the '81 championships, regrettably tried using this line.... to describe Bill Russell's smile. Russell was the other color commentator. And he was not amused. CBS fired Barry shortly after this. It's on YouTube. It's probably the most awkward moment in sports broadcasting history.)

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  5. Ted Robinson -vastly overrated. Thin voice,and ..well if your PBP and sound like tin cans,how much can you make up for that? And despite what gets said,He's a homer. He will knock the Raiders for example,about some penalty...then admit he didn't see the game!..well I did,and it WAS a phantom call.
    Ted is good at chess and golf calls.Then,he's at home.

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    1. I agree. Ted is very good at networking which is why he's so 'versatile' as a broadcaster.

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    2. "Ted Robinson is a homer."
      Very well said.
      However the local media gives him a pass.
      He smoozes to much with industry people to establish connections.

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  6. Al Michaels, Art Eckmann, Gary Park are three others that I can think of. While not a favorite, who could forget Red Rush and Hal Ramey. These guys showed up in '77 when the A's had gone from champs to being the laughing stock of baseball. I will never forget those first couple years when the A's did not have a radio contract for a number of months and then when they did, these two unheard of guys, Red Rush and Hal Ramey, showed up to do play-by-play. I'm not sure what happened to Rush, but Ramey stuck around and is (at least I think he is) still a part of Bay Area radio today.

    Gary Park was the Giants TV guy and the KTVU sports guy for many years and did a great job.

    I remember Al Michaels teaming up with Lon Simmons. They were a great duo for Giants baseball. Al also did a good job during the 1989 world series when the earthquake hit. He had lived in the Bay Area so he knew the places that were being talked about (the Tenderloin, Mission, other districts). Watching the coverage, he could describe what was going on and where in the City it was happening. While not specifically related to sports, he did a good job, especially for those of us who lived out of town and weren't as familiar with where certain things were in the City.

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    1. Hal Ramey had been in San Jose before this doing the NASL version of the Earthquakes. I think they were broadcast of KXRX (1500AM). Jon Miller also did Quakes games one season - I think 1974.

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    2. Larry Baer even did play by play for the A's as a Cal student I believe. The A's didn't weren't broadcasting their games and Baer and some buddies convinced Charlie O' to let them broadcast the games.

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  7. Not much to quibble with; Duane Kuiper should be there...Bill King and Hank Greenwald on the Warriors broadcasts were just incredible

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  8. Joe Angel. Not only was he perfect for the bay area,he never butchered the Latin players names. And that Gary Radnich puts him down only tells me Joe was one of the best. The bigger the asshole you are,the more Gary loves you.

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    1. Nice to hear from Joe Angel Sr...your opinion "This one belongs in the loss column"

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    2. Gary loves Fitz,Krueger,and..just find an ass,And Gary loves it.

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  9. Good list Rich. But you still need to include Russ Hodges no matter the excuse you used to exclude him. He was a great tonsil. A lot of us who grew up around here heard him and his By By Baby calls for home runs are still priceless!

    Radar

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  10. Very funny,DarbyO, regarding the Fitzgeralds.!!!

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  11. Christine Craft is filling in for Montemanure. Initially, I thought it would be an excellent change of pace but the old Craftster is ill informed as to the Assange/Manning/Wikileaks issue. She's been off air too long, she is rusty and makes no sense at all. On the one hand she defends the convicted wife beater Mirkarimi and on the other she wants Assange hanged for the bogus charges aginst him in Sweden. Get back to practicing law honey. By the way, next time you fill in ask the producers not to play heavy metal music. It does not suit you babe.

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    1. and you make no sense at all in defaming Ross Mirkarimi. there is no allegation whatsoever of any beating. No hitting, beating, smacking, breaking, bloodying, just one arm grab in an argument over eliana's plan to take Theo out of the country for another long time when she made another movie. They both regret the argument. One arm grab does not an abuser make, no matter how many times you say it.Perhaps you and some of your closest babes and honeys could start up a special arm grabber victim's unit right here in San Francisco...Law and Order,SAGVU.

      As for the petulant professional whistleblower,I don't want Julian Assange hanged. He's not charged with a capital crime. Did you think he was? He's accused of sexual assault and rape. In your eyes, that's heroic. I say, if he's such a hero, let him face his accusers and stop hiding out in embassies like a spoiled little narcissist.
      I don't choose any stinking music.
      Everybody pretty much uses the same music these days,hadn't you noticed?

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    2. Why would Assange go to Sweden to clear his name without any assurances that they will not then turn him over to the USA? You think he wants to end up in solitary confinement naked for the next several years? You gotta have your head checked. You show more disdain for Assange for exposing the criminal acts of the USA than the criminal acts themselves. If Mirkarimi was innocent he should not have pled guilty. Why don't you tell him to just face the music (heavy metal?) and just exit through stage left.

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    3. I thought Christine was in fine form today. She's a terrific radio personality.



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    4. As a radio personality she is fine, but her grasp of the Wikileaks issue is very shallow. How naive of her to say that Assange should just go to Sweden to be questioned. Hello, Earth to Craft!!!, if he goes to Sweden everyone knows he will clear his name of the rape charges and then be turned over to the USA (where experts are almost 100% sure there is a sealed secret indictment waiting for him). Her stance today akin to "America is right love it or leave it" was extremely nauseating for its naivete. She should just stick to talking about dogs, Schwarzenegger, the arm grabbing convict and her lawsuit from last century. Bigger issues like Wikileaks require much more nuance than she is willing to research.

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    5. Christine Craft, the crafty one is back.

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    6. I'm amused at 5:57's assured belief that "Everyone knows he will clear his name of rape charges" and how US "experts" are 200% sure there is an indictment waiting for him. really? I'd say your grasp of reality is askew, at best.
      Do you imagine "secret, sealed" indictments around every corner. Do you get a big kick out of the United States intel operatives being put in danger. Does that put a big happy smile on your face? Do you think that having sex with someone while they are asleep was the way to go?Do you want Breanna Manning and Julian Assangggggghhhh to determine the security and survival of this country? I don't. Research that.

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    7. Craft, how do you explain the fact that the ”rape victim” stayed with Assange two days extra after the alleged assault? Was rape soooo much fun that she wanted two more days with the rapist? Pleeaaaase! Do some research before you stand up for the groupie. Everyone knows extradition from Sweden would be much easier to the US than from Britain. It has been proven that not a single life was endangered by the Wikileaks revelations so get over it. Btw, you seem stuck on Manning's sexuality. Many people in the Castro would be offended. Transexuality is not a crime...

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    8. Research this: there are two, not one, TWO women alleging sexual assaults from Mr. Asssannnnnggggghe.

      Transexuality is not a crime, however a soldier who has a grudge on his petite shoulder because he wants to be Breanna Manning,instead of Bradley may have motivations for endangering the United States, other than promoting "transparency" in government.
      Mr/mz manning also engaged in smacking a female army officer in the face. You think that he is a hero, I don't. I think the petty little egotist wanted the whole world to revolve around him. He got his wish.

      As for your statement that it is "fact" that no life was endangered by the wikileaks/manning behavior, are you really so naive to believe that we would ever actually know that? Apparently you are.
      I believe this country deserves to have an ability to send classified State department cables. You don't. YOu take glee in the humiliation of the United States. I don't.
      Does the military of every single entity do bad things in war? always and yes. I think that our troops should come home not only from Iraq, but Afghanistan. I do not think we should do Israel's bidding with regard to Persia.
      I'm no warmonger. I also do not want Julian Assange or Breanna Manning determing American foreign policy or deciding which cables will embarrass or not embarrass my country.

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    9. Hey Craft, that's a huge leap don't you think? Manning released the information because he wanted to become a woman? Is the chlorine in the swimming pool fogging up your thinking? You sound like the thugs who run Stratfor. Since you claim to be soooooo informed about Wikileaks I am sure you know who they are. This is what one of their vp's Bartholomew Mongoven said about Assange, it sounds to me you could fit right in with this crowd: “I'm in favor of using whatever trumped up charge is available to get this guy and his servers off the streets. And I'd feed that shit head soldier to the first pack of wild dogs I could find. Or perhaps just do to him whatever the Iranians are doing to our sources there.” You are correct. I am all for exposing this type of information. Look deeper into the issue beyond the Manning sexuality. As to the rape allegations, no charges have been filed. Assange has told Sweden he will gladly talk with them, but they will not agree to guarantee he will not be extradited to the USA. Why would he cooperate? And what do you say of the thuggish British threats of illegally storming the Ecuadorian embassy? You agree with that with your tiny imperialist mind? Daniel Ellsberg supports Assange and that counts for a lot more than your petty fettish with Manning's sexuality.

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  12. If you were to include who did best color..that would be fun. Fosse and Barnett come to mind. Tom Flores always makes me laugh when he comes down hard on a Raider for some penalty or bonehead play. I KNOW he's THAT close to calling them CHINGADOS!..lol eh,Its what they deserve at times.

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  13. Vince Controneo is the worst broadcaster in the bay area and it's not particularly close. He can't describe most plays without falling behind and confusing the listener. This lack of skill and professional execution is almost overshadowed by his substandard pipes. It is a travesty that so many great A's moments have been butchered at the hands of this hack.

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  14. Sorry, I could not stand Bill King's voice, way too shrill. Content was good but the voice was too grating.
    Same with Ted Robinson today as 10:15 said. Glad someone mentioned Art Eckman, not here very long but pretty good. I think he paired with Al Michaels prior to Michaels and Simmons working together.
    Korach would be better if he picked up his pace, same with Kuiper. Both are good though. Wayne Hagin was good too, I think he want on to become a #1 announcer in another market.
    Worse I've heard would be Bill Thompson, Monty Moore, Starkey, Bruce McGowan (his horrendous audition for the job that eventually went to Flemming was epic) and Joe Angel.

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  15. Quick thoughts.....

    Bill King: If there was a sports broadcasting HOF, he is the Babe Ruth of it. Best ever in basketball, close in football, very good at baseball. If he had done more SF sports other than a quick USF stint, he would have been even more beloved than he is in the Bay Area. Too many SF fans have never listened to a Raider nor A's broadcast.

    Joe Starkey: Terrible. The worst PBP person in the Bay Area. I think he makes more errors during a Cal football game than a drunk, elderly Harry Carey during his later years with the Cubs. Vince C from the A's games a close second.

    Roxy Berstein: Good if you are a huge Cal homer. His father is wealthy and supports him (good for him), so he can quit decent gigs, like the Marlins, because he likes Cal and only Cal. If you are listening to him as a non Bear enthusiast, he does competent PBP, but would work better doing that in for a college that lived and died with their basketball program.

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  16. Couldn't disagree more with 12:08 pm. Bill King's voice was steady and his manner was highly professional. He was, as you mentioned,
    the best in football and basketball....no one is even close to him in either of those sports.

    In baseball, I'd also put Bill King right up there with Lon Simmons, Russ Hodges,
    Jon Miller and Hank Greenwald.

    MacGowen, who was a solid talk show and update guy for many years on KNBR didn't do a bad job in his audition either. He only did about a dozen games, as did Flemming and another guy who had Stanford connections, who ended up broadcasting with the Astros.

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  17. Jon Miller tells some good stories, but loves, loves, loves the sound of his voice. And describes plays in passive voice---"Under the ball IS Pagan..."

    Overrated and occasionally annoying. Gimme Hank Greenwald or Mike and Dwaine anytime.

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    1. Krukow's persistent optimism becomes annoying. He's more of a cheerleader than the other 3 and he talks an awful lot.

      I remember last year how he kept talking about how Huff was getting on track and coming around which he never did. This year he's often proclaimed that Lincecum is back, which he isn't.

      His constant enthusiasm reeks of desperation and at this point he's lost a lot of credibility. Also he he fancies himself quite the wit with his telestrater crap, ball dude banter, and gamer babe comments. Behind his cheerful facade lurks an angry, uptight, lecherous old man.

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  18. A couple of broadcasting questions. Why does Ken Korach always sound like he's broadcasting from a pay phone? Is it just his voice or bad equipment? It just feeds into the A's rep as a second rate organization.

    Second question: Why does Eric Davis get a pass for shrieking like a girl over Ted Robinson's call on both 4th quarter touchdowns in the Saints playoff game? It sounded like a high school football broadcast. KNBR is usually all over these kinds of calls, but they were pretty silent when it was one of their own. Now they have a promo with it and I cringe everytime I hear it. I like ED though and he will probably only get better with experience.

    On a related note, I think Ted probably regrets his "You can never doubt Alex Smith again" call (demand?) on the last touchdown pass. How soon after that was Harbaugh recruiting Peyton Manning. He must not have KNBR on in his headset during the games.

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  19. christine you should know if you grab somebody that's assault! what's wrong with you?

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    1. Any unwanted touching is battery. Mr. Mirkarimi was charged with a number of domestic violence crimes as well as attempting to dissuade witnesses(Ethics commission found no credible evidence of attempted witness dissuasion). The DA DROPPED the charges and offered a plea deal to a misdemeanor,non-DV crime,which carries with it a "no intent to harm" provision. You might want to be directing your "what is wrong with you" comment to the District Attorney.
      The bottom line is that you are free to think that when someone grabs an arm for a millesecond in a quarrel about taking that person's child out of the country for months (after just returning from taking the child out of the country for months)you are free to think that is hideous domestic violence. I disagree and do not believe that one arm grab means domestic violence. Perhaps you need to develop a better sense of proportionality, as in real life.
      If you don't understand the politics of all this piling on, you haven't been paying attention for a while.
      Imagine this scenario. You wife or husband is having an affair and taking your child with them to this affair. You discover it and are outraged and grab the spouse's arm as they head out the door with your child to visit the inamorata. You should be prosecuted for domestic violence? have your job taken away from you and your income and your home and your family? Your answer would be yes.good luck.

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    2. christine you should know if you grab somebody that's assault! what's wrong with you?

      That's just wrong. Unwanted touching is battery. Assault is a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm.

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  20. I thoroughly enjoyed Pat Thurston's frothy intro of the red carpetbagger's show this evening. Go Pat go!

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  21. It looks like Karel may need a new producer. A caller used the word ”shit” and it was not dumped in the 7pm hour...

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  22. WHERE IS DAVE GLASS????
    (of COURSE I'm kidding...)

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  23. Ken Korach is one of the class acts and one of the most unappreciated broadcasters around. A few years ago he was offered the TV voice of the A's which would have paid him more money and given him more exposure, but Ken told his bosses with the A's:
    "No thanks, I'm a radio guy."

    Papa was good when he did the A's on TV, but Mike Crowley or Billy Beane must have been bent out of shape that Greg was also doing the Raiders, so they didn't renew his contract. Hey Guys, guess what? Bill King did the Raiders, A's and Warriors, and he did all three teams together for two years. But the move to get rid of Papa was typical of the A's, who have gone 'minor league,' in their broadcasts with the exception Korach. And the clumsy and unprofessional manner in which they handled TV vet, and loyal organization man Ray Fosse by bringing in a green and untrained Scott Hatteburg didn't help things. But this is typical of an organization run by Lou Wolff.

    Wolff has NO interest in improving relations with the fans, but rather will continue to put out the cheapest product possible (he got lucky this year but the young A's pitching staff will fade down the stretch). Wolff spends too much time whining about a bad ballpark and then privately telling friends he's move the club to Las Vegas if it were possible.

    Why do we have to play in the same park as the Raiders?" That's really going to draw people into your place Lou! Wolff needs to sell the team to someone who is committed to building a ballpark in Oakland, because a move to San Jose will never happen.

    Glen Kuiper does a decent job on TV, but he's nowhere near as good as his brother across the bay or Papa. Glen has been extremely fortunate to get opportunities that he normally wouldn't be getting, but because his two brothers are well-connected, he's always going to have work.

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  24. Russ Hodges belongs on the list. I agree that Joe Starkey is terrible. When he does Cal he's among the worst homers in the sport. The only guy who comes close to being as bad a homer as Joe is the now retired 'voice' of Fresno State, Bill Woodward ("...I can't believe how the refs are jobbing the Bulldogs out there tonite..." Ugh. BTW, also from the Fresno State "Hall of Shame" was one-time baseball pbp guy John Quinlan - a 50-some year old guy who grew up idolizing Vin Scully and has made it his lifes work to speak exactly like Scully not only when calling a game, but also off-air as well. Very disconcerting. I think he's now working somewhere in minor league baseball which is where guys like him belong.

    On the positive side, I think Dan Rusanowsky (Sharks radio) is quite good and you don't have to be a hockey fan to appreciate his work. He really follows the puck and is extremely precise and conveys a sense of excitement for the game.

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    1. Dan Rusanowsky is probably one of the best PBP hockey announcers in the NHL. He has been with the team since it's inception; hopefully he will be able to call a Stanley Cup final before he retires!

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    2. Thank you for mentioning Dan Rusanowsky.
      Easily one of the better PBP people here in the bay area.
      The only reason he is not mentioned more often?
      He does Sharks games and their games are on FM.

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  25. Hello,
    I just wanted to take a minute to tell you that you have a great site! Keep up the good work.

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  26. We've been pretty lucky in the Bay Area with some top quality sportscaster - there must have been a half-dozen with Bay Area ties at the Olympics.

    Thought the list was incomplete though without Barry Tompkins. Whatever the sport, whatever the matchup the guy comes prepared. He's never been the voice of a local team, but he's been one of the great traveling mikes of the last 30 years.

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  27. Joe Starkey? Really?!?!?

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  28. Joe Starkey is terrrible and has been terrible as Cal's PBP announcer for many years.

    Many feel he's received a pass since The Play.

    I've listened for years, largely while grittign my teeth.

    Specific issues with Starkey include:

    Lots of errors. Every game.

    Not clearly articulating to the radio listener what's happening on the field.

    Not identifying players specifically ("He just ran...")

    Rarely providing the game score. This should be a no-brainer going into and out of every commerical break and periodically in-between.

    Several years ago, Grosscup was put out to pasture. The same now needs to happen to Joe....

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  29. Randy Hahn is not that good of a PBP man for hockey. He makes many mistakes and won't own up to it. Drew covers his rear all too often. Dan Rusanowsky and Drew are very good. Listen to Bob Miller of the LA Kings if you want to hear excellant PBP hockey.

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  30. As other posters have written, Ted Robinson is overrated.
    He only has the 49er job because he knows people in the business.
    Otherwise there are many other qualified football PBP voices who could do a far superior job.

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  31. Anne is a class act with lots of personality. I enjoy her anchoring as well as her reporting. Great call Rich!

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  32. uhm, where is Tim Roye? not only one of the best announcers in the bay area, but generally regarded as one of the best play-by-play guys in the NBA

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  33. Rich, the comment on Phil and Anne not being the most attractive duo on tv was just mean. And for the record- Anne is BEAUTIFUL! As a woman working in media, the pressure to be a certain look is overwhelming and it is a constant struggle to get people to see your intelligence and skill whether you are "perfect" looking or not. Have some class and just give them a complement without the mean spirited comment on their looks. Give them a post they can be be proud to show their friends and family not something that is potentially embarrassing. I would have loved to share your thoughts on the Sunday morning show with my Dad but with that opener, I hope he doesn't see it.

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  34. As for basketball play by play, nobody did it better than Bill King.
    Only Bill King could call a game from the Cow Palace or the Civic Auditorium and make sound as if it were eminating from your room.
    Complete with the sound of sneakers on the polished court.
    And who else would give a good jab at NBA offical Mindy Rudolph.
    The man left his mark on that sport and the art of radio play by play.

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  35. For baseball, I will take Lon Simmons.
    Who else had those long pauses between pitches. You almost wanted to finish the call for him. Low and outside . . . . . ball two.
    How often did you find yourself listening to Lon Simmons and his pauses where you would turn up your radio thinking that the sound had gone bad.
    He was the best. The voice of Summers past.


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  36. I like Fitz. Give him his due, Richie.

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  37. Thank you for your blog Rich. Only in this forum do we see Daniel Ellsberg, Mirkarimi, Transexuals, Joe Starkey and Afghanistan mentioned under one of your posts. Talk about eclectic. Keep it up big boy!

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