SF 49ers Radio: KNBR, KGO, The BoneTed Robinson: Play-by-Play
Eric Davis: commentary
This is a very good team. Robinson's pin-point play-by-play is excellent and well-coordinated. Ted gets some heat from critics who say his style is stale and understated. That's his best asset. He is crisp and concise. He excites when he has to and doesn't go crazy and homer up if the situation isn't warranted. I appreciate Robinson's willingness to criticize the 49ers if they play crummy. The Bay Area has never warmed to homers.
Davis has become a lot more of an accomplished broadcaster. His ex-jock status gives listeners an inside look at particular plays, always welcome. On the other hand, ex-players tend to resist hardened criticism. Not so with Davis who has elevated his off-field game in the booth. Plus, as evident on 49ers broadcasts, he's developed a chemistry with Robinson that makes the two as good and fluid as ever.
RATING: A
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Oakland Raiders Radio: 95.7 FM--The Game
Greg Papa: Play-by-Play
Tom Flores: Commentary
Greg Papa is the consummate professional. His broadcast style is neatly-paced and loaded with a lot of information, particularly when it comes to the players and plays themselves. I like Papa a lot. He has a tendency to get overly excited even if the Raiders are hopelessly behind, (that might be especially evident this year) and his signature "Touchdownnnnnnnnnn Raiders!" call is his staple. But when the home team is down, 23-0 in the 4th quarter, there's something wrong. On the other hand, Papa knows his game, has a steady, comfortable delivery and gives a quality broadcast.
Tom Flores, the former coach, is a puzzle. He obviously knows what he's talking about, but his constant "we" references are irritating and lend credence to his homer critics. In addition, Flores has a nasty habit of openly cheering on various plays. It's great for the booster club people but on a broadcast, it's deadly. I hope Flores tones that down and sticks to the basics. He can be happy and excited as long as it's measured and expected.
GRADE: B-
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Football is dead stick a fork in it.
ReplyDeleteUh, the NFL and College Football are the #1 sports in America. NASCAR and the NBA are a close second. Please put down the crack pipe.
DeleteRight, the NFL is the number one sport in the US and it's dead...right man. What have you been smoking?
ReplyDeleteI like Papa, Ted and Davis is just okay. He knows the game, but he sometimes get a little too technical. Flores sounds forced and choppy, and you'd think he would have gotten better over the years, but he hasn't. He's a nice guy and bleeds silver and black, but he sounds weak on the air.
ReplyDeleteAs much as we love and respect 'Coach', Flores slows Papa down. He sounds like Granpa in the booth. Plunkett isn't much better (another respected and loved Raider). It's time to upgrade the commentary with Papa-- Hate to say this but how about # 53 Romo with Papa... THAT would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteRomo. No thanks and never. That guy is one bad apple who does not belong in the booth.
DeleteThey should get his wife Julie who was on with Rick Title awhile back commenting on footballl.
DeleteFlores cannot remove himself from his Raider days as coach. Much like when Ara Parseghian was doing color for College Football, and every Notre Dame game he referred to the Irish as "we ".
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, why is Tom Flores (2 time Super Bowl winning head coach) and Jim Plunkett (2 time winning Super Bowl QB) not in the hall of fame?
During. Sundays game towards the end, Papa is lecturing Flores on time management. A lifetime fan and basically a dweeb like Joe Buck, Papa, lecturing a coach who won two Super Bowls. Maybe it's Papa who needs to go.
Too many "we's" come out of Papa and Flores' mouths.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed with Papa's call today; too much opining and editorializing, description of the action on the field wanting. It's radio, not television. Too often, he failed to mention yardage gained or lost on a given play; not a small detail. Lincoln Kennedy is an excellent addition.
ReplyDeleteDavis is too technical and uses jargon that only coaches and former players might understand. Papa's ego gets in the way of everything he does. Job thief Fitz is lying in the weeds hoping to steal that job as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's football, not rocket science.
DeleteThe strategies and jargon are not that difficult to learn, and the net has plenty of information on the subject. People will spend many hours watching the games, but they won't spend 30 minutes reading about how it's played.
Raiders haven't had a decent color guy since Monty Stickles.
ReplyDeleteI'll give my two cents here.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Eric Davis is good at his position.
And it is as you said it, he is not afraid to give honest and frank criticism on the 49ers. An admirable quality in a color analyst.
Often times ex-atheles are too timid to give you some frank discussion about the team they once played for. Which really irriates the living hell out of me.
In Eric Davis we have an exception to that rule. Thank goodness.
Rich,
ReplyDeleteYou dodged the 800-lb. elephant in the Raiders booth. Paired with the glib Papa, Flores sounds punch-drunk. It's at times painful to listen to Flores fumble for words. He likely has great knowledge but can't communicate it.
I've always liked Flores, but I think your "punch-drunk" description is a good one. No doubt that he had his "bell rung" more than a few times as a player, and oftentimes those concussions can have some pretty nasty long-term effects.
DeleteI miss Bill King.
ReplyDeleteWhile Papa and Robinson are solid, there was no one that even came close to Bill King who did the Raiders for 27 years until 1992, or Lon Simmons, who broadcast the 49ers from 1957-80 and then again briefly in 1987 and 88.
ReplyDeleteFor the Raiders to replace King with the annoying Joel Meyers for four years before Greg Papa was bad enough, but for the shrill and unlistenable Joe Starkey to take over for Simmons and do the Niners from 1989 through 2008 was one of the worst moves ever committed by a team in selecting it's radio voice.
At least now the Niners have an objective, professional sounding announcer in Robinson, rather than Starkey who misidentified players, forget to mention the score before going to breaks, and wouldn't give you any accurate details of what was going on.
At least now also, the Raiders have had a solid and dependable voice in Greg Papa, who's passion and knowledge of the game far exceeds the average NFL radio broadcaster. My only criticism of Papa is his 'TOUCHDOWN RAAAAIDERRRRSSSSS!" call which has gotten increasingly more elongated, over the top, and annoying over the last ten losing seasons. Until they start winning on a consistent basis, Papa should refrain from sounding too jubilant. It's unbecoming and sounds very homerish, a bad habit that Bill King never fell prey to.
Also, I understand and appreciate the Raiders loyalty to Tom Flores, who is a great guy, was a terrific coach (two Superbowl wins), and an excellent QB in the old AFL with the Raiders. But it's time for Tom to retire from the booth. His stumbling to find the right words and sometimes yelling the background during a key play when Papa is trying to call the action is annoying and embarrassing.