Friday, May 3, 2013

Warriors Radio Team also a Winner; Roye and Tolbert in the NBA Broadcast Booth; Chemistry and Humor; Friday Sports Media Wrap-Up


Tom Tolbert


Tim Roye

The Warriors are the talk of the town. You win, you have a loyal and loud fan base and you captivate a region with a sport that almost everyone loves...well, you know the rest of the story.

I'm happy for the team but most especially, their play-by-play broadcaster, Tim Roye. He's among the elite NBA broadcasters and he's one of the very best and actually, most underrated.

Roye has an exciting delivery and knows his game--his style resembles the late Bill King, the Warriors legendary radio PBP guy whose rapid-fire descriptions and worldly vocabulary made for must-listening. (Unless you were a ref).

Roye isn't King, but damn near close. And he's also not a homer too which many NBA guys are all too often. Early in his career with the Warriors, Roye created a signature great call, Elevation Sensation!, sort of a Bill King's Holy Toledo! I was not to thrilled to hear it at first but it's since grown on me and now look forward to hearing it.

Late in the season, Roye  was joined by Tom Tolbert, the ex-Warriors player and talk host on KNBR. Tolbert is good. While at times, I've been critical of his talk style, I enjoy his color analysis and sense of humor. Most jocks-turned-broadcaster are boring because they usually either say nothing or offer very little substance. Tolbert offers more of a variety and his chemistry with Roye, particularly in the playoffs, is quite evident.

The Warriors have begun a mojo on the court--it's nice to know they have a great radio broadcast team off the court as well.

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20 comments:

  1. Roye makes those games come ALIVE!!! and then some.

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  2. Tolbert & Ratto on the radio are golden too. I wish they would hire Ratto and get rid of Burnsie.

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    1. johnny bom bonneyMay 3, 2013 at 12:15 PM

      Tolbert brings out the best in both Roye and Ratto; Ray has incredible knowledge and in his comments on all things sport, you see him working; everything he says is well thought out and with conviction. He's never been there for laughs but with Tom he can be himself AND have a good time.

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  3. I like Fitz and Barnett on the TV. Especially when Barnett gets all emotional on us!

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  4. I disagree about Tolbert, Rich. Tim Roye is fantastic but Tolbert is too much of a clown. This is what we call "Subtraction by Addition".

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    1. Correction Daniel, it's what YOU call subtraction by addition.

      I think Roye was good and Roye and Tolbert together are better. BTW, one person going solo, as Roye was doing before Tolbert was added, is increasingly rare these days and at times becomes a burden for the one guy doing all that rapid fire talking for almost 3 hours.

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    2. clearly one man's garbage is another man's treasure.

      Any chance you work at Comcast?

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    3. Daniel,
      I don't work at Comcast. We can agree to disagree about this, particularly because we do agree about Krukow (your comment elsewhere) who I consider an overrated bore.

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    4. I agree with Daniel,Tolbert is a blow hole..

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  5. I wasn't impressed with Roye when he filled in for Fitzgerald. Like Bob,bonehead Warrior mistakes were never called out,mentioned. Like they never happened. I can tell you..they will NEVER mention a Klay Thompson missed layup. On TV, Barnett and Fitzy refuse to acknowledge any Thompson layup that isn't good. Its weird..like word from HQ,don't say a thing.

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  6. Tolbert talks over Roye ALL the time. to me that means he doesn't put a high value on broadcast professionalism. He has ruined many great calls by Roye and sounds more like a nuisance. If he was interested in being good...he could be. But I think he's too lazy. If Roye was honest, he would admit this too.

    - Dr Green

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  7. Rich,
    Roye is very good, but what other radio basketball announcers have you listened to where you can call Roye "elite"?

    I bet you can't name 2 current home NBA radio play-by-play guys.

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  8. ...OH, what a Bonanza!!!!

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  9. to be honest, I would rather listen to Jim Barnett and Fitzgerald on the radio, too if I could, they are better than the radio guys, let's face it, Barnett is very smart and incisive, and Fitzgerald is more and more calling it straight including criticizing where warranted

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    1. Fitzgerald is THE WORST, the bottom of the broadcaster barrel.

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    2. Yes he is. He doesn't know much about basketball. I heard he was All CYO Fifth grade. The problem was he was a junior in high school

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  10. Roye is really good ; wish he would replace the carnival barker Fitzgerald.

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  11. Tim is good but come on, there's NO way he's anything like Bill King. Bill was unique.

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    1. johnny bom bonneyMay 4, 2013 at 10:16 AM

      Got that right; the combo of Bill King and Hank Greenwald was every great superlative you can think of; those mid-late 60's Warriors were nothing to write home about but Bill and Hank made every moment exciting.

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  12. Agree Rich.
    Roye and Tolbert have been an interesting paring.
    Tolbert is better as an color analyst than as a Radio host.
    By the way must agree with the previous posts, KNBR should get rid of the ex-baseball player who is Tolbert's co-host.
    Make Ray Ratto the permanent co-host of KNBR's afternoon program.


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