John Molori is won over by Jim Nantz

[Seymour93]

Molori speaks to CBS's #1 Jim Nantz...

http://www.patsfans.com/molori/display_story.php?story_id=3122

Nantz has no catch phrases, no desire to exceed the volume of a police siren and no political agenda. These days, that makes him quite the exception and extremely interesting.

"I never will go there," says Nantz, who will call this Sunday's Patriots at Jets season opener alongside Phil Simms. "For young kids who want to break into the business, there is a feeling that you have to be goofy or, in some similar way, attention-grabbing.

"There is this in-your-face attitude that many sportscasters have, like they are on the brink of a tantrum. If you look at them the wrong way, they will explode."

I'm in the same boat Molori's in. I didn't like Nantz in his first year in the booth. Flash forward a few years and all of the Stuart Scott's, Joe Buck's, Chris Berman's, and Tony Kornheiser's of the American sports media really makes you appreciate Nantz's cool style.

 

[PatsDeb]

What do you think of the dumb Keith Olberman experiment? I have seen it twice and it seems forced and hysterical, like the guys participating know it's not working but are talking and laughing extra loud and fast hoping to pump some life into a doomed experiment.

 

[Terry Glenn is a cowgirl]

What do you think of the dumb Keith Olberman experiment? I have seen it twice and it seems forced and hysterical, like the guys participating know it's not working but are talking and laughing extra loud and fast hoping to pump some life into a doomed experiment.

Didn't pan out that well, imo.

I actually like Keith though.

 

[Seymour93]

What do you think of the dumb Keith Olberman experiment? I have seen it twice and it seems forced and hysterical, like the guys participating know it's not working but are talking and laughing extra loud and fast hoping to pump some life into a doomed experiment.

It's a ratings ploy pure and simple. Their pregame show, which took the old spot of NFL Primetime on ESPN (it gets extended highlights), never really took off last season. To me they rushed the highlights and didn't go in depth, especially on games such as Arizona vs. Cleveland, the way Berman and Tom Jackson did. Of course what do the network suits think is the best way to solve the problem? Hire a non-football guy who will say provocative things that cause controversy. ESPN tried the same thing with Limbaugh a few years ago and it blew up in their faces. For the record I like Olbermann, but the bottom line is he's a baseball and political guy. I don't want to spend my halftimes or pregames hearing about the latest off field scandal surrounding an NFL player. I want to watch football highlights.

 

[PatsDeb]

I like Olberman too, but he is badly miscast in this role. They should ditch it fast

 

[primetime]

Berman was the original catchphrase guy, but he backed it up with insightful and accurate commentary. Alot of the newer generation don't have an ounch of insight in them, like Stuart Scott.

 

[DarrylS]

Nantz presents himself as calm, knowledgeable and professional, which is much different than most of these guys... I really like him paired with Phil Sims.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

"A few years ago, I wrote a column criticizing CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz. The gist of the critique was that Nantz was very blasé and even kind of boring in his approach. "For young kids who want to break into the business, there is a feeling that you have to be goofy or, in some similar way, attention-grabbing.

"There is this in-your-face attitude that many sportscasters have, like they are on the brink of a tantrum. If you look at them the wrong way, they will explode."

"Before there was cable TV, ESPN or VCR's, broadcasters had a knowledge of language and did not draw attention to themselves. There was an elegance to the broadcasts of men like Gowdy, Ray Scott, Jack Whittaker, **** Enberg and Jack Buck. They were storytellers with a graceful style. I have a reverence for this profession."

The latest edition of Premiere Network's "Costas on the Radio" was the clincher. Costas and his guest, the aforementioned Buck, spent several minutes of the interview discussing each other's cameo appearances in movies. Yikes!"



This same column could have been written about sports talk radio. Rightly or wrongly, and the ratings seem to back up their belief that it is rightly, the powers that be assume that the video games generation and casual sports fans want to be entertained by their sports media, and become rapidly bored and disinterested if merely being informed.

I seldom listen to sports radio at home, unless I'm anticipating breaking news. In the car my listening is often limited to when I'm between jobs. Nothing is more frustrating than to spend that limited time surfing the dial only to end up listening to whichever local sports mediot sparring with his sidekicks about each others personal escapades or their politics or senatorial bathroom behavior...

An equally frustrating and close second is listening game broadcasts where guys who must think they are paid by the word to fill air time, like Don Criqui and Randy Cross in the Patriots pre season, blather incessantly about anything but the game at hand. If I still followed baseball, that duo would be in a flat footed tie with listening to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan make an actual game virtually un-followable on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

Screeching sthick and/or incessant blather sadly predominate in sports broadcasting today.

 

[PonyExpress]

IMO Nance' vocal range is limited, his sense of the moment is wanting or contrived, he lacks eloquence, and has a limited sense of humor. Other than that, it's a joy to listen to him. He is probably the worst top tier announcer of my lifetime.

 

[true_patriot]

What's wrong with Chris Berman? He knows what he is talking, and he is quite colorful too.

 

[PatsDeb]

What's wrong with Chris Berman? He knows what he is talking, and he is quite colorful too.

I like Chris Berman too - don't know why he's fallen out of favor. I enjoy when he puts his goofy sayings with the highlights. At least he's showing highlights instead of blathering or insulting his co-hosts (Korndog is the worst at this).

 

[ClevTrev]

What do you think of the dumb Keith Olberman experiment? I have seen it twice and it seems forced and hysterical, like the guys participating know it's not working but are talking and laughing extra loud and fast hoping to pump some life into a doomed experiment.

Hah! I watched that, and it was uncomfortable. But Olberman's a genuis!

Chris Berman is nothing more than a real-life Fred Flinstone, and his act gets tiring after 20 seconds.

Nantz and Sims are the best over the course of a game. No hysterics, and good analysis. I don't always have to agree with Sims, but I do most of the time. I'm pleased whenever they have the Pats game.