Phil Simms and Jim Nantz sucked last night.....

[AtomicDawg]

My point wasn't that regional broadcasters are biased. Obviously they are catering to a different audience and can get away with actively rooting for a particular team.

I'm saying that, bias aside, a lot of them simply aren't good broadcasters. The Mets, for example, have a superb broadcast team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling -- they are eloquent speakers, have great voices, and call a really good game. Hawk Harralson sounds like a decrepit old man; even if I was a White Sox fan I wouldn't like him, because he's more of a novelty than an actual complement to the game. The Mets guys are observational and insightful. Hawk sounds like a drunken uncle muttering whatever random thoughts comes into his head, it's like he's just winging it.

Being able to speak with a powerful, clear voice, having reasonable rhythm/cadence to the way they deliver their lines, etc are all underrated qualities. Simms may not be the best -- yes, he sometimes says dumb things -- but I think he's far from the worst. Joe Buck is another guy that gets **** on constantly, but I'll be damned if that guy doesn't have a phenomenal "Big Game" sound/voice.

Good enunciation is not the first thing I look for when I'm watching a sporting event, just being honest with myself. I watch the sport to be entertained anyway, so I want my announcer to do the same thing.

But they also have to be able to make some sort of sense. I agree, a Hawk Harrelson wouldn't fit a national broadcast because he's nowhere near impartial nor understandable. But at the very least, there should be a standard. Like Vin Scully, Pat Summerall and others. Nantz is fine but both him and Simms together makes the whole thing go downhill. I'm talking about this specific game and my (and others, apparently) experience watching/listening to it.

 

[InRodWeRust]

Protip: If you have a DVR pause the beginning of the game for 30 to 40 minutes and let it buffer. This way you can fast forward through commercials and also fast forward between plays up to the point right before the snap. This minimizes having to hear anything or see anything that isn't pure game action. This is what I do. Put away your phone to prevent spoiler texts too.

 

[Wordsmyth]

I'm not saying Simms is great, but I do think a lot of the national broadcasters get **** on a little too much. Simms/Aikman/Buck may not be perfect, but it could be way, way worse. In sports like baseball, you start to see regional broadcasting teams, and some of them are just horrific. Every time I hear people complain about how bad say, Phil Simms is, I think about those regional teams and realize it's not all so bad. For example, Hawk Harrelson for the Chicago White Sox is absolutely horrible.

Also, anecdotally, every fan base is convinced that the national broadcasters hate their team. I've never heard someone say "Troy Aikman likes our team", every fan of every team always says Aikman has it out for them.

"Put it on the board--YES! Upper tank, Wimpy!"

 

[Wordsmyth]

Don't forget Aikman's on the Deflategate Sh#$$T list too.

I can't decide who's more butthurt--Troy or Kurt. Troy's fuming because Tom and his four Lombardis have essentially made TA irrelevant.

Kurt and his favorite sock puppet Marshall...well, 20-17 shall forever inhabit their nightmares.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

More proof of why the bias announcers affect the sport and the average fans perception of what happened..

On Facebook, the Sunday Night Football on NBC page posted an article about the Brady fumble that they ruled was fumbled, but no clear recovery by Pittsburgh...

Reading thru the comments, a countless number of people are using what the announcers said during the live action as "proof" that it should have been Pittsburgh's ball

Lots of super salty fans on there who are really embarassing themselves, claiming that call is what turned the game and allowed the Pats to win and that they were cheating lol.. its starting to get amusing when people start calling the Pats cheaters now, because it's always during a melt down with sooooooooooooo much sour grapes

Almost as bad as the Colts fans that still 100% believe that Brady tampered with the balls in the AFCCG and that is the reason they lost hahaha.. man, how embarassing and a great example of the every one wins a trophy society we're living in now.. I can't imagine how big of a loser you have to be to get your ass just absolutely kicked in for 60 minutes, then cry that you lost because of an alleged 0.2 psi being released from a ball


The Patriots are not only setting records with all these wins, they are making the rest of the league and fanbase lose their sanity... and its delightful to watch.. I really hope they can seal this story book ending in 2 weeks!

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Sunday night? Those two are found in the dictionary under sickage.