OT: Worst national sports commentator?

Submitted by Eye of the Tiger on

I usually think it's Skip Bayliss, but I heard Jason Whitlock on the radio today--claiming that Art Briles shouldn't be fired because "it's his job to stand up for the players--and now I think it might be Whitlock. 

Stephen A. Smith is another "top-quality" candidate.

Who do you think is the absolute worst?

 

gmoney41

May 26th, 2016 at 4:38 PM ^

Definitely Jamele, Bayless or Steven a smith.  For game broadcasts I would have to go with Bill Walton hands down.  He is just awful.

gmoney41

May 26th, 2016 at 5:13 PM ^

Walton is funny at least, but I distinctly remember the holiday tourney last season where Michigan was playing and Walton was just degrading players, and his co-commentator wanted to kick his ass.  It was hilarious, but Walton sounded like he was having a bad flashback to the grateful dead years.

Lorch Hall

May 26th, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^

I most hate Phil Simms. I hate, for example, if a player's name is Williams, he'll pronounce it "WEE-Yums." If you talk for a living, you might try to do a better job of it. I also just cannot make myself like Jim Nantz. He has all the gravitas of Phil Dunphy yet none of the unintentional humor. You can also have Joe Buck and Bob Costas.

lilpenny1316

May 26th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^

And I have to defend Stephen A to a point.

Cutting the cord and not watching pregame/halftime/postgame shows for NBA has limited by TV exposure to him.  

But on his satellite radio program?  Dude is entertaining as hell.  Trust me when I say that if you're battling drowsy eyes on the highway from 1-3PM, turn him on.  You won't blink the rest of the afternoon.

ScruffyTheJanitor

May 26th, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^

between Trent "Feelingsball" Dilfer and Heath "Clearly a Jackass"  Evans. Mitch Williams used to be on this list too until he disappeared from MLB network.

 

There would be more ESPN people on this list if I still watched that tire fire of a network. 

 

thatguycharlie

May 26th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^

...and I'm going to lose what little MGoPoints I have, but I have a high level of dislike for Bill Raftery when he does that talk fast/mumble thing he does.

fh maven

May 26th, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^

I have listened to baseball on the radio since 1950, and he is the worst by a long-shot. Yankees usually do everything with class, this is one case where they really blew it.  His broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman isn't much better.  Each game is usually good for at least one major blunder, some more.  And then he has his trite Yankee homerun calls - Ugh.

Just last week happened to catch a Dodger game on the MLB Network - Vin Scully was GREAT, and he works without a broadcast partner.  

 

MadMatt

May 26th, 2016 at 5:26 PM ^

The man who brought cellophane to the role of color commentator. He was so bland on football telecasts that his partner Brent Mussberger (a decent play by play guy with the personality of the Church Lady) tried to do both rolls, and was terrible at both.

MarqueeView

May 28th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^

Here's an original take: Doc Emrick sucks. He can't get out of his own way turning what he thinks are clever phrases. He leaves no oxygen in the booth for anyone else, and I know he's local, but I don't care. Hockeynistas consider him some kind of Ernie Harwell-type saint, but Ernie would never be so self-satisfied w/ his own vocabulary. After every verb you can almost hear Emrick smiling at himself like, "Yeah? Yeah? You see what I did there?! I said *shoveled* instead of something else. You see how clever I am?"




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xtramelanin

May 26th, 2016 at 5:46 PM ^

aka, brent fuss-budget.

besides being painfully obvious as a life-long non-athlete, i can't stand his false drama at the most mundane occurrences in a football game, e.g., somebody doesn't convert 3rd and 5 from their 40 and has to punt.  in a syrupy (that's a word.  really) voice he says, 'remember this folks.  this could be the critical point, the turning point in the game' and nothing happens.  

03 Blue 07

May 26th, 2016 at 10:33 PM ^

His "looking live" thing is a well-known wink to sharps who are betting the games late. Specifically, the field conditions of football games is why he started doing it, all the way back when he was a studio host (if I recall; too lazy to google it)

EGD

May 26th, 2016 at 10:33 PM ^

I never really had a problem with Musberger until that NC game when he was making the creepy remarks about the Alabama QB's girlfriend. I mean, Harry Carey used to practically shoot his wad looking at women in the Wrigley Field stands, but he was at least funny. Musberger was just pathetic and awkward.

EGD

May 26th, 2016 at 10:29 PM ^

Blaha is a drunk? If so, that would make me feel a lot better. In 1997, the Pistons played an exhibition game in Louisville, KY, on the same day of the M-MSU game. I was much younger at the time, so I had gotten pretty well tuned-up watching M take down the Spartans that day, and then my buddy says, "hey, let's go see the NBA exhibition game." So, we go and it's the Pistons. The crowd is tiny, so we sit basically court-side and I see Blaha doing the broadcast. After the game I go over to him and I'm all "hey George, what did you think of that football game today? Go Blue!" He did not appreciate it. I keep on him for a while, until finally I'm like "actually, I grew up in Michigan and always enjoyed your Pistons broadcasts," so then he was cool and we shook hands and stuff. But I was pretty drunk so in retrospect I figure my behavior that day was probably a lot worse than I realize. Knowing Blaha is a drunk himself, however, makes me care even less (than the skosh of a shit I presently give).

Louie C

May 26th, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^

I love when he calls Pistons games, but damn it all sideways, I hate when he calls State games. He must bring extra pants and shorts to the game, because I swear he jizzes his pants after every touchdown. It could be a fucking dive play that gets in from the one yard line, and you would have thought it was an 80 yard TD bomb on 3 and 25.