Best/Worst analysts/commentators/announcers

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Best/Worst analysts/commentators/announcers

Post by Olsondogg »

I dunno if there has been a topic just for this debate, but here it is. Kinda looking at just CBB. I'll start it off, in no particular order:

Best
Dan Shulman--love hearing games done by him
Jay Bilas--like that his on air personality is not as biased as his twitter one
Bill Raftery--getting up there, but love his calls in a game
Gus Johnson--a little corny at times, but like the excitement
Sean McDonough--feel like he doesn't take away from the game
Dave Pasch--has done alot of UA games, enjoy his call.
Andy Katz--I know people hated on him for his post-Lute prediction, but he is solid.
Jon Sciambi--Kinda my dark horse, but I don't mind his calls



Worst
Seth Davis--adds nearly nothing of value to the viewer or reader
Len Elmore--an East Coast honk
Doris Burke--ugh, painful
Jeff Goodman--see Seth Davis above
Dino Gaudio--being a horrible coach is not a good prereq
Jay Williams--a Dookie & Bieber lover. Nuff said.
Greg Anthony--a broken record of awful



On the Fence
Vitale--you hate/love him. I just don't know where I stand from time to time.
Doug Gottleib-- not a big fan of him personally, but I don't cringe when I hear him.
Bill Walton--sometimes find him funny, sometimes highly agitating.
Miles Simon--I wish he was better...but can't put him on worst list.
Seth Greenburg--too long winded for me...but not awful.
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Post by Bosy Billups »

Posts like these make me miss Dave Sitton. #RIP
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Post by PieceOfMeat »

Sitton would have been firmly in the Worst category.

He was good at things in his life, sportscasting wasn't one of them.
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Post by CBCat »

Bilas has jumped the shark.

He belongs down in the worst catagory.
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Post by Frybry02 »

I know Shane Battier is a new analyst and even though I respect him, he is currently terrible.
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Post by catgrad97 »

CBCat wrote:Bilas has jumped the shark.

He belongs down in the worst catagory.
Why? One too many ESPN promos?

You're starting to see the infiltration of CBB talking heads with former Dookies, and in the case of Battier, (much) less is more.

Only former Duke player who might not further alienate fans as an announcer is Grant Hill. If you didn't know Mike Gminski, you'd think he used to play football at Duke with his, shall we say, lack of sharpness calling games.
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Post by azcat49 »

Hate Vitale, just terrible. I really like Miles and Don McLean. Really dislike Gottlieb. Terrible player and equally bad analyst
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Post by gumby »

Pretty much concur with ODogg's review. How Greg Anthony got the lead spot on CBS is a real mystery. Over-explains and says "as we talked about" and "in terms of" incessantly. Both just wasted words. "In terms of offense, they need to shoot better." Ugh. Shut up.

The Terps Len Elmore and Adrian Branch are boring and bad. Dookies Jay Williams and Shane Battier also bad, but Battier just getting started. Haven't seen ODogg's pew mate Jimmy Dykes this year. Hate him. Dakich is heading this way. Insufferable.

Miles Simon is decent. Corey Williams is not. Initially, liked Don MacLean, but he is verging into Anthony territory. Talks too much, repeats the same phrases. That droning voice doesn't help.

Vitale is a caricature. "Jumped the shark" has jumped the shark. Bilas is fine. Gottlieb has strong takes, but his ego is hard to handle.

Raftery is my favorite. Combines knowledge and humor better than anyone. And "organize the puppies" and "with the kiss" and "onions!" Grown to respect Fran Fraschilla. Has some good insights.

Walton a caricature and funny. But screws up a lot. Muehlebach is solid. Best of the Cats, now that Kerr is gone.

Jim Nantz. Always hunting for the "memorable" phrase, but he knows what he's doing. I know a lot of people didn't like Billy Packer, but I thought he was solid, if humor-impaired. He was better than Kellogg. Much better than Anthony.
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Post by Bangkok Wildcat »

azcat49 wrote:Hate Vitale...
Good Lord, I hate Dukie Vitale too.....other than Duke fans, who loves him?

Also, Walton is horrendous.....constantly needs to interject non-basketball topics into the game (ie. Music, roads, whatever else he can find that is completely off-topic). His only saving grace is that his son is one of my favorite Cats.
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Post by Olsondogg »

Gumby, Dykes is coaching again. I think women's bb. Thank god for that. He was up there for worst ever.

Fran Frashilla and Brent Musberger did a game tonight. Forgot both of them to be placed in worst column. My father passed away nearly 28 years ago, yet I can remember his complaints about Brent back then. Can't stand him.

Gotta agree that Sitton, albeit a nice guy from what I read made me yearn for Brian Jeffries on he radio.

Side note...he's the best radio play by play ever. Homer or not, he's outstanding. Listen to a broadcast of some east coast feed on staellite radio and tell me I'm wrong.

Put Bobby Knight in the worst category. For any insight he gives you into a coaches mind, he subtracts it with some complaint.

Loved Kerr, didn't mind Nantz...but he seems like a programmed robot now. Miss Packer during the tourney after hearing Kellogg and now Anthony. Meuhlbach is doing well...put him in best.

I hold grudges, so put MacClean in worst. Plus he is wrong on a lot of his takes. I don't know if his "yakka" brethren does many games now, but he belongs in worst along with his pal Physioc.

Never cared for Marv Albert,except for on NBA Jams. Put him in worst.

I don't mind the young guy on the P12 and espn games, Roxy Something. He's got a ways to go but handled the Walton games pretty well.

That's all I got for now.
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Post by gumby »

Good stuff. I like Old Brent. Has mellowed and seems like he's having fun now. I'm so old I can remember him on football with Irv Cross and Phyllis George. That was bad. Young Hannah Storm was the reporter.

Roxy's star is rising. Agree. Bobby Knight should not be allowed to go near a mike.
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Post by Olsondogg »

I also forgot about the Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel team. I like them...throw them in the best category. I also give a vote for best to the Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller combo. Like them both too.

However, Verne Lundquist used to be up on the best list, but I feel like age has gotten the better of him.

Mark Adams is a difficult listen...as well as LaPhonso Ellis...they seem like the go-to guys when the WWL can't find someone to do a Tuesday night game in a bad weather college town.

I think I'll actually miss Digger Phelps from the GameDay shows. I know that for most he'd fall under the "worst" column, but he isn't nearly as bad as Lee Corso has become on the CFB show.
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Post by gumby »

Ray Scott (longtime NFL announcer) did Cat games at the end of his career. Least talkative announcer I've ever heard. Hence, the best.

"Starr ... to Dowler ... first down."

You could see the play, so little explanation required. Long way from Hank Williams Jr. and the noisy, overproduced broadcasts of today.
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Post by gumby »

Mike Tirico. Top shelf. I mean, hot! I mean ...
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Post by Olsondogg »

gumby wrote:Mike Tirico. Top shelf. I mean, hot! I mean ...
Provided he keeps his hands to himself...
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Post by CatsbyAZ »

Olsondogg wrote:

On the Fence
Vitale--you hate/love him. I just don't know where I stand from time to time.
Doug Gottleib-- not a big fan of him personally, but I don't cringe when I hear him.
Bill Walton--sometimes find him funny, sometimes highly agitating.
Miles Simon--I wish he was better...but can't put him on worst list.
Seth Greenburg--too long winded for me...but not awful.
DG goes among my Bests. He really does his homework and it shows. Also gets points for his on air liveliness. Not the parady-of-self, too much adderall a la Dick Vitale lively. More like the just-had-a-cup-of-joe-and-am-about-to-hit-the-road lively.
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Post by Frybry02 »

Bill and Dave are great tonight
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Post by Olsondogg »

Frybry02 wrote:Bill and Dave are great tonight
Meanwhile we were stuck with a turd sandwich...
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Post by 77HoyaCat4Ever »

Olsondogg wrote:
Frybry02 wrote:Bill and Dave are great tonight
Meanwhile we were stuck with a turd sandwich...

I thought we had the Giant Douches
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Post by BigSkyCatinMT »

I can pretty much ignore them all. Except Gus Johnson, and Vitale when he is gushing all things Duke.

I like that Walton has a job. Gives me hope for when I'm old and senile. Plus it makes a fun drinking game with friends when he misnames players. Beware the double OT game if he's calling. Death by alcohol poising is a serious threat.
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Post by Bear Down Vegas »

I sent my dad a text during the game last night that said, "I can't believe McLean annoys me more as a commentator than he did as a player. That was a damn high bar."

He drove me nuts last night. First example off the top of my head is he says throughout the game that Oregon is better off up tempo & running but when Arizona holds them to a full shot clock possession and a bad shot at the buzzer he says, "The Ducks really made Arizona work on defense for that entire possession." I mean....is he for real with that??
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Post by Olsondogg »

MacClean does no prep. He goes off the cuff and is wrong often. He's been called out on Twitter for some inaccuracies. Mostly it's his monotone speech pattern and repeated phrases that grind on me over time.
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Post by Chicat »

Bear Down Vegas wrote:I sent my dad a text during the game last night that said, "I can't believe McLean annoys me more as a commentator than he did as a player. That was a damn high bar."

He drove me nuts last night. First example off the top of my head is he says throughout the game that Oregon is better off up tempo & running but when Arizona holds them to a full shot clock possession and a bad shot at the buzzer he says, "The Ducks really made Arizona work on defense for that entire possession." I mean....is he for real with that??
He kept noting how "stagnant" Oregon was and how they weren't moving without the ball. Meanwhile I saw all kinds of movement and no one getting open because Arizona was playing really good man-to-man defense and switching on everything. Sometimes you get the feeling that the guy wearing the headset and yammering on and on doesn't know any more about the game than you do . . . and possibly less.

As for best vs. worst commentators, anyone who talks and talks and talks just to fill up the air is bad in my book. Walton and Vitale are the worst at this in my opinion. I'd much rather they talk about the game you are watching or say nothing at all than to tell story after story that have little to nothing to do with what's going on on my television screen. No one cares that you have lunch with Coach K or that Bob Dylan has an album of Bob Dylan covers coming out. And for fuck's sake, you've got a stat sheet right in front of you and a stat guy sitting right next to you. If you have to ask out loud how many fouls a guy has, you fucking suck at your job.
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Post by Olsondogg »

The mere fact that I had no idea what was called or who it was called on made me frustrated. Plus at one point MacClean said that rhj was playing with 4 fouls.
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Post by PieceOfMeat »

Olsondogg wrote: Mostly it's his monotone speech pattern and repeated phrases that grind on me over time.
With maclean, I'd even take it a bit further in regards to his speech patterns. I think he goes beyond monotone, and you can hear a level of apathy in his voice. When he talked about having done a bunch of our games, he sounded like it was a major disappointment in his life that he's stuck doing pac12 commentary during AZ basketball games. He just sounds completely disinterested and like he truly doesn't give a shit and just give him his paycheck so he can get back to doing whatever it is he does in his spare time.
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Post by UAEebs86 »

Chicat wrote:
As for best vs. worst commentators, anyone who talks and talks and talks just to fill up the air is bad in my book. Walton and Vitale are the worst at this in my opinion. I'd much rather they talk about the game you are watching or say nothing at all than to tell story after story that have little to nothing to do with what's going on on my television screen. No one cares that you have lunch with Coach K or that Bob Dylan has an album of Bob Dylan covers coming out. And for fuck's sake, you've got a stat sheet right in front of you and a stat guy sitting right next to you. If you have to ask out loud how many fouls a guy has, you fucking suck at your job.
I remember last year when Walton said something like "a foul by one of the Wears"? Then Pasch tells him him "you know Bill they have numbers on their jerseys". That's his alma mater and he can't even look at a lineup card. At least he is worth a few laughs a game, especially with Pasch.
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Post by Chicat »

UAEebs86 wrote:
Chicat wrote:
As for best vs. worst commentators, anyone who talks and talks and talks just to fill up the air is bad in my book. Walton and Vitale are the worst at this in my opinion. I'd much rather they talk about the game you are watching or say nothing at all than to tell story after story that have little to nothing to do with what's going on on my television screen. No one cares that you have lunch with Coach K or that Bob Dylan has an album of Bob Dylan covers coming out. And for fuck's sake, you've got a stat sheet right in front of you and a stat guy sitting right next to you. If you have to ask out loud how many fouls a guy has, you fucking suck at your job.
I remember last year when Walton said something like "a foul by one of the Wears"? Then Pasch tells him him "you know Bill they have numbers on their jerseys". That's his alma mater and he can't even look at a lineup card. At least he is worth a few laughs a game, especially with Pasch.
Walton does that constantly. He can't be bothered to actually pay attention to the game he's commenting on. Too busy wondering when the Dead are going to do a reunion tour I guess. And then when the play-by-play guy asks him to analyze what's happening on the court he gives you the "basketball is a simple game... pass the ball to open shooters... stay between your man and the basket... score more than you allow the other team to score and you'll win" bullshit. Does he really have that much contempt for the average viewer that he can't be bothered to offer us a nugget of insider knowledge of how the game is played, or did he fry the brain cell cluster that used to hold the knowledge of how to beat a press or how to effectively close out while playing in a zone?
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Post by gumby »

Travis Reid. Karen Parrom.

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Post by gumby »

"Stuff Kevin O'Neil Says" may need to be a thread. He was uncomfortable at first, but I'm starting to really like his studio appearances. Just says flat out what he's thinking. Quite a contrast the other mealy-mouthed analysts. Yam is starting to play off this. Could be good, if they don't squelch him.

Also on Joseph Young, he said something like, "I'm sure he's a very nice person, but he won't play in the NBA. Too small."

Bam! Love it.
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Post by Chicat »

I actually thought O'Neill was being unkind to Joseph Young. And I'm surprised to hear you "love" a comment about a kid's NBA potential. Isn't that your main complaint with coverage of college basketball? That it's too centered around a kid's NBA prospects.

His comments regarding Young reminded me a lot of the unkind shit he would talk about Jamelle Horne. What was his comment to the media? That he was still waiting for that NBA career to take off? What an asshole.
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Post by gumby »

His role as analyst is different from that of coach. I wouldn't expect that -- or laud it -- if it came from Altman.

I liked the NBA comment for it's straight-forward nature. Just happened to be League-related. He was asked. He answered. More of these guys need to hear that. Nobody's doing them favors saying the opposite or pretending otherwise.

Similarly, the Oregon comment. None of this "if they had done this or tweaked that" b.s. that most guys say. Just -- boom! -- Arizona is flat out better. Let's cut the crap.
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Post by Budd1e_lee »

Add Clark Kellogg to the list of announcers that can go fuck themselves.
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Post by EVCat »

Dykes was the worst of all time. Just awful. So glad he is gone.

Seth Greenburg drives me up a wall no matter his role...just a microphone in his hand makes me shudder. Greg Anthony makes some amazing points during his broadcasts, and is intelligent, but makes one or two comments a half that are nearly indefensible and just ruin anything good he has done. Len Elmore bores me and angers me at the same time.

Dick Vitale? I dunno...I am old enough to remember when he was single-handedly cheerleading the college game into people's hearts. He sucks now, but I still appreciate his early days and his promotion of Arizona as the team out west people didn't know enough about. He was very nearly Catman Vitale for a while, before the Dookie persona took off. I will always give him a pass for his last 10-15 years for what he meant early on to the game and our program.

Gus Johnson/Bill Raftery would make me watch games involving Quinnipiac. What a pleasure it was having them do our game. Dave Pasch can do no wrong. I love Bill Walton when he calls games that are not close...he kills me when the game is tight and I want less entertainment and more analysis. I like Doug Gottlieb, though I like him more as a pundit than an in-game analyst. He has salient points, and is willing to make bold proclamations when many take the safe route. Jay Bilas? Another like/not love guy. His arrogance sometimes overrides his great analysis.

Some day, I imagine, Shane Battier will be good. He is too smart both inside and outside the game to not offer something once he gets over on-air jitters. Once he starts flowing rather than searching for his researched talking points, I expect he will be pretty good at this. But he is a trainwreck right now.

I've always been a fan of Cheeseburger. Hearing his voice just makes an event seem more important, even if he is so cheesy sometimes.

Roxy has his hands full with Big Bill, and is not as adept at corralling him as Pasch, but no one is as good as Pasch at such things. He is pretty OK. Bobby Knight should not be allowed to talk. Period. Someone should order pancakes for him at the local iHop. He should have to write down phone conversations and have someone read the results. He sucks as a talking human. I think Sean Farnham has a good career ahead of him...good voice, decent contribution, seems to get better each time I hear him..

Leaving so many out. Brian Jeffries is miles above the market he works in. We are truly blessed to have him.
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gumby wrote:How Greg Anthony got the lead spot on CBS is a real mystery. Over-explains and says "as we talked about" and "in terms of" incessantly. Both just wasted words. "In terms of offense, they need to shoot better." Ugh. Shut up.
Not sure how much longer he'll have that lead spot.

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As we talked about, you just can't do that in terms of keeping your job.
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Post by loomer »

Chicat wrote:
gumby wrote:How Greg Anthony got the lead spot on CBS is a real mystery. Over-explains and says "as we talked about" and "in terms of" incessantly. Both just wasted words. "In terms of offense, they need to shoot better." Ugh. Shut up.
Not sure how much longer he'll have that lead spot.

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Post by Olsondogg »

EVCat wrote:Dykes was the worst of all time. Just awful. So glad he is gone.

Seth Greenburg drives me up a wall no matter his role...just a microphone in his hand makes me shudder. Greg Anthony makes some amazing points during his broadcasts, and is intelligent, but makes one or two comments a half that are nearly indefensible and just ruin anything good he has done. Len Elmore bores me and angers me at the same time.

Dick Vitale? I dunno...I am old enough to remember when he was single-handedly cheerleading the college game into people's hearts. He sucks now, but I still appreciate his early days and his promotion of Arizona as the team out west people didn't know enough about. He was very nearly Catman Vitale for a while, before the Dookie persona took off. I will always give him a pass for his last 10-15 years for what he meant early on to the game and our program.

Gus Johnson/Bill Raftery would make me watch games involving Quinnipiac. What a pleasure it was having them do our game. Dave Pasch can do no wrong. I love Bill Walton when he calls games that are not close...he kills me when the game is tight and I want less entertainment and more analysis. I like Doug Gottlieb, though I like him more as a pundit than an in-game analyst. He has salient points, and is willing to make bold proclamations when many take the safe route. Jay Bilas? Another like/not love guy. His arrogance sometimes overrides his great analysis.

Some day, I imagine, Shane Battier will be good. He is too smart both inside and outside the game to not offer something once he gets over on-air jitters. Once he starts flowing rather than searching for his researched talking points, I expect he will be pretty good at this. But he is a trainwreck right now.

I've always been a fan of Cheeseburger. Hearing his voice just makes an event seem more important, even if he is so cheesy sometimes.

Roxy has his hands full with Big Bill, and is not as adept at corralling him as Pasch, but no one is as good as Pasch at such things. He is pretty OK. Bobby Knight should not be allowed to talk. Period. Someone should order pancakes for him at the local iHop. He should have to write down phone conversations and have someone read the results. He sucks as a talking human. I think Sean Farnham has a good career ahead of him...good voice, decent contribution, seems to get better each time I hear him..

Leaving so many out. Brian Jeffries is miles above the market he works in. We are truly blessed to have him.
Nailed it. Terrific post. Nearly agree with everything.

Bilas joining Walton and Pasch was fun.

Have I mentioned that UA grad Goodman is a douche?
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gumby wrote:As we talked about, you just can't do that in terms of keeping your job.
A+ gumby
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Digger Phelps is a box of tools.
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CBCat
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Post by CBCat »

CalStateTempe wrote:Digger Phelps is a box of tools.
I don't think he was on College game day yesterday? Where is he. Hopefully done.

College game day gonna do an Arizona game?? Whats up with that?
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His contract was not renewed by espn if I remember correctly.
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Him and his stupid highlighter were given the boot.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
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Having a hard time seeing any mention of Gary Parrish up there. You know that guy who runs the 'Poll Attacks' column every week at CBS? The same guy who has us ranked #9 and Duke #5 despite us having better efficiency metrics and better wins...? The guy with the bad tan? Douche.
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Post by Olsondogg »

I already miss Greg Anthony, the father of 4 and staunch Republican vying for a run into public office.

So do the women of the night.

Allegedly.
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Puerco wrote:Having a hard time seeing any mention of Gary Parrish up there. You know that guy who runs the 'Poll Attacks' column every week at CBS? The same guy who has us ranked #9 and Duke #5 despite us having better efficiency metrics and better wins...? The guy with the bad tan? Douche.
Parrish now has Duke at 4, ISU and KU at 7 and 8. And Arizona at 9. I guess he doesn't like advanced stats... Or wins and losses for that matter.
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I like Kevin Calabro's voice in games...
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Dakich...ugh...vomit...re-vomit....

He's up high on the "worst" column and climbing quickly...
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Kevin O'neill's podcasts with Mike Yam and Muelbach are actually hugely entertaining. Someone linked it here before. Pac 12 Basketball Podcast

I think Corey Williams is actually great as an announcer and studio guy. Rafferty and Gus Johnson are actually tops for me now, although last game Johnson had the "Zeus" thing all screwed up. But he was still enthusiastic as hell.
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Post by catgrad97 »

To have Nantz and Raftery on the Final Four this year will be back to the Tiffany Network standard. No more of this Greg Anthony garbage.
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Post by gumby »

The Butcher wrote:Kevin O'neill's podcasts with Mike Yam and Muelbach are actually hugely entertaining. Someone linked it here before. Pac 12 Basketball Podcast

I think Corey Williams is actually great as an announcer and studio guy. Rafferty and Gus Johnson are actually tops for me now, although last game Johnson had the "Zeus" thing all screwed up. But he was still enthusiastic as hell.
Love those podcasts. But for the feint of heart, there are some frank assessments of the "kids."
Right where I want to be.
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