The Outsiders' Edge

Welcome back to the Edge everybody. Sorry for the lack of page updates over the past three days. SJX shot himself in the leg and has been in and out of the hospital, and I’ve been busy doing some hard promotion for the blog all over the Internet, so things got a little out of sort but hopefully we’ll have more readers in the long run, so the last three days weren’t for nothing.

Saint and I are particularly proud of the people who Google searched “Annika Sorenstam nude”, ‘Paula Creamer nude”, and “Kelly LeBrock nude” . I have no idea why those three search terms brought people to the Outsiders’ Edge, but we’ll take readers any way we can. Before you read the rest of this piece, you should go out and tell 5 friends about us. We’ll wait.

(Whistles)

(Jingles change in pocket)

And we’re back.

Today’s entry is about the glue that holds sporting events together. Namely, the play by play guy.  My original entry was going to be about the five sports media members I hate the most, and I’ll probably do it some day, but the candidates were just to vast to narrow down to five. Hell, I could do a list of forty people I hate who are associated with NFL pre-game shows alone, combine that with blowhards like Stephen A. Smith, Jim Nantz, Billy Packer, WWE’s Michael Cole, and NASCAR’s Bill Weber that entry would stretch on for ages. So, instead of doing the trendy blog thing and listing announcers I hate, I’d like to present to you my six favorite play by play guys in all of sports TV. Just to warn you, some of these picks will be off the wall and will likely foster angry opinions and discussion. Also, no Kelly LeBrock, Annika Sorenstam, or Paula Creamer references will be made.

6)- Mike Breen.

Best known for: NBA

Mike Breen is my favorite NBA announcer working today. He does a masterful job of playing moderator during Marc Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy’s frequent yelling spats, and really know how to call all of the action in a professional and easy to listen to manner. Breen and Doug Collins announced all the games for Team USA during the Beijing Olympics. It was a neat thing when after the team beat Spain in the gold medal game, all the team members came over to shake Collins’ and Breens’ hands to thank them for being a part of the experience. It was neat to see. It wasn’t some bullshit hug and fist-pound thing that Stuart Scott does to every athlete he meets just to act like he is relevant. This was initiated by the players and was a really classy gesture that shows how much they respect Breen. Its so much better having the fresh faced Breen/Jackson/Van Guny crew call the finals instead of the tired Bill Walton/ Mike Tirico. random third guy crew that had been in place. More networks should assingn the best announcing crew to their finals as opposed to the biggest names.(Hint, Hint Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms).

5) Cliff Drysdale

Best known for: Tennis

Wildcard alert! You’re probably thinking right now, who in the blue hell is Cliff Drysdale? Funny you should ask. Cliff Drysdale is the tennis play by play guy for ESPN. Still doesn’t ring a bell? Well, I guarantee you recognize his voice, because he is the only South African play by play guy working for ESPN right now. I’ll be the first to admit that I do not watch tennis very much, but I do enjoy watching the majors and always get drawn into matches Drysdale is calling. Its his damn accent that just draws you in. Maybe thats why everybody loves SJX’s posts so much. His British typing just draws people in the same way Michael Jackson draws young boys into his bedroom by giving out free DVDs of the movie “The Transformers”. That was a little creepy, any way keep up the good work Cliff, and lets move on.

4) Dick Enberg

Best known for: Olympics, golf, college basketball, tennis, NFL

Dick Enberg has the greatest set of pipes of any play by play man on television today. He is now 73 years old, but is still up there with the best of them. Something about Enberg’s voice always harkens me back to great John Elway games that he used to call on CBS, since CBS owned the rights to AFC games. Even at his advanced age, Enberg is still the best NFL man in the business. Who wouldn’t want to hear Enberg call the Super Bowl instead of that over dramatic God in his own mind Jim Nantz, or the too cool for school Chairman of all morality Joe Buck? Enberg’s work in other areas such as the Olympics or tennis majors was and continues to be outstanding. I love having Cliff Drysdale call the early major tennis action on ESPN before switching over to Enberg to call all the important rounds on NBC or CBS.

3) Lon McEachern

Best known for: World Series of Poker, Strikeforce on NBC

Wild card number two! Lon McEachern is an announcer that most people couldn’t name, but have heard his voice before. Lon and his non-funny troll of a partner Norman Chad are the voices of the World Series of Poker on ESPN that is on nearly every day somewhere with the mothership. Next time you turn on ESPN2 and see the WSOP on, stop for a second before you flip to something better. I know poker isn’t the greatest sport for the television medium, but McEarchen is sharp as a tack and has a great voice to listen to. Anybody who can survive working next to Norman Chad for five years deserves to cover better events for ESPN. I also love McEachern’s work as the play by play man for NBC’s Strikeforce MMA show which airs at like 2 AM following SNL and Poker After Dark. Lon and Ken Shamrock make for a great, knowledgeable duo who don’t resort to over used cliches and terrible signature calls like MMA’s most famous announcing duo, UFC’s Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan. The action isn’t always 5 star on Strikeforce, but they have some entertaining fights and some world class fighters in Cung Le and Frank Shamrock. McEarhern heads a great nuts and bolts broadcast, and he gets to work with a great partner in Ken Shamrock who spares us from Norman Chad-esque 35 year old pop culture references and predictable jokes about how loud Phil Hellmuth is.

2) Gus Johnson

Best known for: NFL, College Basketball, EliteXC on CBS

Gus Johnson brings a level of excitement to any game he covers that is unmatched. Whether its the elite 8 of the NCAA tournament or a week 15 match up between the 2-12 Browns and the 0-14 Lions, Gus Johnson will make it into the most important game you have ever watched in your life. Joe Buck and Jim Nantz will make a last second game winning kick in the Super Bowl sound about as exciting as a five foot putt in the first round of an LPGA event. Not Gus. No, Gus will scream at the top of his lungs, occasionally at non human levels, that will make you hang up the phone, sit up a little straighter and take a little more notice about what is happening. One of my favorite calls was at the end of the Kimbo Slice- James Thompson fight back in May for CBS’ Elite XC MMA broadcast. He started the fight out relatively normal, but by the end of the fight had worked himself into a full bluster and was screaming “HES BLEEDING, HES BLEEDING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” at the very top of his lungs by the end when Kimo drew blood from Thompson’s ear. It was quite the sight to behold.

Gus also knows how to market himself. Visit  http://www.gusjohnsonsports.com/ringtones.html to order a full collection of Gustones for your phone. The site features prerecorded recordings of him saying things like “Iguodala makes the three pointer, and the Sixers are the new world champions.” It doesn’t get any better then that. Also Gus is a dual threat. The super high voice he yells at important moments in basketball games can also be translated into singing great Abba tunes. Check out this video:

1) Jim Ross

Best Known for: WWE

Was there really any question as to who I was going to name the best play by play man in the business? Jim Ross is the voice of professional wrestling. It doesn’t get any better then JR calling the Wrestle Mania main event and busting out classic lines like “He is getting beaten’ like a government mule”, or “folks, we are in for a genuine slobber knocker.”  The Hall of Famer has reached the level where you can’t think of great WWE matches without JR’s voice in your head. His voice is synonymous with greatness. His calls from matches like the mankind-Undertaker Hell in a Cell matches are almost as famous as the matches themselves. Also, JR is never afraid to get physical in the ring. I’d love to see Joe Buck receive a Pedigree from HHH, or Jim Nantz get lit on fire by Kane. JR is the man. This video has some Tom Hanks-esque acting in it. Try and take some of this Tirico!

~ by lordelevation on December 2, 2008.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Dick Enberg, Gus Johnson, Jim Ross, Lon McEachern