Anything is better than "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" of Ace and Gary( Buck and Aikman)

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I don't really have any problems with any of the announcers, but I must admit that Aikman does agitate me a little from time to time.

I still think that no one can beat Collinsworth.

And I do like to listen to Gruden. Whether it be as a commentator at a game, an analyst on the set or on his own show.

/old fart rant on

Need #1 for an announcer/announcing team is quality play by play. Virtually all of them suck at this. And MNF/ESPN is worst of all.

I'm not surprised. Effective play by play requires serious homework. You need to pretty much have the entire roster and their numbers memorized, not just three stars or head cases per team to go "Boom!" about.

And you have to have encylopedic knowledge of both rules and the tactics/strategies of the game AND the ability to stop showing off that knowledge.

And you have to be able to describe what is happening both during and between plays with brevity. You're providing a soundtrack for the action, you aren't the action.

And what is essential for play-by-play goes double for the "color commentary." The soul of art lies in the gaps, in the silence between the notes. Not in the volume of the playing or the ability to do a minute waltz in 13 seconds.

Cosell, for all his obnoxiousness, knew this. He knew when to shut up (most of the time) and let Gifford do his thing as play by play. And Gifford (the earlier version, not the Kathie Lee sidekick version) knew how to keep play by play at a minimum.

Listen carefully to the great announcers. Compute their ratio of talking to silence-from-the-booth.

And weep.

To say Collinsworth (or whoever is at the "top" of the heap right now) is better, in my opinion is like saying one would rather get gonorrhea than AIDs.

Perhaps. But I'd rather go without either.

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couldn't agree more, wade. seriously - take a f'in breath commentators!! and here's a novel idea - watch the f'in game you're being paid to commentate about!!! cuz guess what? i don't CARE what you did when you played or coached. but i DO care about what is actually happening on the f'in field!!!!!

i feel a bit better now but trust me by 8:30 tonite, i'll be pissed as hell all over again!!

I only notice when announcers say something stupid which is the majority of the time, otherwise I just tune them out. I remember when I use to have a DVR would line the game up so it matched the radio delay and just listen to the Packers radio network. They are so much more enjoyable to listen to.

Wade is so effing old, he farts dust. His social security number is in the single digits. He remembers when the Duluth Eskimos played the Packers to a 0-0 tie game.

Wade, get off your friggen soap box. Don't break your hip when you step down. =)

That said, I love Collinsworth and Gruden. Jaws gets annoying, but knows the game. Al Michaels is pretty damn good at times too.

I HATE Buck. Aikmen isn't so bad, but he has his 'tarded moments.

My favorite so far is coach Billick. The guy doesn't talk too much, probably is the smartest commentator out there, and knows the NFL and what goes on behind the scenes.

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Brett is so clutch!

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Trust me, hemorrhoids don't yield dust. :)

I tried to find some footage of the late Ray Scott (who did both Packer and Viking games, by the way), to point out just how bad your favorites are by comparison, but alas I'm too old to use Google effectively enough.

What was it Engels said, the young, they're always with us.

:)

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I think this is the best MNF crew since the old days. Tirico is a solid, knowledgeable play-by-play guy, and Jaworksi and Gruden usually have good analysis. Gruden bothers me a little with his macho posturing and endless praise of the QBs, but mostly I'm just thankful that he's not Tony K. or Dennis Miller.

In the Vikings-Jets game, I thought they were appropriately critical of Favre in the first half, and when he got rolling, it was their job as announcers to point out that he was playing great, so I can't hold it against them.

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If you mean "best since the old days of MNF", okay, I'll concede that.

But if you mean "best since the old days when they had good playbyplay for virtually every game"...uh uh.

Anyone remember Lindsey Nelson? He probably was one of the weakest of the "old guard" of announcers. And he was head and shoulders above EVERYONE who has EVER done MNF play-by-play.

And he wasn't in the same league of Scott, Gowdy, et al.

I'd love it is they brought back Lindsey Nelson. Even though he's been dead for 15 years now, he'd be an improvement.

And a hemorrhoid shake to you, Formo. :pottytrain2:

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