Agree 100%. Fans of the sport first and appreciative of good plays and players on opposing teams. In fact I really like respectful and insightful short observations of opposing players I may not be fully aware of because they play in different markets. They should also be fans of the local team as well, but that should come second.
ETA: I voted for the third choice.
I didn’t get it exactly right after 21 years, but here is the moment I was talking about.
Yes, it’s hard to imagine the call of a pivotal home run being exciting under such circumstances.
One of the things that I despise (as a Cub fan, I really only notice it during Cub games, though I assume it happens with other teams, as well) is when listening to a game featuring an announcer that used to call games for your team, but doesn’t anymore, and he becomes kind of an “anti-homer.”
Thom Brennaman, for example, is a current Reds sportscaster who used to work for the Cubs. And someone has cataloged all of his anti-Cub criticisms here.
He’s not alone. Bob Brenly and Mark Grace both do it, too, though not as bad.
When I was growing up in New York, the broadcast crew for the Yankees was Bill White, Frank Messer and the ultimate homer, Phil Rizzuto.
I loved Phil, but ONE homer is plenty. I’m glad Messer and White were more objective.
I don’t want an announcer to sound like I sound when I’m watching a game: screaming at a ball to drop, yelling “run!” at a baserunner, trying to will a fielder into making a play, wishing a ball to go fowl, etc.
If I wanted to listen to a dumbass talking about hopes and dreams, I’d listen to myself.
I’m somewhere between the first two. I mean, an extreme homer can be really annoying, but here in Pittsburgh, Myron Cope, was a fucking legend, and no one was a bigger Steelers fan than him. And yeah, he’d mock the other side occasionally. (Remember the “Bungles”?).
I’ve also seen home announcers get angry when they see out and out attempts to injure (like the time Paul Steigerwald said that Trevor Gillies need to “get back to his cage” after he slammed Eric Tangradi down to the ice and started pounding on the guy.)
I think with home announcers, who get to know the team, and become friends with them, are probably going to become homers. Plus many of them are employed by the team, so naturally they’re gonna lean that way.
However, when it comes to laughing at people getting injured, or do nothing but insult the opposing side, complain the refs are biased, etc. That gets really annoying. If you wanna cheer for the home side, do it, but don’t do so by ragging on the opponents.
(And ational announcers should absolutely be neutral)
God bless awful announcing, somehow I missed that meltdown video so thanks! I would wager my salary for the year that at some point in “Hawk’s” life, some older kids let him believe he would win at something just so they could enjoy the meltdown when he would suffer his inevitable beat down. I knew my fair share of kids that were over competitive but terrible at whatever sport was in season and it was always fun to watch the meltdowns. I have watched so many white sox games for this reason that I have become a fan of them.
I thought this was going to be a poll about homersexuals.
If the announcer isn’t Vin Scully, they suck by definition.
Homers are the worst. I expect even the home announcers to be polished professionals, not cheerleaders.
While calling the White Sox, he got himself fired temporarily for his criticisms of the team. His partner Jimmy Piersall was still more critical, and even called the owner’s wife “an incredible bore” on air. Those were the days.