I remember watching the Jets - Miami no-announcer game, and it did give the feel that you were at the game. The only thing you heard was the PA announcer (who announces every football play anyway), and the crowd noise. The weird thing was the transition to commercials, where the noise just slammed you back in your chair.
A good announcer makes the games more exciting… I used to love to listen to Bob Prince announce Pirate games on the radio when I was a kid. When I moved near Baltimore, Jon Miller and Joe Angel were terrific. And for hockey, no one is better than Mike Lange for the Penguins. Even on TV. You don’t have to actually “watch” every second, as the play-by-play can carry you through the plays you miss.
For football, and anything else, really… I don’t think anyone is better than Al Michaels. Which makes me wonder how he doesn’t blow his brains out listening to that slobbering, babbling hack John Madden.
SFP
For my love of John Madden, please see my Pit thread about the fat bastard. The gist of it was STFU!
Play by play assignments differ by team. Up here in Seattle, Sonics announcer Kevin Calabaro would do radio games and have them simulcast on TV when the game was televised. It was really weird because the broadcasts wouldn’t be synced perfectly, so the TV calls came before the radio calls. The Mariners have a four man team that rotates between TV and radio. So Dave Niehaus will do the first and last three innings on TV, while Rick Rizz does those innings on radio. In the middle innings they switch.
A lot of the problems would be eliminated if they got rid of the color man. He supposed to help fans get a “player perspective”, but he usually ends up being an excuse man for the players. Plus since they’re hired for their names they are usually much weaker announcers than the play by play men, who’ve done this for decades. Get rid of color announcers and the broadcasts wouldn’t be so overcrowded.
I actually like Bob Cole. It was Jim Hughson who was the crappy announcer I mentioned. Bob will do one more Leaf game this season, and then primarily be the Montreal guy.
Bob Cole is an icon: in the ilk of Foster Hewitt. I’ve heard similar stories about him not knowing the members of other teams, but it’s all apocryphal. Please point me to Youtube examples of Bob not knowing the other team members. You’re repeating urban legend here.
I’ve found cricket works a lot better without the announcing; all I need is the HUD with who’s batting/bowling/just caught someone, the score, and what ball/over they’re on.
That’s what I was going to say. Plus some sports are just confusing to watch if you’re not familiar with them. My husband’s been trying to get me into football, and the play-by-play really helps because otherwise I don’t have half a clue what’s going on on the field. Yes, you can see what’s going on on the field. I can’t, or at least I can’t parse it quickly enough for it to make sense.