# Play by Play & Color Commentary **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959 "2017-04-22T00:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/1 "2017-04-22T00:45:34Z")
The standard for sports presentation these days seem to have a play by play and color commentator. I don’t watch a lot of sports but it seems ubiquitous for sports that have commentary. For example, tennis I noticed has no commentary at all. So: 1 - Is that pretty true? Is it a North America thing or is this pretty typical elsewhere in the world? What sports with commentary do not have play by play and color commentary? 2 - When, why how did this format of commentary start (even if it isn’t as ubiquitous as I think)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/2 "2017-04-22T01:13:33Z")
Color commentators were added to the mix of regular commentator and play-by-play. The color commentator is usually a former athlete and there for pure entertainment. I can’t tell you much about the history but the 3 man team was very successful on Monday Night Football in the 70s and 80s. The commentary was essential in the days of radio and still adds a lot to games with a stop-and-go format like baseball and football. Some specialty sports have relied heavily on commentators to make the sport interesting. Without them rodeos, traditional pro wrestling, drag racing, roller derby, and others wouldn’t draw flies. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/3 "2017-04-22T01:37:05Z")
Wikipedia has an article here: > **[Sports commentator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_commentator)** > > In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. Radio was the first medium for sports broadcasts, where the radio commentators had to describe the action in detail because the listeners could not see it for themselves. In the case of televised sports coverage, commentators are presented as a voiceover, with images of the contest shown on viewers' s... According to the article, it started in 1921: > [@](#): > > While sports broadcasts took place from 1912, Florent Gibson of the Pittsburgh Star newspaper broadcast the first sports commentary in April 1921, covering the fight between Johnny Ray and Johnny “Hutch” Dundee at the Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh. The article doesn’t give much info about what sports do and do not have commentators, but there are a lot of linked articles that might have more info. I didn’t follow the links. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/4 "2017-04-22T20:20:14Z")
I used to listen to baseball games a lot in the late 40s and the 50s and one guy did it all–announcing the game, doing the commercials, comments if any. What he did if he had to pee, I don’t know. Not only that, but if the A’s played the Yankees in the afternoon and the Phillies played in NY in the evening he would do the first live and the second by telegraphic reconstruction in the evening. By about 1950, they were also doing away games live and there were two announcers and two different stations one for each team And let me note that the two stations were at 990 and 950 and if the games were at the same time, I could tune the radio to 970 and listen to both at the same time. By the time I moved to Montreal in 1968, having a color man was standard. Our first was Jackie Robinson and then Duke Snider. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/5 "2017-04-23T00:41:47Z")
Thanks for the replies. The earliest direct reference to play by play and color commentary that I could find is the 1938 World Series. > **[Motion Picture Daily (Oct–Dec 1938) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming :...](https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai44unse_0?view=theater)** > > v. in 32 cm The more I’ve been reading about this the more I’d love to know about the history of this! I’ve also found out that in the UK they don’t call it color commentary (or color commentator) but the “analyst”. Pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/6 "2017-04-23T01:01:42Z")
Aha! 1. Graham McNamee. [1] > **[Graham McNamee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_McNamee)** > > Thomas Graham McNamee (July 10, 1888 – May 9, 1942) was an American radio broadcaster, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade. He originated play-by-play sports broadcasting for which he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. > Graham McNamee's father, John B. McNamee, was an attorney and legal advisor to President Grover Cleveland's cabinet, and his mother, Anne, was a homemaker, who also sang in a church choir. Bor... [1] Leventhal, J. (2015). History of Baseball in 100 Objects. Black Dog & Leventhal. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/7 "2017-04-23T01:19:05Z")
I really, really, really hate play-by-play commentary for hockey. Why in the hell are you describing to me exactly what I’m fucking watching? Why? It’s the stupidest fucking thing ever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/8 "2017-04-23T02:00:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I really, really, really hate play-by-play commentary for hockey. > > Why in the hell are you describing to me exactly what I’m fucking watching? Why? > > It’s the stupidest fucking thing ever. It was useful back before they CGI enhanced the puck. Calling the players names helped too. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/9 "2017-04-23T05:24:18Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I used to listen to baseball games a lot in the late 40s and the 50s … > And let me note that the two stations were at 990 and 950 and if the games were at the same time, I could tune the radio to 970 and listen to both at the same time. Wow! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/10 "2017-04-23T13:05:02Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > 2 - When, why how did this format of commentary start (even if it isn’t as ubiquitous as I think)? When you look here, you find the cricket commentators are mostly going to be in the opinionated expert colour sort,as most of them were former players. > **[List of cricket commentators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cricket_commentators)** > > This is a list of notable media commentators and writers on the sport of cricket from around the world. > A number of famous players have had a second career as writers or commentators. However, many commentators never played the game at a professional level, yet they have gone on to become famous names associated with the game. The following is a list of the cricket commentators, including name, nationality, Broadcaster/Publication and other careers. There are a few which might be simple voices, saying what they see, but if they played at the level of representing their country, they would most likely have opinions to add. Commentating cricket usually includes an opinion on why a change to the field or bowler is being made, and usually doesn’t require an opinion of emotion or politics related to the players. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/11 "2017-04-23T13:06:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Wow! 🙂 Let me add that there were no color commentators and a lot of dead air, which made it easy to listen that way. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/12 "2017-04-23T17:00:20Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I really, really, really hate play-by-play commentary for hockey. > > Why in the hell are you describing to me exactly what I’m fucking watching? Why? > > It’s the stupidest fucking thing ever. Some play by play announcers are better than others. They’ll give you the players names and add some excitement. OTOH, some (who I won’t name out of respect for the elderly) are just “It’s in the corner. Out in front. Banged away” ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/13 "2017-04-25T21:49:33Z")
I like to contrast TV tennis commentary with radio. TV commentary is fairly unobtrusive. During the play, they don’t say much, because the action is both obvious and so fast that real time commentary struggles to keep up. In the space between points, they fill the dead air with value-adding personal details about the players and technical stuff you couldn’t know unless you were a former pro. Radio, on the other hand, can’t have dead air during the points, so they fill it with commentary whose information content is at the level of useless gibberish ("Forehand to Nadal! Backhand to Federer! Repeat ad nauseam.). The _emotional_ content, however, is pitched to create the impression of constant pants-wetting excitement. You are essentially listening to a guy being excited on your behalf, and getting a vicarious thrill from his enrapturement. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/play-by-play-color-commentary/784959/14 "2017-04-25T22:31:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I used to listen to baseball games a lot in the late 40s and the 50s and one guy did it all–announcing the game, doing the commercials, comments if any. What he did if he had to pee, I don’t know. Not only that, but if the A’s played the Yankees in the afternoon and the Phillies played in NY in the evening he would do the first live and the second by telegraphic reconstruction in the evening. > > By about 1950, they were also doing away games live and there were two announcers and two different stations one for each team And let me note that the two stations were at 990 and 950 and if the games were at the same time, I could tune the radio to 970 and listen to both at the same time. > > By the time I moved to Montreal in 1968, having a color man was standard. Our first was Jackie Robinson and then Duke Snider. I remember when we lived near Milwaukee in the early 90s Bob Uecker would at least part of the time handle the Brewers radio broadcasts solo. Lots of quiet spots (even with Uecker behind the mike) with just the hum of the crowd in the background. Very enjoyable broadcasts to listen to.