# Who is the best sports announcer? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250 "2021-12-18T01:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/21 "2021-12-18T20:59:48Z")
He probably has the best piece of trivia. He is the only broadcaster to be traded for a player ([Cliff Dapper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Dapper)) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/22 "2021-12-18T21:08:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Uecker.” I believe he’s retired. He was an exceptional announcer, though. Actually, he’s still active as an announcer for the Brewers, and celebrated his 50th anniversary of announcing for the team earlier this year. > **[Brewers Broadcasters | Milwaukee Brewers](https://www.mlb.com/brewers/team/broadcasters)** > > Meet the Brewers television and radio broadcast teams I’ve always been a fan of Uecker’s, but as a Brewer fan, I recognize some home-town bias. That said, I concur that Vin Scully is one of the modern-day gold standards. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/23 "2021-12-18T21:23:03Z")
Here’s my old thread about Howard Cosell > [@What did you think of Howard Cosell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-think-of-howard-cosell/836013): > > I think he was great at boxing, good in football, and awful with baseball. Your opinions? I was pretty young when he was announcing, so most of my opinions are based on DVDs and YouTube of classic sporting events. I’ll throw out Gordon Solie as the best sports announcer if you consider pro wrestling a sport. He was a legend and handled both Georgia Championship Wrestling and Championship Wrestling from Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/24 "2021-12-18T21:47:50Z")
I like it spicy. Pepper Brooks. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kHltCzuwlOs/hqdefault.jpg "ESPN8 ADAA Dodge Ball Open") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHltCzuwlOs) And Bill Carr: “The fans are standing up to them! The security guards are standing up to them! The peanut vendors are standing up to them! And by golly, if I could get down there, I’d be standing up to them!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4jjlaCJ3C2A/maxresdefault.jpg "Slap Shot - Unleash Ogie Olgilthorpe") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jjlaCJ3C2A) Or of course Jim Robson. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/25 "2021-12-18T23:36:08Z")
I think Sean McDonough is pretty good. He started out as a local boy here in Boston, and now can pretty much call anything. He’s not flashy, but he doesn’t make mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/26 "2021-12-19T02:02:32Z")
For football, Kevin Harlan is a fantastic play-by-play announcer, maybe the best. For baseball, it will be very hard to ever beat Vin. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/27 "2021-12-19T02:11:28Z")
Vin Scully. Period. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/28 "2021-12-19T02:19:44Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > I like it spicy. Pepper Brooks. How far ahead of the times was that movie: > A reminder, all players must be vaccinated for cholera. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/29 "2021-12-19T02:46:29Z")
My vote - Tony Romo, but I wish his voice were less high-pitched. 2nd, Al Michaels. Worst: Joe Buck. As someone once put it, if Buck were a reporter on 9/11, he would say, _“Airplane…airplane…airplane… **building**!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/30 "2021-12-19T02:54:14Z")
Mauro Ranallo has called boxing, wrestling, MMA, and even the occasional hockey game, and excels at all of them. He does his homework on the athletes he’s covering and could probably call any sport with ease if he had time to prepare. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/31 "2021-12-19T07:34:43Z")
For colour, no one beats the already immortal Ray Hudson. Nobody. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cAE7BXBK4UA/hqdefault.jpg "Ray Hudson screaming and losing his mind over Lionel Messi goals for 9 minutes straight") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAE7BXBK4UA) A nod to sometimes odd Brad Gilbert, in tennis, for having by far the keenest and most insightful takes. Remember Brian Doyle Murray? Yup, the same, who cut his teeth as a young gymnastics announcer, here. (With, of course, the great Alice Van Deesen): https://www.youtube.com/embed/6cfaNA2_vZY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLJGmQQXEQhf3TYXtvW8vJX44o_C3SETK2 ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/32 "2021-12-19T12:39:03Z")
Max McGee. He used to do radio commentary for the Packers. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/33 "2021-12-19T15:44:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Worst: Joe Buck. As someone once put it, if Buck were a reporter on 9/11, he would say, _“Airplane…airplane…airplane… **building**!”_ I don’t mind how Buck calls the actual play. What I find annoying is that he picks a narrative about the game beforehand and then sticks to it no matter how the actual game goes. If he says in the pregame that the key to the game is Altuve hitting home runs he will still be saying that in the 9th when he’s 0-5. It doesn’t matter what he says the key is, the defense of one team, the pitching of the other, the hot dog prices… no matter what he starts talking about pregame he will not abandon it even if the key to the game becomes obviously something else. It becomes more obvious when you are a fan of one of the teams. I’m not saying he consciously likes a team over another but he makes his mind up as to who should win before it starts and comments in those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlax/32/2927_2.png) [@Scarlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlax)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/34 "2021-12-19T18:38:58Z")
Ernie also played the voice of God in Christmas pageants at Farmington First UMC where he and his wife were members. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/35 "2021-12-19T19:35:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Worst: Joe Buck. As someone once put it, if Buck were a reporter on 9/11, he would say, _“Airplane…airplane…airplane… **building**!”_ I didn’t want to get into that but yes. I was going to say that even though I’m not sure who I’d call the best, I can easily call him the worst. Especially since he’s all over the TV for some reason. > [@Loach](#): > > I’m not saying he consciously likes a team over another but he makes his mind up as to who should win before it starts and comments in those terms. Troy Aikman seems to have some obvious biases and when he’s teamed up with Buck on NFL broadcasts it’s like some awful feedback loop. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/36 "2021-12-19T23:44:27Z")
Already cast my vote for Vin, but to really date myself and a shout-out to all the Dopers in SoCal of an age: Chick Hearn. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/37 "2021-12-20T01:33:32Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > John Madden certainly knew his stuff. I’d even go so far as to say he was (still is?) a football geek. He was the one who originated the idea of announcers watching the teams practice and speaking to the players and coaches before the upcoming game so as to have a better understanding of how things stand. He was a hall of fame head coach before he was a broadcaster, so he prepared for games just like a coach would. He also brought the telestrater to announcing so he could draw on the instant replays. Madden was truly iconic - there’s going to be a documentary on him on Xmas day (on Fox, I believe). I like most of the current announcers who do NFL games - Phil Simms always annoyed me, so I’m glad he’s gone. Growing up, I enjoyed the dulcet voice of Dick Enberg doing play by play. He deserves a mention. Today, one of my favorite color men is Chris Collinsworth. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/38 "2021-12-20T04:24:42Z")
Jerry Remy And Don Orsillo were great. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/39 "2021-12-20T15:43:12Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > For football, Kevin Harlan is a fantastic play-by-play announcer, maybe the best. Kevin Harlan is very underrated. He’s a guy that if I see he’s announcing, I’ll make a point to watch or listen. I don’t know how often he announces NBA anymore, but he was my favorite for that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250/40 "2021-12-20T16:04:28Z")
Here comes the pizza! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MH4LCFmThHE/hqdefault.jpg "2007 FENWAY PIZZA INCIDENT") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH4LCFmThHE) RIP Jerry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-best-sports-announcer/956250.md?page=3)