Detroit area sportscasters

[smogboy]

Just curious as to what people's opinions are of our local sports journalists (TV, print, radio & web).

Who do you think is a legend? Who does an adequate job? Who's the biggest homer? Who's the best play-by-play voice? Who should be hit with a broom and tossed from our fair city? Any favorite recollections as to memorable calls? Let's hear it!

And at least substantiate why you think a person is what they are as opposed to just lavishing praise or hate upon them. Cite some examples of their work!

[Downriviera]

Nice topic, Smogboy. I'm gonna give props to Pete Krupsky, radio voice of the Plymouth Whalers. He is really passionate about hockey and it comes through in his broadcasts. He has a wealth of information about future NHL prospects, and adds this info during the game but doesn't over do it. Sometimes too much information, like Mike Emrick, dulls the senses.

[smogboy]

My personal favorite for calling any of the major sports in Detroit was always Bruce Martyn. Whether he was paired up with Budd Lynch, Sid Abel or Paul Woods- I've always enjoyed his call of the game. The excitement and rising pitch as he'd announce a goal was a thing of beauty to hear.

Oh how I miss the days of when the television and radio broadcasts were done simultaneously. Granted back then seeing the Wings on ol' WKBD was truly a treat as opposed to practically watching every game on cable now. And I remember when ON-TV and eventually PASS had a handful of those games on too. Those few televised games back then really meant something to me in my youth.

[9936Sussex]

I have to say that I too, like Pete Krupsky of the Plymouth Whalers. He knows a lot about junior hockey, and I enjoy listening to him when I can. I also like the duo that do the Tigers on TV Mario and Ron (don't know their last names). I like their voices, and they seem decently informed. I guess noone will really ever replace listening to Ernie on the radio, just too many memories built in with him.

[smogboy]

I guess noone will really ever replace listening to Ernie on the radio, just too many memories built in with him.

Absolutely no disrespect meant towards our cultural gem in Ernie Harwell here but people tend to forget Paul Carey quite a bit. I thought the duo of Harwell and Carey were absolutely amazing as radio voices. They were so smooth together and they just had a great way of "painting the picture" as to what was going on at the Corner. Nineteen years together.

I can't remember who said it, but I once heard a story that if we could hear God's voice, it'd sound just like Paul Carey's. He had some pipes and boy, could the both of them tell a story or two on the air.

[EastsideAl]

George Blaha has been the voice of the Pistons forever. He can certainly be a homer, but not in a vicious or obnoxious way, and he does know the game. His unmistakable voice and cadence really conveys the rhythm and flow of the game of basketball, and, of course, he has all of his little phrases that any Pistons fan can imitate.

[ggores]

.........when the television and radio broadcasts were done simultaneously. Granted back then seeing the Wings on ol' WKBD was truly a treat as opposed to practically watching every game on cable now. And I remember when ON-TV and eventually PASS had a handful of those games on too. Those few televised games back then really meant something to me in my youth.

Very frustrating to have a Tigers game on television, the radio providing the play-by-play (I prefer the radio call), and only to find out that the television lags a good ten seconds behind the radio. Back at Tiger Stadium, ya'd ALways see a bunch of people with radios and newspapers, listening to the game (or the horse races), and making notes in their papers.

As for ON-TV.... heh, yep, more OFF than ON actually, but whether it was a Tygs, Wings, or movie (showed a lot of Laurel and Hardy and Chaplin flicks) what they actually ended up showing was good.

As for announcers, how about the "most comical". In that case, I vote for Jim Price. Between listening to that guy chomp on hot dogs all evening, and his over-the-top exuberance about this mystical and almost incomprehensible "art of pitching", he just cracks me up. "Now THAT is the art of pitching by golly. And I gotta tell ya, boy, when you got just that little bit of movement at that speed, guys, I'm tellin ya again, THAT is the art of pitching. I just can't say it enough......"

[Downriviera]

And don't forget Rick Rizz and Bob Rathbun, "Good bye baseball".

[smogboy]

George Blaha has been the voice of the Pistons forever. He can certainly be a homer, but not in a vicious or obnoxious way, and he does know the game. His unmistakable voice and cadence really conveys the rhythm and flow of the game of basketball, and, of course, he has all of his little phrases that any Pistons fan can imitate.

It's funny you mentioned how many fans can imitate George Blaha.

You know you've got to be on top of your broadcast game when fans are imitating the call. One of my childhood favorites was imitating George Kell's "Al, he hit it like a BOO-lit". That kind southern drawl was always the epitome of watching Tigers on television- whether it was with Larry Osterman or later Al Kaline, George Kell was one of the best.

The other one that comes to mind is the pitch of Bruce Martyn's voice when it came to "He shoots, he scoooores!". I think everyone of us that's played drop-in hockey or otherwise has imitated that particular call. I love the Ken Kal calls on the radio but no one had the timber that Bruce Martyn had. And pair him up with the old school candor and charm that Sid Abel had, they were Detroit hockey broadcasting.

[redvetred]

One that's not mentioned very often is Van Patrick - WJBK/Channel 2 sportscaster and voice of the Detroit Lions when there was winning professional football in Detroit.

[Big Dog]

I like the guy that does the lions. In a 0 and 15 season, They are down 42 to 0 and the lions recover a fumble. Holy smokes, this guy screams like, they just won the super bowl. Does he realize it? If he does, than he is not a good announcer and needs to be let go. If he doesn't, he needs to be let go too.

[jefferson78]

I know that he's not a "Detroit" sports broadcaster, but I do not know why any station would want to put Dick Vitale on the air.
After listening to him do the color on last night's MSU/NC game, I was ready to pull my hair out. That man's shtick is so old, his voice gravelly and abrasive.
What does he add to the braodcast besides worn out phrases?
All I can say is I wish he would just retire from broadcasting and give us a break.

[Thruster315]

Sorry people. I had to revive this thread from the archives. I just watched what I consider to be one heckuva great game in Game 6 of this year's World Series and had it ruined by the inert (and inept) play calling of Joe Buck & Tim McCarver. Buck's play calling was about drab and uneventful as watching tarnish accumulate on metal. For a scrap that went back and forth well into extra innings, you'd think any human being with a pulse would at least sound somewhat excited. My niece's elementary roll call had more emotion than Joe Buck.

I'm not saying go ape with the calls and sound like a homer one way or another but damn... have something beyond that monotone drone. He's no Al Michael's "Do you believe in miracles?!" by any stretch and Tim McCarver adds absolutely no insight for a guy who played the game.

These two buffoons really REALLY make me appreciate Mario & Rod now. Even Dan Dickerson & Jim Price (snore) can bring something to the game other than making it sound like a Rosetta Stone foreign language lesson.

Toss in some of the others from the past such as Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, George Kell, Al Kaline, and Lary Osterman- they all had some appeal to them. The only ones I really don't recall were Rizz & Rathbun but beyond that we've really been blessed to have had some great commentators for our baseball team.

[Downriviera]

What a game! If the Tigers were involved in this I would have had a freaking heart attack. Joe Buck would be a great host on the Watching Cement Dry channel.

[401don]

If you really can't stand Buck and McCarver, and I don't blame you, head over to Windsor and get the Rogers Sportsnet feed. They show the International broadcast, much better crew and you avoid all the ingame commercials. Better yet, turn off the sound and listen to Dan Shulman on Espn radio. He's the best announcer out there. Started locally on Toronto radio, not even doing play-by-play, and moved up really quickly. He replaced Jon Miller on ESPN Sunday night tv games this year. His knowledge of the game, past and present, is amazing considering he's only in his early 40's. Also does college basketball.

[Downriviera]

I tried watching the game with the sound down and listening to the radio broadcast. The problem is on my cable system the tv picture is delayed about 8 -10 seconds from the radio feed.

[gnome]

With 7 and 27 on the clock, it looks like George Blaha, followed by Daper Dan Miller are the most exciting annoucers in town

[Ray1936]

Buck and McCarver are just typical of most network sportcasters.....they talk and talk and talk and don't say a damn thing. They consistently come up with oddball records to talk about, thanks to the laptop computers they have right in front of them. If they were honest, when talking about some record they dug up on the 'puter, they'd say, "According to......yada, yada, yada", but they don't.

During the Tigers/Rangers series, I just turned the sound off and watched the game. It was delightful, except for the ending.

[jiminnm]

The first Tigers' announcers I recall were Van Patrick and Mel Ott in the mid-late 1950s. I always liked Van Patrick, and also enjoyed the season he and George Kell were together. Ernie Harwell and Kell were also a great team. All that said, I think Harwell and Carey were the best radio team and Kell and Kaline the best TV team.

I enjoyed Mickey Redmond and Dave Strader for the Red Wings, but Bruce Martyn and Sid Abel has to be the best, My problem is that I can't think of Sid Abel without thinking of George Baier's impersonation of him.

[Ravine]

Thruster, I don't know how you can say McCarver adds no insight. He adds insights to the point where I wish he would stop adding so many insights, stop trying so hard to put us inside the heads of the players and the Managers.
I don't actually care about the all of the Could Have Done's and What He Was Thinking's. On a big, maybe controversial play, yes, but Tim presents us with that shit on every play, and meanwhile the game-play is moving along.

[Ray1936]

Geez....am I really so old that I'm the only one here who remembers Harry Heilmann and Ty Tyson????

Harry, hall-of-famer, did the radio broadcasts of the Tigers in the forties, while Ty Tyson handled the earliest TV commentaries, starting c. 1949.

[Ravine]

Geez....am I really so old that I'm the only one here who remembers Harry Heilmann and Ty Tyson????

Harry, hall-of-famer, did the radio broadcasts of the Tigers in the forties, while Ty Tyson handled the earliest TV commentaries, starting c. 1949.

Well... I'm not sure if you are, or aren't, but I will confess that I am a Harwell/Lane guy.

[kenp]

I am biased being a UM grad but my fav was Ufer, I used to tape him on big games.
We were blessed with Ernie and many others, Van Patrick, Martyn to name a few. What we lack today is personalities, guys like Al Ackerman.
A lot of people have mentioned Paul Carey, he was good with Ernie but the guy sure couldnt call a homer.
Martyn's replacement has done a good job in hockey abd I do enjoy Redmond. The Lions guys are hard to listen to especially the fat guy. Tigers guys are boring though Price can say some funny stuff sometimes. And I have never been a big Blabla fan.
The print guys are not real inspiring to me, seems Drew Sharp is always trying to piss everybody off.
And these call in shows, in a word, awful.

[yaktown]

I was just thinking about Bruce Martyn today in fact. Loved his voice, what a set of pipes he had! Mario Impemba could be called Mario Impemblah, he's a little too dull calling the Tigers game. Seriously, listen to him and then Dan Dickerson on the radio and you tell me who's better. It's too bad we don't have local TV for the Lions games, Dan Miller does a passable job on the radio and I love his "Touchdown! Detroit Lions!" call. Rod Allen is kind of funny, I love the Rod Allen drinking game. Then again, we could make a drinking game out of Mickey Redmond-isms. Mickey mentions Gump Worsley? Take a drink. Mickey recalls playing for the Canadiens as a rookie? Take a drink.

[gnome]

And who can forget Jim Brockmire, one of the greatest ever...

M95P3DTYxqg

back to front, very unconventional

[jackie5275]

I miss George Kell immensely. Rod & Mario are blah. I especially gained extra contempt for Rod Allen after I looked up his MLB stats-parts of 3 years, 50 at bats in 31 games. Yeah, that extensive career qualifies you to do color commentary.

[jackie5275]

Tim McCarver adds absolutely no insight for a guy who played the game.

Terry Francona wasn't too bad.

[paddlebobb]

My personal favorite for calling any of the major sports in Detroit was always Bruce Martyn. Whether he was paired up with Budd Lynch, Sid Abel or Paul Woods- I've always enjoyed his call of the game. The excitement and rising pitch as he'd announce a goal was a thing of beauty to hear.

Oh how I miss the days of when the television and radio broadcasts were done simultaneously. Granted back then seeing the Wings on ol' WKBD was truly a treat as opposed to practically watching every game on cable now. And I remember when ON-TV and eventually PASS had a handful of those games on too. Those few televised games back then really meant something to me in my youth.
"Oh and Bruce, this score just in - Winnipeg 3, Montreal 7". The late great Sid Abel.

[paddlebobb]

I miss George Kell immensely. Rod & Mario are blah. I especially gained extra contempt for Rod Allen after I looked up his MLB stats-parts of 3 years, 50 at bats in 31 games. Yeah, that extensive career qualifies you to do color commentary.
"Well, he's gonna be out because Vic Voltaggio says he's out".

[firstandten]

I have begun to appreciate over time Jim Brandstatter, he has a great knowledge of both pro and college football. I would rather listen to him than the network broadcasters on the Lions games. The delay between the radio broadcast and what you see on TV is why I don't turn off the sound completely on the TV.

[Thruster315]

"Oh and Bruce, this score just in - Winnipeg 3, Montreal 7". The late great Sid Abel.

One of my fondest moments of Sid Abel's knowledge & humor of the game was back in the 80's when the great Edmonton teams were just running rampant in the NHL. The Oilers were playing our hapless Dead Wings and just controlled the flow of the game. Our Wings just couldn't keep up with that sort of talent. Sid Abel calmly and succinctly threw out this barb about tossing another puck out there on the ice so the Wings could play with it every now and then.

In my mind's eye I could pictured two pucks out there on the ice and our poor Wings scrambling like mad just to have a shot at touching the second puck. I busted out laughing at how calm and absolutely ridiculous that Sid Abel comment was. He was frank, genuine and honest with us fans. His credibility was second to none and his call alongside Bruce Martyn was top notch.

[Roq]

I miss George Kell immensely. Rod & Mario are blah. I especially gained extra contempt for Rod Allen after I looked up his MLB stats-parts of 3 years, 50 at bats in 31 games. Yeah, that extensive career qualifies you to do color commentary.

I see you! have to admit, Rod has grown on me and I totally dig him now.

[Thruster315]

I see you! have to admit, Rod has grown on me and I totally dig him now.

I agree. So Rod's career wasn't country strong in MLB, but he still made the roster on several teams (not exactly an easy feat), played in Japan (his youtube video of him going apesh!t is still classic), was a hitting instructor, and a hitting coach. He's obviously a pretty bright guy who knows the game and can bring some insight to the game.

Not every sports broadcaster has to be Hall of Fame material. One of my personal favorites, Paul Woods was pretty much a defensive shadow for the opposing team's best forwards during his playing days. And yet he brings a pretty sharp commentary to the Wings broadcasts.

Be bright, intelligent, have some insider knowledge and above all- be somewhat entertaining; I think those are what makes a pretty good broadcaster. Rod's got that.