I have no issues with the local broadcast guys (radio) being for BC and I think Rick Ball is one of the best play by play people in all of football - CFL /NFL. I have friends in the US who follow and watch Canadian sports telecasts and think our announcers are great for football and have thought so for a long time. They love the knowledge the guys have of even the back up players.bclion99 wrote:You guys are nuts.
I listened carefull to Jones because I noticed right away that he was nervous when he paused a few times when introducing the game notes.
From then on in, he stumbled a bit, but overall was a breath of fresh air with his comments and analysis.
What do you want? He's a QB, for crying out loud. Jones will be pretty damn good one day, and he's a hell of lot better than McManus.
As for Armitage, nothing wrong with his low-key, matter-of-fact delivery. And he and Jones mesh quite well.
Ball and Caravata are good, but Ball gets a little too homerish.
As to Khari tonight, his insights as a QB are great but then again I like McManus also as they see it from the eyes of the QBs. I like Darren Flutie as he thinks like a QB too. Not that I didn't like Dan Kepley way back when and he was an LB. The CBC telecast tonight super for BC Lions given the insights on our players and I might have missed someone calling Knowlton's first name wrongly but who cares. It's the type of coverages and formations I want to hear as TV viewing doesn't give you at home a complete picture of both O and D on every play so it's nice to hear the commentator.
McManus is new but he is bright if you like the views of the QBs which to me are superior to most simply because they know both sides of the ball. Rick and Guilio kind of have to be homerish given their station is the local guys much like Shorthouse and Larscheid on hockey don't hide that they are Canucks fans. The greatest of them all, Jim Robson, never hid his love for the local teams either and he is a hall of famer in all sports fans books.
I like the mix of announcers and former players especially those like QBs who know def and offences. That's good enough for me. I can read the numbers and the names on the jerseys for the most part. Tonight I listened to tv for the whole game and these guys for me did a very good job not that I don't like TSN guys - I do.
I guess it is personal taste. I like to get both the radio guys views and the tv guys views of things but don't need them to entertain me. I am used to British soccer announcers and love their understatement and low key ways. I have the Brits that do some of the Fox games for the US cable audiences as they try and make everything sound exciting. Understatement for me is great. That is more my style and personal taste. I guess each to their own.
One thing that does bug me is that we too often knock local broadcasters like it is some sort of blood sport. I have ripped the guys who can't talk football but go to hockey on a game night for the Lions as I grew up here in Van when football was the talk of the town and every radio program had football - morning, noon and night and the guys knew the game.