Scoring on the play-by-play
Rating the play-by-play announcers in one week:
HOCKEY
A Chris Cuthbert, TSN
If only he had Bob Cole's pipes.
A Jim Hughson, CBC
Fewer words would help.
A- Gord Miller, TSN
Could use a bit more energy, but he doesn't irritate.
B- Bob Cole, CBC
Sounds great, but misses
more and more every game.
BASEBALL
B Jerry Howarth, FAN
Second best in the country
behind Dan Shulman.
B Alan Ashby, FAN
An excellent analyst who does a mean play-by-play, too.
C Jamie Campbell, Sportsnet
Should leave analysis to the experts.
BASKETBALL
A Chuck Swirsky,
Raptors NBA TV
Love him or hate him, he's got a lot of game.
C Paul Jones, FAN
A big improvement, but he was a much better analyst.
For Canadian sports fans, this is indeed the best of times.
It's a gift the gods bestow on us twice a year, spring and fall, when schedules collide to create days and nights filled with playoffs and meaningful games in a variety of sports.
With the must-watch Stanley Cup playoffs as the centrepiece of this sports buffet, fans probably spend more time watching sports during April and May than they do at any other time of the year.
With the sounds of announcers bouncing off home theatre systems and 20-inch TV set speakers at such a high volume, the Star decided to take a seven-day snapshot of what Canadians are getting night after night from those charged with bringing us the play-by-play.
And while the quality of these deliverances is generally high, the overriding impression is that the TV play-by-play announcers pretty much call the games the same way the radio pioneers did in the days before TV.
They talk way too much. In most cases, they seem to assume that viewers are either in another room or doing crossword puzzles as they watch.
It's not radio, guys. And it wouldn't be so bad if so many of those words didn't include the obvious and the inane.
Here's a day-by-day look at the people delivering all those words. We restricted commentary to Canadian-based talent, which means that we also missed the country's best baseball announcer: Dan Shulman.
MONDAY, APRIL 23
Jamie Campbell: The Jays are at Fenway and the Rogers Sportsnet voice is demonstrating he still has a lot to learn about calling baseball. When Boston's Wily Mo Pena strikes out, Campbell tells viewers he missed a high fastball.
Analyst Rance Mulliniks corrects him: It was a slider.
Campbell has made great strides since being thrust into this job, unprepared and forced to work with three analysts, two of whom were rookies. He sounds professional and does a good job of teeing up questions for the experts.
But his fatal flaw, outside of some stiffness, is that he tries to be an expert himself and provide analysis. Far too often, he's wrong.
Jim Hughson: When it comes to forgetting that viewers can see, this guy's no better than the rest. But as he shows in the seventh game of the Dallas-Vancouver series, he's one of the game's best, especially when he needs to rise to the occasion.
He's always on top of the play, tells stories and has a great sense of flow and rhythm.
Hughson never states the obvious and doesn't try to paint the lily. "We were all sadly mistaken if we thought these two teams would throw caution to the wind and open it up tonight," he says as the Canucks and Stars grind it out.
With Chris Cuthbert on TSN, he's now the heir apparent to Bob Cole.
TUESDAY, APRIL 24
Chuck Swirsky: There's a lot of shtick in Swirsky's game and the Raptors are frustrating him tonight against the New Jersey Nets. With the team struggling, he has few opportunities to let loose with his bams, kabooms, onions and his sundry other trademark calls.
But few can rise to the occasion the way Swirsky can. Some call him a homer – and he bleeds Raptor red – but he's not afraid to call a bad game a bad game.
"Do not adjust your sets," he tells viewers at the end of the first quarter. "12-11 is indeed the score."
Like Campbell, he tends to dip into analysis but has a higher success rate. Regardless, Swirsky makes a basketball game fun and that's never a bad thing.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
Chris Cuthbert: Not long ago, Cuthbert was first in line to the CBC hockey throne. After the CBC made a mind-boggling decision to cut him loose, Cuthbert is now like one of those royal cousins who'd need a major flu epidemic to get back in line.
But that doesn't mean his work has suffered. Doing the San Jose-Detroit game, Cuthbert shows once again that he has few rivals. He's a great story-teller, smoothly inserting little factoids into the play and never making a misstep.
Cuthbert is so good that he doesn't really need an analyst. In fact, the only negative is his high-pitched voice, which can set dogs howling across North America when somebody scores.
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
Jerry Howarth: The Blue Jays are in the Bronx and they're winning, so Jerry sounds perky. Of course, Jerry would sound perky if World War III had just been declared. (Imagine "there she goes," as the first missiles are launched.)
That's not a bad thing and there's no denying he calls a good game. And sharing the play-by-play, as he did for years, improves the broadcasts.
Alan Ashby: This former Jay is a breath of fresh air. He's mainly an analyst, but does a credible job sharing play-by-play with Howarth.
He's not as smooth as his partner, and has a little trouble describing the action at times, but could easily step in and do an entire game if necessary.
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
Gord Miller: For some reason, this TSN guy tends to get overlooked. Maybe it's that he doesn't have a signature call or too often calls those Dallas-Phoenix games that few choose to watch.
But, as he shows during the Rangers-Buffalo game, he's among the best. He doesn't overwhelm you with words, is on top of the play and has a sense of the game's rhythm.
On this night he mistakes a shot off the post for a goal, but seldom missteps. But that growling "scores!" call sounds more like a guy having a stroke than one celebrating a goal.
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
Bob Cole: The old CBC warhorse, as is too often the case, isn't sure what's happening on the ice. He calls a high-sticking penalty in this Ottawa-New Jersey game even though it's simply a puck hit by a high stick. When Ottawa scores the tying goal, he's not entirely sure who scored it.
But if you can ignore those shortcomings, and the fact that he too often fails to identify the players, Cole can still hit the high notes. When the game's on the line, few can rise to the occasion as well.
His style is so bang-on that you can close your eyes and know what's happening, though you may not know who's doing it.
Nigel Reed: Why is it that British announcers seem to understand television better than our guys? Reed's a Brit now calling Toronto FC games for CBC and he's doing the team's home opener in traditional British style: a minimal number of words.
Reed's a little rough around the edges and uses too many Britisms ("Kansas City won the reverse fixture.") but he seems to understand that viewers don't need to be told everything that's going on.
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
Paul Jones: Give this guy credit: he's worked hard and made major improvements in his calling of Raptors games on the FAN 590.
To his credit, he's no homer and for those who find Swirsky's style a tad over the top he's the perfect antidote. But at times he's a little flat and gets lost when the action turns frantic.
Though he's made great strides since the early days when he sounded like a guy doing a bad imitation of a play-by-play announcer, he's still a far better analyst than he is a play-caller.
2 comments:
interesting read.... good to see you mentioned the "Toronto Star" to clarify they're not your words. You might get into more hot water if that wasn't the case, haha.
I would have liked to hear his takes on colormen. It seems there's two styles emerging. Pierre Mcguire's and then everybody elses. I have to hand it to Pierre. I'll take his between the glass point of view over the broadcast booth robotic cliches given the situation.
Yes..to clarify I am NOT saying this. This is again an article from the 'Star' and I am just sharing it with you on my blog.
It is much like the article I referred to that got some attention in Saskatoon.
Can I get in trouble this time?? Copy right infrigement..Great!!!
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