my apologies if this has been posted before i guess this is just something i noticed. i was watching espn's highlights and with other teams, i noticed how even with great plays the commentators were very boring. and that made me appreciate the coolness that is bill worrel and calvin murphy. man these guys know what they're talking about, and they can really get you excited about the game. bill will say something like "stevie franchise with the slam!" and calvin will say something like "there you go my brutha!" man i'm telling you, it's awesome...these guys are so enjoyable to watch and full of energy. i think they're underappreciated. maybe this wasn't worth starting a new thread. maybe i'm in the wrong forum (i thought this fell under "anything and everything that is the houston rockets") but i think these guys are cool and i'm glad we don't have any other bozos as our commentators.
I like Bill, but from what I can gather Calvin can be quite a jerk. He was banned from attending his son's high school games (at my high school) because he kept getting into it with the refs, and did you see him on Bill Walton's Long Strange Trip? He was an ass to Bill's well-meaning sidekick, Al. Still, they're a hell of a lot more entertaining than the Mavs announcers, who I'm quite familiar with, since school's closer to Dallas than Houston. They're fun, but they're no Tom Tolbert, Bill Walton, Danny Ainge, Mike Fratello, and/or Marv Albert. ESPN over Fox, everytime. Sorry.
are you kidding me? ESPN/ABC have the worst announcers ever. TNT did a much better job when they had NBA rights.......but on a local level yes i agree that bill/calvin are the best......
After yesterdays game I kinda like the toronto announcers. They were pretty even on evaluating players on both teams. They even said it was a great call(not to call the foul on Yao) on the vince carter shot and they also thought Yao blocked Davis cleanly. I still like Walton the most but I haven't seen that excitement and extreme side of him for the last two years since he left the Clippers, he use to make me laugh the whole way through games.
When the replay showed Yao blocked A. Davis cleanly, Calvin shouted "That's our ball" for at least 4-5 times. Whatever you guys said about him, I loved that though.
I couldn't stand the Raptors announcers. That one guy kept saying through the whole game "HEY! THATS A TRAVEL!!!" He always said it about Houston... beside, his voice sounded EXACTLY like Dick Vitale (sp.)
I almost got thrown out of the Warriors@Rockets game for cussing out and start a scene with one of the guards at the game on 1/4/03 because I went down there to get Calvin's autograph and the guard wouldn't let me get it. He told me to go back to my seat. I was like, "What the f*ck??? I just got finished seeing those 20+ other people getting his autograph?" Then Calvin looked over at me and he seen I was trying to get his autograph, he went to the guard and said "leave the boy alone, he bought a seat, he deserves an autograph if he wants one." You said he got banned from his son's H.S. bball games. He commentates for the Rockets! His patience are gone. Give the man props, he has no more patience left in his body after commentating the Rockets for a while. More less his own flesh and blood in a basketball game when the refs are probably screwing him over as well as they do the Rockets.
i like bill and calvin as well, but calvin lost some points in my book after the san antonio game when he dogged ginobili after he converted the alley-oop pass from stephen jackson. calvin after ginobili jams it home: HE AIN'T GOT NO HOPS!! (repeat as loud as you can 10 times) bill: uh, yes he does.
what?????? Thats what you call being ENTERTAINING! Hearing someone going off like that over a play in a basketball game is something unlike most of america has never seen. It's 100 times better then hearing Bill Walton being 100% biased to the Lakers.
On a sidenote, I HATE the Rockets ushers. They're the biggest dicks ever and think they're the most powerful people. I know they're just trying to do their job, but do it with more courtesy.
Uh..... no..... Gene Peterson is the greatest. For a really great experience, turn down Bill Calvin and turn up the a.m. radio for Gene. -- droxford
I like them but they drift away too much from the game to personal things.Calvins clothing is too much of an issue, especially when his jackets are so poorly fitted!!
Gene is great if you are a Rockets fan. He is a horrible homer, but I like his calls, like "Bryant dribbles, walks", or "Slam Dunk, TWO!". Bill and Calvin are my favorite announcing team in the NBA. With League Pass only showing a few broadcasts with them (not to mention not showing Rockets games period) I have heard almost all the other announcers. Calvin is a huge homer but he will not sugar coat stuff about the Rockets. When they are playing badly he'll say so, and he's hilarious. Worrell is just a great professional broadcaster, and a Houston fixture.
GregM, yeah... why do you hate Bill? DrOxford, I like your pick. I agree to listen to Gene when I can't get home in time... Some of Bill's greatest comments have been heard 'round the world in Hakeem's "Dream" video and in Clutch City and Double Clutch. Here are my Top Five Bill Worrell comments: 5. "Kenny Smith... up the escalator for two" 4. "Oh, man... Hakeem Olajuwon... put 'im in the popcorn machine" (opponent jumped like a kernel in heat) 3. "Yao is just getting murdered out there..." [any game this season] 2. "Woa-ho-oh! Olajuwon... just came out of nowhere...!" [Dream blocks Rod Strickland, Kevin Johnson, or both] And the number one Bill Worrell comment heard 'round the world... 1. "Dream has got Robinson just... bamboozled...!" [if you don't know when he said this, you must not be a Dream Fan]
Bill and Calvin are flat out the greatest broadcasters in the NBA. Take it from a guy who has League Pass and knows. They are also the funniest. The funniest thing I ever heard Bill and Calvin say was one time when the lights went off in the Compaq Center and it was kind of dark and Bill said to Calvin, "Hey, what happened? I cant see you Murph." They both started laughing hysterically and Calvin kept saying, "I'm gonna get you for that one Bill." They were laughing so hard that they could barely finish the pregame broadcast. Bill and Calvin at their best.