having league pass has enabled me to spend time watching other teams tv announcers work not only when the play the rockets but also when they play other teams.... anyways i was wondering who impresses you and who seems really to annoying to you.... not necessarily in terms of laughs/antics but who you would enjoy listening to when you were the visiting team... i like the guys from denver and portland, but really can't stand the utah, lakers, and especially the celtics guys... they are unabashed homers without even a trace of impartiallity at times..... calvin and bill rate near the top ..... opinions?
I hate, hate, hate the Spurs jerks. I don't mind Tommy Heinsohn, he's funny even though hes a total homer. Walt Clyde Frazier is mildly amusing I like Lawler, the Clippers PBP guy.
I hate Scott Hastings of Denver. I hate the Suns announcers who are very derisive of Yao Ming and laugh at him from time to time. I hate the Spurs announcers. I think I like the Hawks annoucners. They have Mike Glenn right? Portland's announcers are ok. I like the Nets announcers.
I like Sunderland and Stu Lance of the Lakers, Hot Rod Hundley of the Jazz, Mike Gorman of the Celtics. Mike Breen of the Knicks, Ian Eagle from the Nets and Bob Ortegal from the Mavs. I liked Jim Durham when he did Mavs games as well. Bill and Calvin still rock though.
I dislike Grant Napear and hate Jerry Reynolds. I think the Timberwolves announcers are boring. I like Mike Fratello on the Heat broadcasts. I like Marv and Clyde for New York. Bill and Calvin are great (though that is probably at least partly due to my love of the Rockets. I thought Feigan did a nice job filling in for Calvin. Snapper Jones is okay for Portland, but I liked him better with Walton. I hate Hot Rod Hundley, especially because he is also doing the radio broadcast so he has to describe every minute detail, and he says so-and-so on the Yo-yo instead of dribbling, which I find very annoying. He also calls AK-47 the Cat, which is obviously Cuttino's nickname. I aslo hate the Jazz. I like Heinsohn, especially his "I love Waltah." call.
My new mortal enemy, since November of 2001, is Matt Devlin. That b*stard ruined NBA TV for two years, then he took his un-funny smarmness to Memphis.
Most of the announcers are pretty good, the "voices" that standout are Utah (Hot Rod Hundley) and Miami(?)... The sidekicks (color guy) are usually stiff and have no personality but I like the Czar and Snapper Jones is OK but not when he gets into "homer" mode. Bill and Calvin are still hard to beat...
I don't have league pass but moved here recently from Chicago where Johny "Red" Kerr and Wayne Larrivee where very drab - kind of like muzac in an elevator of a run down hotel. Bill and Calvin are a significant upgrade - they actually have some personality - and do a good job post game. They could do a better job on color/commentary and they really do not bring a lot of insight into the inner workings of the team that one would expect from local announcers - prefering to spend most of their time on lighter stuff. So when Rox are on espn or tnt I prefer to listen there to get less entertainment but more salient commentary.
Even as a Griz fan, I have to say that Matt Devlin is one of the worst play by play announcers in the league. The guy uses more words to say less than anyone I've heard. He's proof that it doesn't take talent to rise in your profession - sometimes a good hair-do will suffice. As a non-Rockets fan, I can't say that I have succumbed to the charms of Bill/Cal - Cal's color commentary is at times incomprehensible if you're not intently watching the game. Denver's guys are terrible whiners and Cleveland's color commentator is awful. I like Snapper Jones, Lawler, Heinsohn, Fratello, Marv and the pbp guy at Golden State. Huntley is ok (though he uses the extremely non-descriptive phrase "straightaway" way too much no matter where the ball is on the court). The Lakers guys are pretty good too, but it's tough to hear them complain about the bad breaks the Lakers get - they're the freakin' Lakers.
And it stinks in Dolby because I LOVE watching Grizz games, moreso than any other sub-playoff team since they moved to Memphis. Who would have thought that Hersey Hawkins, cerebral basketball player, would turn into Hersey Hawkins; tongue-tied and passionless analyst.
I can't stand Marv - but that's a personal issue I have with an admitted rapist I love Walton - he's way over the top and too many people take him seriously, which I'm sure he loves Heinson is too much of a home. One of those guys that believes his team has never committed a foul in its history Calvin Murphy is outrageous and will say/do anything for attention.
I hate the Kings announcers, Napear and Reynolds, they sound like the Kings should get every break on every possession. The Lakers announcers are okay, I dunno, I really loved Chick Hearn, he'd actually make the action on the court more interesting with they way he described it, so it's kinda weird listening to someone else call the action for the Lakers. Dallas announcers can be big homers at times. The Griz announcer is one of the absolute worst. After Chick Hearn died, "Hot Rod" Hundley is probably the last of the announcers that actually call what is going on the court. However, no one can get a laugh out of me like Bill and Calvin. Calvin is hilarious.
