Dr. Z Rates the Announcers

[John Doe]

Here are senior writer Paul Zimmerman’s top NFL broadcasting teams:

1) Ron Pitts and Tim Ryan, Fox. These guys pick up things on the first look, not after they've gone to commercial.
2) Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots, CBS. Generally a good, honest job. Coverages precisely broken down by Wilcots, a former DB. Play by play and the little things only I find important, such as down and distance, accurately presented by Eagle.
3) Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger, Fox. Baldy works hard at his job, watches a lot of film. Did a terrific job on Giants-Cardinals, pointing out that the Arizona defensive coaches had a perfect read on what the Giants were doing. Always a jump ahead.
4) Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross, CBS. One of the few teams that got a raise on the Z-meter this year, basically because Cross has dropped his cute approach that bothered me for so many years and has decided to take a really good look at what's happening out there.
5) Sam Rosen and Bill Maas, Fox. This is an honest announcing team, and the guys work hard, but, Bill, I tell you this as a friend. You must try to cut down on the Leo Gorcey-style malaprops. "It's time to button down the hatches.... The Carolina defense is starting to wilter a bit," etc.

Take the time to read his entire breakdown at

Announcer Ratings

I was surprised at some, but I was happy to see Madden/Michaels and the Sunday night ESPN crew ripped.

[DaBills]

Here are senior writer Paul Zimmerman’s top NFL broadcasting teams:




Take the time to read his entire breakdown at

Announcer Ratings

I was surprised at some, but I was happy to see Madden/Michaels and the Sunday night ESPN crew ripped.

Disagree with a lot of the ratings. And Deer-dork and 'Oh My' Enberg should be zero. It's painful listening to DD.

I tend to judge a team based on whether I like listening to them or not. He rated them last, but I like ESPN's Sunday night crew of Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire as much as anyone.

I like Dick Stockton and Daryl Johnston,*FOX too.

I expect former players to pick up on subtle details. All seem to do a good job at it, but a lot of their deliveries are so robotic they make Walt 'Clyde' Frazier sound like Dickie V by comparison.

[mybills]

ONE AND 1/2

Al Michaels and John Madden, ABC -- Now I could be way off, but here's what I think is happening, why a successful three-and-a-half star rating last season has fallen so far. I think there's a huge resentment at the network against the NFL and the doggy games the league has provided this season. ABC has taken a hard pro-choice stance -- when it comes to the schedule, it wants flexibility. Consequently, somehow Madden and Michaels have been steered toward getting off the game action quickly and turning to events of the day or problems of the league, or farm prices in Argentina, or something. I cannot believe that on their own they would show such a lack of interest in the action on the field when the spread reaches 10 points or so, no matter how early in the contest. I think there's bad stuff coming in through their head sets. And that's also why they let Michele Tafoya run her sideline stuff, interviews or whatever, right through the live action, sometimes totally obliterating a play or two or three, which are never followed up. And a game that looks shaky from the start? Forget it.

Case in point, New England at Miami on December 20. So we get the usual Patriots puff pieces, on Brady and the Belichick defense, etc., and it's like the Dolphins are not even on the field, except for a brief mention of Jason Taylor. But guess what, the Dolphins are actually in it, and in the fourth quarter they're within one score, and they've got the ball. But Madden and Michaels have kissed off the game long before this, and they're talking about Charlie Weis going to Notre Dame, and then prospects in general for the Irish and to dress this up we're hearing the Notre Dame victory march on the sound track. This is while Miami is driving, mind you. So then it gets real tight, and Madden and Michaels are dragged back into it, almost reluctantly, but they haven't really been paying attention, you see, so all they can offer is a cursory description without any real analysis. Which was why the key play of the game was totally blown, when Brady's last pass was intercepted by safety Arturo Freeman, which turned out the lights. Earlier in the game, the Dolphins ran a successful tandem blitz, two linebackers coming up the pipe, forcing Brady into an errant throw. On the last pick, Miami ran the same blitz, with the second guy, Morlon Greenwood, hitting Brady just as he delivered the ball. The Patriots were very sloppy in their blitz pick up, both times, and a point could have been made here, about maybe Weis' split duties causing a decrease in the offensive efficiency. I had seen what had happened, so I waited for the official explanation from the booth. It never came. They went to commercial, which is when they find out what happened, if they missed it the first time. When they came out of it and showed the replay, Madden mumbled something about how "the safety was playing back." Gosh, John, that's why they call them safeties. Not a word about what really had happened. Nope, it just won't do, even though millions of viewers out there love the shtick and the horse trailer and all that crap. I don't and this is my toy.

They drove me nuts that day, and I was only half listening/watching the game.

[DaBills]

Al Michaels and John Madden, ABC -- Now I could be way off, but here's what I think is...listening/watching the game.

Hey Dr. Z, how 'bout a hard return in there somewhere chief? Lol.

I think MNF is trying anything at this point to stay afloat. Dennis Miller never turned it around like they thought. I think they're afraid of downtime in a blowout so they throw in a lot of filler. A lot of the networks shows are throwing tons of extra crap in like sideline reporters. Tony Siragusa is good though. It's obvious he doesn't give a **** and tells it like it is.

But I really hate the halftime interviews broadcast throughout the stadium with reporters in the coach's face: "You're down by 21. What do you have to do to get back in it coach?"

"Uh, score more points?"

[northernbillfan]

I really like the MNF radio crew of Marv Albert and Boomer. They are a great team.

I too am a fan of the Sunday night crew.

Dierdorf proves every Sunday why he isn't on MNF anymore.

Madden was once one of the greats but he's getting tiresome with old age.

[Historian]

Talking through live action. Failing to describe or even notice it. Talking through a referee's announcement of a penalty, even though it might be important to the game. They just turn down the ref's volume, so that, if I hold my ear next to the speaker, I might get a faint murmur, without really catching the words.

He needs to listen to the games in Dolby Digital, lol.

All at the expense of ... what? Story lines. Themes. Informal essays. Anything but honest reporting and a real interest in the panorama that unfolds on the field. The broadcast teams the network consider top of the line are most guilty of this.

Therein lies the problem. At some point, it ceased being a ball game, and became an "event".

And his critique of those ignoramuses on ESPN in the morning is right on. Tom Jackson is the only one even remotely trying to make a few valid points. I can barely even watch it anymore.

Pretty accurate analysis. Madden has gotten old, and Michaels stale. Time to clean house.

[Jayhawk]

I love Harlan, but I am biased because like me he's a KU grad. I can't stand Mike Patrick since he came back from his surgery. He just seems off. But I would love McQuire he's so good.

[jamze132]

Madden and Michaels just have no personality in the video game.