Rate the CBS NCAA Announcing Teams

General NCS Basketball44

Going into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. We thought
it would be fun to rate the CBS announcing teams. We don’t
have time to make comments on each one, but here is our take:

1. Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery
2. Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas
3. Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner
4. Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkle
5. James Brown/Len Elmore
6. Jim Nantz/Billy Packer
7. Kevin Harlan/Bob Wenzel
8. Tim Brando/Mike Gminski

How would you rate them?

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General NCS Basketball

44 Responses to Rate the CBS NCAA Announcing Teams

  1. TNCSU 03/23/2007 at 8:13 AM #

    Johnson/Bonner
    Raftery/Lundquist
    Enberg/Bilas
    Brando/Gminski

    Hate to put two dookies in the top 4….Packer could be #1 on some days, and #8 on others, so I’ll just stop at ranking the top 4 IMO…too bad Jimmy Dykes isn’t on that list…he’s great! 🙂

  2. Mike 03/23/2007 at 8:50 AM #

    Bonner is awful. Listen to him, and I mean really listen. He laughs at everything. Play by play announcer – “Pass inside to the PF, scores off the glass” and Bonner laughs. Drives me crazy. Listen to him, he laughs after everything the PBP guy says.

    It’s funny, I always liked Packer when he was doing ACC, but when he went national I could not stand him. Maybe it was just the Thacker/Packer combo as a kid, b/c that meant ACC basketball time. I think Packer goes anti-ACC when he goes national to try to shake off any bias he might have as an ACC announcer. I had forgotten his defense of Corchiani – thanks to this blog a couple weeks ago for the reminder. Gave me a new respect for Packer.

  3. newt 03/23/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    Guys I learn from, but don’t necessarily enjoy:

    1 – Packer
    2 – Bilas

    Guys I enjoy, but don’t necessarily learn much:

    1 – Bonner
    2 – Elmore

    Guys I don’t enjoy or learn much:

    1 – Vitale
    2 – Moron

  4. Dogbreath 03/23/2007 at 9:08 AM #

    Not on the list, but the best announcer in my opinion is Mike Patrick. He is actually really funny in a dry sort of way.

  5. Rochester 03/23/2007 at 9:16 AM #

    Surprised to see so many people down on Dan Bonner. I enjoy listening to him. Maybe I’m not listening as closely, but he never says anything that annoys me and he has a pretty good voice.

    The only guy on the list I can’t stand is Ian Eagle. He can’t even pronounce his own name correctly. Hate him on football and basketball.

  6. lush 03/23/2007 at 9:20 AM #

    has anyone read Bill Simmons coloumn on Packer? Did you know that he has done every final four for the past 26 years?!?!

    Give me gus johnson and raftery, they are both hilarious.

    Packer is last on my list, he is a know-it-all, smug, little old whiney man.

  7. Texpack 03/23/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    1. Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas
    2. Jim Nantz/Billy Packer
    3. Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery
    4. James Brown/Len Elmore
    5. Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner
    6. Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkle
    7. Kevin Harlan/Bob Wenzel
    8. Tim Brando/Mike Gminski

    Jay Bilas really is a good analyst. Packer and Nance get a slight nod over Lundquist and Raftery but very slight. I also really like Len Elmore, especially doing a State game where they show Tommy Burleson in the stands. If you’ve ever lived somewhere where you have a crappy AFC team you have had your fill of Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan.

  8. GoldenChain 03/23/2007 at 10:33 AM #

    I think Jim Nantz/Billy Packer are the best. Packer isn’t nearly as negative in the NCAA as he is being interviewed on the radio.
    Nantz is 100% professional. Surprised about the comments on Elmore, I like him plus he has the advantage of saying several times that DT was the single best college player ever.

  9. redfred2 03/23/2007 at 10:42 AM #

    “I always liked Packer when he was doing ACC, but when he went national I could not stand him. Maybe it was just the Thacker/Packer combo as a kid, b/c that meant ACC basketball time. I think Packer goes anti-ACC when he goes national to try to shake off any bias he might have as an ACC announcer.”

    Mike, that is EXACTLY how I felt about Packer back then. If you were around and listened to his calls back then there is no doubt that he was way overboard in trying to prove he could be fair to the rest of the nation and wasn’t still tied to the ACC.

    But now, because of those earlier days with Jim Thacker, he has as good a perspective on the history of the ACC as anyone in the booth. When too many people don’t know or have somehow forgotten what it was really like back then, I give him credit for still giving NC State the credit it deserves.

  10. Trout 03/23/2007 at 12:04 PM #

    Didnt Gus Johnson do our Vandy collapse game? If so, I think he’s great, but everytime I hear him, I think of that game.

  11. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 03/23/2007 at 12:51 PM #

    1) Enberg/McGuire

  12. Six Pack 03/23/2007 at 1:21 PM #

    I will never forgive Gus Johnson for calling NC State, Carolina State. That did him in long ago, but Elmore and Rafferty are my favorite color guys.

  13. Buck 03/23/2007 at 3:20 PM #

    My order…

    1) Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas – Bilas is the best of this bunch, even if Enberg is past his prime…oh my, did I just say that.

    2) Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkle – Spanarkle is also pretty decent.

    3) Jim Nantz/Billy Packer – I like this crew because of Nantz, especially on the rare occasion when he subtly takes Packer down a peg. Packer is not afraid to speak his mind which is his sole admirable quality. I find his analysis trite and repetitive

    4) Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery – Raftery is an acquired taste…I used to hate his games but he’s growing on me.

    5) James Brown/Len Elmore – If these two would actually pay attention to the game it would help.

    6) Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner – Bonner is harmless…clueless, but harmless.

    7) Tim Brando/Mike Gminski – This is the WORST crew, and it’s no contest. Any crew with Brando is awful. Brando is the saddest sack in the business. If he’s doing the game I will watch but turn the sound down or listen to the radio. He’s that painful. I will listen to Vitale prattle on and on before I listen to Brando pontificate. Giminski is knowledgeable but is really afraid to ruffle feathers…he definitely does not tell it like it is.

  14. stateguy08 03/23/2007 at 4:20 PM #

    As long as I don’t have to hear Jimmy Dykes, he has pissed me off for eternity

  15. justaguy 03/23/2007 at 4:42 PM #

    I grew up with Thacker/Packer announcing games that Spanarkle, Bilas, Elmore, and Gminski played in. To me he will always be better than the younger guys. Watching a game with Packer announcing is like watching a game with an old friend that doesn’t mind if you call him a jerk for saying something stupid. Packer does tend to announce the officiating more than the play sometimes. Every game you will hear him say, “nice piece of officiating there”, or “good no call!”

    But mostly these days I just turn the sound down to about 1/8 normal volume, just enough to hear the crowd noise.

  16. packfanstk 03/24/2007 at 12:10 AM #

    Beneath the bottom of the barrel: Tim Brando/Mike Gmoronski
    Bottom of the barrel: Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas. Have never liked Enberg. Bilas is marginally OK.
    6. Kevin Harlan/Bob Wenzel
    5. Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery. Love Lundquist. Can’t stand Raftery.
    4. Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel.
    3. Jim Nantz/Billy Packer.
    2. James Brown/Len Elmore. Elmore’s analysis is usally spot-on.
    1. Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner. Johnson’s the best. Love Bonner. He has a very sharp, dry, subtle wit.

  17. dj9686 03/24/2007 at 10:47 AM #

    The Gman, having played four years in the ACC and over 10 covering it, still cannot seem to stop calling N.C. State, North Carolina. Over the years I don’t know how many times I’ve heard him do this … Now for an announcer that may not cover the ACC much I can almost forgive it, although I never hear anyone confuse Michigan and Michigan State in either basketball or football, but for someone that should know the difference I almost think he does it on purpose. Not 30 seconds into ACC tournament finals this year he is referring to the Wolfpack as ‘North Carolina.’ Although I don’t have a specific here, he is also usually pretty negative towards the ‘Pack as well, especially about Sendek being gone. I have to admit that Gminski, I hope I spelled that wrong, isn’t the only announcer who can’t get NCSU’s university name right. Some 4th stringer for ESPN News referred to the ACC tournament finals’ matchup as being between “Carolina and Carolina State.” Ugggggh!!!

  18. KChill 03/24/2007 at 7:49 PM #

    Gus Johnson for this immortal call: “12 seconds for Julius Hodge….Wolfpack has a time out…..Herb Sendek let’s um play. Here come’s the MAN FROM HARLEM….YESS!!! AND THE FOUL!!”

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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