Comparing TV Booths- Who’s better All time and Now?

Bobhaze

Bobhaze

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First of all, Im so anxious to hear some NFL football, I would settle for hearing almost anyone in the broadcast booth. Assuming we have a season starting in September, I thought it would be fun to handicap the best/worst broadcast teams.

Opinion Alert: This is all subjective, so don’t get your Cowboys boxers out of whack over broadcasters.

First of all, I’m going to throw down what I think are the BEST Of the Old NFL football booth teams:
  1. Pat Summerall and John Madden- Summerall was the best at just presenting what happened without fluff or grandiosity. With the voice of God. Madden was the fun former coach with sound effects and fat guy jokes. These two together made any game interesting. THE BEST IMO.
  2. Frank Gifford, Dandy Don Meredith and Howard Cosell- the Monday night broadcast booth from the early 70s was gold. Gifford was a boring play by play guy, but Dandy and Howard more than made up for it. Danny Don was the “OG” creative color analysts- funny and accurate. Cosell was the jerk everyone loved to hate. The back and forth between Howard and Dandy was greatness. This was when MNF was the best!
  3. Jack Buck and Hank Stram- Joe Buck’s dad was one of the best at both baseball and football. He had that great gravelly voice that sounded like a general. Hank Stram was similar to John Madden- funny, unpredictable and a little crazy. Stram was calling plays out way before Tony Romo- (“Something left Jack”) Good chemistry between them.
The Current Best Booth Teams IMO:
  1. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman- I know a lot of people hate Joe B but I’m not one of them. He’s funny, interesting, and all the haters wear “fan glasses”- meaning they don’t like him saying the opponents QB has had a good game against us...when they did. Aikman is the current best color analyst. Smart, insightful, and underrated in the funny department.
  2. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth- Michaels is one of the smoothest and best prepared broadcasters. Collinsworth is annoying half the time, but he can occasionally be ok. Michaels is the talent here.
  3. Jim Nance and Tony Romo- Nance is super smooth and great at transitions. Romo...I hate to say it- he wears me out with the constant over the top “Jim it looks like a deep out here against this soft zone” before each play. It was kind of novel at first, but now it’s a beating.
THE ALL TIME BEST COWBOYS RADIO BROADCASTERS:
  1. Frank Gleiber- THE BEST- Gleiber did play by play from the late 60s to Early 70s. He was one of the all time great Cowboys announcers. Smooth, fun and always prepared. Died of cancer too young at 51 in 1985.
  2. Verne Lunquist- before he gained national fame as a college football broadcaster, Verne did play by play for the Cowboys in the mid 70s hey days. His color analysis was provided by Brad Sham. They made a really good team.
  3. Dale Hansen- He was the funny “color guy” -never play by play- but in the 90s, his honest and funny analysis made those 90s broadcasts so much fun. It’s never been the same without him.
  4. Brad Sham- believe it or not, can’t stand this guy. Try tuning into a game midway through the second qtr and see how long it takes before he gives a score. On top of that, off the air, he’s a notorious jerk. Arrogant with fans while acting like the players are all his best friends. Saw him in person at a remote broadcast with KRLD back in the 80s. A complete jerk off the air. Not a Sham fan.
So who are your favorite broadcast teams....and least favorites? And why.
 
RodeoJake

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Madden and Summerall is still the gold standard, and none come close.

Dandy Don, Cosell and Gifford were great because of their chemistry.

Romo and Nance are good, but don't have the chemistry of the aforementioned broadcast teams.

As a side note, in my opinion Romo is better in the booth than he ever was on the field. Broadcasting games is better suited for his celebrity than playing. He could have been held in the same esteem as Staubach and Aikman if only he hadn't fell in love with his own celebrity.
 
CowboysRule

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How did Romo fall in love with his own celebrity? By dating famous blondes for a few years?

Anyway, I don't know if anyone will ever surpass Summerall and Madden. I actually really like Collinsworth though most here seem to dislike him. I think Romo and Nance are the best.

Maybe I'm biased in my Romo and Summerall love.
 
glimmerman

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I like Romo. When he calls the play before the snap. Helps see the game when you kind of know who is getting the ball and who to keep a eye on.
 
plasticman

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The Monday night team of Dandy Don, Howie, and Frank Gifford. They could make a boring game exciting. I always got the feeling like they were doing what a lot of guys were doing during the game. It wouldnt be difficult to imagine a huge ice chest under the booth.....closer to Don's side.
 
EGTuna

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Summerall and Madden before Madden became a self-parody are the best ever.

Buck and Aikman are generically entertaining but nothing special.

Nantz and Romo are ok, but to me, Nantz is as blnd as it gets. if Romo was paired with Gus Johnson, now we’re talking.

and let’s not forget the great Keith Jackson who also did NFL.

So did the great Rick Doc Emerick of NBC Sports for hockey (the best in any sport right now imo).
 
glimmerman

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nyc-cowboy said:
That was just a dumb idea, he was horrible.
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I would just listen for him to drop a cuss word. Can’t remember who he was commentating with but I do remember the guy he was with said something one night and Miller lost it for about 15 minutes. He said, Dennis did you see that guy beat off those 2 defenders to get to the sack. He apparently took the comment wrong.
 
ClappingCarrot

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I'm fortunate that I'm just old enough to remember the Madden broadcasts. What a gift to the game he is and was.

Aikman is my favorite broadcaster currently and I think he's the better play by play guy. I also love how objective he is, even though he probably calls between 7-8 Dallas games a year. Another name to watch over the next few years is Charles Davis. I like his style too. He calls a lot of Panthers games here locally.
 
CouchCoach

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Bullet, just change your moniker to mine as that's my list except I am a little stronger against Nantz and Romo. They talk off mic to each other too much and Romo doesn't project his voice above crowd noise and I prefer to be told what they did, if they must, to what he thinks they're going to do. I find them so annoying that I've started just listening to music while watching any CBS game they're doing. Romo is work to try and listen to him.

I am a real throwback to one man booths with Glieber doing the Boys, Drees doing the Cards and Scott doing the Packers. There was never a good reason for the 2nd man for me.

I don't get the blowback here against Buck or Collinsworth but I do get the Romo love. Buck is clever and along with Michaels has the best broadcast voice in the biz and Collinsworth is the closest one we have to Madden now that watches the game for us for that notice that it is changing. I do not ever recall Maddfen making his announcement that the OL was taking over the game and missing it, the game was simply over.
 
pancakeman

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I think Moose is the most underrated in the game.

Madden and Summerall were great but hung it up too late—in the late years Summerall lost his edge completely and Madden as mentioned became a parody of himself.

I agree with the (unpopular around here) opinion that Buck and Aikman deserve their A-team status.

Phil Simms sucks. I hate how he says “him” like “eem”.
 
CouchCoach

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nyc-cowboy said:
That was just a dumb idea, he was horrible.
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He wasn't horrible, he did what they asked him to do because MNF was sinking. It wasn't a good idea because there wasn't enough Dennis Miller to make a difference and bring in additional viewers. They got him because he was a huge NFL fan but his job wasn't to really talk football, he was there as the observational humorist and he was Michaels' favorite comic.

His comment about being at the sequin mines when they were in Nashville was great but the night Michaels said "it's close, if he got it, it's by a naked inch". Miller immediately observed "I am not comfortable with naked and inch in the same sentence". I've never laughed so much during a football game and Michaels trying to carry on was great.

I do give them credit for trying something because the novelty of MNF had faded and Gifford, Cosell and Dandy were bigger than the game. Putting them together was brilliant because that allowed MNF to transcend the game and bring in the first fringe audience of the NFL and turn a football game into a broadcast event. It even affected the players, MNF was huge.
 
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