Joe Morgan - explained

[MusicMan]

Want to know why he always sounds like an ignorant gasbag?

Because he chooses to:

Quote:
A lot of guys read numbers and stats but that's not me. I watch games every day and I'm watching SportsCenter right now, but I do so as a fan. I only put my announcing shoes on in the booth. I follow the game I'm watching and it will take you where you're supposed to go. I dont' go in with a lot of numbers trying to creat a script. I just try to get a feel for teams and go into a game and let it take me somewhere. I have some notes but not much else.

 From his chat

[JackAstro]

Quote:
Want to know why he always sounds like an ignorant gasbag?

Because he chooses to:

Quote:
A lot of guys read numbers and stats but that's not me. I watch games every day and I'm watching SportsCenter right now, but I do so as a fan. I only put my announcing shoes on in the booth. I follow the game I'm watching and it will take you where you're supposed to go. I dont' go in with a lot of numbers trying to creat a script. I just try to get a feel for teams and go into a game and let it take me somewhere. I have some notes but not much else.

 From his chat

Yeah, that seems about right. He derives his announcing prowess from a couple of notes, the stories he sees on the network that employs him, and a pair of shoes. Really, other professions could learn a lot from this approach.

[strosrays]

Quote:

Quote:
Want to know why he always sounds like an ignorant gasbag?

Because he chooses to:

Quote:
A lot of guys read numbers and stats but that's not me. I watch games every day and I'm watching SportsCenter right now, but I do so as a fan. I only put my announcing shoes on in the booth. I follow the game I'm watching and it will take you where you're supposed to go. I dont' go in with a lot of numbers trying to creat a script. I just try to get a feel for teams and go into a game and let it take me somewhere. I have some notes but not much else.

 From his chat

Yeah, that seems about right. He derives his announcing prowess from a couple of notes, the stories he sees on the network that employs him, and a pair of shoes. Really, other professions could learn a lot from this approach.

I've never really understood the point of the petty sniping (on both sides) between Morgan and the... Billy Beane acolytes? Moneyball champions?  Whoever it is that takes the trouble to harrass him with silly crap like this every time he does one of these chats (there are people who lie in wait, so they can get in on the chat with some puerile question and then presumably snicker with their buddies about it afterward.)  Still, Morgan bears at least half the blame for this, for getting down and dirty with the nitwits, and it sometimes makes him look silly, this reactive (I am assuming) statement being one example.

If that can be set aside, I like him quite alot, as an announcer and person.  He compliments Miller well, and he's neither a know-it-all like Tim McCarver, nor a babbling drone like Rick Sutcliffe/Jeff Brantley/take your pick.

He knows the game as well as anyone, and for certain alot better than I do.  With no pretense or burden of superiority to carry, one can just enjoy his call.  His color commentary is quite good, especially compared to what else is out there nationally.

[lc_db]

Quote:
...If that can be set aside, I like him quite alot, as an announcer and person.  He compliments Miller well, and he's neither a know-it-all like Tim McCarver, nor a babbling drone like Rick Sutcliffe/Jeff Brantley/take your pick.

Grrrr....  I hate Tim McCarver.

[Arky Vaughan]

Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

[strosrays]

Quote:
Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

Rick Sutcliffe.  Its not just that his entire commentary seems to consist of tired baseball bromides that every fan from third grade on up knows by heart, it's that teeth-grinding, fingernails-on-a-blackboard singsong delivery of his.

Walton does irritate, though.  Not that I watch much basketball, but he is hard to avoid regardless.

[mihoba]

Quote:

Quote:
Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

Rick Sutcliffe.  Its not just that his entire commentary seems to consist of tired baseball bromides that every fan from third grade on up knows by heart, it's that teeth-grinding, fingernails-on-a-blackboard singsong delivery of his.

Walton does irritate, though.  Not that I watch much basketball, but he is hard to avoid regardless.

Sutcliffe is okay, at least he respects the Astros and the current 10 year run as a top-notch franchise.

Joe Theismann. Enough said. Too bad LT didn't break his  vocal bone.

[David in Jackson]

A fun read:
The Link

[JackAstro]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
Want to know why he always sounds like an ignorant gasbag?

Because he chooses to:

Quote:
A lot of guys read numbers and stats but that's not me. I watch games every day and I'm watching SportsCenter right now, but I do so as a fan. I only put my announcing shoes on in the booth. I follow the game I'm watching and it will take you where you're supposed to go. I dont' go in with a lot of numbers trying to creat a script. I just try to get a feel for teams and go into a game and let it take me somewhere. I have some notes but not much else.

 From his chat

Yeah, that seems about right. He derives his announcing prowess from a couple of notes, the stories he sees on the network that employs him, and a pair of shoes. Really, other professions could learn a lot from this approach.

I've never really understood the point of the petty sniping (on both sides) between Morgan and the... Billy Beane acolytes? Moneyball champions?  Whoever it is that takes the trouble to harrass him with silly crap like this every time he does one of these chats (there are people who lie in wait, so they can get in on the chat with some puerile question and then presumably snicker with their buddies about it afterward.)  Still, Morgan bears at least half the blame for this, for getting down and dirty with the nitwits, and it sometimes makes him look silly, this reactive (I am assuming) statement being one example.

If that can be set aside, I like him quite alot, as an announcer and person.  He compliments Miller well, and he's neither a know-it-all like Tim McCarver, nor a babbling drone like Rick Sutcliffe/Jeff Brantley/take your pick.

He knows the game as well as anyone, and for certain alot better than I do.  With no pretense or burden of superiority to carry, one can just enjoy his call.  His color commentary is quite good, especially compared to what else is out there nationally.

Honestly, I find him borderline intolerable for the exact reasons that he outlines. Since he's none to concerned with the actualities of the season to date, he's constantly broadcasting from a position of relative ignorance of the teams involved. Too often his commentary seems to devolve into these big grand assessments of the state of a team or player, based on not much more than that days' observation, some recently recalled highlight footage, and his mood at the moment. It's not much different than sitting next an ESPN-fed fan at the ballgame who rattles off some tired talking points du jour with a healthy dollop of "back when I played"-isms. And a big, fat ego. Which may be well-earned, but there it is nonetheless.

Plus he personally annoys me, which absolutely can't be discounted. I can't be rational when I'm annoyed.

[Bench]

Quote:

Quote:
Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

Rick Sutcliffe.  Its not just that his entire commentary seems to consist of tired baseball bromides that every fan from third grade on up knows by heart, it's that teeth-grinding, fingernails-on-a-blackboard singsong delivery of his.

Walton does irritate, though.  Not that I watch much basketball, but he is hard to avoid regardless.

I got to agree with you on both counts. Sutcliffe just kills me. It's mainly his cadence, because I can tune out the substance of his inanities, but every broadcast I watch with him reaches the point where the inanities and sing song cadence crescendoes into pure torture before I remember the mute button.

On the other had, I always enjoy Morgan's color commentary. He has interesting things to say, and nobody in the business can break down a play at the level that he does. He provides insight into all the subtle things in the game, and I generally learn something new or gain a new appreciation for something whenever I listen to him.

I can see how and why Morgan annoys a lot of people, but I am not one of them.

[Limey]

Quote:
Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

Bill Walton is hoooorrrrrrible.  He makes generalised statements based entirely and solely on the action from the last 10 seconds.

[strosrays]

Quote:

Quote:
Is there anyone in baseball who can be compared with how bad Bill Walton is in basketball?

Bill Walton is hoooorrrrrrible.  He makes generalised statements based entirely and solely on the action from the last 10 seconds.

His excuse being he lived in the mountains... well, the foothills... anyway, whatever it is they have around Portland, and smoked alot of herb in the 1970's.  

A lot of herb.  Its a pretty good excuse.

[Limey]

Quote:
His excuse being he lived in the mountains... well, the foothills... anyway, whatever it is they have around Portland, and smoked alot of herb in the 1970's.  

A lot of herb.  Its a pretty good excuse.

Then he should be on Comedy Central, not NBC.

[Ty in Tampa]

I would not be surprised if a lot of herb was still a part of his daily diet.