ESPN announcers’ grade: D-

[HuskyNan]

It’s not the lower score, the one below D-, because the profanity filter would delete it.

Horrible, horrible announcing. Men’s basketball, dog clothing, tomatoes, WNBA rosters - anything but the game. Just awful.

 

[ritter]

Generous grade. How difficult is it to tell us who the fouls are on.

 

[CocoHusky]

I"m pretty sure announcers called Holly Rowe by a different name at the end of the game after the Gabby interview also.

 

[JustinesGuy]

It’s not the lower score, the one below D-, because the profanity filter would delete it.

Horrible, horrible announcing. Men’s basketball, dog clothing, tomatoes, WNBA rosters - anything but the game. Just awful.

Nan you are 100% correct as usual. May I add the sideline reporting was also not up to our normal SNY standards.
I feel bad for Lobo it's really not her fault.

We should always have Culmo and Friel.

 

[luvgiraf]

I sent ESPN an email, but not hopeful for any improvement because of my complaining.

 

[HumblePie]

Yep, horrible announcing crew. Also, placement of the video cameras couldn't have been worse and the sound was terrible too (but that could be an individual problem?).

 

[BigBird]

Bob Joyce was sharp as usual. Synched the radio with the TV, and it was pretty much ideal.

 

[JoePgh]

The announcers stayed focused on the game until the score got out of hand. At that point, the only people who still cared about the fine points of the play were probably Boneyarders. The other 99% of the audience would have been bored to tears if they HAD continued to talk about the offensive and defensive strategies, or anything of that nature. Cut them some slack.

I do agree that they should have announced who picked up the fouls and how many the player had. The only way I knew that KLS got her third foul was when Marisa held up three fingers while the camera was on her.

 

[Boreifs]

Two color commentators never works, particularly when both are horrible at the job. They should never leave the studio, where both are excellent, even when together. Fortner is a very good color announcer; she belongs there; Landers belongs at a Fantasy basketball bar and grille.

 

[Centerstream]

The announcers stayed focused on the game until the score got out of hand. At that point, the only people who still cared about the fine points of the play were probably Boneyarders. The other 99% of the audience would have been bored to tears if they HAD continued to talk about the offensive and defensive strategies, or anything of that nature. Cut them some slack.

I do agree that they should have announced who picked up the fouls and how many the player had. The only way I knew that KLS got her third foul was when Marisa held up three fingers while the camera was on her.

The other 99% would have switched to a different channel.

 

[osceola48]

The announcers stayed focused on the game until the score got out of hand. At that point, the only people who still cared about the fine points of the play were probably Boneyarders. The other 99% of the audience would have been bored to tears if they HAD continued to talk about the offensive and defensive strategies, or anything of that nature. Cut them some slack.

I do agree that they should have announced who picked up the fouls and how many the player had. The only way I knew that KLS got her third foul was when Marisa held up three fingers while the camera was on her.

Focused? I switched to mute and radio after just 2.5 minutes, as Rebecca and Kara were ignoring the game and talking non-stop about the SC-Missouri spat (pun intended).

 

[nwhoopfan]

As bad and annoying as the broadcast was as the game wore on, I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone that isn't regularly subjected to listening to Bill Walton's blathering nonsense. He doesn't wait for a game to get out of hand, he's off topic and random before the opening tip even goes up, and stays that way during the entire broadcast. He can seldom be bothered to make any comments that have any relevance to the game that is actually happening. Nothing else is anywhere near as bad as a Walton broadcast. Until you experience that routinely, you ain't seen (or heard, as it were) nothin'.

 

[HuskyNan]

The announcers stayed focused on the game until the score got out of hand. At that point, the only people who still cared about the fine points of the play were probably Boneyarders. The other 99% of the audience would have been bored to tears if they HAD continued to talk about the offensive and defensive strategies, or anything of that nature. Cut them some slack.

I do agree that they should have announced who picked up the fouls and how many the player had. The only way I knew that KLS got her third foul was when Marisa held up three fingers while the camera was on her.

Nope, sorry, no slack from me. If the game is out of hand, talk about the types of defenses being played, point out particularly good plays and how only a handful of college players can do it, etc. Educate the people interested in women’s basketball, don’t blather about Dawn Staley’s dog. I don’t give a hoot if Kara likes tomatoes, either.

 

[Padutch5]

As bad and annoying as the broadcast was as the game wore on, I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone that isn't regularly subjected to listening to Bill Walton's blathering nonsense. He doesn't wait for a game to get out of hand, he's off topic and random before the opening tip even goes up, and stays that way during the entire broadcast. He can seldom be bothered to make any comments that have any relevance to the game that is actually happening. Nothing else is anywhere near as bad as a Walton broadcast. Until you experience that routinely, you ain't seen (or heard, as it were) nothin'.

Yes he did at least one UCONN men’s game and he was bad. Unfortunately my memory was that we got blown out by 40. The only good thing was if you were a casual viewer, you never knew how bad it was.

 

[BroadwayVa]

It’s not the lower score, the one below D-, because the profanity filter would delete it.

Horrible, horrible announcing. Men’s basketball, dog clothing, tomatoes, WNBA rosters - anything but the game. Just awful.

I thought it was just me---who just committed that foul?? How many on Gabby?? never got an answer
I read captioning and it could not keep up with the chit chat. Terrible--I hope they watch the replay to see what they missed.

 

[Zanzman]

Walton is hilarious if you don’t care about the game He did a Uconn men’s game and is unbelievable

 

[01Neaggrad02]

It’s not the lower score, the one below D-, because the profanity filter would delete it.

Horrible, horrible announcing. Men’s basketball, dog clothing, tomatoes, WNBA rosters - anything but the game. Just awful.

Rebecca deserves bonus points. I loved her "How is that a foul on Gabby?" comment.... Priceless!

 

[easttexastrash]

It’s not the lower score, the one below D-, because the profanity filter would delete it.

Horrible, horrible announcing. Men’s basketball, dog clothing, tomatoes, WNBA rosters - anything but the game. Just awful.

My thoughts exactly. Sometimes multiple possessions occur before they comment on the game.

 

[ochoopsfan]

A statement released by ESPN.
We have read this topic and all the negative comments. As a result ESPN will no longer give guided tours of the ESPN facilities to anyone associated with The Boneyard.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Walton is hilarious if you don’t care about the game He did a Uconn men’s game and is unbelievable

Walton is the best. Your right.

 

[TWG236]

Where is Dan O'Brien and Doris Burke when you need them? At least they attempted to keep you engaged in the game itself. ESPN has really dropped the ball talent wise. I agree with boreifs, keep Rebecca and Kara in the studio where they are a dynamic team, two color analyst can't even help the male announcer who is absolutely terrible. SNY all the way.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I"m pretty sure announcers called Holly Rowe by a different name at the end of the game after the Gabby interview also.

Near the end some one said the Miss St game is on another channel if you want to switch over or words to that effect--The game may have been settled, but there was a lot of good game to watch--USC in the 3rd quarter started to make a game of it. The injection of Azura added another dimension to the game as did Walker. The kids for USC gave it every thing in the second half--and that should have been some of the Chit Chat.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Walton is hilarious if you don’t care about the game He did a Uconn men’s game and is unbelievable

He calls games involving Pac 12 teams almost exclusively (some non-con--wasn't the UConn game against Oregon?). I've watched a bunch of games that he's called the last 3 or 4 years. The novelty wears off really fast. It might be slightly amusing on occasion. It's not something anyone should have to suffer through on a regular basis. And he pretty much recycles all of his stories and off topic ramblings, so you hear the same things over and over and over. Sleeping under the stars in the Arizona desert. The family dog. Hugging a tree in Oregon. The Grateful Dead and Joan Baez. It's all ridiculous.

 

[easttexastrash]

Two color commentators never works, particularly when both are horrible at the job. They should never leave the studio, where both are excellent, even when together. Fortner is a very good color announcer; she belongs there; Landers belongs at a Fantasy basketball bar and grille.

I hate Fortner’s over exagreted southern accent, and I am from the south. Try not to speak like you just left Maw and Paw by the kettle cooking up so opossums.

 

[Frodo]

ditto, ditto, ditto and ditto. I’d add that constantly covering the screen with some irrelevant graphic, or putting Holly Rowe on screen (ESPN, we can hear her, you know). And I’ve listened to plenty of Walton performances and he just makes you want to turn the sound off. Oh, and now I know why Fortner left coaching...she’s a total nitwit. One more thing...putting two total SEC homers together in the studio is not a good idea. Thought Fortner was going to cry when they went to the studio at the half because her precious SEC was getting their ass kicked.