Favorite announcers....

Marv Albert remains my runaway favorite. Obviously especially on hoops. I can hardly stand Breen at this point, whether it's the sanctimony or just his voice inflections, not sure. But Marv is just the perfect blend of being able to convey a big moment, but during the game has the humor, the historical knowledge and gets the best out of his analysts.

Gorman is somehow good even after being paired with Heinsohn forever.

 

I can't pass up the chance to rave about Vin Scully, the best baseball announcer in history, someone who did his homework every day and never failed to visit the clubhouse regularly. He also talked to visiting media members to find out tidbits about the opposition.
I'd also like to congratulate Bob Costas, who does everything well, especially the interviews he does for the MLB network. And when he does a game with Jim Kaat doing analysis, it's always worth a listen.
Thanks,
Dan Castellano

 

Forgot about Mike Gorman, largely because he's not a national name. But I remember him doing Big East games with Bill Raftery in the late 80s and it was a great listen.
Vin Scully's lost a bit off his fastball, but he's still better than about 80 to 90 percent of the baseball announcers out there. I wish Bob Costas did more baseball play-by-play just to remind people of how good he is at it. When he and Tony Kubek were the "backup" team for NBC in the 80s, you rooted for a rain delay or rainout on the main game so you could hear them.

 

I was always a big fan of Skip Caray, and was seriously bummed when he died suddenly.

I guess because they're the team I listen to the most, but I really think the Saints team of Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan are as good as anyone. Henderson has a pitch-perfect pxp voice and Gajan brings a Coonass mentality (not to mention a distinctly Louisiana accent in his voice), plus he's got the insights as a former player.

One thing I like about them is they're never shy about being critical of the Saints' play when it's merited, and they are often remarkably prescient about what's coming. I recall listening back in January in the Saints-49ers playoff game, they kept saying during the 3rd quarter that the defense was keeping the Saints in the game, but they were on the field an awful lot.

 

He learned at the heels of the great Chris Clark

 

Greatest local guy ever, any sport: Bill King, on the Warriors, Raiders and A's. At one time briefly, he was doing all three.

You've heard him on the Raiders' Super Bowl highlights on NFL Films, but I thought he was best at basketball. He was one of the few who could describe, at least in basketball, what was going on away from the ball as well as what the ballhandler was doing. Why he's not in the media wings in Cooperstown, Canton and Springfield is a mystery. Holy Toledo!

 

So true. Probably the most underrated great announcer.

Loved listening to him do Raiders games when they were in LA.

 

Those guys are good.
And this is one of the great "goosebump" calls of all time. The sheer joy in his voice captured what everyone in that city was feeling.

 

Pigs have flown indeed...

Man, that seems like a long time ago.

 

A big part of it was he never worked outside of the Bay area and didn't do a heck of a lot of TV work. And to a lot of people, he appeared very anti-establishment in the 60s and 70s with his beard, which at times made him look like the devil himself. He also wasn't one to do the talk show or banquet circuit in the off-season, instead hitting the seas for a few months. Plus his hobbies included Russian lit, opera and ballet, not the regular sports hangouts.

Still, though, he was a perfect fit with the Warriors and the Raiders, since the respective owners (Franklin Mieuli and Al Davis) were a bit eccentric too.

 

I think we can all agree there is only one answer: Hawk Harrelson. (drops the mic)