Top 50 sportscasters in history

Humble Howard at 5? No way he should sniff the top 30 -- he was awful in everything except boxing.

 

Except that he, you know, changed the entire broadcasting business.
Hell, he's no Curt Gowdy.

 

Wow... Foster Hewitt 40, Milo Hamilton, McCarver, Morgan, Berman and Jim Nantzzzzzzzzzz on the list at all and no Bob Cole, Danny Gallivan or Dan Kelly...

 

Baseball is the only sport that matters, preferably while played in NY.

 

He was good on Yes, Dear.

 

He puts me to sleep.

 

He never stayed on track for more than a couple innings, at least near the end of his career. I hated listening to him.

 

Even better - here's his call of a portion of the third period of Game 6 of the 1942 Stanley Cup Final between Toronto and Detroit. Complete with a genuine "He shoots, he SCORES!!!"

http://archives.cbc.ca/programs/130-11089/page/4/

Toronto won this game to tie the best-of-seven series 3-3. Two nights later, they completed their miracle comeback, the first major professional sports team to win a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first three games.

But it was Foster Hewitt, more than anyone else, who turned the Leafs into Canada's Team in the 1930s and the 1940s. He held hockey fans in three countries spellbound on Saturday nights, not just one country:

"Hello Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland."

And that's not to mention the soldiers in WWII and Korea who, when they weren't at the front lines, were able to listen to "Hockey Night In Canada" even while they were overseas.

It was only fitting that he came out of retirement in 1972 for the Summit Series, where he managed to top even himself. "Henderson has scored for Canada!!" has, rightly, taken over as Hewitt's best-known call.

There will never be another Foster Hewitt. He deserves to be in the top five on that list.....any lower is a slap in the face.

P.S. He wasn't actually the first man to broadcast a hockey game, but for all intents and purposes he invented the genre in 1923, and he remains the standard for hockey broadcasters today. There's a reason why Hockey Hall of Fame broadcasters are presented with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.

P.P.S. Yes, his original broadcasts greeted, "Canada, and hockey fans in the United States AND Newfoundland." It didn't become part of Canada until 1949.

 

Don't know if he's a top 50 guy, but I'll throw Tim Ryan in for an honourable mention. Did NFL, Olympics (NHL too, I think) and was the voice of the weekend afternoon fights on CBS. Good and understated.

 

Ryan was steady, solid and unspectacular.. just what you want ... US's Don Chevrier...

 

Agreed on both counts.

 

And he was awful. Knew next to nothing about baseball and only a little more about football.