Some announcers are dunderheads, plain and simple. I have the misfortune of being subjected to Mariners announcers who have no clue. So many of them are just sensationalizing anyway.
I remember watching a college basketball game, and when the player missed a free throw, the announcer actually said, "Oh, he missed it! He's usually a 77% shooter from the line..." Think about that. In the first case, he was incredulous that something that occurs 23% of the time occurred. And then he added a condition to a probability factor.
The one thing I've liked about Skip Carey on the Braves broadcasts is that he's willing to admit what he doesn't know, and he's not stuck on himself. Same with Chris Berman and Jon Miller. They're a rare breed. So many other uninformed announcers put on this air of having an advanced form of analysis.
Tim McCarver, while he does know a lot about the game, doesn't know his own limits. He frequently wanders out of his element.
Joe Morgan also knows a lot about the game, but he has some very misguided notions about probability, tendencies, etc. Morgan would be awful as a tactical manager.
I would love to have Keith Hernandez announce every game I watch. He knows the inside game, and he knows how to convey what's going on on the field to others. And he's not blinded by silly baseball myths.
Some other announcer gems:
• When they say that a great hit is going to help a player's confidence, as if someone other than the player made the hit for him in the first place.
• They talk about which team has the momentum, but then an inning later, they're talking about the other team having the momentum, and then it's back to the other team later. If momentum truly meant anything, then it wouldn't keep changing so much.
• When they say that a player is "due". There's no such thing as being due. The law of averages says that things will even out eventually, but previous failings do not increase the likelihood of success on subsequent occurrences.
• Talking about come-from-behind wins as if they were some dramatic occurrence. The visiting team scores a run in the top of the 1st, and then the home team ends up winning the game, and that counts in their list of "come-from-behind" wins.
• When they mention someone has something like an 8-game hitting streak. Big whuppin' deal. You can bat .250 over 8 games and have an 8-game hitting streak.
• When they say "he pops him up." I'm sorry, but the pitcher did not pop up the batter.
• When they speak in future tense. "And he's going to make the catch..." Is the announcer a psychic?
• When the announcer screams in excitement prior to telling us what happened, and we have no idea why he's screaming. Such as a great defensive play by the home team, and he's already screaming when he says "Grounded to short...!!! Betancourt gets to his feet and throws him out!" This is probably manifested the worst in basketball, when the announcer gets excited about a 3-point attempt, before it even gets to the basket. "Iverson for three!!!......... He misses..." Are we really supposed to be excited that a player is attempting a 3-point shot?
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