Grading The Announcers: 2010 NCAA Tournament 1st And 2nd Round Edition

If I remember correctly, I am pretty sure I put something up last year grading the announcers for the NCAA Tournament in the first couple rounds. Well guess what? I am doing it again, bitches. And in fairness to keep my judgment of the teams to what they did this year, I have not looked at what I wrote about them last year (although if I ever find the post again, it would be pretty neat to compare the two from year to year). Now when doing this, I am not ranking them in any particular order, but rather analyzing the body of work, and giving them a grade based on that. If you want to interpret the different grades as a means of ranking, then go right ahead, but for the sake of ease, I am doing them in reverse order from the depth chart. So here ya go!

8. Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel - Maybe they were the product of low expectations, but I will tell you what, I feared the worst when Spero Dedes replaced Craig Bolerjack, the only thing remotely positive about this crew. No review of Dedes' work I had read before this had ever been positive. Most said he was unenthusiastic, bland, and boring. From what I heard this tournament, that could not have been further from the truth. He was into the game and while he is no Gus Johnson, he did deliver solid buzzer-beating calls when he got the opportunity and overall sounded very into the games. Was he perfect? No, as Mookie pointed out in the live blogs, he made several mistakes during U-Dub's game with New Mexico. But for a 30-year old calling his first NCAA Tourney with freakin' Bob Wenzel, I do not think there was more that you could ask out of Dedes. Aspeaking of Wenzel, he drags the grade down half a letter grade just for being Bob Wenzel. Giggling and speaking in fragments all game is not quality broadcasting. It is the kind of stuff I would expect to hear from a high school kid working a high school game, not a professional working the Big Dance. Overall grade: B-.

7. Tim Brando and Mike Gminski: "The iron unkind!" "It may be spring, but it's Summertime today!" "Hot time Summers in the city" "Meet me in Saint Louie". I know what people think. I want Tim Brando fired. Acutally, that could not be further from the truth. I hope CBS keeps the NCAA Tournament and Brando decides to pull a Jim Nantz on the Masters and work 50 more in his lifetime. I can never get tired at laughing at his cliche and over-the-top puns and in turn, reading other people's hilarious critiques of said puns. It has become a staple of the NCAA Tournament on CBS that I will miss greatly if ESPN takes the reins next year. Somethings are so bad that they are good. Brando's announcing is one of them. That being said, that in no way makes him a quality basketball announcer. The constant puns and wordplay are enough for an F, but Mike Gminski's quality analysis saves this team from that. Overall grade: D.

6. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel: Does Ian Eagle have cheesy phrases like Brando? Yes. Is he a much better announcer? You betcha. Maybe I am biased in this regard because I have listened and watched Eagle do interviews and seems to be one helluva an awesome person, but the guy is animanted, excited, and enthusiastic, without being too over the top. Jim Spanarkel is never going to wow me, but at the same time, he is not a hopeless case in the booth. Overall grade: B.

5. Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner: There were factors beyond Harlan's control that are contributing to this review. Firstly, the egregious error of saying that NIU was the first MVC team in the Sweet 16 since Larry Bird was probably the fault of someone in the crew giving him misinformation. Secondly, he was not the one that placed himself in Oklahoma City where his alma mater was playing. Thirdly, it was not expected for his alma mater to lose. That being said, you have to be conscious of the situation that you put yourself in and call the game without biases and without favoring one team over the other. Harlan was perfectly fine for the first 58 minutes. But in the last 2 minutes when it mattered the most, Harlan failed. Miserably. You could tell he was not happy seeing his Jayhawks losing. Complete that with the most non-enthusiastic and nonsensical call at the buzzer ("It's the first day of spring, but number one has fallen") that very Brando-esque, and Harlan more than just underwhelmed. This is not a local broadcast. This is a national broadcast of the NCAA Tournament. I don't expect every announcer to yell like Gus Johnson, but I do expect announcer's feelings for one school to not infiltrate the broadcast and it was becoming painfully obvious that Harland could not do it. Complete silence after the Koch dunk (I don't mind silence but I don't think he even acknowledged the dunk afterward), only saying "OHH!!!!!" after the Farokhmanesh three and calling the subsequent offensive foul on Kansas immediately afterwards as if it was just routine and not the foul that ensured the biggest NCAA Tournament upset since George Mason beat UConn and the first time a #1 seed lost in the 2nd round since Kentucky lost to UAB in 2004. That soapbox out of the way, I am enhancing the grade for an overall relatively solid body of work throughout the first couple of rounds and Dan Bonner's performance, who is always one of the best in the tournament. His enthusiasm during those final moments of the NIU-Kansas game was off the charts fun to listen to. Spero Dedes is an inexperienced newcomer. His mistakes are forgivable. Kevin Harlan is a seasoned vet. His poor performance during the upset of the tournament is much more unforgivable. Yes, this is supposed to be the overall body of work, but when that overall body includes the biggest announcer blow job of the tournament, the grade is going to take a beating. Overall Grade: A very generous C+.

4. Gus Johnson and Len Elmore. In a tournament of upsets, Gus and Len once again ended up with clunkers. However, unlike last year, I did not think that Gus was trying too hard to make a big call when there just was not anything there to be made. The distractions from last year were gone (GuJo with the PUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNCH!!!!) and while he did not get the big upset this year, he toned it down a bit for the blowouts and it worked well. Len Elmore works well with Gus as he is much more soft spoken and will not yell over top of Gus. Len is a bore when he has to say a lot. Gus prevents that which optimizes the effectiveness of Len Elmore's analysis. Gus did not have the screaming upset, but that should not detract away from a solid comeback year after the debacle last year. Overall grade: A-.

3. Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas. I will admit, I heard the least of Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas this tournament, so if there is one grade that is poorly skewed or possibly inaccurate, it is this one. I love Enberg, but he just cannot do college basketball anymore. He is a great announcer, but the game is too fast for him. What can I say about Jay Bilas. As of now, he has been right on the money. He said Cornell would go to the Elite 8 and they are one win away from doing so. Cornell dominated both of their games and it was never even close. Bilas works best when he is with McDonough and Raft to lighten the mood. Him and Enberg is not a great pairing for him as Enberg forces him to come off as the know-it-all persona he takes in the ESPN studio. It's nothing against Enberg, he just is not Sean McDonough or Bill Raftery. Overall grade: B.

2. Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. The gold standard of the tournament. For as bad as Verne may be doing football, he is just as good, if not great, doing basketball. Raftery is the perfect partner for him. Everything about them is flawless. Some want Raft to work with Gus Johnson should Enberg retire for good from college basketball and CBS keeps the tournament. I say keep it as it is. Why mess with perfection? Overall grade: A+.

1. Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Last year Clark Kellogg was a disaster. This year, I think he has improved in leaps and bounds. Last year Jim Nantz was married. This year he is divorced and free. Kellogg toned it down a lot this year from his constant screaming analysis last year and Nantz is not the dull bore he was when he was married. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like since the divorce he has been much more excitable in the booth. That being said, Nantz can still be too boring and and Kellogg's analysis can still be over the top. They have not reached the Verne/Raft level of perfection, but it is a work in progress and a solid improvement from last year. Overall grade: B+.

Do realize that this is just one man's opinion and not some permanent mark on their resume or something. However, I put a lot of thought into this and in the end, I think everyone was giving their fair shake, even in the case of Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner. If I had nothing but those last two minutes to focus on, he would at best be given a D. I looked at the body of work and gave him a C+. I still feel that is being overly kind on my part, but Bonner deserves better than a C or a C-. I know bashing Harlan is never the most popular thing to do, but I will leave you with this thought. If you were an NIU student/alum/fan and assuming there was no radio broadcast and the only broadcast and call you had to remember this game by was what Kevin Harlan gave you at the end of this game, Harlan's KU background aside, knowing what Harlan has done in the past and what he is capable of, is that a call that you would remember? Or better yet, is "on the first day of spring, number one has fallen" something that you would want to remember? All I'll say is if someone showed me that quote and said it was announcer during the NCAA Tournament, my first question would be "why are you showing me a quote from Tim Brando?"