A Tale Of Two Calls

It is a home run that is already drawing comparisons to Matt Stairs' moonshot that won Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS.  And not just the magnitude of the homerun.  But in the call of the national TV play-by-play announcer. This is Joe Buck calling the "devastating turn of events" in 2008.  And now here is Dick Stockton calling Francisco's shot today.  See if you notice any similarities.

P.S.  If you want to hear a real announcer's call of that home run, fast forward to the 28 second mark of that video and hear Scott Franzke.

LOL Fox Sports

What happens when you take this:

and then add this?

If you guessed possibly the worst NFL announcing trio of all time—you win! It’s too bad there aren’t Pammy awards for NFL announcers. But it should make for some very entertaining live blog moments this fall.

Thanks for nothing Fox.

Follow me on Twitter @kt1000

Phillies Blogger's T-Shirt Gets Taken Everywhere By Jim Tracy; Showcased On Fox

One year ago, ZWR did not have a blog bolg. Now, the shirts he sells on said bolg are being seen on Fox. The last time the Phillies played the Rockies, the whole Phillies sign stealing controversy erupted. ZWR made a shirt about it reading:

"We Have:
84 Home Games
Tasers
Roy Halladay
Your Signs"

The shirt had been spotted in Ryan Spilborgh's locker once before, but never did anyone realize the extent of the impact the shirt had on Jim Tracy and the Rockies until this came up on Fox during this afternoon's Rockies-Phillies game. (As a blogger who loves his readers dearly, it is quite necessary that I warn you that the following clip is from a game announced by Dick Stockton and Tim McCarver).



Too funny. For all the crying that Jim Tracy does, it is nice to see he has the ability to take a joke and even embrace it.

Holy Butt! (The Time ZWR's Shirt Was Featured On Fox) (I Want To Go To The Zoo With Roy Halladay)

(Thanks to cease and desist letters from MLBPA's attorneys, the Roy Halladay part has now been replaced with "You Know Who," so the shirt is not exactly the same now as it was when it was purchased by the fan and sent to the Rockies. But you can still buy the edited version along with all of ZWR's other cool shirts here.).

Meet Your 2009 BCS Announcers!

Both Fox and ABC have decided to release their BCS announcers and I must say, there are definitley some surprises. I know that I normally save posts like these for when the whole schedule is released but seeing as I have a few quips and snarky comments, I'll post them with today's official release.

Rose Bowl - January 1 (ABC, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)
Allstate Sugar Bowl - January 1 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - January 4 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
FedEx Orange Bowl - January 5 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
BCS National Championship Game - January 7 (ABC - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)

Fox has obviously decided to stick with their NFL pairings instead of reuniting the dreadful pairing of Brennaman and Mangina, but they may have instead created a whole new monster the likes of which this country has never seen before.

Dick Stockton is calling a BCS Game! As if he was not senile enough in an NFL booth, he is now going to be on the call of a college game, where surely the slight rule varifications will drive him to a greater depth of senility in the booth the likes of which this world has never seen before. Add to the fact that once again he is working with Charles Davis (And His Mangina) and the awfulness could reach epic heights.

That being said, isn't it sad when there is a list of 4 PbP announcers and the best one out of the 4 is Brent Musburger??? And isn't it even sadder when of the 3 Fox PbP guys, the best one is Sam Rosen? If Rosen can get a grasp of the college game, then there is a chance that he could overtake Musburger has the best PbP guy on the list. As far as analysts go, there is no doubt that Herbie will just blow all of the Fox guys away. End of story.

FOX and ABC release BCS bowl game announcers (Awful Announcing)

Please Excuse Me While I Go Shoot Myself (Your Week 1 Fox Announcing Line-Up)

First of all, big time thanks to James Craven and 49er16 for filling in for me on such a short notice.

And yes, I am aware of the Brett Favre story and if we have a contract signing and/or an offiical announcement tonight, I will get it on here ASAP. But now, on to the business at hand. I'd say thanks to Mookie and Fang's Bites, but if you're an Eagles or a Panthers fan, this is not good news. At all. As in, get ready to shoot yourself, as I have had the not so great privilege of viewing Fox's press release of their Week 1 announcing assignments, and while I could sugarcoat it and copy and paste the actual PR, I'll make this as quick and as painless as possible by just stating the games and the announcers for Week 1 of the NFL on Fox. And for all you Eagles and Panthers fans, there's been a HORRIBLE CHANGE!!!!! (all times eastern)

Philadelphia @ Carolina 1:00 (Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
Minnesota @ Cleveland 1:00 (TBD)
Detroit @ New Orleans 1:00 (Chirs Myers and Trent Green)
Dallas @ Tampa Bay 1:00 (Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
San Francisco @ Arizona 4:15 (TBD)
Washington @ New York Giants 4:15 (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
St. Louis @ Seattle 4:15 (Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

If your game is a TBD game, that means you are either getting Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan or Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick. Either way, I do pity you, although I think you all need to pity me a whole lot more. Trust me, I need it.

And for the depth chart junkies, here is your Fox depth chart this year starting from the top, to the You Know Your Team Sucks If This Is Your Announce Team team.

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver
Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa
Dick Stockton and Charles Davis
Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick
Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan
Ron Pitts and John Lynch
Crhis Myers and Trent Green

And for all those representing the suicide hotline out there or what not, the title of that post is SARCASTIC!!!!!! Barely sarcastic, but nonetheless, I am not really about to blow my brains out. Although my toes may only have a few more minutes of attachment........

Why Wait For Football Season When You Can Hear Dick Stockton's Anti-Philly Bias This Weekend?

The Philadelphia Phillies are back on Fox this Saturday and guess who is announcing the game? You guessed it. It's none other than Dick "Ball Four! Strike Three!" Stockton (along with Tim McCarver in the booth and with Ken Rosenthal reporting)

In a post earlier this week, I mentioned at how Stockton is always anti-Philadelphia. His excitement is always less for Philly teams than it is for their opponents, whomever they may be. In games where Philly is winning, it is never about what the Phillies, Eagles, or Sixers are doing right, but rather, what the other team is wrong. In other words, he does not give credit where credit is due. This assessment of Stockton has come over many years of listening to him. As early as the early 2000s, I can vividly remember thinking to myself, "wow, this Stockton fellow hates Philly teams".

So go ahead, if you get the game this weekend, and you have not previously picked up on Stockton's anti-Philly bias, watch it and listen to Stockton and see if you can understand what I am talking about. I'm not joking or being sarcastic at all. Discover for yourself why Dick Stockton is my least favorite announcer of any sport.

Dick Stockton Is Senile, Part 987

In the not-so breaking news department, Dick Stockton once again is showing his senile. This time, listen, as Grandpa Dick is not quite sure of what the final pitch of the game is.



"Ball Four! Strike Three!" - Dick Stockton

Too funny! There are plenty of reasons why I hate Stockton. For starters, he can't keep up with the game, despite being from the area, he always comes across as so anti-Philadelphia that it puts Fox's hard-on for Man-Ram to shame, and I'm pretty sure that as evidenced by this clip, the man is certifiably senile. Then again, the senile Stockton is great for blogs and the comedy that I can get out of him is truly priceless. Once we get the NFL season and we are (hopefully) doing live blogs every Sunday, on days that the Eagles have Stockton announcing, I'll try to point out for you the anti-Philly bias.

Dick Stockton tries to top Charlie Steiner in blown ninth inning calls (Awful Announcing)