Friday, July 24, 2009

That was a horrible call to end the perfect game


If you've read TBP before you're probably aware of how much we hate terrible sports announcers, specifically ones on FOX like a guy whose last name starts with B and ends with Uck and it's Joe Buck. So you can imagine how appalled we were to hear the way clowns on Comcast Sports Net called the end of Mark Buehrle's perfect game yesterday.
"Alexeiiiii, YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! HISTORY!"
Let me remind you, Ken Harrelson, that you are an announcer and not a fan. Maybe you should do your job and actually describe what is happening. Clearly this is a big deal, only the 18th perfect game in history, so it's fine to be celebratory and excited, but that was just way over the top. Contrast that with the excited yet reserved call of Duane Kuiper when Jonathan Sanchez threw his recent no hitter.
"Strike three called! Jonathan Sanchez has thrown a no hitter here at AT&T park!"
Yes. We're homers for the Giants and we think their announcers are some of the best in the business. But this isn't about giving a tug-job to our favorite announcers, it's pointing out the difference between an announcer that can be a fan of his team and still do his job well, and a moron who just screams and yells and forgets all about his responsibilities. Great for Buehrle, bad for Harrelson. No surprise, if you read the article about Harrelson, it talks about how he's known as a big homer. And I still wish Kuiper had said "here in San Francisco" instead of "here at AT&T park."

4 comments:

Bokolis said...

I don't think you're going to get Hawk to change. He is the most shameless homer there is...Phil Rizzuto would seem like Jack Buck in comparison.

At some point, he was actually the GM of the team...he fired Tony LaRussa and did a bunch of other stupid shit that set the team back years.

Anonymous said...

Harrelson and Paicorek (however that idiot spells his name) are two of the ABSOLUTE WORST announcers in all of professional sports.

Chicago may be a wonderful town but the fact that these two retards have been on the air for so long gives the Windy City more demerits than anyone can overcome.

I worked with a Chicago native years ago, and asked why those two were allowed on the air. The reponse was "Chicago people love them".

If that's true, Chicago people love lobotomies also.

Congrats to Buehrle, from all accounts a great guy and a very good pitcher who deserves all the accolades. And I hope Dewayne Wise gets laid for a year for that catch!

Unknown said...

Tug job? Did you watch The Daily Show recently?

verbal space said...

Full Disclosure: I live in Chicago and am a Cubs fan, not a Bud man.

1. Paciorek hasn't been on the air for Sox games in years, like 10 years.

2. I consider myself a smart baseball man and have no animus towards the Sox. I am completely ambivalent, save for 6 games a year. Why hate a team that really has such a minimal impact on your season? The Cardinals, on the other hand, can go fuck themselves in the Pujols.

3. I do, however, have a shitload of distaste and disgust for "Hawk" Harrelson, who gets his nickname by moving his head back and forth like a hawk. Looks more like he's giving a blow job to me, but I digress. I've heard lots of bad play-by-play people but Harrelson is by far the worst. He's an asshat, and Zach has it exactly right.