Now confirmed, Chris Berman leaving ESPN's NFL gigs after 2016...

The anus?!!! Are you from Dallas?

 

They've been losing viewers pretty steady for a couple of years; still, I'm pretty sure that they beat everyone else by a large margin. The only thing that I can take anymore is PTI, and half the time I can barely stand those guys. When the show first started, they seemed to be more like Joe Blow; anymore, Wilbon can't stop talking about who he knows, and who he's friends with. Get outta here.

 

ESPN reality-check time. Get back to basics. Dump the silly stuff. Every one of their Sportcenter guys has to have their own shtick. Their NBA Playoffs are brutal. The MLB crap with Tim Kirkjian. Steven A., Kornheiser, Kenny Mayne, etc. Probably all started with Berman. Why not end it with his removal?

 

You'll know it's over once Suzy Kolber leaves.

 

.....To Marry Joe Namath no doubt

 

Really? Never heard that one before. Musburger is a legend, Berman is not.

 

Mike "your in good hands with " Alstott
Hardy "har har" Nickerson
Karl "the truth" Williams
Curtis "my favorite" Martin
"Hey hey you you get offa " Mike Cloud
Andre "bad moon" Risen
Mike "after dinner " Minter

 

Oh, Lord. I once heard Berman and Rick Sutcliffe doing a game on ESPN radio. I still haven't recovered. They had to be the worst baseball announcing crew in history. Imagine listening to those two blowhards calling each other "Boomer" and "Sut" for three hours or so. Worse then Stirling and Waldman, and that's hard to do.

 

The ones that I couldn't stand were:

"Well-dressed" Amani Toomer
"Daylight come and you gotta" Delhomme

 

Bert "Be Home" Blyleven
Dave "Parallel" Parker

 

2 that made me laugh the first time I heard them. I'm sure there were others that I don't recall.

Kevin "smallmouth" Bass
Eric "sleeping with" Bieniemy

 

ESPN is an infomercial for their live broadcasts and has turned into a joke. Horrible sports network. Berman was great back when the network was great. This sad network will do an hour sportscenter and talk about 90% basketball leading up to an hour basketball pregame show. The way they diss hockey coverage because they don't own any rights to it is a disgrace. Nearly as bad as the direction MTV has gone.

 

This was one of his greatest hits. Probably in my top 10.

But my all time favorite was:
Oddibe "Young Again" McDowell

I can understand the hate for Berman as far as play by play and home run derby are concerned. And like other onetime ESPN guys such as Olbermann and Tirico, he's no saint off camera (if you need proof, go to YouTube and watch the videos where he rants at the crew, hits on a production staffer, and my personal fave, discusses how he smuggles pills in from Canada).

But I don't get the hate for the nicknames. They were harmless and fun. Berman like Costas was part of the baby boomer generation that brought some humor to sportscasting, previously dominated by Pat Summerall types. I think he deserves some props.

 

I'm totally there.

Yes, his shtick got old a long time ago, but he has a shtick. His voice and style are distinctive. People will be imitating him for years to come.

Now, I don't put him in the same pedigree as Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Stuart Scott, or Dan Patrick, but he still has his place in the history of sportscasting.

As for the off-camera stuff, yeah, I don't want to meet the man.

 

You're the first person that I've witness say anything nice about Musburger in ten years. Most of the time, I see guys go, "Ugh, make it stop" as soon as the hear his voice calling a college game as they mute the TV.

There is a local radio host here who has regularly played clips of Musburger's calls just to mock them.

 

Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick are not in the same league as Bob Costas and Al Michaels. Not even close, sorry.

 

I agree with the first statement, but not the second. They are close, IMO.

 

Finally, no more "WHOOP!"

Is he still doing the Home Run Derbys?
"Back back back back back back."

 

You must just like them or their style because it sure isn't based on longevity in the business.

 

Stuart Scott was not only not in the Michaels-Costas league, but he is the reason I stopped watching Sportscenter. One of the most annoying sportscasters ever.

 

He was never one of my favorites for sure and to put him in the same league with two of the all time greats is comical.

 

Well, Scott's style was unique, so it's hard to compare him with anyone. I don't understand the dislike for him, either. He made watching sports highlights fun again. Where Berman is corny, Scott was genuine. I'd stop and watch ESPN when Scott was on.

Patrick has been a national sports broadcaster for 27 years, so I don't know how you can say his status isn't based on longevity. He doesn't have the tenure of Michaels or Costas, but who does? To be fair, without Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick is Costas-lite. Even he knows that. Unfortunately, Olbermann has become such a controversial figure that even his own status as a great broadcaster and sports historian is muted by many people's violent hatred of the man. So, whatever chemistry Patrick and Olbermann had is left to be relegated to the past. That leaves Patrick to be unfavorably compared to Costas every Sunday night in the fall.

 

NFL Prime Time with Berman and Tom Jackson at the desk was hands-down the best highlights show ever. Nothing since has come close.

Now I'm going to stand on my porch and shake my fist and yell at some clouds...

 

Right. When it started way back in the day, all you had was MNF halftime highlights and Inside The NFL on HBO. Prime Time same day extended highlights of every game could be considered revolutionary at the time. I do think Berman and his shtick got somewhat old after the many years he was on but I don't hold that against him...

 

Sorry but Stuart Scott was absolutely horrible as a sportscaster. His use of slang street talk just made me want to gag. That said nobody is as awful as Stephen A. Smith. That guy is a JOKE.