Monday Night Football commentator Tony Kornheiser announced he’s hanging it up as a member of their broadcast team. To take his place, former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon “Chucky” Gruden will throw on a headset to join play-by-play guy Mike Tirico and color commentator and former NFL quarterback Ron “Jaws” Jaworski in the booth.
There’s been a lot of talk on sports talk radio about the announcement. In fact on Chris Myers’ FSR show today there was a good conversation going about the best in the business when it came to a TV broadcast. I’m old enough to remember the Golden Age of Monday Night Football, when tuning in to Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and “Dandy Don” Meredith was appointment television. When it comes to football, my opinion is the pairing of Al Michaels and John Madden was simply the best. You had a polished play-by-play guy to direct traffic and keep a flowing going, and an energetic, knowledgeable color commentator who lent insight and gave the broadcast a little personality.
So in light of that discussion, I’m curious. Who do you think is the best color commentator when it comes to NASCAR TV coverage? While he takes a real beating in some circles, it has been my experience that Darrell Waltrip has as many fans as he does critics. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say he’s one of those polarizing figures like Cris Collinsworth or even Cosell from day gone by that you either really love or really loathe. In my opinion, some of the disdain that fans had for D.W. as a driver has carried over to the broadcast booth. They hated his antics then, and they hate him now. I know yet others feel like there’s a bias in favor of Kyle Busch or his brother Michael. Others appreciate his passion, his enthusiasm and his insight as a winner of 84 races and 3 Cup championships.
I know you have opinions, and I’ll be interested to hear them.
As for Larry Mc Reynolds, I don’t read as much from fans about him. Like ESPN, FOX
has elected to pair a former crew chief with a former driver with the idea being you get a couple different perspectives on what’s going on in the race. I do hear complaints from time to time about Larry Mac’s handling of the English language, but other than that I don’t know that Larry Mc Reynolds elicits the same response.
Maybe you’re more of a Wally Dallenbach fan from TNT. For me, I just don’t get to hear enough of the guy to have a real opinion one way or the other. It seems to me the chemistry with his partners is clumsy, but I’m not sure how much of that is Dallenbach, and how much of its the guys he works with.
Speaking of the guys he works with, one of them is Kyle Petty. Like Dale Jarrett on ESPN, it is evident that Petty is still pretty raw. Personally, I think he has this tendency to overwork some of his phrases- I’ll scream the next I hear him say “My God” or “Oh man.” The English language is quite expansive and he can reach for greater creativity than that. On the other hand, I hear insights I haven’t heard from other analysts and he’s very capable of being quite articulate. I look forward to see how Petty progresses this year.
Speaking of works in progress, there’s Dale Jarrett from ESPN. I know I heard more than a few fans express their pleasure at the move of Rusty Wallace to the studio. I appreciate Jarrett’s workmanlike effort in the booth, and he’s done a good job of keeping any bias he may have out of it. I don’t know that I’ve necessarily heard any earthshaking revelations from him, but at the same time, I really appreciate the perspective of someone who’s had recent experience out on the track, especially with all the changes that have come down in the last few years. He may be a lump of coal, but he just might make a diamond someday.
Then there’s Andy Petree, who’s lived the experience of driving, heading up a crew for none other than Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant (among others) and has also borne the burden of ownership. I’ll admit he irritates me, because I believe I can spot a bias in favor of some of his old cronies. But you know what? I don’t mind hearing from someone I don’t agree with. they make me think, and if I’m not careful, I may learn something. Overall- I think he does a fairly solid job and he’s yet another broadcaster I don’t hear a lot about one way or another.
As a radio broadcaster, and one who does play-by-play, I’m interested in your opinion. Who do you like? Why? Who don’t you like? And again, why? Do you think it has to do with their quality as a broadcaster, or do you think your opinion is driven more by personal taste ?- which, mind you, isn’t a bad thing.
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Friday night at 9 pm Eastern, I will be making a “Fearless Forecast” for the Coca- Cola 600. The first 10 to comment with their own predictions on the Coca-Cola 600 will win a promo code that enables you to get this fun and functional application absolutely free!
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By way of disclosure, we here at Bump Drafts aren’t getting a dime for this, the folks at 220 Software have given it to us to give to you. I think you’ll have a lot of fun with it.
PHOTO CREDITS- D.W. by sidehike. Kyle Petty by Walter G. Arce. Andy Petree by Bristol Motor Speedway. Visit flickr.com to see more or click on the hyperlink.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the original ESPN combination of Bob Jenkins and Larry Nuber was a tough combination to beat. The chemistry was there. They both had clear speaking voices and a knowledge of automobile racing on many levels. They were the auto racing team for the network and would call a Winston Cup race, CART Series race, and a USAC midget race all in consecutive weekends.
Ken Squire brought enthusiasm and excitement to the microphone. He is credited with selling the flag to flag race coverage and coining the “Great American Race” label to the Daytona 500.
Currently Mike Joy is the best booth play by play guy in the booth. He has the right tone, speaking talent, and experience. The man has been broadcasting auto racing for as long as I can remember.
As a pit reporter Mike Massaro is excellent. I like him for the same reasons: racing knowledge and a clear speaking voice.
There are some broadcasters that know racing but do not communicate well from behind a mike. It is not an easy skill. One has to know motorsports and project smoothly through a microphone. The ones that can do both well stand out among the crowd.
dad gum it! i’m sick of darrell waldrip!!!!!!!
Overall, my favorite NASCAR broadcast team would be on FOX. I really like DW except for his obvious bias toward a few select drivers, like Dale Jr. and Joey Logano. And it may be all for the camera, but I like the way DW and Larry Mac “pick” on each other.
And when you speak of Kyle Petty not being so articulate, have you not listened to Mikey Waltrip call a truck race? Besides usually better racing in the truck series than the Cup series, that is one reason I like watching truck races. Sometimes Mikey gets so excited his voice will squeak.
Far as pit reporters, I like Hermie Sadler and Wendy Ventorini (?). In general, I think most of broadcasters do a good job. But the one I wish would just stay back home in the shop is Rusty Wallace. I get tired of no matter what happens on the track, Rusty says “Back in ‘95 the same thing happened to me when I tried to pass blah…blah”.
I have to go with Wally he is a breath of fresh air if you ask me. Give me Wally, DW, and Larry Mac…….. You could also throw in some female talent and have Jamie Little from Nascar on Espn. I think that would be interesting……
Buddy Baker and Ned Jarrett, with Benny Parsons or Neil Bonnett were the best.
Kenny Wallace does a great job, but that’s not what he wants to do.
Kyle Petty does a pretty good job too.
I loved the post. I cannot help but have D>W> as a favorite. THe guys at FOX are all well spoken and fun. THey have the experience and the ways to make announcing, while sometimes irritating, also easy to follow. I do not care for the other channels when the race switches, too many times for me personally. I do not feel a connection with the announcers, and may I say their idea of broadcasting is less that spectacular bordering on boring. I tend to mute them and just watch. Give me D>W> and the guys at FOX. I also love DJ as well. Kyle and Rusty I could do without.
AS fr the 10 I see coming for the coca cola 600: Kenseth. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon,Stewart, Newman,Kurt Busch, for sure and the possibles Biffle,Edwards,and Sliced Bread. Perhaps a repeaty of the All Star , only longer…
“Jaws” may be the ‘official’ nickname for former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski, but back in the day we called him, “Fish Face”.
To us, it was: Ron “Fish Face” Jaworski, the ugliest man in football. “Please keep that helmet on, boy!”
“Jaws” also seems to be a nick for D.W. It does seem to fit, but I don’t use it. I like D.W. a lot. I consider him the racing voice for my generation, and I hope the future, too. I do think he often gets too emotional. If I had his ear one time, I’d say, “Darrell, you’re either too “Nashville” or too “NashVegas”, but either is Ok by me.”
Larry McReynolds is perfect just the way he is.
Wally Dallenbach is good, although it has been an awfully long time since we’ve heard any references to his wife’s underwear. I miss that, don’t you?
Chris Myers is awesome.
For radio I like… um…. um… Bum? Bum Phillips? He did NASCAR, right?
Second Favorite of All Time: Ned Jarrett.
All Time Favorite: Benny Parsons.
Honorable Mentions: Allen Bestwick, Dr. Jerry Punch.
Yes, Wally is great, funny, and fresh air. Kyle is fun, tells it like it is, has an amazing back ground in the sport from driver to ownership. Andy does a good job and Larry Mac has lots of talent and keeps things focused. Rusty, just can’t stand him–too much about him all the time. Hermie has become quite good and I enjoy him. I can even understand him now. Would like to see Jimmy Spencer do something else on race day, anything else. How about putting Wally with Kenny Wallace and John Roberts. That might be fun.
Probably the best would have to be Ned Jarrett, Buddy Baker, and Eli Gold. Unfortunately this group never got to work together.
Today’s commentators, well, the best has to be Rick Allen and Phil Parsons. The only addition to these two that really works is having Ken Schrader or Kevin Harvick sit in as guest commentators. Michael Waltrip detracts from any TV show or commentary he’s invovled in because he keeps giving his sponsors and manufacturer a lot of unpaid for advertising.
The worst has to be a tie between Fox and TNT. Their race coverage is little more than a 3-4 hour informercial. ESPN is better but only by a hair. While they don’t cheerlead and show a personal agenda the way Fox does, they lack some pizazz and some of the commentary tends to be totally off the mark as far as accuracy.
The best coverage and commentary for racing, period, seems to be the folks at Versus. They show all the cars, they don’t plug certain drivers and sponsors all race long, and there’s no hidden agenda from the commentators or the sanctioning body being presented. Granted, it’s not NA$CAR, but if Fox, TNT, and ESPN would follow their lead, they’d be presenting a much better race than what we’re being served up, racer-tainment.
The problem is not who we have now, but rather what they are required to do by directors and producers who know little to nothing about racing. As one writer said, what the directors and producers need to do is spend four or five races sitting in the stands watching the racing so they they are able to understand just what the TV cameras have to cover. They need to pay attention to what the fans around them are seeing and what makes those fans excited. Until that happens, we will continue to be subjected to the FOX approach to racing-total moronic yammerings by DW and his gopher pal. geez
As far as choosing commentators, I’ve always been partial to Bob Jenkins, Eli Gold, Allen Bestwick, and Mike Joy. They bring a measure of legitimacy to the announcing instead of gooberness.
When it comes to calling a race I think the best were Ned Jarrett and Eli Gold. They didn’t work together but I would really have enjoyed it if they had. They had the right amount of excitement when warrented but did not scream the whole race. Ned was very good at being unbiased except when Dale was winning a couple of Daytona 500s and that was to be expected. Of the people calling the races today, I like Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett. They may not be the most seasoned announcers but I enjoy what they bring to the table. I know I seem to be in the minority but I like Jerry Punch. I always have. I also like Bob Jenkins. I can no longer tolerate the Nascar on Toyota Tv, I mean Fox anymore. DW is so biased to Kyle Busch, Mickey and Toyota it makes me sick. I am not holding over bad feelings for DW as a driver because I actually liked him as a driver.
Anyone remember Bill Weber? Seems that he has fallen of the face of Nascar since NBC lost the coverage. Too bad. In my opinion the best and only original from the very first broadcast hands down is Ken Squire….there is no equal.
Favorite race callers: Bob Jenkins and Eli Gold
Favorites color commentator: Benny Parsons (MHRIP), Ned Jarrett
Best Technical commentator: Andy Petree
Best Pit reporter: Jamie Little, Steve Byrnes
Worst race callers: Bill Weber
Worst color: Darrell Waltrip Rusty Wallace Kyle Petty
Worst Pit reporter Mike Masarro
Hands down, the best booth line-up in history (for me) is a tie between Squier, Bonnett, Jarrett of CBS and Jenkins, BP, Ned of ESPN. Both those teams were just fascinating to listen to.
Today’s best booth team (again, in my eyes) is the ESPN combo. I don’t know how anyone could ever find fault with DJ’s commentary. He’s gonna be a booth legend alongside his father, no doubt about it. And I love how Petree, Punch and DJ all went to school together and started a race team together. It gives the broadcast that ‘comfortable’ feel, which I think is key to good commentary flow.
If I could hand pick a booth team from all the networks now, I’d have Dr. Punch (maybe not so much for articulation as nostalgia and knowledge), Kyle Petty, and Phil Parsons.
Kyle Petty’s just that right kind of raw. Like he was just pulled out of his race car and stuck in the booth. When he says ‘my god’ when something crazy happens, I LIKE it. We watch NASCAR, for pete’s sake, we don’t NEED expansive vocabularies and $100 words. Just honest, realistic reactions and thoughts.
I think Phil Parsons does an EXCELLENT job in the booth for the truck races. I think he has the same gift as Benny did. He’s another booth guy who isn’t afraid to be excitable, too.
Best old school pit reporters: Dick Berggren, John Kernan, Dr. Punch, and Jack Arute.
Best current pit reporters: Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes, and Mike Massaro.
I like Wally Dallenbach, especially when he was with Allen Bestwick. He picked on Bestwick constantly, but it was entertaining. He is great with the right partners chemistry wise. Mike Joy is good. DW is very enthusiastic and funny sometimes, but is TOO BIASED – Mikey, Dale Jr, Kyle Busch and TOYOTA. Really sick of hearing about Toyota. And PLEASE get rid of DIGGER! Larry Mac is ok, but he sounds more like a mouthpiece for NASCAR these days. And I also like Kyle Petty. Can’t stand ‘it’s all about me – Rusty’. Best pit reporters in my opinion are Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes and Wendy Venturini.
I like Andy Petree, Larry Mc and Dale Jarrett. DW’s bias is too much.
Out of those currently on air,Mike Joy is by far the best.Wally Dallenbach
is excellent in his analyst role(too bad he has to work with Bill Weber).
Allan Bestwick deserves to be in the booth over Jerry Punch.
For pit reporters,no one can touch Dick Berggren,he has been around
forever and his passion for the sport is infectious.
Back in the day when I became a fan,Ken Squier was the man,followed
closely by Bob Jenkins and Ned Jarrett
In all honest, FOX has lost all respect with the digger antics. DW is far from the top of the ladder. I would say the Wally and DJ are about the best today. If Nascar wants to regain the ratings, they need to cancel the production slot that FOX has and re assign to ESPN or even give it to SPEED.
I think one of the signs of a great announcer is to entertain so well that you actually fail to notice who you are listening to and be come totally involved in what you are watching – and nobody does that better than Mike Joy. Also i was thrilled to hear Dr jerry Punch was returnning to the booth last year or so when he returned. Kyle Petty has that direct your gonna get the whol;e story answer that is always refreshing . The creamn does come the the top – except for stupid sounding sour cream Chris Myers.
Either Waltrip is like fingernails on a blackboard to me , Mikey is a no talent shill, who annoys me so much I mute anytime he jumps in front of a camera. It’s a crying shame that the price of watching the trucks, is having to listen to him. It’s a measure of my enjoyment of this series that I pay it.
DW has been bought, & paid for by Toyota. I’ll bet he starts each day, by singing the company song. It is positively nauseating to me to have to listen to him worshiping at the shrine of Mikey, & Shrub. Who both drive, you guessed it TOYOTAS. Thanks to MRN I don’t have to as often.
Rusty is about as good as a broadcaster, as he was a team mate. When DJ bumped him, I became a huge DJ fan.
But then I really haven’t really answered your question, have I?
I think when he can drag his self out of a car. Kenny Schrader has the potential to be the best.
TNT’s current lineup has no business being in the broadcast booth with the exception of Kyle Petty. He is well grounded and fun to listen to. Wally “Still-in-bach” is an arrogant, pompous ass who thinks he’s god’s gift to auto racing. Now that Benny is gone, it is all for not with TNT.
Patrick brought up a good blast from the past with ESPN’s original crew. That seemed to usher in NASCAR’s current golden age. However, to say that DW of Fox has bias for Dale Jr. is ludicrous. Perhaps that individual hasn’t listened to his commentary of said Jr. as of late…very critical indeed. ESPN has gone by the wayside, as all you ever hear Rusty Wallace do is talk about himself, with his favorite line of “no doubt about it”being said after every comment.
I would have to go with Fox on this one. DW is a little over-zelous at times, and Larry let’s us know that the “caution will be out” when Mr. Obvious wouldn’t have even let us know, but I believe they have the most well-rounded assembled crew. They are truly guys who have been there and done that in terms of racing achievments whether it be behind the wheel, or behind the wall.
Maybe I am a guy that is easy to please.. but I don’t mind Darrel at all or any of the guys in the broadcast booth.
Actually… come to think of it.. the only person in the broadcast booth that rubs me the wrong way is Bill Weber.
Oh I agree, Bill Weber is a penis with ears!
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