They would be wrong. It was a bad game for 3.8 quarters, and the only thing "good" about it was the Niners final drive. For 57 minutes, neither offense could move the ball, and all the scoring came as the result of turnovers. Then with three minutes to go, Arizona decided to go into a soft zone defense to stay away from a big play, and Alex Smith started moving the 49ers down the field with a series of small plays.
It was the late game of ESPN's Monday Night Football doubleheader, so it didn't start until 7:30pm, and was announced by the ESPN morning radio team of Mike and Mike with extra analysis by Mike Ditka (the three Mikes). They were really bad, so after about one quarter, I decided to turn down the TV and turn up the (few seconds out of sync) 49er radio broadcast on 107.7 FM, which helped save my sanity.
If only just. Joe Starkey has been announcing games for both of football teams I follow (the SF 49ers and Cal Golden Bears) for as long as I can remember. Joe's announcing style can be summed up in four words "look at that play". As in "Leinert drops back, throws across the middle, and LOOK AT THAT PLAY BY WALT HARRIS!". At some point in every broadcast, Joe Starkey will tell the listeners to "look at that play", while announcing a football game on the radio (pause for ironic effect). Uh, Joe, we can't look at the play..it's radio!
Also while calling a game, Joe Starkey doesn't concern himself with football mundanities like down, distance, time, or score, so it normally takes awhile to find out what's going on in the came. The only way to listen to Joe call a game is while you're either watching on TV or at the stadium and really can look at that play when he tells you to. One of his favorite interjections (after "look at that play!") is "What a Bonanza!", which he uses whenever the Niners or Bears make a great play. He dropped one "WAB" during the final 49ers drive last night, and probably after DeSean Jackson's punt return against Tennessee, but he doesn't do it as often as he used to.
Joe Starkey's signature moment as announcer will always be his call of The Play from the 1982 Cal-Stanford game ("The band is on the field!"), which has inspired the names of two Cal football blogs (The Band is On The Field and Excuse Me For My Voice). He's really not a very good announcer, but it would be strange to have anyone else announcing a football game.
4 comments:
I love Starkey! Especially with Cal, where his "just another guy in the stands" personality really shines. He's funny and conversational--a lot of emotional energy and a lot of great give-and-take with his fellow broadcasters. He's one of my favorites, so I disagree that he's not very good--he captures what _really_ counts and always entertains. But, then again, you're the guy who said Dusty Baker wasn't very good either.... :)
That stuff about Starkey is hilarious. I was "LOL" (as the kids say!) in my office.
I know how you feel, we've had Ralph Kiner announce Mets games since Day One in 1962, although his health is declining and his TV appearances are very few and far between these days. I think he had a stroke or something and he gets very confused sometimes.
I know I've told this story before, but my favorite Kiner moment was a couple of years ago, when he forgot his own name.
Towards the end of a game he started speaking at length about his friend Ralph Branca, and what it was like for him to have given up the famous Bobby Thomson home run. It was one of those meandering, Rizzuto-esque soliliquies, punctuated occasionally by brief updates on the game from the play-by-play announcer.
Suddenly, the game ended, Raplh seemed jolted from his reverie, and he signed off "Well, that's all from me, Ralph Branca!"
B: I like Starkey, but he tends to announce a game like he's a fan in the stands talking to his buddy rather than the eyes of a radio audience. He's not very good in the area of telling listeners what's going on in the game ("where's the ball", "what's the score") but he's a local legend, so he'll probably be around forever and ever..
OK but my favorite home-town sports announcer ever was the Boston Celtics' Johnny Most.
It's beyond "Havlicek stole the ball!"
After he successfully argued a foul, Most nicknamed L.A. Laker Magic Johnson "Cry Baby."
It became part of his natural lexicon: "Cry with the no-look pass!"
When he felt an opposing player was hot-dogging: "There goes Mr. Mustard and Relish!"
And when Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas tried to evade a foul call with the innocent look: "Oh, no! Not the Great Isiah!" And "Little Lord Fontleroy takes his free-throws."
And of course "Parish CLOCKS Laimbeer! And Ainge is called for the foul!!"
I really miss those days.
Post a Comment