Portland Trail Blazers: Home to the Worst Televsion Commentator

Steven Resnick by Senior Writer Written on November 21, 2008
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The Portland Trail Blazers are home to an up-and-coming team, with Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Ferndanez, and Greg Oden leading their resurgence. So, it begs the question on why they continue to employ the worst television commentator in the NBA?

I believe that most Blazers fans who watch games turn the volume down or turn the radio on instead just so they can listen to Brian Wheeler and Antonio Harvey. Another option is going to the Rose Garden so they don't have to listen to Mike Rice. Of course that only works if the Blazers are in Portland. Lastly you know it's bad when your hometown hero Bill Walton admits that the only way he can watch a Blazers game on television is to watch it without sound.

Walton has a blog and one of his topics is regarding Mike Rice and how Walton despises the "homer" announcers. As in a previous article I've written titled "Bill Walton Finally Making Sense, Scary Right?" You know your hometown announcer is horrible if Bill Walton starts making sense. Especially when it's about a certain topic like awful announcing from the team he took the championship.

Living in Portland and having to listen to Rice commentating is like listening to nails being dragged down the chalkboard. He shows how truly biased he is especially when there's a bad call that goes gainst the Blazers.

Rice says things that are just head scratchers. Such as when the Blazers were playing the Golden State Warriors. The subject of the feel good story of the year so far in Anthony Morrow who was coming off the 37 point 11 rebound performance against the Clippers. Rice flat out called the game a fluke.

How refreshing was it for Morrow to make Rice eat his words? If Morrow had made the Blazers squad, started playing well like he has for the Warriors, Rice would be comparing him to the best 3 point shooters the league has ever seen. Morrow eventually made the 3 clutch free throws to seal the victory for the Warriors and scored 25 points on another great shooting performance.

Here's a thought Mr. Rice we know you're opinionated sometimes you may just bite your tongue when you don't have anything positive to say. Morrow's story about having to catch rides to games or taking public transportation is a great story itself, but of course Rice is the only announcer that would try to make it seems like it's not a big deal.

When the Blazers were playing the Timberwolves in Minnesota, Greg Oden caught the ball in the post. As Oden was making his move Oden was ruled to have stepped out of bounds. The replays showed otherwise and Rice of course couldn't let it go.

Mike Rice instead of just saying it was a mistake by the official he begins to whine like a preschooler. When making a comparison to Rice one can only say that he sounds like that child in a mall or toy store that's not getting their way. 

The same exact thing happens with Rice. In his case he's going to be quoted along the lines as this "oh no, that's a bad call, what are you doing ref?" Then his excitement from the bad call will wane but he will then say something along the lines of this "I hope when he gets graded by the league he gets marked down for that one because he clearly missed that call."

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Vote Now! - Author Poll

Is Mike Rice The Worst Commentator In The NBA

  • Yes, Bill Walton is right Rice is only good for a laugh
  • No
  • Someone Else
vote to see results
Results - Author Poll

Is Mike Rice The Worst Commentator In The NBA

  • Yes, Bill Walton is right Rice is only good for a laugh

    37.1%
  • No

    53.1%
  • Someone Else

    9.8%
  • Total votes: 143
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written on November 21, 2008 Opinion

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