Fantistic Phonemes: Ranking the 2010-11 Slate of Announcing Teams...

Alright, let’s face it...the most overlooked aspect of football on Sundays is the one that is arguably the second most prominent to the actual game itself; the men who deliver the play-by-play over these games.

Although I feel that local radio personalities easily trump their television counterparts, the reality is that announcers on the radio are an unfortunate dying medium. Therefore I have decided to take a page from the book of long time Sports Illustrated columnist “Dr. Z” and undertake an introspective look at the present groupings for the 2010-2011 NFL Season.

As of this point, there are 18 duos or trios that are announced for the 2010-2011 season as the NFL Network has yet to announce its Saturday Night Football lineup nor has NBC announced its second lineup for Wild card weekend. This will be my personal reflections based on observations from the previous seasons as well as the first six weeks of the current season.

Please keep in mind that this is all heavily opinionated through the eyes of one man and as a result you could very well disagree heavily with these rankings.

With that said let’s move on to the list…

1.) Jim Nantz/Phil Simms (CBS No. 1 Team)

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have been working together on Sundays for six straight seasons. It is the cohesion and competence garnered during this span that has led them to become the No. 1 announcing team for CBS and deservedly so. Moreover, they are the No. 1 announcing team regardless of network.

Phil Simms seems to have an understanding of what is going on that other announcers simply do not. He understands what is happening in the passing game. He understands why the ground game is working or failing. He understands what is occurring in the trenches. But most importantly is that Simms understands and relays all of these things back to the viewer verbally and highlights them with the telestrator at a mastery level.

Jim Nantz admittedly is not the biggest football hound to be found in the announcer booth. After all he is a multi-faceted guy who CBS employs to cover a multitude of sports. Therefore his knowledge of sports is dispersed. However, what Nantz lacks in thorough understanding of football, he makes up for with professionalism and dialect.

Nantz’s natural ability to start a dialogue with Simms gives their games something that a lot of pairings fail at; relevant and fact-filled dialogue about the game and the players in it that manages to be entertaining as well.

The only shortcoming for Nantz and Simms is a lack of emotion when sometimes such a thing should be warranted. However, I can see that they do this in order to avoid a perception of bias.

2.) Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf (CBS No. x 2 Team)

People had an issue with Greg’s brother Bryant and his stint as a play-by-play announcer for the NFL Network in 2007, but in my opinion, the last name “Gumbel” is synonymous with good play-by-play in my book. The fact that Greg is paired with a guy—in Dan Dierdorf—who has a thorough knowledge of the game that translates it through his commentary is what makes this duo so good.

If you did not already know, Dierdorf was a pretty good offensive lineman. Dierdorf’s understanding of the offense from his years in the trenches translates through his play-by-play.

Although it is just a guess on my part I would argue that no other commentator utilizes instant replay as often and with as much effectiveness as Dierdorf. He often has the crew cue up the previous play and explains why it was successful while using the telestrator. Needless to say, a lot of the time this involves something that occurs in the trenches.

Working alongside Dierdorf for the fourth straight season is Gumbel who had flip-flopped with Jim Nantz earlier in the previous decade between the No. 1 team spot and CBS studio host. Perhaps they continually flip-flopped because they are very similar in the way they approach announcing.

Just like Nantz, Gumbel has been utilized to call more than football games and as a result has dispersed sports knowledge. As a result of this, Gumbel is not exactly the most knowledgeable football announcer around. What Gumbel lacks in football knowledge, he more than provides in dialoging back and forth with his partner. In the end, however, I should not penalize Gumbel for this though as he is the play-by-play man and not the analyst.

When Gumbel is talking during the game, you had best believe that the conversation is relevant. Gumbel does not give you the drivel like other’s do about a player’s personal life unless it is relevant to why they are missing the game or something like that.

An argument can most certainly be made for this team that they deserve the No. 1 spot.

3.) Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa (FOX No. 2 Team)

I have somewhat wondered why this team isn’t FOX’s No. 1 team for football. After a few weeks, I realized that the truth is that they are the network’s No. 1 team.

FOX may trot out Troy Aikman and Joe Buck for their “premier” game but after further examination you come to find a caveat. This so-called “premier” game usually includes the Dallas Cowboys; even if they are a below .500 team. Aikman and Buck are the No. 1 team not for their skill but because of their draw.

FOX’s most talented team is clearly this trio here who usually draws the best NFC matchup that doesn’t involve the Cowboys for that week.

What truly makes this team so good is their combination of knowledge, delivery and comedy.

Daryl “Moose” Johnston clearly provides the knowledge aspect for this team.

If you ask anybody from the 1990s Cowboys roster, they will tell you that “Moose” was one of the most intelligent and genuine members in the locker room. You can hear this come through in every game that he calls.

I know that it may seem like I have said this quite a few times already, but “Moose” is easily one of the most knowledgeable guys out there. He absolutely loves to break down what just occurred for the fans and often finds himself explaining why it occurred.

In the booth with “Moose” is Kenny Albert who happens to share his last name with one of the best play-by-play announcers for any sport ever—Marv Albert.

Unlike another broadcaster who shall appear on this list Albert does not utilize his father’s name sake to cover up for a lack of skill. He carries on his father’s traditions, passion and delivery when he calls games albeit he does it with a more NFL appropriate tone.

Rounding out this team is the only sideline reporter worth mentioning on a list such as this—Tony Siragusa.

Some people dislike this unit because they feel that “Goose” adds nothing or even detracts from the football viewing experience. I have to respectfully disagree.

Goose provides comedy from the sidelines and then is able to provide a former players point of view as well. It is what separates him from all the other sideline reporters who only show up after halftime or to shed light on an injury.

This is FOX’s true No. 1 announcing team.

4.) Sam Rosen/Tim Ryan (FOX No. 5 Team)

Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan are vastly underrated by the casual football fan that is treated to them on Sundays. Unfortunately for us fans, we rarely get to hear them because they are only FOX’s No. 5 team, despite the fact that they are much better than that.

Thus far in the 2010-2011 season this talented duo has called the games between the 49ers and Seahawks, the Eagles and Lions, the 49ers and Chiefs, the Cardinals and Chargers, the Bears and Panthers and the Saints and Buccaneers. Only one of those games involved two competent teams.

I don’t know about you, but that does not seem like a fair slate of games for the announcing duo that retired at the top of the rankings for two straight years before Dr. Z ceased making this list.

What makes this group so good is perhaps the fact that they know they are the No. 5 team on FOX and they run with that. They realize that they’re not getting the game of the week, and that they have limited material; so they study up on it.

Most other announcers are quick to provide hype for household names in game. Even worse, they ignore when these players have shortcomings making them seem perfect. Ryan and Rosen do not do that. They will let you know when a former All-Pro hasn’t been playing well, not only in that day’s game but over the season as well.

They will also shed some light on lesser known special teams and personnel grouping players. Just because the average fan has no idea who a special team’s stud is, does not mean that their impact on the game is minimal. It was Ryan who taught me that when showing me the significance of Eagles “Wedge Buster” Jason Short while his brethren were ignoring Short’s magnificent work in his very short career.

Rosen doesn’t stand out as much as Ryan, but perhaps, that is a good thing in this case. This is a good thing because you don’t find the two bickering on air over two majorly divergent opinions on the same matter. The other reason this is a good thing is because it means Rosen is not standing out for all of the wrong things like many of his cohorts do.

It is time to move these guys up to the big leagues because they are better than at least four of their other teams over on FOX.

5.) Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker (CBS No. 5 Team)

Nobody can rival the emotion that Gus Johnson puts into a call...

One of the great things about listening to color commentating is the variety provided by the teams.

What may work for one pair of commentators most certainly may not work for another. In fact, while I belittle some teams for coming off biased I praise Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker for the reason that they sometimes do seem bias.

A lot of viewers have taken issue with Johnson and Tasker in the past because they feel that these guys—at least Johnson—exhibit bias for one of the teams over the course of a game. Even I have felt that they were bias against my team at one point, and nothing is worse than believing that the announcer of your game is rooting for the other team.

As I have grown older, however, I have realized that Johnson and Tasker don’t exhibit bias when the make play-calls. It just appears that way because one team—usually the winning one—is making exciting plays more often than their opposition. If your team is losing, you are going to notice that the announcers seem to be calling the big plays for the other team often.

Johnson and Tasker make their living off of calling the big play. Hell, sometimes the play doesn’t even have to be big to excite Johnson who screams out at the promise of a potential big play. This is what makes their style so interesting where it would otherwise fail for other teams.

Johnson and Tasker don’t provide you all the information that you would like. They don’t tell you how many tackles a linebacker has racked up, nor will they let you know about a relatively unknown player but with them it does not matter.

Tasker and Johnson can make the most mundane game seem interesting because they make you feel as if there is always the potential for a game changing play. When it comes down to it that is why we watch the games on Sunday…to be entertained and they certainly do that.

6.) Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth(SNF Team)

Collinsworth & Michaels calling a Sunday Night Football game

Allow me to preface this by stating that if Al Michaels had a half competent broadcast partner, then he would be a part of a much higher ranking duo. Unfortunately for Michaels his partner, Chris Collinsworth, is about as competent a commentator as I am a psychologist.

What I am alluding to here is the fact that Collinsworth assumes that because he played in the NFL, it somehow substantiates every claim he makes as factual. This is akin to the way I once believed that I was a psychologist simply because I own a degree. Collinsworth’s arrogance in this matter is unfortunate for Michaels.

Michaels is a brilliant play-by-play announcer and color commentator and his emotion is only bested by Gus Johnson in my opinion. If for some unknown reason you were to turn your head away from your television during the game, I can assure you that your head would turn back during a big play based on the way in which Michaels calls it.

On top of being captivating in his delivery, Michaels also exudes confidence, cool and intelligence over the course of the broadcast.

Michaels can tell you a story about the mundane aspects of a players life and find a way to make it interesting. He can tell you what you have already heard three times throughout the week and still make it entertaining. It is these aspects that make Michaels one of the best guys around.

Cris Collinsworth on the other hand is the second worst football play-by-play guy and color commentator around.

It is as if Collinsworth is simply hired in order to generate talk about how ridiculous or oversimplified his comments are. Collinsworth has become so predictable that you can reduce his commentating routine during the broadcast to the same three things.

The first step in Collinsworth’s routine is that he will somehow manage to tie in his playing days to what is going on in the game. We understand that you played in the league Cris, but please do not mention yourself in the same sentence as Andre Johnson.

The second step in Collinsworth’s routine is that he will rattle off some fictitious story about a conversation that the announcing team had during the media production meeting. The problem is that Collinsworth’s stories are always noticeably fictitious and contradictory to facts.

The third and final step is that Collinsworth will errantly use a football term sometime throughout the night. It is incredibly annoying to hear Collinsworth errantly throw out the term “double coverage” at least eight times a night. Making it even worse is that he played in the league!

Collinsworth needs to be dropped from NBC to make it the best game-time experience around.

7.) Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts(CBS No. 3 Team)

Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts are one of the newly formed pairs for this season by the networks. Therefore it is hard to give them a fair and accurate rating. I feel though that based on their work in the past I feel that falling at the seventh spot is a fair position for them.

What is great about this duo is the extremely divergent paths that they have taken to become the great announcers that they are.

Ian Eagle has been with CBS announcing team for what is now his 13th year. He may have been solid for all of them, but he did not draw my attention until about three or four years ago.

Eagle caught my attention because his style of calling a game is very similar to fellow CBS announcers Jim Nantz and Greg Gumbel. Not exactly the most versed in football, but it does not matter because he makes up for it with his intelligence, poise and command of the English language.

Fouts currently is one of the more knowledgeable announcers out there, but earlier in his career, it did not seem that way. In fact, that might be why he was bounced around through the networks until finally finding his niche in 2008.

After being with CBS for five years, Fouts eventually found himself on ABC doing Monday Night Football. Alongside comedian Dennis Miller, the two were thought to be drab and annoying by many. After a weird series of events, he ended up back with CBS in 2008 and suddenly found the spark that was missing.

Now Fouts delivers brilliant play-by-play that is heightened by a strong understanding of the passing game and an ability to relay what is happening in it to the fans.

I know that there haven’t been many games together for these guys, but I have a good feeling based on what they’ve shown in the past. Therefore this a good faith pick.

8.) Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots (CBS No. 4 Team)

Just like CBS’s No. 3 team this team has been with the network for a while, but this season is their first time working together.

Harlan currently has one of the best and most recognizable voices in all of sports announcing. He has a voice that you would not think could come out of a person and thus it is incredibly captivating. Harlan’s voice is so captivating that it keeps you glued to the television.

What is truly interesting about Harlan, however, is that he doesn’t exude the same level of excitement as Gus Johnson, and yet, he somehow manages to convey nearly as strong of an interest level to the viewers as Johnson does.

The analyst in this team is Solomon Wilcots, and he clearly has his strengths and weaknesses.

Wilcots’ strong suits are his interaction and personal relationships with the players on the field and his intricate understanding of the differences between teams that make up their personalities; especially the ones in the AFC North.

Earlier I lambasted Cris Collinsworth for routinely fabricating things that happened in the Sunday Night Football production meetings. Solmon Wilcots is the exact opposite in that regard. When Wilcots tells you they discussed something with a player, you resoundingly know that it is true. In fact, Wilcots makes you believe that the story he is telling you is almost necessary for you to enjoy the game. It seems as if Wilcots knows every single player in the league.

Wilcots does have a noticeable weakness that derives from his strength. While becoming close to some players he completely neglects others. No other announcer will continually go through a game mispronouncing a player’s name by giving them letters that clearly are not there…You hear me “Rashard MendINGhall?”

When you factor in the abilities of these two individuals together, there is an argument that they could very well be much higher on this list, but hearing Wilcots call Rashard Mendenhall the aforementioned name for 60 minutes last season without being corrected, drops them.

9.) Troy Aikman/Joe Buck (FOX No. 1 Team)

Joe Buck clearly drags down the viewing experience for anyone watching...

Do you remember everything I stated about Cris Collinsworth?

Well somehow Joe Buck does what seems inhumanly possible and makes Collinsworth look competent. After all that is not that hard to do when you are the overly entitled son of a Hall of Famer and thus make your name off of that.

Joe Buck’s “abilities” as a play-by-play announcer are minimal. He gets by on his last name of “Buck” which is due in part to his Broadcasting Hall of Fame father Jack.

While Joe is a somewhat decent—albeit biased—baseball announcer the same cannot be said for his ability to call a football game.

Like Collinsworth, Buck often interjects with meaningless rants about things that are seemingly unrelated to the game as it is occurring. However, whenever we are delighted with Buck actually talking about the game at hand, we have to deal with the fact that he provides his opinion as fact during the game. For proof of this, look no further than Buck’s infamous remarks that shifted the landscape of the league as Randy Moss was shipped out of Minnesota.

Working alongside Buck is Troy Aikman who honestly is a good announcer.

Aikman is a fine announcer who like the best of them gives you a nice insight into what is going on in the game and does not try to be overly significant with his comments. He merely chooses to explain to you in laymen’s terms what is going on with an occasional technical term thrown in.

What I really like about Troy Aikman is that he attempts not to be biased, and it is painfully obvious. Fox usually gives Aikman the Cowboys as his assignment, and he usually attempts to be critical of them. Unfortunately for him, sometimes he does let his bias slip out such as when he called Miles Austin the league’s second best receiver last weekend.

However, that little problem can be overlooked for the positives that Aikman brings to the table.

10.) Dick Stockton/Charles Davis/Jim Mora Jr. (FOX No 3 Team)

I could have honestly rated this duo higher than the No. 9 team and personally had no problem with it. However, I understand that there are a couple of people who take up issue with both Stockton and Davis.

I can’t understand for the life of me why these two get criticism from a lot of viewers. For the previous two seasons, these guys have been like close personal friends in my house for both college and professional games hosted on Fox. Perhaps this is because they have two of the best voices suited for play-by-play and analysis.

Admittedly Davis is not the most intelligent analyst around. In fact, when Davis is at his lows, he is really hitting low. I recall him continually misidentifying players during more than one game and having to excuse himself. However, Davis can also find himself at the opposite end of the spectrum as he’s also broken down a play from three different angles for the viewers at home in the past.

Dick Stockton is the play-by-play guy in this group and while I absolutely am in love with his voice alongside Davis’— or even on its own—there is a legitimate argument that it can lull you to sleep. Stockton doesn’t really tend to get excited from what I’ve noticed and when he does it seems to come of ass monotonous…

New to this group is former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks headcoach Jim Mora Jr.

I was treated to him in Week 1 and very pleased with what I received. He seemed very aware of how to use the teleprompter to deliver an understanding of why certain plays were occurring and how they were successful to the casual fans within my living room.

Due to the fact that this unit only has seven weeks of experience together (with Mora being a member) and the fact that I can legitimately see how somebody could find Davis incomprehensible at times, I can justify placing them lower then I would like.

10.) Dick Stockton/Charles Davis/Jim Mora Jr. (FOX No. 3 Team)

I could have honestly rated this duo higher than the No. 9 team and personally had no problem with it. However, I understand that there are a couple of people who take up issue with both Stockton and Davis.

I can’t understand for the life of me why these two get criticism from a lot of viewers. For the previous two seasons these guys have been like close personal friends in my house for both college and professional games hosted on Fox. Perhaps this is because they have two of the best voices suited for play-by-play and analysis.

Admittedly Davis is not the most intelligent analyst around. In fact, when Davis is at his lows, he is really hitting low. I recall him continually misidentifying players during more than one game and having to excuse himself. However, Davis can also find himself at the opposite end of the spectrum as he’s also broken down a play from three different angles for the viewers at home in the past.

Dick Stockton is the play-by-play guy in this group and while I absolutely am in love with his voice alongside Davis’—or even on its own—there is a legitimate argument that it can lull you to sleep. Stockton doesn’t really tend to get excited from what I’ve noticed and when he does it seems to come of ass monotonous…

New to this group is former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks headcoach Jim Mora Jr.

I was treated to him in Week 1 and very pleased with what I received. He seemed very aware of how to use the teleprompter to deliver an understanding of why certain plays were occurring and how they were successful to the casual fans within my living room.

Due to the fact that this unit only has seven weeks of experience together (with Mora being a member) and the fact that I can legitimately see how somebody could find Davis incomprehensible at times I can justify placing them lower then I would like.

11.) Chris Rose/Kurt Warner (FOX No. 7 Team)

Kurt Warner has done excellent in limited local work...

I can admit that this pick is more than likely a reach, given the fact that I’ve only heard this unit once. As a matter of fact, I think that only a select few people in America have heard this unit because I believe that they have only called one game thus far. Thus is the nature when you are the bottom team on your respective network and are only privy to calling “local” games.

When Warner was signed on with Fox to do analysis and eventual booth work, it wasn’t really a surprise to anybody. Warner was always incredibly professional, poised and charismatic during post-game interviews. Warner’s persona has obviously already transitioned well into the booth.

It his only game on air thus far—which I must thank NFL Redzone for allowing me to watch so much of it—Warner sounded as if he had been an on-air analyst for years. It was downright alarming to hear him speak as if this is what he was destined to do and better than guys who have been doing it for decades. Less surprising, however, was his understanding of the game.

On a Drew Brees interception, Kurt Warner was allotted time to break down why it happened. Warner proceeded to key the collapse of the A and B gaps and the resulting inability of Brees to step into the throw as clearly as he wanted. Taking it a step further, Warner then also highlighted how the hot read receiver was re-routed at the snap, that the halfback ran the wrong route based on being with the team for only one week. He then culminated it with highlighting that the Cardinals ran bracket coverage in a Cover 2 man coverage shell with a second cornerback playing the safety role.

Most analysts would have simply highlighted the “pressure” as the reason the play resulted in an interception.

Rose has an interesting enough voice for a play-by-play guy but most certainly nothing that stands out in comparison to anybody on this list. He gets the job done and didn’t make any egregious errors from what I heard. As a matter of fact, one thing that I did like is that he pointed out a long overlooked fact about Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie that most play-by-play announcers ignore.

I can honestly see any team with Warner on it eventually becoming a No. 1 team on FOX.

12.) Bob Papa/Matt Millen/Joe Theismann (NFLN No. 1 Team)

Come Thanksgiving, this team will finally work together, but at this point, I can only merit them based on what they have accomplished individually or together in the past.

Admittedly I haven’t heard much of Bob Papa. I know that Papa is routinely regarded as a boxing announcer, and I’ve never really been one to care for boxing. When I have heard him, I will say that he has done nothing to make me dislike him, but he certainly hasn’t done anything to make me think he is one of the better play-by-play announcers.

You can say what you want about Matt Millen as a General Manager, but the reality of the matter is as a former player, he knows what he is talking about. Rather should I say that Millen knows what he is talking about when critiquing NFL players that are directly in front of him.

Whether it be calling the game for the NFL Network or making comments alongside ESPN’s crew after Monday Night Football, Mr. Millen shows us that we should not judge his football knowledge based on his general managing abilities; or lack thereof. Millen can break a play down with the best of them although he seems to struggle with displaying it on the telestrator.

While many dislike Joe Theismann I found him enjoyable when he used to work on Sunday Night Football for ESPN. While he did not seem to fit in with the guys when they moved to Monday Night Football, I blame that more so on the network for pairing him up with Tony Kornheiser who he obviously did not like as it came across in their dialogues with one another.

Theismann isn’t the best analyst, but he does a couple things that I really like in that he doesn’t ramble on about his playing days nor does he interject his opinion as fact.

While this unit hasn’t made it’s on-air debut yet, I believe that by this time next season, they can be much higher than they are.

I can honestly see any team with Warner on it eventually becoming a No. 1 team on FOX.

13.) Ron Pitts/John Lynch (FOX No. 6 Team)

If your team ever has a bye week, and you have a chance to watch any game of your choice, watch a late west coast game on FOX. Chances are this duo will be covering that game.

I tell you to watch that game because you will notice something interesting within five minutes of watching more than one game done by this duo—Ron Pitts’ voice changes from broadcast from broadcast. An ever changing voice is most certainly not something that you want as an on-air color commentator as it is your persona and what identifies you.

Aside from his interesting ability to change the way his voice sounds from week to week, Pitts isn’t that interesting. He doesn’t exactly offer anything that other play-by-play guys do. In fact, he is easily forgettable as the only time you can remember him is when he makes a blooper.

The highlight of this duo is clearly John Lynch in my opinion.

A strong contrast to the guy he was on the field, John Lynch was always a tolerable and loveable individual when approached by the media. Just like Kurt Warner, this has transferred over into the booth well and Lynch offers some good—although not elite—analysis.

What really sets Lynch apart from others in my opinion is that he is the one analyst that seems better than their play-by-play counterpart at dialing up a conversation. Lynch has a habit of leading Pitts into conversation and then playing off of what he says with his NFL knowledge.

14.) Thom Brennaman or Chris Myers/Brian Billick (FOX No. 4 Team)

Honestly, this is an overlooked unit. In fact, I too underrated them while I was compiling this list before going back and listening to a few soundbytes and looking at a couple of clips.

What I noticed when going back is that Brian Billick is every bit the offensive guru that we all forgot he was due to his years in Baltimore as the head coach. Billick knows what he is talking about, and he can break down plays at a good level. However, what draws you in with Billick is that he examines things from a head coaches perspective first and foremost.

Billick can often be found letting you know how he would have reacted to a player getting called for a penalty or making a mistake. He lets us knows how the coaches on the sidelines are feeling or are going to react and sure enough the production team shoots over to the coach reacting exactly as Billick professed that they would.

Brennaman seems like yet another play-by-play announcer, but I will give him two things that I really like about him. He is very good at starting a dialogue, and his voice is smooth and silky and I could definitely picture myself listening to him over the radio.

Myers only draws this assignment when Brennaman gets called up to work with Aikman due to Buck leaving for the MLB postseason. I guess I should love Myers because his presence means the absence of Joe Buck for an entire month.

15.) Ron Jaworski/Jon Gruden/Mike Tirico(MNF No. 1 Team)

The current Monday Night Football group looks on from the booth...

When ESPN took over the production rights for Monday Night Football in 2006, it seemed as if it were a God send for football fans. Unfortunately, it has been anything but. These sentiments are because ESPN has yet to throw out a competent set of announcers for an entire season.

At first, many thought that Tony Kornheiser was the problem as he admittedly knew nothing about football. Kornheiser would continually rant about pop culture that was seemingly unrelated to the game. In response to this, the network brought in former Super Bowl winning coach John Gruden and people thought that the issue was fixed.

Those people were wrong.

Every Monday ESPN fields a group of announcers that make me want to rip my ears off when I hear them talk.

The problem with the Monday Night Football crew is that the analysts—Ron Jaworski  and Jon Gruden—are completely full of themselves.

Confidence is a completely fine trait to have as an analyst of play-by-play guy, but exuding too much of it is a bad thing. Displaying it in every single comment you make is even worse.

It would be bad enough if it were just one announcer that continually came off exhibiting their opinion as fact, but unfortunately, both analysts on the set present their opinions as fact. They do this even if they are clearly wrong on the matter. In doing so they seemingly talk down to the viewer as if you are too stupid to understand that a player is good or not or if they are having a bad game.

The term “how ‘bout this guy” is a frequent term used in Monday Night Football games now by current analyst Jon Gruden. After this infamous term Gruden and Jaworski will proceed to rant about that player for no less than five minutes. Rather than talk about the five subsequent plays these two geniuses feel a need to tell you how great that player is. Unfortunately, that is only one end of the spectrum.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the fact that if a player doesn’t have a good game they will highlight it. I thoroughly enjoy it when a perennial Pro Bowler struggles in a game, and an announcer points it out. It usually means they’re not “on the take” in that they just name big names even if they’re not doing well. However, Jaws and Gruden take it to another level. If a player is having a bad game, they proceed to lambast the guy and talk about how they’re “not even trying.”

When you cannot describe a player’s play without likening them to either an All-Pro or a bum then something’s wrong. There are many other levels of play along the spectrum that these guys just continue to ignore.

Sadly enough, the best member of this group is Mike Tirico who is the play-by-play individual in the group. The problem here is when you sit down and listen to a Monday Night Football game sometimes you would think that Tirico is the analyst as he can constantly be seen correcting Jaws and Gruden as to the rules of the game.

How anybody can stand Gruden and Jaworski is beyond me.

16.) Bill Macatee/Rich Gannon (CBS No. 6 Team)

Honestly? This duo is quite anonymous…

A while ago when Rich Gannon was new to the business like Kurt Warner currently is, I thought as highly of him as I currently do Warner. Unfortunately time set in and Gannon seemed to realize that nobody cared what he was saying because he was analyzing bad games.

Sure Gannon was dissecting passing plays and letting me know why they were and were not succeeding but who cared when it was between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs? Additionally is the fact that Gannon usually did not have a good play-by-play partner that could draw me into the game with their calls. Well that hasn’t exactly changed with Bill Macatee.

I have nothing against Bill Macatee, but CBS simply has not given him a chance during his career to shine as a play-by-play guy. Maybe it is because they have so many good ones already in place, and it would be hard to usurp them, but Macatee has routinely been on CBS’s sixth team or lower.

If not for Gannon’s great work early in his career, this duo would be a lot worse off on this list.

17.) Spero Dedes/Randy Cross(CBS No. 8 Team)

Unfortunately when it comes to the 17th and 18th ranked units on this list, I haven’t had much time to see and grade them. A lot of what I have arrived at in judging them stems from audio clips over highlights due to the fact that my NFL Game Rewind pass is expired.

In regards to Spero Dedes I believe he is a hidden diamond in the rough for the CBS team.

Dedes usually calls the Los Angeles Lakers on the radio and certainly knows more about basketball than football but that is inconsequential. Dedes can draw you in with his voice that reminds you of one of the guys. He doesn’t sound like a play-by-play guy but rather one of the guys you would drink a beer with while talking sports.

At one point in my life, I did like Randy Cross. However, at this point, I cannot figure out why I ever did.

I used to believe that Cross was very good at what he did, but over the past couple of seasons, I realize that his abilities are quickly diminishing. What is worse is that this quality fall off is so noticeable that even CBS took action.

Cross used to play off Gus Johnson very well, but unfortunately for him, with Johnson’s ever improving status comes Cross’ decline. Maybe Cross should find himself thankful that CBS welcomed him back to the team because honestly he is a commentator that my game could do without at this point in time.

18.) Don Criqui/Steve Beuerlein (CBS No. 7 Team)

As with the No. 17 team, I rarely get to experience this unit and have had to do Internet research to get an accurate judgment of them.

Steve Beuerlein is your very typical former quarterback turned announcer; he knows how to break down a pass play. Unfortunately for him, just about every other former NFL quarterback that works as an analyst in the booth is much better at what they do. Even more so they are more articulate than Beuerlein as well.

Working alongside Beuerlein is a Hall of Famer in Don Criqui.

Viewing things from a much larger scale, Criqui is arguably the best play-by-play guy on this list. Criqui has been in the business for decades on both radio and television. Even more amazing is the fact that Criqui is one of the few people in the world who can adjust to the key differences between calling a game on the radio and on the television.

Unfortunately for Criqui, he is clearly much more suited to work by himself on the radio rather than announce in a booth with a run-of-the-mill analyst such as Steve Beuerlein.

This unit has little chemistry, little flair and almost no pop.