The 10 Best TV Play-By-Play Announcers in Sports Today
Regardless of a fan's favorite sport, it is one of the few constants across the athletic spectrum.
Whether it's watching an NFL game or a NASCAR race, someone always has to describe the action to the viewer, no matter how simple or complicated the concept.
The play-by-play announcer in sports television has had a long and storied history, with names such as Keith Jackson, Jim McKay, and Pat Summerall (just to name a few) becoming members of popular culture due to their extraordinary efforts.
Sometimes, it relies on catchphrases such as "Oh My!" or "Whoa Nellie!"
However, play-by-play is sometimes most enjoyable when taken in the literal sense of the phrase, no frills necessary.
Here are 10 of the best play-by-play announcers in sports television today.
Gus Johnson (CBS/Showtime/Big Ten Network)
1 of 10While some view Gus Johnson's announcing style as "mindless screaming," there's little doubt that he may be one of the most enjoyable broadcasters in the sports world today.
Through his excitable calls during the NCAA Tournament for CBS, Johnson has effectively replaced Dick Vitale as the face and voice of college basketball.
In addition to his duties on CBS' college basketball and NFL coverage, Johnson is now the voice of mixed martial arts promotion Strikeforce and a play-by-play man for the Big Ten Network.
For the complete collection of Johnson's enthusiastic commentary, click here.
Dan Shulman (ESPN)
2 of 10Speaking of college basketball, ESPN's best play-by-play announcer in any sport may be one of the network's relatively unknown personalities.
The Canadian-born Shulman was once the television voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, heading stateside in 2001 to cover college basketball and MLB for the "Worldwide Leader in Sports."
His muted style of play-by-play has allowed him to contrast perfectly with Dick Vitale on ESPN's top college basketball broadcast team, and with Chris Singleton and Aaron Boone on the network's Monday Night Baseball coverage.
However, he may be most well-known for being the victim of a Kyle Singler dive during the ACC Championship last March.
Mike Breen (ESPN/MSG)
3 of 10
Mike Breen also follows Shulman's style of muted play-by-play, allowing the action on the field of play to breathe.
The television voice of the New York Knicks, Breen works with Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN's lead NBA broadcast team.
Additionally, the New Yorker called the men's basketball tournament for NBC during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Of course, his most well-known catchphrase is "Bang!"
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Mike Emrick (NBC/Versus/MSG)
4 of 10
While this writer is not a big hockey fan by any stretch, Mike Emrick deserves a spot on this list for his work during the 2010 Winter Olympics alone.
His essay-like post-game commentary during the USA-Canada men's hockey final for NBC was spectacular, stressing the magnitude of an Olympic gold medal at home for Canada while giving U.S. goalie Ryan Miller his proper due to please the American audience.
Al Michaels (NBC)
5 of 10Over 30 years later, this clip alone proves why Al Michaels should be on this list.
He's still cranking out these magical calls, regardless of whether it's baseball or Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Football.
Brent Musburger (ESPN)
6 of 10
Seemingly on the tail end of a legendary career, Musburger's "You are looking live!" instantly enhances the sporting event he's covering, even if it involves the two worst basketball teams in the Big 12 Conference on a Monday night in February.
His work with Kirk Herbstreit as ESPN's lead college football team has been outstanding, as the two certainly seem to have fun in the booth.
Musburger's enthusiasm still seems the same as it did when he hosted The NFL Today for CBS in the 1980s, as signified by this picture of the Super Bowl XXIV trophy presentation.
Kevin Harlan (CBS/TNT)
7 of 10While Harlan can be heard every Sunday doing play-by-play for the NFL on CBS, his best work is usually heard on TNT's NBA coverage every Thursday.
His phrase, "With no regard for human life," will be forever linked to the career of LeBron James (other than that whole "Decision" saga).
Joe Buck (Fox)
8 of 10
If viewers can get past Joe Buck's "too cool for school" demeanor, they'll find that he is a superb play-by-play man.
Even though he doesn't cover as many baseball games as he has in the past, Buck is usually able to rise above Tim McCarver's awful analysis and set a suitable tone for almost every situation.
As for his work in the NFL, Buck does a decent job with Troy Aikman, even though they're far from the best around regardless of network.
Mike Tirico (ESPN)
9 of 10
Tirico has been the voice of Monday Night Football since 2006, already working with a revolving door of analysts over the past few years.
Through it all, Tirico has done a great job working as a "traffic cop" or sorts, whether it be the disastrous Tony Kornheiser experiment or Jon Gruden.
Sean McDonough (ESPN)
10 of 10Sean McDonough is another one of ESPN's under-appreciated play-by-play men.
The former voice of CBS's Major League Baseball coverage, McDonough's career has seen a resurgence in recent years, as the Syracuse grad works with Matt Millen on one of the network's top college football broadcast crews.
However, his best work is in college basketball, as the voice of ESPN's Monday night Big East match-up with Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery including this six-overtime epic from the 2009 conference tourney.
Anyone you would add or remove from this list? Comment below.
Ryan Papaserge is a junior Journalism/Mass Communication student at St. Bonaventure University and a writing intern at Bleacher Report.
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