Friday, October 10, 2008

MLB on TBS


Like it or not, I really think that the voices of playoff baseball are Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Of course, I guess we're not really used to having teams like the (devil) Rays in there either. But this cast of characters that's calling the game for TBS is typical of what you know to be wrong with current sports broadcasting practice.

Of the three boobs they have calling the game, I've heard of one of them (Ron Darling), but I've never heard him call a game. Maybe he has been doing it all year. I wouldn't know, because I don't follow it that closely. And Craig Sager on the field looks like the Joker, with his purple blazer. He'd fit in just fine here in "the Middle." In fact, hearing him talk, I'd be willing to bet that he's from these parts. And I'd be right, as he's from Illinois. However, as luck would have it, his son is on the roster for you very own GEORGIA BULLDOGS (what?).

So is this what postseason sports are always going to be about? One of the things that made UGA football so interesting to me was the personalities involved, like Larry and Loran. Guys like that get shut out in the postseason. Skip Caray? Same, RIP.The other thing is that although the parks are different, there is a generic ball park experience. Someone on the team gets "Crazy Train," every now and again you hear "Charge!" someone sings God Bless America during the stretch (except at Wrigley), someone starts the wave, there is inevitably a beach ball, and the beer is too expensive. And now, Jon Bon Jovi is the official rock star of Major League Baseball.
There's the AT&T call to the bullpen, someone has a t-shirt shooter, that any of us normal people are never in range of, and some goofy mascot is trying to tease money away from you for an official picture. And if you're watching it on TV, unless it's your usual announcers that your used to during the regular season, you're doomed to some generic accent that acts like he has no idea who any of your players are, and calls everyone Tommy, Johnny, Timmy, Stevie, Petie, etc.
I guess Buckcarver got their start somewhere, like NFL on FOX. But I don't have to like it.
And just because I know you've been missing him from Baseball Tonight, there has been a Harold Reynolds sighting. TBS postgame, oh yeah.

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