Best Color Analysts Ever

[NNDman]

Despised Stram because his Chiefs beat my Vikins in SB IV. Then heard him on color and he was one of the best! Packer was great on those Jefferson-Pilot ACC games and he and McGuire were outstanding. Two thumbs down to Bilas. Sutton was great on those Braves games. John Lowenstein and Mel Proctor were the best team I've heard on MLB.

 

[Octave]

One more. Caray-era Steve Stone. I don't know what happened with management(s) but he became less interesting as the years wore on.

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

I echo the praise of Dan Bonner in this thread. When he's at the mic, you know you're going to learn something about both teams, even if you've already seen them several times in recent weeks. The game and its players are the stars, and he lets them shine.

The Staunton News Leader had a splendid piece on him two years ago.

ACC basketball analyst Dan Bonner one of most respected in the game

And maybe it was just the mood in which I found myself the day I read the story, but this anecdote was side-splitting for me:

He bought his pickup brand new at the end of this past summer. It had four miles on it then. As he drove out of the parking lot at Virginia, it had 15,128 miles.

The truck has personalized plates to represent the name of the Bonners' farm. Bonner isn't necessarily thrilled his farm has a name, but his wife insisted that it must. So she suggested Ford Keys Farms, named after the Ford Keys to the Game, a segment on each Raycom broadcast.

After naming the farm, Terry Bonner went out and got personalized plates for the truck. She didn't think that one through all the way. Dan Bonner has had people ask him why he hates farms after reading his plates, "FKFARMS 1."

He just shakes his head, climbs in the driver's seat and pulls out of the parking lot, headed back to Verona.

 

[HanSenSE]

Wait, that's who Boom is? Can't believe it took this long.

NO OUTING!

Edit: SamMills51 beat me to it.

 

[HanSenSE]

What I like about Miller and McEnroe is that they're not afraid to be brutal when the time is right, unlike so many other analysts.

Packer in his later years with CBS was too much of a ACC/Duke fanboi.

Baseball? Since a few have mentioned local broadcasters, I gotta throw in for Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, locally known as KurkandKuip. They can do conventional with the best of them, but when they get off the game, watch out! Anything from dropping a foul ball that goes into the lower deck to a barbecue in McCovey Cove will get them going. Krukow knows pitching solid, of course, but what other announcer will give a scouting report on the plate umpire, if he's a high or low strike guy, ect.? Kuiper's become a solid pxp guy, so much you forget he was a player, except in late August when the anniversary of his only major league homer is celebrated.

 

[misterbc]

Merlin Olsen was an all-pro colour man in addition to being constant all-pro defensive tackle. He and deck Enberg were as good as you could get as broadcast partners.

 

[MileHigh]

Stram was horrible.

"They're going to run it to the left here, Jack."

Jack Buck: "They run right."

 

[poindexter]

People know Madden as the "Boom" guy, but he really elevated people's expectation of what color people should be providing. Line play, plays that "set up" other plays, etc. Also not sure how much tape color people watched ahead of a game pre-Madden. Shoot even calling them "color" people now (a throwback to when they were merely expected to provide "personality" to the broadcast or an old story or three) is a misnomer. The best watch hours of tape, spot "tells" and tendencies. I still like to hear an old baseball story on a broadcast though - I've heard enough and seen enough on pitch sequencing in my lifetime.

Yeah, early Madden was a revelation. We just hadn't heard someone explain line play before. It was really good.

 

[poindexter]

A lot of good choices here.
Having watched the Australian Open these past two weeks, and suffered through Chris Evert made me realize how much I miss Mary Carillo. I think she was not only the best color tennis announcer, but best period. She was concise, accurate, and had a personal level of, well being human, that I completely enjoyed. I loved Mary Carillo.

 

[poindexter]

Too many of these guys had a shelf life. Maybe even a couple decades, but eventually their act wore thin, for different reasons. Packer, Madden, McGuire to name a few.

Hubie Brown is my favorite all time NBA analyst. Its fantastic he is still doing games. But when the voice goes, as it is wont to do when guys approach 80, I can't do it any more.

 

[Huggy]

Yeah, early Madden was a revelation. We just hadn't heard someone explain line play before. It was really good.

Madden taught me to watch the game through the line play, there's always a replay of the big run or catch or pick or whatever but it all starts on the line.

 

[Huggy]

Wrestling division: Bobby Heenan and Jesse "The Body" Ventura