ESPN Swap Of NBA, College Hoops Announcers Earns Mixed Reviews
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| Vitale (l) Announces First NBA Game Since '84 |
ESPN college basketball announcers Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale last night called the Heat-Nuggets game, while ESPN NBA announcers Mike Tirico, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy called the Davidson-Duke men's basketball game, and the problem was how ESPN "promoted the 'special event,'" turning it into a "sideshow by making it the main topic of discussion," according to Arash Markazi of SI.com. ESPN in promoting the announcer swap "went so far as showing photos of the announcing teams in ads," rather than the players. There are "moments when ESPN doesn't even try to hide its self-promoting machine," and last night "wasn't just an example of that; it may have been their worst display of it yet." The Davidson-Duke game, the first part of the double-header, "went off seamlessly as Jackson and Van Gundy offered analysis of NBA prospects" such as Davidson G Stephen Curry. But it was "clear early on" during the Heat-Nuggets game, Vitale's first NBA broadcast since '84, that the game would be "used as a lovefest for Vitale." After the opening tip, a note appeared on the screen that stated, "Dick Vitale 1st NBA game announced since May 17, 1984," and the note appeared on the screen "five more times during the first quarter and about a dozen times during the broadcast." Vitale was "surprisingly tame for most of the game," and him calling an NBA game is like a "racecar being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, a boom box sitting in a library, a cannonball diver in an Olympic diving competition." It "doesn't fit." Markazi wrote, "I can only hope ESPN recognizes this and finds other ways of promoting themselves in the future besides switching announcing crews" (FANNATION.com, 1/7).
REPORT CARD: AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Brian Powell writes while the swap was "cheesy on the surface, both teams did a pretty solid job." The "simple fact that the crews had to prepare more than they normally would showed, and Dick Vitale actually had something to talk about other than Duke and UNC." But Powell notes, "I still don't see what the point of a College announcer heading to the Pros would be, but the NBA guys could gain some knowledge by doing both contests" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 1/8).
MIKE CHECK: Vitale before last night's game said, "I really was thrilled to be outside and meeting all the players again and to reaquaint myself with the guys I haven't seen in years, but really it's fantastic. ... I love basketball. I don't care what it is, high school, college or the pros" ("Davidson-Duke," ESPN, 1/8). Vitale at the 40-minute mark of the Heat-Nuggets game joked, "I’m done. My contract (says) … I only work 40 minutes. I don’t want to get fired. I don’t want to get fired. 40 minutes? I’m calling (ESPN Exec VP/Production) Norby Williamson up, I’m going to (ESPN/ABC Sports President ) George Bodenheimer. My contract says 40 minutes. I’ll do an exception” (“Heat-Nuggets,” ESPN, 1/7).
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