Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

Some of these threads indicate a few of you grew up on 1950's t.v., and even more of you were already h.s. by 1960's. Who are your five favorite t.v. commentators for the sport? Let's stick to those we've all seen, not the crews, say, in Europe.

I have enjoyed and learned from (no special order)Marty Liquori, Ralph Boston, Dwight Stones, Craig Masback and Carol Lewis.

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

All are OK, but Marty & Dwight are excellent, just for enthusiasm - great tv commentators are the ones who've been there, and sound like their appreciation of the sport transcends nationalism, and goes right to the basics of the competition. Hearing Marty call Olympic finals, I got the feeling he wished to hell he were down there, making the right move..

[MJD]

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

>great tv
>commentators are the ones who've been there, and sound like their appreciation
>of the sport transcends nationalism,

That describes Ovett who works with the CBC once in a while. You would think he was a canuck.

[stevehj197]

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Dick Bank

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

Ian Dark, Steve Ovett, Dwight Stones, Craig Masback & a tremendous analyst utilized regularly by the Canadians on CBC (his name slips me for the moment) A few years back he gave an awesome review of the famous race between Bannister & Landy (sensational stuff)

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Yes, Stones, Liquori, and Masback spring to mind, but it can't be an Olympics without Jim McKay, plus he used to do WWofS when they did a lot of track, like the US-Russia duals. He could get pretty worked up. Bob Costas is a great professional, but too laid-back.

And whoever it was that did that late 60's AAU series, CBS?, was really good, cuz that really got me hooked.

[MJD]

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

a tremendous analyst
>utilized regularly by the Canadians on CBC (his name slips me for the moment) A
>few years back he gave an awesome review of the famous race between Bannister &
>Landy (sensational stuff)

Geoff Gowan or Don Whitmann(sp?).

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

< Geoff Gowan or Don Whitmann >

Geoff Gowan is the chap. His range of knowledge (technical) over a wide variety of events is particularly impressive.

[gh]

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

>>And whoever it was that did that late 60's
>AAU series, CBS?, was really good, cuz that really got me hooked.>>

That was Dick Bank, cited earlier by Steve197. Among American announcers there's Bank then a big gap to all the pretenders.

It's Bank who goes berserk on the Billy Mills call from Tokyo.

[Django]

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How about Vic Holchak (I've probably mis-spelled the name)? I remember that, when I heard him describing races, they seemed exciting, while many of the current TV crew make the races seem about as exciting as watching paint dry.

[trackhead]

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In no particular order:

Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Brenden Foster, Tim Hutchinson, and a few BBC guys that whose names escape me.

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Michael Johnson for dissing all his fellow athletes. And dissing field events in general. A true champion,the greatest long sprinter ever and worst announcer.

[gm]

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American announcers talk too much. I would rather have knitting needles stuck through my ears than listen to some of them.

I'll take the British crews any day. They complement the action rather than dominating it.

[Conor Dary]

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Speaking of Dick Bank, if anyone was watching espn classic early today, he was commenting on an old CBS Sports Spectacular of John Pennel pole vaulting. Other great stuff on today's show was a tape of Matzdorf's WR 1971 high jump. I forgot how good those old track shows were in those days.

PS. Kudos to GH for identifying Bank as the wild man on that Mills tape, who along with Brad Palmer make a wonderful commentary I've listened to many times.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Five Best T & F Announcers/Analysts Ever

Speaking of Dick Bank, if anyone was watching espn classic early today, he was commenting on an old CBS Sports Spectacular of John Pennel pole vaulting. Other great stuff on today's show was a tape of Matzdorf's WR 1971 high jump. I forgot how good those old track shows were in those days.

PS. Kudos to GH for identifying Bank as the wild man on that Mills tape, who along with Brad Palmer make a wonderful commentary I've listened to many times.