The Common Man was driving in to work this morning and came across a SportsCenter on the radio that included Yankees announcer John Sterling. Sterling is a hack and an embarrassment who substitutes catch phrases for description and is not just complicit in, but an active force driving the decline of modern baseball announcing. The Common Man dares anyone to listen to him for an entire game and not want to put a slug in their radio.He is smug and unilluminating, and has a pun available for every Yankee player (for Marcus Thames’ go-ahead single last night, he told listeners that “good Thames are here again” while every homerun from Mark Texeira is a “Tex Message”).He has been criticized, not just for being a bad announcer, but an inaccurate one.And according to River Avenue Blues, he’s just as obnoxious in real life, “John Sterling is, for better or worse, a member of the Yanks’ extended family, but he comes across, according to many in the industry who have met him in various capacities, as thinking that his histrionics are responsible for the team’s success….Maybe that’s why I personally have never warmed up to Sterling. The game is about the guys on the field; it’s not about him. But on the radio and at the White House too, it’s always about him.” Awful Announcing has reports that he lacks table manners. Look, the Yankee Universe boasts some of the most intelligent and reasoned fans out there. It also boasts a bunch of morons. If you like John Sterling, you belong in the latter camp. The New York Yankees can, and should, do better.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
With apologies to A-Rod, John Sterling is history's greatest monster
By The Common Man
The Common Man was driving in to work this morning and came across a SportsCenter on the radio that included Yankees announcer John Sterling. Sterling is a hack and an embarrassment who substitutes catch phrases for description and is not just complicit in, but an active force driving the decline of modern baseball announcing. The Common Man dares anyone to listen to him for an entire game and not want to put a slug in their radio.He is smug and unilluminating, and has a pun available for every Yankee player (for Marcus Thames’ go-ahead single last night, he told listeners that “good Thames are here again” while every homerun from Mark Texeira is a “Tex Message”).He has been criticized, not just for being a bad announcer, but an inaccurate one.And according to River Avenue Blues, he’s just as obnoxious in real life, “John Sterling is, for better or worse, a member of the Yanks’ extended family, but he comes across, according to many in the industry who have met him in various capacities, as thinking that his histrionics are responsible for the team’s success….Maybe that’s why I personally have never warmed up to Sterling. The game is about the guys on the field; it’s not about him. But on the radio and at the White House too, it’s always about him.” Awful Announcing has reports that he lacks table manners. Look, the Yankee Universe boasts some of the most intelligent and reasoned fans out there. It also boasts a bunch of morons. If you like John Sterling, you belong in the latter camp. The New York Yankees can, and should, do better.
The Common Man was driving in to work this morning and came across a SportsCenter on the radio that included Yankees announcer John Sterling. Sterling is a hack and an embarrassment who substitutes catch phrases for description and is not just complicit in, but an active force driving the decline of modern baseball announcing. The Common Man dares anyone to listen to him for an entire game and not want to put a slug in their radio.He is smug and unilluminating, and has a pun available for every Yankee player (for Marcus Thames’ go-ahead single last night, he told listeners that “good Thames are here again” while every homerun from Mark Texeira is a “Tex Message”).He has been criticized, not just for being a bad announcer, but an inaccurate one.And according to River Avenue Blues, he’s just as obnoxious in real life, “John Sterling is, for better or worse, a member of the Yanks’ extended family, but he comes across, according to many in the industry who have met him in various capacities, as thinking that his histrionics are responsible for the team’s success….Maybe that’s why I personally have never warmed up to Sterling. The game is about the guys on the field; it’s not about him. But on the radio and at the White House too, it’s always about him.” Awful Announcing has reports that he lacks table manners. Look, the Yankee Universe boasts some of the most intelligent and reasoned fans out there. It also boasts a bunch of morons. If you like John Sterling, you belong in the latter camp. The New York Yankees can, and should, do better.
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5 comments:
This guy reminds me of Hawk Harrelson, who Bill and I are forced to listen to much of the time. Perhaps Bill should write a companion piece on his horrifyingly bad commentating.
Whoa now. Sterling might be inaccurate and overuse catch-phrases, he might have the wrong level of enthusiasm 90% of the game, he might be completely irrational when talking about the game itself, but he is NOT Hawk Harrelson. Not by 50 miles. Sterling is listenable. Harrelson makes me hate the White Sox and want to stop watching baseball.
I agree that Hawk is even worse, but it astounds me that anyone finds Sterling listenable. I stopped listening to the baseball channel on XM mostly to avoid the occasional, incidental four-second Sterling clip. Pure torture.
Wow, I never much liked Sterling but Yankee fans never listened to me. Glad to know it's not just me.
I LOVE STERLING, YOU GUYS CAN SHOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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