Official Griping About Announcers Thread

[Bobster21]

Kevin Young sounds slightly more animated this year. Still very soft spoken but now gets his volume up to a 2 instead of a 1 all the time. But he has now adopted the annoying habit of adding "Brownie" to most of his comments just as McKenry and Walker do. That's when he's not saying "obviously." I'm beginning to think that Brown encourages the newer analysts to call him Brownie as much as possible. Blass didn't do it. Walk and Wehner don't do it. But the newer ones say it ad nauseum. Brown is obsessed with nicknames so maybe he just wants to hear his own all the time. Kevin Young has been scoring very high on the Brownie-O-Meter this year.

[GreenWeenie]

I can't think of many things that I do that annoy me more than listening to Pirates broadcasts.



This Brown Walk stuff today is sad.



But....I'm on XM, working, driving, and can't just go to espn.com and read the play-by-play without causing an accident.



You guys complain about Block- rightly so.



These guys aren't any better.

[Bobster]

Never seen an announcer so in love with the sound of his own voice as Joe Block. He actually does have as good voice for announcing. But he seems to think he has to treat us to that voice by finding anything and everything to discuss during games. I believe he tries to emulate Vin Scully. Scully worked alone and liked to maintain a patter in his lilting voice. But Block is no Vin Scully. He just talks to talk as if we can't enjoy a game without the sound of his nonstop voice. Scully was nice to listen too. Block is unbearably annoying.

[Bobster]

In one of the rare times Block wants to focus on the game, Capps wants to talk about concrete.

[Possum]

I got a kick out of Bobster calling Block, Mortimer Sneerd. Now all Bobster has to do is to come up with a name for Robbie.

[Bobster]

I got a kick out of Bobster calling Block, Mortimer Sneerd. Now all Bobster has to do is to come up with a name for Robbie.

Someone already named him Ishkabibble, so that sounds appropriate.

[Wildwoodcoach]

The more I listen to other announcers on MLB, the more I
realize how terrible Brown and Bloc are

[Bobster]

The more I listen to other announcers on MLB, the more I
realize how terrible Brown and Bloc are

When I see other teams' broadcasts, there is much less fooling around by the announcers. They are much more focused on the game. Far fewer camera shots of them talking to one another in the booth.

I really believe that whoever produces/directs the broadcast has a lot to do with it. The announcers don't call the camera shots. But someone wants us to watch them talking to one another nearly every inning. I think they are told that their job is to entertain the audience. IMHO, Brown is fine when calling the action. But he constantly tries to be funny with his analyst. He's gotten a lot worse since Blass retired. Brown used to just laugh at Blass' comments, which were often witty and clever. But now Brown tries to be the funny one and his is neither witty nor clever.

Block is less focused on being funny but tries to entertain with constant chatter about anything and everything. He has a very annoying (to me anyway) tendency to change the cadence and inflection of his voice when just talking about "whatever" (i.e., topics not related to the game action) as if to say, "I'm just throwing this out there for consideration." Unlike other teams' broadcasts, there is seldom a silent pause between pitches, as Brown either tries to be funny or Block tries to give us something to think about.

And then there are the McKenry segments, the Robbie segments, and even the rock bands on Fridays. I get the impression that the producers/directors see the broadcasts as a total entertainment package, much more so than just bringing the game to us. That might be a good plan for an audience of casual fans who need all that other stuff to stay interested. But I doubt that casual fans invest 2.5 hours to watch a game they don't care that much about in order to be entertained by Brown, Block, Robbie, McKenry and bands. The fans interested enough in the game to invest the time, don't want all the superfluous nonsense that detracts from the game coverage. They need a complete overhaul of the broadcasts, starting with whoever calls the shots.

[Doc]

The more I listen to other announcers on MLB, the more I
realize how terrible Brown and Bloc are

When I see other teams' broadcasts, there is much less fooling around by the announcers. They are much more focused on the game. Far fewer camera shots of them talking to one another in the booth.

I really believe that whoever produces/directs the broadcast has a lot to do with it. The announcers don't call the camera shots. But someone wants us to watch them talking to one another nearly every inning. I think they are told that their job is to entertain the audience. IMHO, Brown is fine when calling the action. But he constantly tries to be funny with his analyst. He's gotten a lot worse since Blass retired. Brown used to just laugh at Blass' comments, which were often witty and clever. But now Brown tries to be the funny one and his is neither witty nor clever.

Block is less focused on being funny but tries to entertain with constant chatter about anything and everything. He has a very annoying (to me anyway) tendency to change the cadence and inflection of his voice when just talking about "whatever" (i.e., topics not related to the game action) as if to say, "I'm just throwing this out there for consideration." Unlike other teams' broadcasts, there is seldom a silent pause between pitches, as Brown either tries to be funny or Block tries to give us something to think about.

And then there are the McKenry segments, the Robbie segments, and even the rock bands on Fridays. I get the impression that the producers/directors see the broadcasts as a total entertainment package, much more so than just bringing the game to us. That might be a good plan for an audience of casual fans who need all that other stuff to stay interested. But I doubt that casual fans invest 2.5 hours to watch a game they don't care that much about in order to be entertained by Brown, Block, Robbie, McKenry and bands. The fans interested enough in the game to invest the time, don't want all the superfluous nonsense that detracts from the game coverage. They need a complete overhaul of the broadcasts, starting with whoever calls the shots.

Maybe with the future change that’s coming, those producing the broadcasts will direct the announcers to focus on the game rather than the things you’re pointing out. I never see the games on TV because we don’t have a cable package that includes Pirates games, and I don’t listen on the radio anymore, mostly because of Block. But if MLB takes over the broadcast, for example, perhaps they’ll require Brown and Block, in particular, to deliver the game and forego the nonsense.

[Surgnbuck]

Seems we need this one back!!!

LOL, we've been complaining about our favorite announcers off the charts this year.

I know personally, Joe Block drives me insane, and I can't listen to the game. I also have soundly griped about both McKenry and Brault. Every pre-game show I watch, I swear the Pirates on offense are just a juggernaut waiting to happen with these two.

Greg Brown is a Pittsburgh treasure. Can't change my mind. Except zip zap kazoo. That's cringe. Bob Walk seems to disinterested anymore. Capps spends the whole night telling us incorrectly which pitch will probably be thrown next, and Young gives great insights if he hasn't put you to sleep yet. Walker is getting better, but still spends too much time talking to Brown like they're two guys at the game together, instead of talking to the audience. Wehner used to be the best, now he's a cap tipper.