Boyung.com

I was watching the Packers-Vikings game today and, as usual, I was amazed by the lack of knowledge on the part of the people calling the game.  This is what they do for a living, and most of them don't even have a basic grasp on any of the intricacies of the game.  Every week, every game that I watch, there are always plays where one of the announcers says something in complete contradiction with the actual rules.  I had two classic examples today:

1) The receiver and the defender were locked up about two yards from the line of scrimmage when the ball gets thrown.  The ball then gets intercepted by a different defensive player after it was deflected off the receiver.  The quarterback is calling for interference, and the announcer, while showing the replay, says that the quarterback has a valid case.  However, the rules state that contact is allowed for the first five yards downfield, so the officials definitely made the right call.

2) The receiver catches the ball and is hit right after he catches it.  The ball flies out and hits the ground.  A defender picks up the ball but the pass is ruled incomplete.  The announcer states that the coach needs to challenge the call on the field because that turnover could easily change the game completely.  The problem here is that a ruling of "incomplete pass" cannot be challenged, and has never been able to be challenged.  This has been stated countless numbers of times just about every time a situation like this comes up, and these announcers just don't seem to get it.

Both of these rules have been around for a very long time, and the few good announcers out there typically explain these situations well when they do occur.  However, most announcers out there are more like the guys that I had to listen to today - completely oblivious to rules that have been around for years and haven't changed at all.  Even John Madden, whom I believe is one of the most senile people allowed to speak in public, gets these rules right when the come up in his games.

Of course, it isn't just the announcers that do stupid things like this all of the time, the coaches and the players do it regularly too.  In the second scenario above, the head coach did try to throw the red challenge flag, only to be told by the officials that he can't challenge that call.  I guess if the coaches of the sport can't grasp the rules as they are laid out, we can't expect the announcers to be able to, can we?  I believe that we can and should.  The announcers for sports, whether it is radio or television, are there to explain the game.  They are there to make it easier for those with less knowledge of the sport understand what is going on.  However, when they don't understand the rules themselves, it just leaves the less knowledgable viewers even more confused. 

I honestly don't have a good football announcer to use at an example, but I have a great one from baseball - Bob Uecker.  Uecker has been doing radio broadcasts uninterrupted for the Brewers since 1970, and he is in both the Radio Hall of Fame (2001) and Baseball Hall of Fame (Ford C. Frick Award - 2003) for his announcing, so he must be doing something right.  Every play, every pitch, he is explaining what is going on.  And, since it is radio, and not TV, he does an excellent job of filling the dead time with stories, statistics, and other interesting facts to keep the broadcast lively.  Most importantly, when something out of the norm happens during a play, he makes sure that he explains every detail of why a call was made the way that it was.  Uecker understands baseball, and understands that many people listening to him may not know as much about the rules of the game, so he explains them, each and every time.  That is what makes him a great announcer.  He adds to the experience of the game, even if you are there watching it.  I can't count the number of people I see at a Brewers game listening in to Uecker's broadcast on headphones every time I go to Miller Park.  They've got it playing out by the concession stands even when they've got the TV broadcast right there as well.  The biggest complaint I hear about these morons hired by the national networks for NFL regular season games is that most people would rather mute the sound and listen to the local radio broadcasts.  They aren't adding to the experience of the game, they are actually taking away from it.  Honestly, how hard can it be to find fifty people or so that actually know and understand professional football and can call a game?  That's enough for three people per game when the league is on a full schedule.  I can't imagine it is all too difficult, but the networks can't seem to figure it out.  I guess we'll all just have to live with stupid sportscasters until the networks can figure it out.