Sports Media Dream Team

My initial thoughts:

-Gotta have a rock of a play-by-play guy to anchor the group. The bulk of our sports consumption is made up of the games themselves. At the same time a one-dimensional announcer with no personality would be a waste. A versatile play-by-play background would be ideal, but a good guy should be able to handle all sports in time.

-Another core guy might be an experienced talk-show host. The familiarity with many sports and experience in drawing other personalities into debate would be huge. A guy like this could bring it all together.

-At this point things could go off in a few different directions, depending largely on preferences among the sports. A former coach or a game-tape analyst? Big-mouthed ex-player? Smarmy reporter? All 3?

This is a real challenge.

I’m starting the process with the selection of my play-by-play man. Do I want to set a classic tone with a guy like Keith Jackson? Do I opt for a more versatile guy who won’t hold you back in the other areas of journalism like Raible did? Real tough. I feel like Marv Albert would be a nice choice here as a man who would give me a little bit of everything (yes, everything). Jon Miller, Gary Thorne, Vern Lundquist, and others would all be safe bets to do a fine job across the board too, but for me this is a pick I’m not going to second guess. I’m going with GUS JOHNSON, and the reasons Haver provided are mine as well. I see the Johnson pick as one that sets an energetic and passionate tone, covers my bases as far as PBP, and brings some nice upside to the table. With the approach and enthusiasm Gus rolls with I can see him evolving into a big time contributor to a heated debate on any sport. For now, he’s a proven horse in the league that’s my highest priority, and I can’t think of a better choice to bring the energy and mentality of football to the rest of the sports world.

Several years ago I felt like there were two young men who could be the next big thing on ESPN. One was a big city hoops reporter and the other was a dynamic young boxing aficionado. They both brought to the table a deep, broad knowledge of their featured sport to go along with a sharp tongue and intense approach to the freestyle sports argument. Their paths have evolved differently, yet the men find themselves on the air, in the spotlight, and listed on Haver’s and Raible’s all-media teams. While I quickly tired of Stephen A. Smith’s delivery and the persistent racial innuendo, I find myself concurring with Haver again- I’m going to make MAX KELLERMAN the point man of my group. Kellerman just brings a ton a talent with him wherever he goes. He’s a tireless sports nut who does his own homework, but he’s also quite capable of taking the sports argument to a level beyond the stats or even the games themselves. I’m comfortable picking up what Max in putting down in any medium and on any topic, sports or otherwise. He can keep up with the vibe and pace set by Johnson, and he’ll bring out the best in the rest of my choices.

Part II on the way…

Reali? Seriously? To each his own but I don’t think Reali has anything to offer besides pretending to look interested in the ramblings of his guests via eyebrow raise.

My other 3 will be coming soon- those were the only two crossover picks at least!

This is great.

So what do I need now? I still don’t have a pure Xs & Os guy or a true analyst (the kind that uses data instead of bold, baseless claims like Salisbury). I also don’t have a “traditional” sportswriter, or a competent color analyst for basketball, baseball, or hockey. While I’m loaded as far as radio, pre-game, halftime, etc, I’m tempted to find another volatile personality to antagonize either Simmons or Parcells (Cornheiser?). Happily I don’t have an ex-players (Or do I? Are we sure Gus Johnson isn’t a hall-of-fame MMArtist or something?), but another coach or GM is intriguing.

Screw it, I’m going with….

BILL WALTON. Walton throws a weird wrench in everything we’re doing here. He teams up with Johnson to give me a crazy-dramatic duo for March Madness that can also spice up the NBA marathon. He should also match up nicely across from Parcells in the studio. While they both represent the older generation, I think their personalities would clash at times. Other times I think Simmons and/or Kellerman and Johnson would infuriate both.

Looking back, I clearly went for studio fireworks over written reporting and analysis. I am weakest in baseball, but then again talents like Kellerman and Simmons were brought in because they can cover so much ground. While Simmons isn’t always the most unbiased, he will provide plenty of material while Kellerman can step for important situations such as the playoffs. Basketball and football are covered, and Kellerman brings a rare dimension of boxing to the table. You see Kellerman’s name quite a bit, and he is the cog that allows this machine to run. Johnson is no-less important as the dependable backbone who flies under the radar only until kickoff or the first pitch.

Vermeil- He was in my plans the whole time. The only reason I went with Parcells was because I haven’t seen a ton of Vermeil beyond the color work he did in that game last year. I know what Tuna brings and I felt like he was a safer bet to spice things up. If I wasn’t taking a practical approach it would be Vermeil big time.

Mayne- I like Mayne but I think he’s a little goofy. When I chose Simmons I eliminated Mayne. Does he know a ton of information? Maybe, but it hasn’t be demonstrated that he is an insider (like Mortensen) or a serious outside analyst (like Rob Neyer).

Barkley- I was planning to include Barley also, and I’m very tempted to replace Walton and Parcells with Vermeil and Barkley. I think they’d be awesome together. At the end of the day I just thought of that jackass Walton and had to throw him in there. My only reservation about Barkley is that while he is willing to talk about a variety of topics and nothing is off limits, I don’t always get the impression that he’s actually smart. He’s got opinions, (and who doesn’t love them?) but if I’m going top 5 I want a guy whose opinions are as well-formulated as they are unique, rather than a fat southern simpleton shootin from the hip.

Wilbon/Greenberg/Korn/*insert espn golden boy*- I wondered if these guys would get a lot of play here or if you guys were thinking the same thing as I was. Which is- they do a good job and they deserve to be featured, but I don’t feel like they ever say anything that makes me think.

Hoge- Also got some consideration, but I felt like he was pretty one-dmensional. Since I knew I was going with an NFL coach (not big on Ditka btw) I thought Hoge would turn it into an NFL Live set.

Mark Madden- I always wondered how he would fit in on a show where he interacted with others as equals. On his show he’s in charge and he gets to hang up on callers on change the subject in an interview when he gets pulled out of his element. On the plus side the man can talk about anything. On the downside I question how much actual knowledge he has beyond hockey. I think he often takes ideas that other people have thought up and uses them to choose a side for the purpises of debate. He’s good at it, and it makes for good drive-time, call-in radio, but I’m not sure if he would bring enough with him to warrant a spot in my top 5. I’d like to see him in a national situation though. He’s definitely bright enough and willing enough to get after the touchy topics in an entertaining and thought-provoking way. (As an aside, how scared are the espn execs to throw him onto around the horn or a show like that? Imagine the worst case scenario.) Hmmmm…Madden and Walton pitted against each other with Kellerman moderating and egging them on for the purposes of entertaining TV? I’m rethinking this.

Herb is a good pick. I thought he was a dark horse for the Dan Patrick slot, and he eneded up being one of the featured co-hosts. I think he can handle himself anywhere.

Aldridge was pretty under the radar but I think that he’s a nice pick too. It’s easy to attach people in the media to whatever job they utilized to find their way to the national sports scene, when in fact they may not even be in their ideal role. Since the “reporter caste” generally talk like robots aside from the not-so-occasional and contrived voice inflection (wow, what a dorky rant), it’s easy to dismiss the people themselve as nothing more than the drones they play on tv. When I’ve seen/heard Aldridge in softer tv and radio settings he’s seemed like a real live human with the potential to handle Dream Team responsibilities. I wouldn’t have picked him but he’s an interesting choice.

Interesting perspective from Wells on the play by play and host roles. I could definitely see industry insiders viewing Gus Johnson’s approach as somewhat amateurish and over-the-top. In any discipline, practioners lacking a mastery of nuance can offend the refined senses of the men who hold the craft dear, such as Wells. (*waits for applause*) But seriously, I can appreciate that take, especially since it was prefaced with praise for Gus. I would agree fully that Tirico is a skilled and talented pbp guy. In all his work you get the impression that he has spent his career identfying and destroying his flaws, and he has reached the pinacle of his profession through intelligence and hard work. Plus, as you said, he’s got the pipes. You’re also the first to bring up the actual job of the studio host, which is to set up the *cough* talent. It would be interesting to do an episode of around the horn with Fowler, Ravech, and other hosts so we could actually hear an opinion for once. I bet these guys are ready to explode sometimes. The best is on BBTN- Kruk and co. start in with the mindless babble, Ravech attempts to lead them into lucency, then gives up is disbelief and slips in a sarcastic jab as they cut to commercial.

The last two Simmons podcasts:

Gus Johnson and Bill Walton. I love hearing my team in action!