Joe will be calling the Super Bowl on Sunday. Personally I think he's much maligned. He calls a good game and has a terrific sense of humor. Check out his Super Bowl promo for Funny Or Die. Joe Buck's Failed Super Bowl Promo from Funny Or Die
There's no question Buck has a sense of humor, "he calls a good game" is open for debate. He's been Fox's number 1 baseball guy since '96 and I can't come up with a single signature call by him.
Joe Buck is indeed much maligned...just search his name during any big game he announces on Twitter. The complaints I see about him (and, agree with) are not so much that he is a bad play-by-play man but that his delivery is so incredibly boring. While I am not with the crowd that would rather have somebody that goes over-the-top like Gus Johnson, I would rather have somebody that does have some emotion in his voice when things get dramatic.
I'll add this, though...perhaps you see more good in Joe than other people because you know how difficult his job is...and, to anybody that thinks sports play-by-play is easy, try it at home in front of your friends and a) do it without using any profanity and b) see if you can go 15 minutes before you're told to shut up. :D
Despite that, I think there's a significant amount of people out there that feel Fox has better men for the job than Joe. I'm one of them and it's the main reason I'm glad Fox did not win any of its attempts to get the Olympics. As much as NBC drives me up the wall every two years, I shudder to think what an Olympics with Joe Buck would be like if he were give any other duties besides announcing curling.
Buck's major problem was being saddled with Tim McCarver for so many years. What can you say when your partner says of a player, "That'll be the biggest moment in his life."?
Co-opting mockery in the hopes of defanging it is Damage Control 101.
Think Sarah Palin pairing up with Tina Fey on "SNL." Think Charlie Sheen agreeing to be roasted. Think Kirstie Alley with "Fat Actress," or William Shatner singing badly on purpose, as if he was always in on the gag.
Ho, ho, ho! So many viewers want Joe Buck to go away that he films a comedy bit about it. But it's a bit that pretends Buck is disliked by annoying, obnoxious, oversensitive jerks who misperceive an imaginary "New York bias," rather than the fact that Buck is a smug, joyless drone who always sounds as if he would rather be anywhere else. Ha, ha! How droll!
Remember when Al Michaels filmed a hilarious comedy bit like this? Oh, right... he's never had to.
Joe is probably more familiar with the Broncos than the Seahawks this year, since Denver played the NFC East this year and Joe probably spends more time on East games than any other NFC division -- not because it has the strongest teams (certainly not this year!), but because it has the biggest markets and fan bases. Plus there's the Peyton Manning factor -- the NFL has become so ridiculously distorted into a quarterback's game that I find it boring.
As for me, tonight I'll do what I do every year...follow the Super Bowl on radio, the last great act of cultural defiance.
Joe Buck is a fine broadcaster. But some of us have long memories of snarky comments he has about not having much love for baseball, and for the occasional desire to sound hip instead of sounding wise and correct. That said, I also think he hasn't had much of a chance on baseball to show what he can do, given that Tim McCarver can be a great analyst but he has been declining and, most of the time, is too busy being obvious or cute.
Unquestionably, Joe has benefited from being Jack's son in getting into the business, but he has suffered in comparison. His father was a larger-than-life character with a very distinctive voice and style--probably, next to The Vin, the second most influential modern sportscaster in his profession (Thom Brennaman sounds more like Jack than Jack's son does). So, some of the criticism of Joe is unfair. And some of it he brings on himself.
Look up the word smug in Webster's and there's a nice likeness of Joe. (Some qualification: I'm a lifelong Giants fan; what some see as a great legacy, I look at as obvious bias). I mean, during games involving the Cards, do we have to hear about the names of ushers that somehow are deserving of closeups? When all's said and done though, it's not like he's crappy; Bob Costas beats Joe Buck in the smug race by a country mile and he's one of the greats
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There's no question Buck has a sense of humor, "he calls a good game" is open for debate. He's been Fox's number 1 baseball guy since '96 and I can't come up with a single signature call by him.
ReplyDeleteI liked Jack Buck. I don't care much for Joe.
ReplyDeleteJoe Buck is indeed much maligned...just search his name during any big game he announces on Twitter. The complaints I see about him (and, agree with) are not so much that he is a bad play-by-play man but that his delivery is so incredibly boring. While I am not with the crowd that would rather have somebody that goes over-the-top like Gus Johnson, I would rather have somebody that does have some emotion in his voice when things get dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI'll add this, though...perhaps you see more good in Joe than other people because you know how difficult his job is...and, to anybody that thinks sports play-by-play is easy, try it at home in front of your friends and a) do it without using any profanity and b) see if you can go 15 minutes before you're told to shut up. :D
Despite that, I think there's a significant amount of people out there that feel Fox has better men for the job than Joe. I'm one of them and it's the main reason I'm glad Fox did not win any of its attempts to get the Olympics. As much as NBC drives me up the wall every two years, I shudder to think what an Olympics with Joe Buck would be like if he were give any other duties besides announcing curling.
Buck's major problem was being saddled with Tim McCarver for so many years. What can you say when your partner says of a player, "That'll be the biggest moment in his life."?
ReplyDeleteHe's been Fox's number 1 baseball guy since '96 and I can't come up with a single signature call by him.
ReplyDeleteSure you can. The "and we'll see you... tomorrow night!" World Series call he stole from his father. Twice.
Exactly. I omitted those calls because of the Jack Buck connection.
DeleteCo-opting mockery in the hopes of defanging it is Damage Control 101.
ReplyDeleteThink Sarah Palin pairing up with Tina Fey on "SNL." Think Charlie Sheen agreeing to be roasted. Think Kirstie Alley with "Fat Actress," or William Shatner singing badly on purpose, as if he was always in on the gag.
Ho, ho, ho! So many viewers want Joe Buck to go away that he films a comedy bit about it. But it's a bit that pretends Buck is disliked by annoying, obnoxious, oversensitive jerks who misperceive an imaginary "New York bias," rather than the fact that Buck is a smug, joyless drone who always sounds as if he would rather be anywhere else. Ha, ha! How droll!
Remember when Al Michaels filmed a hilarious comedy bit like this? Oh, right... he's never had to.
Joe is probably more familiar with the Broncos than the Seahawks this year, since Denver played the NFC East this year and Joe probably spends more time on East games than any other NFC division -- not because it has the strongest teams (certainly not this year!), but because it has the biggest markets and fan bases. Plus there's the Peyton Manning factor -- the NFL has become so ridiculously distorted into a quarterback's game that I find it boring.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, tonight I'll do what I do every year...follow the Super Bowl on radio, the last great act of cultural defiance.
Joe Buck is a fine broadcaster. But some of us have long memories of snarky comments he has about not having much love for baseball, and for the occasional desire to sound hip instead of sounding wise and correct. That said, I also think he hasn't had much of a chance on baseball to show what he can do, given that Tim McCarver can be a great analyst but he has been declining and, most of the time, is too busy being obvious or cute.
ReplyDeleteUnquestionably, Joe has benefited from being Jack's son in getting into the business, but he has suffered in comparison. His father was a larger-than-life character with a very distinctive voice and style--probably, next to The Vin, the second most influential modern sportscaster in his profession (Thom Brennaman sounds more like Jack than Jack's son does). So, some of the criticism of Joe is unfair. And some of it he brings on himself.
Look up the word smug in Webster's and there's a nice likeness of Joe. (Some qualification: I'm a lifelong Giants fan; what some see as a great legacy, I look at as obvious bias). I mean, during games involving the Cards, do we have to hear about the names of ushers that somehow are deserving of closeups?
ReplyDeleteWhen all's said and done though, it's not like he's crappy; Bob Costas beats Joe Buck in the smug race by a country mile and he's one of the greats