My New Target of HATRED--Pistons PA Announcer

[RDF]

Congrats to the Pistons for winning the NBA Championship. Larry Brown did a nice job coaching this team and stealing Rick Carlisle's job. Joe Dumars deserves the true credit for rebuilding this franchise and just think, if Matt Geiger hadn't used his "Veto Clause" none other than Allen Iverson would've been a Piston and the "Play the Right Way" Brown wouldn't have been the coach. But I digress.

As a fan of basketball and man who finds targets of rage at a rate most people eat, I have a new individual that in my opinion must be [dismissed] as soon as possible. "Mason" the Public Address Announcer of the Detroit Pistons. First off, anyone that goes by one name needs to be [fired]. Seriously, how friggin important do you think you are? The guy does a job anyone could do and he goes by one name?? Secondly, he's rivaling the guy who works for Orlando as the most annoying of all time--a second to me is Ray Clay the guy that did Bulls games but that's because I hated MJ and Chicago--note I said hated, not that they didn't deserve praise, etc...

I enjoy simple things. To me the best PA announcer in Basketball was the late John Condon of Madison Square Garden. I also enjoy the PA Announcer of the Lakers who has a great voice and sounds cool when you hear it. Now we have "Mason". This CLOWN is one of these new-breed interject myself into the game people who can't stand to just do their job, they have to go over the top. When he does the "DEE-TROIT BASKET-BALL" I don't mind it too much because the fans like it, but I do mind it because I'd like to hit him in the face with a brick and shovel.

The Starting Introductions in Detroit make the rest of the NBA look like they are done in 5 seconds. He is annoying in how he announces, his voice makes me want to have EAR CANCER, and his whole "Aura" makes me wish I could take him to the floor and do a Ben Wallace on him--basically that means chop, slap, grab, push, etc...or in Human Terms--MUG.

Last but not least on this topic, how PATHETIC is it that your team is about to win the World Championship and "MASON" has to say with 1 minute to go "I CANT HEAR YOU" or "GET UP". SHUT THE "BLEEP" UP you grandstanding, worthless, piece of crap. Doesn't the NBA realize many people who watch these games are NOT fans of either team and basically want to see the players/game and not have to hear incompetence?? (What am I thinking, the NBA allows Mike Tirico, Michelle Tafoya or TROLL as I call her, and Stuart Scott to work the Finals, so nevermind)

So on to an offseason and hope to see an NBA future where Detroit suffers many painful losses and "Mason" gets punched out []. If it happens tomorrow, it wouldn't be soon enough for me. I just hope that clown gets put into Basketball Graveyard with that doofus from Orlando and any other chucklehead who takes AWAY from the players and game. Maybe "Mason" could meet up with Anthony Mason's fists or Shaq could mistake him for a chair and sit on him. Nah, rather get to beat on him myself. [].

[MCIGuy]

Come on, RDF. That guy is great. At least he's great doing the intros. I would love to have him do GU games in place of the dude that's there now.

Interesting enough its been reported that before Ralph Wiley died, he was on the couch telling his fiancee how entertained he was by the Pistons' announcer. Said it was like the ol' days with Jordan and the Bulls and their intro.

By the way...RIP, Mr. Wiley.

[RDF]

MCIGuy said:

Come on, RDF. That guy is great. At least he's great doing the intros. I would love to have him do GU games in place of the dude that's there now.

Interesting enough its been reported that before Ralph Wiley died, he was on the couch telling his fiancee how entertained he was by the Pistons' announcer. Said it was like the ol' days with Jordan and the Bulls and their intro.

By the way...RIP, Mr. Wiley.

Oh well if Ralph Wiley likes something, that makes it great.

As I said above, I HATED Ray Clay the Bulls Announcer, so obviously I wouldn't like "Mason". If this is "Great" then allow me to be ordinary. I realize that Sports is entertainment, but it's intended that the GAME is to be the entertainment. Now with these "hype" men we can't listen or view a game in piece. Arenas and PA Announcers are always telling people what to do, that's funny because when I watch a game the players/teams dictate my enjoyment.

If GU ever hires someone like this to be a PA announcer, I'm DONE. It's about the players and not some fat, loud mouth who needs to act important by dragging an intro into a 15 minute "ME" marathon. It has nothing to do with "Style" either because I'm young, like things that aren't old fashioned, but it has to be authentic and not FORCED. This guy is trying to make a name for himself and that right there tells you he's conceived this persona and it's not original or him being himself. Enthusiasm is great, but being on the mic as much as Al Michaels is really uncalled for and the volume he speaks at is so friggin annoying, it only is matched by that butthead who works for the Orlando Magic.

As I said, I send many bad wishes and pain to "Mason" and those like him. It's about the GAME, and this guy doesn't make one difference in who wins or loses and if he does, then there is no reason for me to watch.

[DFW HOYA]

RDF said:

If GU ever hires someone like this to be a PA announcer, I'm DONE.

Well, if someone could please return Fr. McFadden to announcing the starting lineups before RDF hears that annoying recorded voice that urges the 5,789 or so at MCI to "get on your feet and make some noise!!!!!!"....

The 15 minutes of fame for these PA announcers come with the direct input of the teams. NBA teams don't seem to lean toward the Bob Sheppard or Sherm Feller style, but a little class would be in order.

In Dallas, the Mavericks had a fine PA voice in the 80's and early 90's (Kevin McCarthy) who never needed to shout over the crowd to get attention. When Mark Cuban took over, he fired McCarthy and repalced him with a DJ who could shout the starting lineups. McCarthy not only lost that job, but later developed a series of medical issues with his voice that lost his longtime radio job and he was out of work for years thereafter, only recently returning to a small AM station in town. I guess there's no room in today's NBA for an "announcer" instead of a showman.

[FromTheBeginning]

DFW - "Humble" Billy Hayes @ the AAC is much more annoying than Mason. At least he has a little bit of creativity where as Hayes just screams at us for three hours. As you said, how I fondly remember the class of John F.X. Condon in the Garden.

[SaxaCD]

John Condon and Fr. McFadden are definitely my two favorites of all time -- distinctive voices, class and none of the silly clowning aimed at people who'd rather be at the circus but somebody gave them free tickets to a game instead.

[1803]

If you're nitpicking the PA Announcer for one of the most likable teams in recent memory it is going to be a long offseason. I feel bad for all hoop junkies because this is it until November.

[Boz]

Well, there's Kenner League (we hope). And the Olympics. And Xbox. And old game tapes of 'Zo, Bubbachuck and Sweetney.

But yeah, this is a pretty sucky time for sports. I'm more depressed about hockey, since God only knows when that's coming back. Maybe in November. . .2006! But from now until August, when the NFL & college football get into gear, all we get to hear about is baseball.

[Deleted]

Good point Boz. Everyone always says February is the worst time for sports (post-Super Bowl) but I think that's insane. You have college hoops winding down into March Madness, and the NBA and NHL starting their stretch runs, trading deadlines are looming, etc. Now, all we have are boring baseball games until late July (a few games out of 162 aren't more important than any other) when NFL training camp starts.

GO HOYAS!!!

[YB]

I like Fr. McFadden and all, but doing intros he sounded like he was falling asleep. I think there's a middle ground here between annoying and moribund.

[EasyEd]

RDF - do I understand Mason is not your favorite announcer?

[the_way]

RDF, what do you for a living, because I want your job. You seem to have plenty of time on your hands.

But seriously, the PA announcer may be annoying, but I focused mainly only the game. Whats real annoying is Stuart Scott's reporting.

[Deleted]

Uh oh...here we go...

[RDF]

the_way said:

RDF, what do you for a living, because I want your job. You seem to have plenty of time on your hands.

But seriously, the PA announcer may be annoying, but I focused mainly only the game. Whats real annoying is Stuart Scott's reporting.

I work in the Construction Business and take care of "Union" matters. Let's just say Johnny Sack and Tony Soprano are not made up characters!

Seriously, how in the heck did Stuart Scott get involved in the Finals? Wasn't Tirico bad enough and the "Troll" Tafoya is like the masculine version of Jim Gray, ooops, Gray is the man and Tafoya the woman? I thought they were hobbits.

One of the true annoyances to me was the phasing out of David Aldridge--Scott took his role--and the fact Kevin Frazier would appear for certain segments on ESPN and then he was gone to be replaced by "TAR HEEL" Stuart Scott. Maybe I'm the only person other than Way to hate this man with more venom than "Mason". But this guy is overexposed, not very intelligent when it comes to Sports (His reference last night was that Elden Campbell won a title in 1991 which is a LIE because he played for the Lakers and last time I checked that was year the Bulls won their First Title, shouldn't Tar Heel Scott know when MJ won #1??)

Oh well, I just observe things and while I was trying to listen to what Al Michaels and Doc Rivers had to say, "Mason" and the volume he yells at just got beyond annoying, it was repulsive. I agree with everyone else who said class at a game seems to have gone away for good. Bob Sheppard is known as the "Voice of God" because of his style--and that is style, not forced. John Condon was the best ever and for those that didn't hear him, go old school and listen to Kurtis Blow's "BASKETBALL" and you'll hear the voice of the Garden.

To me "Style" is something that comes across, it's not thrown in your face. If you have it, there's no need to draw attention to yourself. This "Mason" guy is the perfect example of what I DON'T like about sports today. Unimaginative, Forced, and all about making himself a part of the game (circus comment above was great). I think Detroit's play speaks for itself and the last thing you expect from a Blue Collar team that plays a way to make fans scream and yell is a guy YELLING AT THE FANS TO YELL! But then again, instead of having creativity and originality, they've promoted these guys as "Bad Boys II". Moder Sports Marketing--pathetic. Players/Teams make people take notice, not Madison Avenue and forced promotions or self promotion.

[MCIGuy]

RDF, clearly my post did not suggest that Mr. Wiley's liking the PA meant that everyone else should have as well. But as I pointed out I simply found it interesting that .reportedly the last comment Wiley made to his fiancee before he started having chest pains was how much he liked the announcer.

Me personally I'm on Wiley's side. An announcer like that with his own style creates excitement in an arena and considering how sterile NBA games often are that's saying something. Since I will only hear him on the television at most a couple of times each year it doesn't upset me that he takes awhile to get through the introductions. Its a small price to play and is less offensive to me than the fireworks displays are.

And the dude who did the intros for the MJ led Bulls was fantastic. As aguy who despised those Bulls I'll admit that was one part of the Chicago run that I actually liked and miss to this day. It may be the most well known team intro in the history of American sports and it does not get to that status without hitting a positive chord with most spectators and viewers. You may not care for it and that's fine. But I feel you're hating it for all the wrong reasons. Just my two cents.

[the_way]

Me personally, I think ESPN's coverage of the NBA is pathetic. Torico needs to stick to Thursday college football. The two "dumb jocks" Sean Elliot and Dan Majerle should be banned from ever commentating any NBA game again. Kevin Frazier used to be back on Fox sports, till he, ehem, "left" for ESPN, and should have stayed there. (On a side note, does ESPN pay that much more than Fox Sports. I mean Stephen A Smith, John Kruk, Michael Irvin, Kevin Frazier, etc. All these guys left from Fox to ESPN). ESPN is just plain pathetic when it comes to coverage. Great for college basketball, but for the pros, HOOORRRRRRIBLE. Stephen A. Smith is a bright guy, and gives great insight, but is the biggest "exit" hole. He tries to outdo all of his colleagues everytime he is on camera. Tim Legler is the biggest disgrace. This guy was a journeyman player who could hit threes, who never made significant contributions deep in the playoffs as a player, and now all of a sudden he is an expert on these affairs, a la, Sean Salsberry. Tom Tolbert isn't bad, he just has no taste in fashion. See the real problem with ESPN is it is a hodge-podge job. Everything is thrown together with no respect for chemistry. Thats why you get such poor coverage.

I wish TNT was the flagship cable station and had another sister network for regular television to cover the NBA. At least you would get great coverage. E.J., Charles Barkely, etc., and the commentators, Marv Albert, Doug Collins, JT, Kevin H.

[RDF]

MCIGuy said:

RDF, clearly my post did not suggest that Mr. Wiley's liking the PA meant that everyone else should have as well. But as I pointed out I simply found it interesting that .reportedly the last comment Wiley made to his fiancee before he started having chest pains was how much he liked the announcer.

Me personally I'm on Wiley's side. An announcer like that with his own style creates excitement in an arena and considering how sterile NBA games often are that's saying something. Since I will only hear him on the television at most a couple of times each year it doesn't upset me that he takes awhile to get through the introductions. Its a small price to play and is less offensive to me than the fireworks displays are.

And the dude who did the intros for the MJ led Bulls was fantastic. As aguy who despised those Bulls I'll admit that was one part of the Chicago run that I actually liked and miss to this day. It may be the most well known team intro in the history of American sports and it does not get to that status without hitting a positive chord with most spectators and viewers. You may not care for it and that's fine. But I feel you're hating it for all the wrong reasons. Just my two cents.

Wiley's last words on Earth were about "Mason"? That is dramatic irony at it's WORST. The day I leave for good, and that's one of the last things I hear, I'll start to wonder what I did wrong to be heading "South".

Everyone loved Jordan and the Bulls so they could have had Ted Lange doing his "Haiku" from the Loveboat days to introduce the Bulls and people would've loved it. For God's Sake the ALLEN PARSONS PROJECT worked themselves into every arena because of MJ and his popularity and name 2 people that would like that song if they heard it on the radio. Same with Europe's "FINAL COUNTDOWN" that doesn't get enough play in Sports Arenas--

"Mason" is a wannabe Rucker Park/And 1 Streetball Hype Man. This is as close as the NBA can get to ripping off what was unique about Summer League ball. I mean they even show it on ESPN and NBA TV now and call it the "Entertainers Basketball League" or "Streetball". Everything is so UNORIGINAL it's not even funny. I actually think originality would be NOT having a laser show, not having a PA Announcer yell at fans to yell, and definately not a "Set-list" from 80's one hit wonders. But then again Child Porn Addict Gary Glitter makes more money from our Sports Leagues than anyone, so what do I know? I'd rather hear a duet with Carl Lewis and Roseanne Barr than these lame songs the entire league rips off.

[RDF]

Way, you are right on the money about ABC/ESPN and their poor coverage. Nice mention about them ripping off FOX as well. Maybe they can steal Tim McCarver and Joe Buck as well!

BTW, Tirico sucks at everything and should go back to Sportscenter. When he calls a game it cheapens the event and makes you feel as if a 4th Grade Intramural Game is happening. Him doing College Football, Basketball and now the NBA is making it so I can't watch with sound. Then Marjele and Elliot come on and give their two cents while TNT has Steve Kerr, Czar, Marv, Harlan, JT, Rex Chapman--nice addition, Gary Bender, Doug Collins, and of course the Studio Show, it's not even close. Just give TNT the NBA Package and if you want network coverage, I say NBC. I also forgot to mention Dick Stockton who is a great NBA Announcer.

ESPN sucks because they talk about ESPN all the time. They get guys who don't share opinions and lack credibility--as you mentioned with Salisbury and Legler--what championship did they win to tell us what it's like to play in a Finals or Super Bowl?? Then you have John Clayton---who would tell that guy anything of valued importance??

Stuart Scott, Berman, Van Pelt or "Wannabe Kilborn" as we like to call him in Twin Cities, and especially Karl Ravech and Gammons let it be known who their "teams" are. Nice to have a National Broadcast acting as if it's "Heel Time" or "Terp Time". UGH!!!!!!

BTW, whatever happened to the Dream Job kid? It's a Dream Job that you dont' have to work and you get paid! Gotta love ESPN "talent". If it's their own "Find" they suck but if they need credibility they STEAL. Nothing like the World's Sports Leader!

[Boz]

While I don't disagree with the overall point, i.e. coverage and analysts are not what you'd expect from a network that calls itself the "worldwide leader," I actually kind of like Mike Tirico, but I agree that he is at his best with college football. I don't watch much of the NBA studio coverage, so I can't comment on his work there or any of those guys in particular (I will say though that Tim Legler owes everything, EVERYTHING he has today to the leg up he received from one Mr. Tony Kornheiser several years back).

And while I despise the made-up arguments between Sean Salisbury and John Clayton, and I usually disagree with most of Salisbury's conclusions, I do think he (or someone who helps him) researches pretty well and more often than not has some solid facts to back up his points.

Must be from his strong background investigating the metalurgical strengths and weaknesses of Buzzsaw and Chief Knockahomer in his former days on Battlebots.