Free Republic

In Germany, meanwhile, an equestrian commentator for ARD TV, Carsten Sostmeier, opened an interview with rider Julia Krajewski with, “Let's see what the blondie has to say.” He went on to call her a “scaredy-cat" and said she was so afraid of the course that "there was a brown stripe in her panties." (snip) A commentator for Canada's CBC, Byron MacDonald, said that 14-year-old Chinese swimmer Ai Yanhan "went out like stink and died like a pig" in the 200-meter women’s freestyle heat.

Over the last two weeks, we polled the Awful Announcing readers on their opinions of each local broadcast team around the majors. The polls were broken down division by division to gain the perspective of both fans and rivals for each broadcast team. The votes are in, and we weighted your grades on a four point scale for each broadcast crew and sorted them to determine who your favorite and least favorite broadcast teams were. Each “A” vote received 4 points, 3 points for a “B” vote, down to 0 points for an “F” vote. The total points scored were...

If you're wondering what's going on in the American League Central pennant race over the next week, all you need to do is tune into a Chicago White Sox telecast and listen for the voice of the team's play-by-play man, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Harrelson is, to put it diplomatically, a bit of a "homer." In other words, he's unapologetic about his devotion to the White Sox, the team he routinely calls "the good guys." According to one measure, Harrelson and his booth partner, Steve Stone, make more nakedly biased statements during a single game than every other TV broadcast team...

<p>May 2, 2004 -- CURT Smith, author of "Voices of the Game" and chronicler of all that binds baseball to broadcasting, had a frightening thought. "What if the next Vin Scully is out there and no one will hire him? What if he can't find work because his audition tape isn't loaded with screaming and shtick and hyperbole? Look at it this way: When's the last time 'SportsCenter' chose to replay a classy, dignified call of a team announcer's call?"</p>

TBS Network: Japanese TV anchorwomen Dread the Psycho Peepers Being a Japanese television anchorwoman in Japan carries a lot of perks. It also carries a lot of hassles, especially at the Japanese national TBS TV network. Recently, underground web sites have sprung up, created by and for crazy fans looking for a bit of titillation. On these sites, fans are exchanging pictures of anchorwomen, many of which are "panchira" shots — chance moments caught on film of anchorwomen's underwear thanks to a gust of wind or a strategically placed camera at the bottom of the stairs. Other photos were obviously...

<p>Before television cameras hopscotched across the playing fields to capture sporting events, the game broadcast used to be a simple, intimate connection of sound and mind.</p> <p>One radio announcer, hovering over his microphone, set the scenes at the ballpark or arena and called the action, play by vivid play.</p>