Can TV announcers PLEASE stop trying to be sports officials? Given how frequently they are wrong about what they say regarding calls on the baseball and football fields, or basketball court (the three sports where the TV guys most frequently second guess decisions made by the officiating crews), we should add sports officials to the booth to help them get it right.
The problem is, the networks don’t hold them responsible. And the average fan doesn’t know any better when it comes to the rules and their enforcement in these three major sports.
These guys drive me batty. And make no mistake, it is mostly guys. For some reason, I don’t see female announcers jumping in to judge the officials nearly as often, but that could be because they don’t have as many chairs in the announcing booths yet. They could still catch up.
Here is just on recent example. The New England Patriots were playing the New Orleans Saints in an NFL (National Football League for the uninitiated) game a few weeks back. The Saints offense tried to draw the Patriots off sides by barking signals.
The offensive line moved, which signifies an illegal movement by that player, and means a five-yard penalty. The two announcers, Troy Aikman and Thom Brennaman, decided with their massive expertise that this was the “wrong” call.
Aikman, in particular, mouthed off several times about how “bad” it was. The movement was replayed 6-8 times. Over and over and over, the video showed clearly that the officials on the field were correct in their ruling.
Did this stop Aikman from spewing? Of course not. He’s paid to be the expert. He can say whatever he wants. There is no one to stop him, no one to rein him in, no one to tell him he’s blind because he cannot see clearly what is going on down on the field.
Instead, the “blind” comments get reserved for the referees and umpires who actually saw the play, enforced the rule properly and kept the game under control. Announcers like Aikman and Brennaman need to remember they are amateurs when it comes to officiating.
The chirping from the booths and sidelines against officials has grown increasingly antagonistic over the years, and when you have half-informed announcers pretending they know the rules, things are made worse. They infect the fans because the fans think the announcers actually do know what they are talking about.
This is bad for sports, sports fans, and civil behavior in general. A note to sports announcers: Stop yapping on things which you know nothing about. It only makes you look foolish.
Former NCAA college basketball announcer Billy Packer was the all-time worst. I officiated college basketball for 12 years and have written on sports officiating issues for over 20 years. At the height of Packard’s basketball announcing career, I was in the middle of my basketball officiating experience
Packer was a great announcer, but he also pretended to be a rules guru. It was nauseating when you listened to him explain rules to viewers as if he was the expert. All he did was drive fans down the road of ignorance.
Current or former officials are the experts. Television stations should hire them to be the experts.
Not only is the misapplication and misinterpretation of rules misleading to viewers, but it implies a license to criticize at length. Sports announcers are paid to report on the game and give it some analysis. Once they start acting like they know it all when it comes to rules and their enforcement, fans accept this “truth” and believe it. The biggest danger from this is that once an incorrect statement is made, it’s not retracted, so it develops a life of its own, influencing others, and perpetuating further incorrect/inaccurate views about the ruling on the play.
Announcers should seek help from current and former officials about the rules and on-court actions. If they want to have someone talk about it on the air, hire me. I’m available.