So Game 7 between the Capitals and the Bruins is heading into overtime and that is great news for hockey fans throughout the country. The game is tied, it could go either way, it has been competitive, physical, and fun to watch. What really makes this game, and most of the playoff games we have seen so far this postseason, great is Mike Emrick. Emrick is the number one play-by-play commentator for NBC, and in my opinion he is the best in the business.
Play-by-play commentary in each major sport is handled much differently. Hockey games are probably the "easiest" games to call. The action is non-stop, the games are fast-paced, and there is not much down time. Football games contain a lot of down time, and in a lot of ways, the color commentator is more important because he is breaking down replays, and giving the viewers a better picture of the game. The actual plays only last a few seconds, so the play-by-play guys aren't nearly as important. Of the four cable networks that do football games every week, I don't have a problem with any of the play-by-play guys. Al Michaels has been around the longest and I think he is the best of the bunch, but without a color commentator, football games would be much less interesting to watch on television.
Basketball is based a lot on color commentary as well, although the play-by-play guys do play bigger roles because the action is more continuous than football (except, of course, in the fourth quarter when all that happens is fouls and timeouts). Dick Vitale is a great color commentator in basketball because of his excitability, but he does nationally televised games and is so obviously biased towards the ACC that, in my mind, it takes away from his appeal sometimes.
Baseball is actually probably the hardest to call because there is so much down time throughout the course of a game. Add that to the fact that there are so many more games in a baseball season than in any other sport, and it is even tougher. There is a lot of back and forth between play-by-play and color commentators, so they need to be able to entertain as well as call the games. I am probably biased about this, but I really like the Diamondbacks announce team for that reason. Daron Sutton and Mark Grace both are former players, Sutton was a pitcher (not nearly as good as his father Don, but still a pitcher), and Grace was a first baseman. Therefore, as a team they can provide insight as far as offense, defense, and pitching is concerned. They are also very entertaining. Grace always had an outgoing personality as a player, and he and Sutton can always provide some laughs during the course of a game. The fact that baseball has so much down time also makes what Vin Scully does even more impressive. He works alone, and does the job of both the play-by-play and color commentator. He is an endless source of information, and I am always amazed when I watch a Dodgers game and listen to him how he is the last man left in the business to work alone and also the best in the business.
Anyway, my original point was that Mike Emrick is my favorite commentator to listen to. As the number one national television guy, Emrick calls games for numerous teams throughout the year. Despite this, he is always 100% into the game. Hockey is exciting enough because of the non-stop action, but Emrick makes it doubly so. You would never know if he were calling a game between the two best teams in the league or the two worst teams in the league. You would never know if the game was a blowout or if it were close. For the entire game, he seems to be on the edge of his seat while he does his job. When a shot rings off the post or a great save is made, Emrick makes you want to jump out of your seat with his calls. Ed Olczyk is the color commentator with Emrick, but you could really stick anyone next to him and Emrick would still make the game greater than it already is. He never misses a player's name or trips over his own words, and he makes me want to watch the full game, every game.
The NHL playoffs are great for many reasons, but I think one of the biggest reasons is that we get to hear Emrick call games almost every night. He is intense and into the games during the regular season, and he only gets better as the season goes on and the games get more important. It's too bad hockey games are on NBC Sports and a lot of people have never even heard of that channel, because if they did, they would be in for a treat every time they turned on a game. Emrick shows no bias at all towards any teams, and it seems like he is just excited to be watching hockey no matter the teams on the ice. Just listen to a Chicago White Sox game and hear the commentators outright root foor the White Sox on the air with no shame whatsoever and you will only appreciate Emrick even more. He loves what he does and he does it exceptionally well, and therefore he easily gets my vote as the top play-by-play commentator in all of sports.
Daily Rangers Update: Game 7 is tomorrow night. That's all that really needs to be said. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: We were completely shut down by Cole Hamels this afternoon, and the team still isn't playing too well. An off day tomorrow is followed by an east coast trip (which means early games that won't end at 1:00 in the morning!) to face the Marlins, Nationals, and Mets. Maybe a change of scenery will do something to wake the team up from this semi-slumber they seem to be in.
Daily Giants Update: Osi Umenyiora said that he wasn't too optimistic about remaining with the team, which was expected but it will still be tough to see him go because that seems inevitable now. With one year still left on his deal, hopefully Jerry Reese can pull off a trade and get some draft picks in return for Umenyiora to help bolster the depth that has taken a pretty big shot so far this offseason.
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