Study group intermission

Yeah, I've been studying property and torts for over three hours. There is no end in sight. Thank god we're taking a break now. It gave me the chance to bang furiously at a keyboard, venting all sorts of Rule Against Perpetuity frustration. Seriously, how do you determine which is the validating life?

Anyway, earlier this week Yahoo sports put out lists of both the best and worst sportscasters. Two different authors each penned their own list, one handling the best, the other handling the worst of the profession. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they didn’t communicate with each other all that much when building these lists. Why? Because eleven people ended up on both lists. More than twenty percent of the best broadcasters are considered among the worst. How is that even possible?

I understand that compiling a list like this is pretty subjective, and if there were maybe two or three names in common I probably wouldn’t have even noticed. But eleven names is just absurd. And I’m pretty sure that the person who came up with the “best” list is to blame.
Looking at the common names, the first two to be addressed appear on the “worst” list only with conditions. Bob Costas after 2000 is one of the worst, as is John Madden when he’s worshipping Brett Favre. Otherwise, each is on the “best” list. This reasoning doesn’t bother me at all; I couldn’t agree more with that take on Madden.

Some names that appear on both lists are just baffling though. For the most part, I can’t understand why anyone would think that these people are good broadcasters. Topping the “worst” list is Billy Packer. And yeah, before he thankfully got fired this past spring, he was terrible, really just an angry old man, especially with how he would shit all over mid majors, like St. Joes in the Nelson and West year. He was an asshole, and didn’t add anything to a broadcast.

Chris Berman is second on the list of worst broadcasters, and he too is listed among the best as well. He’s sucked for years. Joe Morgan, number three on the worst list, has been beaten into the ground at this point. Dick Vitale makes both lists, leading me to conclude that the best list was written by a Duke fan, and the worst list was written by someone with a triple digit IQ.

Tim McCarver and Joe Buck, both show up on each list. Sometimes Tim McCarver doesn’t bother me, I feel like there’s occasionally a pro-Phillies undertone to him. But then he goes and says something absurd like a team is more likely to have a multi-run inning when there is a leadoff walk than a leadoff home run, and I just have to shake my head. As for Joe Buck, he pretty much just sucks the life and enthusiasm out of everything. He hates fun, wouldn’t have this job without his dad, and needs to fade into the oblivion of calling arena football and college softball. I can’t stand him. How anyone could put him on a best list is just mind blowing.

Jim Gray, Dick Enberg, and Dick Stockton round out the list of people who are considered both the best and the worst. I’ve thought that Jim Gray was an asshole ever since he confronted Pete Rose, and nothing is going to change that. I’m completely ambivalent towards both Enberg and Stockton.

I just don’t understand how these people ended up being on both lists. How is there a middle ground here? Like, I understand that when Joe Morgan is talking about the mechanics of hitting he is bearable. But at any other point he makes me like baseball a little bit less. Seriously, Yahoo did just a flat out terrible job.