Joe Buck And Troy AIkman Used To Drink In The Booth Together, But Who Would Be The Best Announcers To Drink With?
Love this move by Joe Buck. That can't be stressed enough here. Sipping on a drink to remind yourself you're just calling a game is a vet move. Honestly need more guys like Buck to be honest about it and just start sipping on something. Sports are supposed to be fun. Why not get a little loose to remind yourself about that? But see the point of this blog is to argue about who would be the best announcers to drink with. I wanted to go with duos, but there's way too much crossover of a play-by-play guy and an analyst. I also want to stick with national guys, so sorry if your team affiliate got left off. We're also going to stick to current guys. We'll get a mix of sports, play-by-play guys and analysts. Honestly, this list could be 50 deep, but we're going to try to cut it here.
10. Brent Musburger
Musburger feels like a wildcard which is why he's here at 10. A bad gambling day and feel like you could get a bad drunk with Brent. But, he's going to point out all the hot chicks in the bar, he's going to have a good time and he's not going to give a shit. Guaranteed hangover the next day but completely worth it.
9. Brad Nessler
Nessler might be the most underrated announcer out there, but not for me. Love him. He's been around forever, called everything from SEC football, college hoops, NBA and NFL. You know he has stories for days being paired with everyone in the world to call games. The real selling point? Think about how long he's called either SEC basketball or SEC football games? You don't stick in the SEC that long if you don't know how to drink. Something tells me he sits down with a nice bourbon and calmly lets loose.
8. Al Michaels
A man who is a known gambler? Sign me up. He's the type of dude who hits you up at 11am, tells you to meet him at the bar by noon and he's got a bucket of beer waiting there with all the odds. He won't leave his seat until the games end because he's sweating something out. My kind of guy.
7. Kevin Harlan
Not only is Kevin Harlan the consummate professional, but he's fucking hilarious. Listen to some of these calls and then think about what he'd do with a couple drinks in him.
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You could make the case Harlan is the best in the game. I won't fight you on it. Now think about sitting at a bar with him and the people watching. Might be the top-1 guy to have in a situation like that, especially if a bar fight breaks out. Need the commentary from him during that or seeing a guy strike out at 1am.
6. Jim Nantz
The legendary Jim Nantz. Something tells me you're drinking nothing but the finest wine and scotch in all the land with Nantz. But really this is about becoming best friends with him and getting invited to his house on Pebble to play his backyard mock hole. The man has stories too and more importantly he knows how to tell stories. You sit at a bar with Nantz and you're locked in to every word he says. That's a key ingredient to someone in your crew.
5. Bill Walton and Dave Pasch
I know I said I wanted to go with individuals, but there are certain cases that you can't. This is one of them. Walton and Pasch are glued together whether Pasch likes it or not. Plus, I need someone who knows how to handle Walton. Me and Walton? That could be trouble. But you throw Pasch in there to lob it up to Walton and know how to direct the conversation with him? Huge. Not to mention you need a normal person there with you to balance out Walton.
4. Verne Lundquist
No list is complete without Uncle Verne. Need Verne there for when a hookup at the bar actually happens. Need him to hit the bar with the Nickalus call 'Maybe ..... YES, SIR!'
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Verne seems like the type of guy who would just go with the flow and drink anything from a Natty Light to Pappy 23. There's also zero doubt in my mind he's hilarious off the air. The man just loves to have a good time. Almost feel like 4 might be too low for him on my rankings.
3. Mike Breen/Clyde Frazier
Going back to the duo here and I know it's MSG, but they have been on NBATV together so I'm cheating. There's nobody cooler in the game than Clyde Frazier. You walk into a bar with Clyde and all eyes are on your crew. That's just how Clyde is. At the same time Breen is simply fantastic. I assume you come back with a round for the boys and he hits everyone with a quality 'BANG', especially if it's right before last call. Nearly the perfect duo to drink with.
2. Joe Buck
The man is already talking about getting a little loose in the booth, so he has to be on the list. Nobody has ever rebounded better than his Randy Moss mooning call. Buck has one of the best big game voices in the game. So any time you start drinking with him, you just assume you're in for a night.
1. Bill Raftery and Gus Johnson
Raft is my number 1 guy who I want to drink with. However, I'm putting Gus here with him because this is the best duo in college basketball. Nay, it's the best duo in all of sports. They are simply fantastic together and you get the best of both worlds here with Raft and Gus. Raft is more lowkey, going to pound his vodka and have stories for days. Gus will be more energetic and freaking out about the smallest things. It's impossible to have a bad time with these two. Simply impossible. Need my future best friend to have a drink here with me.
Honorable mentions: Dan Shulman, Sean McDonough, Ian Darke, Ray Hudson, Gary Thorne