Earlier last week, the world of broadcasting lost another iconic voice.
For almost four decades, George Allen “Pat” Summerall narrated National Football League games and was as much a staple of Sunday afternoons in the fall as any player. Announcers today are a dime a dozen, often with little personality or diarrhea of the mouth. That’s why we decided to take a look back at the greatest announcers sports has ever seen, the likes of which are becoming a dying breed.
Ed is an MMA/Extreme Sports contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller, and subscribe on at Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
Photo Credit: Getty
10 Greatest Announcers of All Time
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10. Doc Emrick
The present day voice of the National Hockey League, Emrick has been calling games nationally since the late 1980s, while splitting time with his job as the New Jersey Devils play-by-play announcer. Emrick’s done in New Jersey and focuses primarily on Olympic hockey and the NHL postseason these days, which is plenty to keep the 66-year-old busy. It isn’t difficult to distinguish Emrick’s pipes as he as a distinct, nasally voice that goes up significantly when the action on the ice increases. Over the last decade he’s quickly become the soundtrack to springtime hockey – now if only NBC would dump Pierre McGuire. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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9. Pat Summerall
Remember back to Thanksgiving in the early 1990s. Your grandfather is asleep on his favorite recliner, the women-folk are in the kitchen preparing dinner and your uncle is sipping on a cold beer. As all of this is going on, you’re watching the Dallas Cowboys and rooting either for, or against them. There was hardly any noise in the house, which allowed Summerall to provide the soundtrack to that special holiday. It became a tradition and we knew when there was turkey, football and family, there’d be Summerall to tell the story of a game that likely kept us from killing each other like any other holiday. Sundays throughout the fall and winter months weren’t the same when he retired in 2002. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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8. Bob Costas
When we think baseball, we think Costas. The man might be a little more opinionated these days about topics other than baseball but there’s no doubt he’s an expert in that subject matter. Costas is considered more of a host these days for such events as the Olympics, Sunday Night Football and MLB and NBA action. But during the mid-1980s, he was a staple for playoff baseball and eventually took over the job of announcing the All-Star Game in 1994. It’s tough to imagine what the sport – and the Olympics – would sound like without the 61-year-old legend, who’s like a walking baseball encyclopedia.
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7. Marv Albert
We are going to forget about the 1997 scandal and the allegations that he dressed as a woman, and instead focus on how Albert – originally the voice of the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks – became the voice of the sport within just a few short decades. He was the soundtrack to dozens upon dozens of memorable NBA moments and one of the most recognizable voices in all of sports – you might remember him best as the voice of the popular NBA Jam video game series. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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6. Harry Caray
Despite the fact that Will Ferrell typically comes to mind when bringing up the legendary Chicago Cubs broadcaster, the truth is there might not be a more beloved sports broadcaster in any city. The outfield of Wrigley has his famous “Hey” catchphrase, the team – up until this year – continues his tradition of singing the “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and there’s a restaurant named after him. Caray passed way in 1998 at the age of 83 but the city of Chicago will never forget the guy with the big glasses – and an even bigger voice. It’s still looking for a suitable replacement. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)
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5. Al Michaels
There’s only one reason that Michaels made it to No. 5 on this list and that reason is 1980. Michaels made perhaps the most iconic call in United States sports history that year at the winter Olympics when the U.S.A. men’s ice hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in what remains the sport’s biggest upset to date. The legendary broadcaster has done it all over the years, including an enjoyable cameo in the 1998 film BASEketball. Now Michaels calls Sunday Night Football with that hack Cris Collinsworth. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
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4. Harry Kalas
The voice of the Philadelphia Phillies – and NFL films – for nearly 40 seasons, Kalas won over the City of Brotherly Love with his distinct voice, love of the game and unique catch phrases such as “It’s Outta Here”. Kalas wasn’t able to call the Phillies’ 1980 World Series victory due to Major League Baseball’s restrictions at the time, though he got his opportunity in 2008 and it’s become one of the city’s most recognizable clips. Six months later Kalas passed away – the sounds of Phillies baseball haven’t been the same since. (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)
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3. Brent Musberger
When he’s not checking out Katherine Webb or obsessing over the honey badger, Musburger – who has been calling games since 1973 – is one of the busiest voices in sports having covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, college football and college basketball action. He’s become the voice of college football, giving fans not only that down-home feel but also more information than his counterparts. At 73, Musburger has yet to show any signs of slowing down – thankfully, because we couldn’t imagine fall Saturdays without him. And let’s not forget his role the Adam Sandler film The Waterboy. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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2. John Madden
You know you’ve made it when there’s a successful video game franchise named after you. The famous NFL coach-turned-color-analyst became synonymous with football in the late 1980s. Madden had a unique way of using a teleprompter and yelling “boom”, his infamous catchphrase. He showed plenty of emotion and often spoke as loud as a stadium packed with 55,000 fans. The combination of him and Summerall is the best that football – and perhaps all of sports – has ever heard. ( Photo by Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect)
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1. Vin Scully
In an era where there can be as many as four or five announcers throwing their opinions around during an event, Scully is the last of a breed – a lone wolf. At the age of 85, he still does Los Angeles Dodgers games by himself with little chit chat or banter. He’s had some memorable calls through his career, which spans nearly 65 years. He was the soundtrack to Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Hank Aaron’s record breaking 715th home run, Bill Buckner’s muffed ground ball in the 1986 World Series and Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series – to name a few. We just wish more still did it like Scully. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
