This is the first in what I intend to be a regular series of threads about different sports announcers - play-by-play and color commentators alike - designed to let you evaluate, rate and discuss their work. I suppose I would qualify as SoSH's commentator-in-residence, and sometimes I despair of hearing *so* many complaints about *so* many announcers, even those I think of as the best in the business. To be fair, a lot of that criticism comes during game threads in which our normal analytical standards are self-consciously lowered, so I thought I'd open things up on a regular - maybe weekly? - basis, one commentator at a time, and try to raise those standards back up. (I will concede that for some sports fans, railing about commentators is fundamental to the very nature of their fandom.) I won't always pick commentators I myself like or think are particularly good, and for the most part I'll probably stay out of the discussion, but hopefully we can hammer a few things out and maybe even come up with a definitive set of SoSH commentator rankings.
So, to our firstvictim subject: Cris Collinsworth's reputation in Patriot Nation suffered possibly irreparable damage when he looked Tom Brady in the eye (and/or the other way round) before Super Bowl XLIX. You don't have to set that soundbite aside in evaluating his work, of course...but hopefully that's not the *only* factor you'll judge him on? Collinsworth has the highest-profile analyst job on the most-watched sports broadcast in America; in your eyes, does he deserve that marquee assignment, or is he punching above his weight?
So, to our first