I tried watching the Iowa- Maryland game, but I just can’t stomach Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman. For me, either one of those is close to intolerable…. but together?! That’s certainly my all time least favorite tandem.
(I think I’d rather listen to Beth Mowans call a game that Bill Walton analyzed…… well, maybe)
Oh my. I don’t think anyone is worse than Bill Walton (if I remember correctly, Clay likes listening to him, one of the few things that makes me question Clay)
Best I remember of Walton calling one of our games was a few years ago. He went off on one of his stories, and about four series of plays happened and no call of the actual basketball game whatsoever.
In almost every game, Spencer throws in a word that no one has ever heard. He uses it correctly. But, as my dad told me, if no one knows it’s meaning, you failed in communication. That’s our charge as journalists, to communicate.
Spencer is not there to prove how smart he is; he is there to paint the picture and communicate. He often fails at the task.
When he was starting out as a broadcaster, I’m guessing Spencer as a man of color may have felt extra pressure to prove himself, not just as a former jock (I remember when he was a hot RB at Tulsa Edison). Maybe he thought a flowery vocabulary would impress the folks who do the hiring (even if he lost the folks who do the listening).