You guys (and ladies) consume and subsequently comment on sports broadcasting more than the average fan, so I'm asking for your help with Tuesday's (12/19) "Critics At Extra Large" segment. Just post here and we'll print them. We're looking for things such as "Most Improved," "Best Beat Reporter," "Worst Decision by an Executive," "Worst Production/Best Production," "Best and Worst Play by Play," "Best and Worst Pre and Post," "Best Columnist," etc., etc. I think you get my drift. And I appreciate your help, in advance.

Worst Decision by an Executive has to go to whatever boob thought it was a good idea to put the self-important, large melon-ed Joe Buck on half the pregame for Fox's NFL coverage. This guy makes me switch the channel when I see that he's covering a football game, and someone decided they needed more of him? It was almost like they were trying to find ways to involve him more, even though he obviously can't handle it - if he is doing the noon game on Fox, he leaves the pregame early to get ready for that. Why? Apparently Fox is trying to save a few bucks and couldn't afford to hire an ACTUAL pre-game host. Can't wait until I see Terry Bradshaw's names running on the screen as Executive Producer.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Worst Decision by an Executive (Program Director) Fixing what wasn't broken, Jeff Schwartz took a decent rated show with S&C and cut his audience in half by hiring Sean Salisbury.

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Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.

Oz, nice one, but that was a tap-in...

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Worst Production Astonishingly, the NFL network can't seem to figure out how to call a game. Their own website states that the team of Gumbel and Collinsworth wouldn't be together every week for scheduling reasons. This lack of foresight leaves us with a gravelly voiced Dick Vermeil giving way to Deion Sanders in the booth with Gumbel and Marshall Faulk. Just a brutal way to showcase your own sport.

Worst decision by an executive -

For people whose business it is to foster a loyal audience, I cannot understand the reasoning behind keeping the MJH audience in the dark regarding Mr. Dan McNeil's summer "vacation".

I understand the term "elephant in the room" generally means something else when used with the MJH show, but in this case there was an uncomfortable silence on the issue and it was a slap in the face to the fans of the show.

Thumbs down.

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You know me like that.

Worst Production Any game done by Comcast. It's inexcusable to have technical difficulties and miss the ending of any sporting event. Yet they did this with the Cubs this year. These problems have been their since the start and probably won't be fixed any time soon.

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Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.

Still, it had to be said.

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Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.

I'll top you guys: worst executive decision has to go to the white sox who, after winning the world series and signing a lucrative new contract with a new radio station, decided to lowball their best best broadcaster irrespective of medium and replace him with a play by play man with zero big league experience.

Another candidate for Worst Decision by an Executive goes to ESPN, who cannot for whatever reason find a regular gig for Gary Thorne. That he isn't a play-by-play guy for any one of their sports is a crime to us, the listeners. He is one of the best at his job, no matter the sport, and has been a third and fourth option for very few events on ESPN. Ever since they got rid of hockey, he has just floated around, and that needs to stop in 2007.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Worst Decision by an organization : Along the lines of letting Rooney go, thumbs way down to the Blackhawks. Getting rid of Pat Foley was a huge mistake and a major letdown to the few Hawks fans that remain.

How about worst production to all baseball television and radio broadcasts, due to their greed to get another commercial in, regularly missing the first pitch coming back? I personally haven't heard/seen one where I've missed a big hit, but I'm sure it has happened a lot.

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How about the knuckleheads going away to a break with a flag on the ground and then not mentioning what penalty was assessed when they come back from the break. That drives me crazy.

Most Improved Len Kasper and Bob Brenly, they loosened up this year and were surprisingly entertaining with an extremely bad Cubs team on the field. Finally, Brenly dared to criticize many of Dusty's insane moves and he surprisingly kept his job.

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Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.

Worst play by play -

Lamar Thomas and his embarassing display when Florida International played "the U". You know, the whole "you come into our house, you should get your behind kicked" business.

Maybe this should go to the executive that hired this guy, but what executive would really foresee someone having such poor judgment as to take such an idiotic stance as "I was about to go down the elevator and get in that thing". Lamar won't be on the U broadcasting team anymore. He probably couldn't even get a job hosting "Stooge-a-palooza" on WCIU, "The U" - although he might be able to star in it.

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You know me like that.

Worst Decision By An Executive – ESPN Mothership/Jeff Schwartz booting S&C out of nine to noon.
Sure this is a gimmee. But it has to be addressed. This was quite the puzzling move by ESPN Radio 1000. Silvy and Carmen had been steadily gaining a listening audience since January. Ask anyone who knew the numbers inside the building how they did in March and April (it was over a 5). They were destroying WSCR during the entire show. Enter Salisbury and Rosenbloom. This show’s first three months might go down as the most unlistenable three hours in the history of Chicago radio. Salisbury was a pompous and defensive jackass to everyone who had a different thought than him. He yelled and talked over to people to argue his point and somehow thought that made his point sound like the better one. Rosey sounded like a man that had just given up because he knew Sean had no respect for anyone’s thought, but his own. For their efforts, they brought in a 1.8 rating and watch WSCR beat them in their slot.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Worst Idea Ever – Fox Sports Art/Graphics Department for their Warm-up Robot and the dreaded Robotic Turkey.
Words can not express just how deeply I absolutely hate these damn robots and cringe everytime I see the F’ing robotic turkey for the Thanksgiving Day game. These robots are completely pointless and warming up for no apparent reason. I don’t even know why they bug me that much, but they do. As for that damn robotic turkey. I seriously get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as Thanksgiving approaches for the simple reason that I know I’m going to have to watch that stupid ass robotic turkey gobbling, running around on the screen, and just being plain obnoxious with its sound effects during the entire broadcast in and out of commercials. For this reason alone, I do most of my mingling and walking around talking to others during the Fox game instead of the other game. I hate you Robotic Turkey. Go to hell. And for the fact I somewhat dread Thanksgiving Day because of that graphic, I award the Lifetime Achievement Award of a THUMBS DOWN to the Fox Sports Art and Graphics Department.

Don't watch on Halloween then WR because you'll see a massive robot with a Jack-o-Latern head.

I personally like the robots because it's the only 5 minutes that my 6 year old will sit and watch a football game with me.

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You know me like that.

Although Pat Foley was a staple with the Blackhawks and is the best Play by Play man in the business , I have to give a thumbs up to Dan Kelly and Eddie Olyczk for the T.V. broadcasts on Blackhawks games. It's refreshing to hear a new young voice who describes the action and Eddie gives you a players insight and breakdowns of the game so the novice fan can understand the new NHL. I think the two have great chemistry and sound great together.

Worst production :Hands down the Sox radio booth .

Worst Play by Play : Jeff Joniak. Should be calling Joliet Catholic High School football games. Does not have a radio voice and the Bears went the cheap route but I loved the fact they dumped Hub Arkush from the booth . biggest dickhead in Chicago media period.

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"You can't put a bounty on a man's head"!

Comeback Player of the Year Award - NBC's Sunday Night Football

While the NFL Network botched the broadcast of their games, NBC came back from a long hiatus and has now brought us the best football broadcast production in the business. The graphics are clean, not overstimulating, and look great on the screen. Their camera work is second to none these days and they give us more angles (or at least it seems that way) than any other broadcast from the networks. The sound is always crisp and clear. The HD looks outstanding as usual, but even the regular air broadcast of these games have come in dramatically clearer than the other stations as well. Madden and Michaels still have their goofs here and there, but they also are an enjoyable listen and have had great chemistry since partnering up. Something both guys were losing with their other teams before teaming up now. Their symphonic sounding theme music used in and out of commercials sounds powerful and its even a little catchy. And, I hate admitting it, but they pulled off using Pink in their intro song. I couldn't have been more of a skeptic going into it, but I listen to her anyday over that old fart Hank Jr singing that same old song that has become annoying as hell. A huge kudos and and Welcome Back to the NFL on NBC!

Thumbs down to the bright one's Jay Mariotti following Ozzie calling him a you know what, this past summer. After saying that he himself was not the story, Jay proceeds to go on almost every radio show, to then talk about the whole thing. After years of making fun of Mike North, Jay suddenly has no problem going on his show to talk about it. THUMBS DOWN JAY.

Worst Production -

ESPN's Monday Night Football is a joke from beginning to end. From the pregame "hype machine" and the embarrassingly bad "Jacked up" segment to the in-game "Celebrity interview". If I wanted Christian Slater's input on anything, let alone an NFL football game, well, I would just shoot myself..with an automatic weapon. Why not let Slater and Michael Irvin chat about their favorite types of drugs, that might at least be interesting.

This may all be excusable if the actual broadcast team could salvage it but they CANNOT. Their insistence on picking a story and focusing on it all night is excruciating (is Matt Leinart in the Hall of Fame yet?). And the uncomfortable exchanges between Kornheiser and Theisman are less interesting than 2 drunk guys at a bar talking about jai alai.

Overall, I'm glad the games for the most part have sucked because I don't want to have to watch the broadcast. Ahhhh!!

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You know me like that.

Resuscitation of the Year Award

Thumbs up to MJH for working on and fixing 3 of their segments in the past year.

1. - Love the new Who do you Love. This baby was just about flatlining. Having something to compete for has made the picks more meaningful and the segment a lot more interesting.

2. - Confidence Picks - Again involving the listeners and giving them a shot at a great prize has had me hooked every week and actively trying to get my picks in.

3. - Critics - Mac had mentioned doing away with the segment. Maybe that was more of a challenge to the listeners. Occasionally callers would bring it but I believe it was a show in mid October that saw Critics rise like a Phoenix from the flames. No rules, just a requirement to "bring it". Keep the menusha out and this will continue to be a winner.

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I'm like a carpenter building stairs.......Always thinking one step ahead.

Worst Hidden Suspensions of the Year: We had a few of them this year. While Mac and Harry were not hidden, management never kept listeners informed as day after day after day passed.

Salisbury was suspended by ESPN for a week. No one noticed on either the TV or radio end.

Mariotti took some time away from the Sun Times this summer...almost two months to be exact. He had to call in to North, one of his most despised radio bretheren, to tell the world that it was not a suspension...just six weeks off during the NFL draft, NBA playoffs and some very hot baseball stories.

Best Beat Reporter
ESPN Radio 1000's own Jeff Dickerson on his Bears coverage. JD brings the knowledge daily. His impromptu show the Saturday after Willie Posey was killed was top notch reporting and commentating. Jeff is aptly filling the shoes of other solid beat reporters that ESPN Radio 1000 has had in the past and his work as a fill-in host is just good, if not better, than any part time host in Chicago radio.

THUMBS UP!

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@audioidkid

To quote Woodridge Ryan-
"Salisbury WAS a pompous and defensive jackass to everyone...."
As far as I can tell that hasn't changed- he still is a pompous and defensive jackass

Was this fact or ProFootballTalk.com fiction?

I know Sean's dad has some pretty bad form of cancer. Could he have taken a week off to be by his dad's side?

Thumbs down to WR

I don't think so Grid. The situation with his father occured about a good month after that news.

The mailing it in award Goes to Terry Boers.. I was a fan of Terry and his show for awhile but the last year Terry either is just collecting a paycheck or has become board with his partner. When a host will not even bother to watch a Bears game but yet still have an opinion , it's time to retire or make a career change.

Time to kill a segment award goes to : The Sunday night John segemnt. Stale, boring , not funny .. It's just not cute anymore.

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

Worse Broadcast of the Year was Comcast's "Heidi" broadcast when they abandoned the game for no apparent reason in the 8th or 9th innnig. Someone help me out here, I didn't see it first hand just remember MJH talking about it the next day, was it a cubs or sox game??

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"Stay out of courtrooms-but if you must go in be Well Armed and Don't compromise. You are innocent, remember that. They are guilty" -- Dr. Gonzo