From the most thrilling historic championships to the lowliest mid-season baseball game, announcers and broadcasters frequently define the experience of passively absorbing someone else’s amazing achievements. Here are some of the most iconic sportscasters of all time.
Jim Nantz
The voice of the Masters, the NCAA tournament, and dads just shutting their eyes for a moment everywhere.
Joe Buck
The long-time Fox announcer is best known for calling some of the greatest Super Bowl and World Series moments with the verve of someone just waking up from a colonoscopy.
Stu Scott
Despite being beloved for most of his career, he was originally controversial, with ESPN viewers complaining that the loud “Boo” in his famous catch phrase “Boo-Yah!” was too scary and making them hide under their beds.
Dick Vitale
The famously energetic college basketball broadcaster spends every moment off mic in monk-like silence and stillness to preserve the energy it takes him to call games.
Al Michaels
A broadcaster with a way with words who has spun some memorable phrases as “Do you believe in miracles?,” “You can’t make this up,” and “Stay tuned for the exciting season premiere of Chicago Fire.”
Red Barber
Barber got his start in broadcasting in a really annoying, accidental way that would honestly infuriate anyone reading this, so we’ll just say nothing at all.
Howard Cosell
A legendary boxing commentator who called all of Muhammad Ali’s fights, Cosell is perhaps best known for his iconic calls of “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” and “Holy shit, is that a sword? Or a big knife? Johnson has brought a big knife to this heavyweight title bout!”
Russ Hodges
Known for his trademark “The Giants win the pennant!” call, which, while iconic, proved less effective during midseason games.
John Madden
The Super Bowl-winning coach and longtime announcer was famous for his proof of the principle of lineman tautology, a fundamental theorem of football which states that lineman, as the biggest guys on the field, are the biggest guys on the field.
Marv Albert
One of the most recognizable voices in professional basketball, it would be for the best if you didn’t Google anything about him beyond this.
Keith Olbermann
As one of the most popular SportsCenter anchors during its heyday, Keith Olbermann paved the way for insufferable assholes with whom you agree with but also, like, holy shit, what a dick.
Bob Uecker
Dubbed Mr. Baseball by Johnny Carson, Uecker has said that the key to a long career in the industry is thick skin and a big juicy ass to sit on.
Vin Scully
The consensus greatest baseball announcer of all time, whose 67 seasons calling Dodgers games would be more impressive if the job didn’t just consist of sitting and talking into a mic for two hours every day.
Brian Moore
Our soccer friend insisted we include this guy on the list and who are we to argue?
Bob Costas
A consummate professional whose career has spanned 40-years across almost every major sport and the Olympics, Costas’ pink eye incident is proof that in the age of the internet no amount of hard work or success will ever stop one gross, dumb thing that happened from defining you forever.
