Players Talk About Their Favorite TV Tennis Commentators

It seems Drysdale(my favorite) and John Mac are the top of the player rankings. I’m little surprised to see so little love for Koenig –I think he’s very good.

I think the funniest hosts are on Inida’s Star Sports They crack as many jokes as they make comments on the matches which can improve a so/so.

Agreed but I think Enberg and Mac are good together. J Mac needs someone with a touch of smoothness & class on a big stage –Drysdale would fit the bill too. Someone harsh with someone smooth & nice seems to work well.

Koenig and Goodall by far are the BEST team! They practice one of Miles Davis’ axioms: “put a little space in it.” The art of silence, of allowing the match to speak for itself is underrated. When they speak, they are concise, smart and often hilarious. And those accents!

JMac has improved a lot from the early nineties and can be very entertaining and informative. Its funny to check out Youtube for old US Open matches and hear how patchy he was. He’s almost British now.

Chrissy loves to talk about Chrissy and Pam Shriver has issues. Martina is smart but talks too much. Gilberts okay. Cahill is sharp. Cliffy is very good. Mary Joe, not bad.

Pmac is a bore and full of himself. Such the expert – eye roll. The worst is Gimelstob; its so important for him to impress the audience with his encyclopedic knowledge. Talks too much to allow the match to shine. The Rupert Pupkin of commentators.

My two cents.

Scoop, have you heard PMac on ESPN Radio. I think he’s on 10-11 AM on Saturdays. The guy has more jobs than Larry Brown coached basketball teams. He’s not too good on radio. Seems to me like he tries to hard to establish his sports knowledge outside tennis and I’ve only heard him talk about tennis when asked by another host or a listener. He tries to come across as the voice of reality about the Yankees, Jets and Knicks.

I’m not saying he doesn’t know his sports, but his voice can be petulant, know-it-all-ish and he sounds like he’s forcing it. He doesn’t have those problems in tennis announcing for the most part. But unlike Johnny Mac, who can be funny and loose, PMac seems to work best when he’s the serious, “hey, I’ve got to reel in BG and Pam” type.

I’ve heard PMac on the radio and he’s fine on other sports when discussing New York teams though I always expect him to segue to telling us that Donald Young needs a new coach no matter the topic at hand. lol.

Really miss Mary Carillo in that list. She knows the game as well as anybody and usually lightens up proceedings with her unique wit and humour.

I prefer Mary Carillo, working with Cliff and PMac.

I was shocked how good Mary was back then. She took Agassi to task for boycotting and called BG’s game low tech tennis. HA. Cliff & Stolle were are great together.

Julian, I haven’t watched Venus play in a long time but I used watch her a lot. I’ve seen the crowd many times applaud her. She was America’s sweetheart for a while. Girl power was big in the 90s. P-) I know she’s had some health issues recently and hasn’t been as much in the limelight. Not feeling American, I think, is diff. than not feeling appreciated by tennis fans. I don’t always feel American either. I think it’s pretty common.

Scoop, if Venus gets the “love” you say she does, why doesn’t she feel it? Is she making it up? Or is she privy to thing in her life experience that you aren’t? Just curious, because you and Steve have both insisted that the feelings that Venus expressed at the Open are not true/or correct/or accurate.

If somebody told me that they had a headache, I hope I wouldn’t disagree, I mean, how could I? If Venus’ perception of her and Serena’s experience is that they are not treated like “real Americans” in the States, perhaps, instead of saying, “that’s not true,” trying to see it her way would be in order, no?!

dan,

i really can’t believe you don’t see what i’m talking about with jmac…i will say this, many times it is his partner, robinson, his brother, mary, cliff whoever who opens it up to him, but he never fails to wade in and make it about himself, absolutely drives me nuts..i wished they would all have a discussion beforehand that it’s got to stop but who is going to say that, no one…btw, i admit some of this is simply his ubiquitousness (if that’s a word)…how did one guy get to be the lead on all networks?..if letterman had gotten the tonight show like he wanted would he still angle to host a show on cbs too?..there is such an opening for some of these outlets to develop their own guys and gals…i really wish some lead/play-by-play guys would step up and become solely tennis announcers the way vin scully does baseball..i realize that’s a tough situation with tennis and its schedule and rotating tv commitments but i believe there is a future great tennis-centric announcer out there..they may be 12 like the next us slam champion but they are out there, and no i don’t believe it’s chris fowler though he’s gotten a lot better, then again laughing at the players when they play bad should be something you can overcome..if it seems like i’m focusing on the negative it’s because i’ve actually found great enjoyment when i find a stream on the internet that has no commercials and no announcers, it’s like being at the match..goodall and koenig are cool, i like that i don’t even know what they look like…bg is fun and cahill is class..so there, something positive

Scoop/Steve:

I find it interesting that you would assert that your observations of Venus would take precedence over her expressed feelings.

To the question of “what feeling American” means: I, personally, have felt more American in Paris, than in the States. Or, maybe its, I have felt more like myself in Paris than in the United States. The United States has a way of making some people feel less equal than others. And unwanted.

The United States has an ambivalent track record towards black Americans and to my eye, things haven’t changed so much. They are perhaps worse.

Because I grew up in a black family that played tennis, had a grandparent/parent who coached two important, historic figures in tennis, who went to tournaments in juniors where people were less shy about letting you know you weren’t wanted than today…it looks like deja vu to me.

As the end of summer came and we had the McEnroe/Young fiasco, the McEnroe/Townsend fiasco, the Williams sister’s – “don’t feel American” blues and the 100 replays of the Clijsters/Stosur finals…it was a bit much and very familiar.

Maybe Venus wants to be treated well and she hasn’t been. Maybe people have let her know that she can never be white, no matter how great she is, so she’ll never be appreciated like Jennifer or Lindsay.

I agree that through the years, Venus have Serena have been supported by many, many people globally. I am not saying that is not the case. But, what I have noticed – and I have good friends who do this – there is an irrational hostility among more than a few tennis people, a nitpicking, grudge bearing, in which these women can do nothing right.

Scoop, I’m astounded that you can invalidate, can negate Venus’own reality based on your observations, opinions, which trump her own. She says she doesn’t feel American, but you know better, even though she’s been Venus a bit longer than you. Wow! Cannot argue with that.

Back to the thread topic…forgot about her til now, but Davenport is an excellent commentator.

Wow, even from my hospital bed after having my hip resurfaced–I just did a gingerly walk around the halls here on crutches–I have to chime in on this lively discussion. I saw Venus play Clisters a few years ago at the Open and it was clear to me the crowd was pulling for Kim and not Venus. Kim looks the way most people who attend the Open want an American girl to look. She also had the comeback-mother angle working for her.

But even in 2012, I believe most white Americans want black–even superstar athletes–to be suseevient. The Williams sisters rubbed a lot of people in the tennis establishment and a lot of white fans the wrong way. How dare this audacious Richard Williams predicted his daughters were going to smash all the white girls off the court! How dare he market his daughters so brazenly! How dare he had them buck the system and not play the junior circuit. And how dare he order one of his daughters to pull out of Indian Wells and then for Venus and Serena to boycott the event afterward.

A lot of people have never forgiven Richard or his daughters since. I think it’s fair to say that we tend to root and identify with people–athletes included–who look and act like we do. I always liked McEnroe because I look and act like him to a certain degree. How many more white people liked Larry Bird better than Magic?

Venus was an incredibly exciting player when she broke onto the scene, but to root for her meant that you had to root against American darlings like Capriati and even Graf. Venus has become a lot less electric, but maybe because she’s not such a threat to dominate the women’s game, more fans are in her corner now.

As far as feeling like an American, just go visit a foreign country other than Canada and you’ll realize what are distinctly American traits. We like to feel safe and the status quo for the most part. We also like Mardy Fish or James Blake-like players, who behave themselves and play with a certain sense of decency.

Finally, Julian , are you related to Arthur Ashe’s historic coach from Richmond, Dr. Robert Johnson?

Im not saying Americans are inherently rascist, but 100+ years of treating blacks at best as second-class students cannot be erased so easily. When you think of the barriers the Williams sisters broke down over the past 15 it’s pretty miraculous. Venus and Serena have opened the gates to many young black women tennis players–like Ashe 30 years before them–and their impact has been almost on the same par as Connors and JMac.

Dan, good to see you jumping in. Julian was doing a terrific job but it’s tough when faced with such implicit racism and ignorance.

But I guess it’s not surprising coming from someone who so blindly worships JMac and thinks it’s a privilege to listen to him. 0_0

For what it’s worth, I’m not particularly a fan of Venus. Or Serena. I have found their attitude off putting at times but from my perch up here in Canada, I can absolutely objectively see the problem of racism in the US and I can understand why the sisters might feel the way they do. They seem to have inspired a number of African American girls to take up tennis so hopefully these new young players will have an easier time of it and something positive can come out of the Williams’ legacy (besides their own tremendously impressive tennis records).

And I quite like John McEnroe too. He can be a little over the top and I sometimes wish he would shut up and let the tennis match be the star of the show but I do enjoy listening to him. Much more so than his arrogant brother. My favourites though are Robbie Koenig and Jason Goodall. I’m always thrilled when one of the streams I pick up has them commentating.

I remember reading a book about Arthur Ashe when I was a kid and it detailed young Arthur going to your grandfather’s house in Richmond and training. The book chronicled how Dr. Johnson was a real disciplinarian. That slim book gave a very good insight into Ashe ‘s challenge.

I don’t pretend to know the prejudice a black man faces in this country. But to say that Venus was treated with open arms by American fans is incredulous. I wrote a feature article for the New York Times in the 80’s and I remember Todd Nelson, a black player of some merit, reaming AA because he told him not to forego college for the pro tour when he was announcing on tv about the great prospects of young white players. So black players feel prejudice not only from whites but from their own race, too.