A few groundrules:
- As in the earlier post, I am using a guideline that if a duo worked together for at least one regular season or playoff game during a season, then that season counts toward the streak.
- I am only considering cases where exactly two announcers worked together in the TV booth. So I am not counting a pair of announcers who were part of a 3-man crew unless I found evidence that the pair worked as a duo for at least one qualifying game that season. (For completeness, I am planning a future post to cover such streaks by announcer trios.)
- This post covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football, and college basketball on national TV networks. For each sport, I listed the longest 10 or so streaks.
Here is the breakdown by sport:
* denotes active streak
# denotes active streak but which is not expected to continue
NFL
12: Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen (1977-1988)
11: Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann (1988-1998)
11: Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston (2003-2013) *
10: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms (2004-2013) *
9: Charlie Jones, George Ratterman (1964-1972)
9: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman (2005-2013) *
8: Ian Eagle, Solomon Wilcots (2001-2008)
8: Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf (2006-2013) #
7: Dick Stockton, Matt Millen (1994-2000)
Summerall and Madden have the longest NFL streak (a run that spanned a move from CBS to Fox). The tandem of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen holds second place for now. Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston have the longest active streak. (Note: Since I am only counting only booth announcers, I am treating this team as a duo rather than a trio because Tony Siragusa serves as a sideline analyst.) Charlie Jones and George Ratterman started their streak on the AFL.
college basketball
23: Mike Patrick, Dick Vitale (1986-87 to 2008-09)
18: Jim Nantz, Billy Packer (1990-91 to 2007-08)
16: Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel (1997-98 to 2012-13) *
15: Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery (1998-99 to 2012-13) *
13: Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale (2001-02 to 2013-14) *
11: Brad Nessler, Dick Vitale (1991-92 to 2001-02)
11: Brent Musburger, Dick Vitale (1993-94 to 2003-04)
11: Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes (2004-05 to 2013-14) *
10: Verne Lundquist, Billy Packer (1998-99 to 2007-08)
9: Marv Albert, Bucky Waters (1980-81 to 1988-89)
9: Dick Enberg, Al McGuire (1981-82 to 1989-90)
9: Tim Brando, Mike Gminski (2004-05 to 2012-13) #
College basketball tends to have the longest streaks. Patrick and Vitale teamed up for many ACC games on ESPN over their 23-season run. Jim Nantz and Billy Packer check in at 18 seasons, all of which concluded with the Final Four. Longtime NCAA Tournament partners Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel have the longest active streak with the team of Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery right behind. Vitale has worked regularly with several play-by-play announcers over the years and appears four times on this list. With Nantz working a limited regular season schedule for many years, CBS often paired Lundquist with Packer and that duo cracks this list with 10 straight seasons.
college football
14: Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried (1991-04)
13: Keith Jackson, Bob Griese (1987-99)
10: Bob Neal, Tim Foley (1982-1991)
10: Bob Neal, Tim Foley (1982-1991)
10: Tom Hammond, Pat Haden (2000-09)
9: Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles (1977-85)
8: Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian (1974-81)
8: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson (2006-13) *
8: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit (2006-13) #
7: Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson (1966-72)
7: Brent Musburger, Dick Vermeil (1990-96)
7: Brad Nessler, Bob Griese (1999-05)
6: Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson (1999-05)
Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried were fixtures in the ESPN Saturday night TV booth for 14 straight seasons. They top the tandem of Keith Jackson and Bob Griese by a single season. If we have indeed seen the last of the Brent Musburger pairing with Kirk Herbstreit, then the team of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson should take sole possession of the longest active streak when the upcoming season starts. Jackson and Musburger each appear three times on this list.
MLB
19: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan (1990-08)
18: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (1996-13) #
18: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (1996-13) #
9: Joe Garagiola, Tony Kubek (1974-82)
9: Dave O'Brien, Rick Sutcliffe (2002-10)
9: Dave O'Brien, Rick Sutcliffe (2002-10)
8: Bob Costas, Tony Kubek (1982-89)
7: Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek (1969-75)
7: Chris Berman, Buck Martinez (1993-99)
7: Chris Berman, Rick Sutcliffe (1999-05)
7: Kenny Albert, Eric Karros (2007-13) *
6: Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola (1983-88)
NBA
8: Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown (2006-07 to 2013-14) *
7: Dick Stockton, Hubie Brown (1995-96 to 2001-02)
7: Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins (2003-04 to 2009-10)
6: Bob Neal, Hubie Brown (1990-91 to 1995-96)
6: Bob Neal, Doug Collins (1990-91 to 1995-96)
6: Ron Thulin, Doug Collins (1990-91 to 1995-96)
6: Pete Van Wieren, Doug Collins (1990-91 to 1995-96)
5: Chris Schenkel, Jack Twyman (1966-67 to 1970-71)
5: Marv Albert, Mike Fratello (1999-00 to 2003-04)
The NBA produces much shorter streaks than the other sports as many analysts bounce back and forth between the TV booth and coaching jobs. Despite never being the #1 team on ABC/ESPN, Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown hold the NBA record at 8 seasons which is also the longest active mark. Turner Sports mixed and matched Brown and Doug Collins with several play-by-play announcers in the early 1990s which explains the overlapping streaks featuring those analysts. Overall, Collins appears four times on this list and Brown shows up three times.
A few final notes:
- This is not the easiest topic to research, but I did my best to identify the longest such streaks. If I missed any announcer team that belongs on one of these lists, please let me know.
- The historical sports TV research at 506sports served as a key resource for this post.
Jeff, this is just terrific stuff. I will get technical. Dean and Blattner also worked together in 1959. Pee Wee Reese replaced Blattner for the 1960 season and he and Dean were together through the end of the 1965 season, so they probably should make the list, too. Also, shouldn't Costas and Kubek be at seven years, since they really started together with the 1983 season?
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to think about how difficult it is to have a crew together for a sustained period. I was thinking about this in connection with Vin Scully. He did the NFL for CBS from 1975 until the end of the 1981 season. His regular partners were Hank Stram (twice), Sonny Jurgensen, Paul Hornung, Alex Hawkins, George Allen, Jim Brown, and John Madden.
Michael, Thanks for the positive comments.
ReplyDeleteTo address the points you raised: The reason I didn't count 1959 for Dean/Blattner is because they worked as a 3-man crew with George Kell (per the listings on http://www.the506.com/smf/index.php?board=2.0) and didn't work a single game as a duo that year. See groundrule #2 from my post. I initially considered including 2-man subsets of 3-man booths, but it seemed to make things messy, so I chose to create that guideline. Similarly, I didn't count Dean/Reese for 1960 because they worked in a 3-man booth with Jerry Coleman that season. Finally, I did count 1982 for Costas/Kubek because they worked one game that season as a duo (last weekend). Maybe my guideline is extreme, but I wanted specific groundrules and chose the "at least one game as a duo" rule instead of trying to make subjective calls.
I was surprised at how few lengthy streaks this research produced. And your note on how frequently CBS paired Scully with new regular analysts on the NFL is quite interesting.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI really think you could include some hockey combos.
For sure, Bob Cole and Harry Neale worked a numbers of seasons together on Hockey Night in Canada. I think from 1986-87 through 2006-07 Cole and Neale worked together, which would be a streak of 20 seasons (not including the canceled 2004-05 season).
Stateside, Gary Thorne and Bill Clement paired up for 12 straight seasons at ESPN, which I believe to be longest American hockey streak.
As always, thanks for such an awesome blog!!
I appreciate the comments, Tim... I've never researched hockey, so I stuck to the team sports I've researched or which have been covered rather completely on the506. But after you finish documenting the NHL announcer history listings, I should consider digging through those and adding hockey announcer streaks to my post.
ReplyDeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I seem to recall Joe Buck calling a football game and a baseball game on the same day on Fox. 49ers in the afternoon and a Giants post-season playoff game at night. Has that ever happened before? Might make for an interesting article...if it did. THanks for researching/.
Yes, it has happened before - and I wrote a post a few years ago
Deletewhich detailed a few times that Keith Jackson did this: ... Thanks for the comments, Don.
If you were to include Canadian television's coverage of the National Hockey League, then the duo of Bob Cole (play-by-play) and Harry Neale (analyst) were together for 20 years, including as many Stanley Cup Finals.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to include auto racing, then there's a trio of announcers who were together for 15 seasons (2001-2015) on FOX NASCAR telecasts: Mike Joy (play-by-play), Larry McReynolds (analyst), and Darrell Waltrip (analyst), which is the longest streak for a trio of booth announcers that I know of. For 2016, Jeff Gordon will take McReynolds's spot in the FOX NASCAR booth.
ReplyDeleteImpressive streak. Thanks for the info.
DeleteJon Miller and Joe Morgan worked exclusively as a duo through the 2008 season, not the 2006 season. They were joined by Steve Phillips in 2009 and Orel Hersheiser in 2010 so those years wouldn't count. Still, the extra two years are good enough to give Jon and Joe first place over Buck and McCarver.
ReplyDeleteYou are right - thanks for spotting the error. I updated the MLB section to correct this.
DeleteI realize you are talking national or network, but Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini have been announcing West Coast and Pac 12 college basketball together for 35 years.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is quite an impressive streak for Barry and Dan. I caught some of a recent WCC game they called.
DeleteEnjoyed your post...wanted to mention that I did the play by play ten consecutive years with analyst Tim Foley, broadcasting college football on TBS, (82-92).
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA Cable Supplementary Series that began in 1982, was the first national cable package.
Bob Neal
Bob, I apologize for the oversight and appreciate you bringing this to my attention. I just added your 10-year streak with Tim Foley to the list. And thank you for your positive words regarding this post.
DeleteThis isn't a sport you said you would cover on the list, but Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton Jr. were the ABC pro bowling broadcast team from 1975 (or 1976, not sure when Burton had been bumped from interim status) to 1997. Billy Welu commentated with Schenkel for most of the run before that, from circa 1963 to 1974.
ReplyDeleteGood point on Schenkel and Burton. I watched them regularly in the late 1970s. What a great team!
DeleteReading through and seeing the NBA on TNT announcer/rotations, I was curious if TNT ever had a "lead" commentator/play by play combo. Albert currently does lead play by play with Harlan in the #2 spot, and I know Steve Kerr did main color for a while, but who else held these titles over the last 30 years?
ReplyDeleteAny chance of this getting updated? Arent' Buck-Aikman into their 20th season together?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interest. I no longer actively update this blog. They are now in their 17th season together as a duo which is how I counted things for this blog (and it would be their 20th if you include their three years as part of a trio with Cris Collinsworth).
Delete