There's nothing like witnessing live action between two teams unravel as your eyes are glued to the television. This in-the-moment experience brings an excitement and rush that keeps you coming back for more, game after game. However, following a fast-paced basketball game could be difficult for someone who does not regularly watch sports. On the other hand, for those of us who are avid sports fans, we tend to want more information beyond what is happening on the court. For these reasons, there are individuals referred to as commentators in the sports reporting world. The play by play announcer gives the audience who and what and the color analyst gives them how and why. In this industry, every personality duo is different but their ultimate goal is the same: to effectively communicate the game while sufficing both the knowledgeable and clueless sports fans. Nevertheless, in order to keep the audience from hitting the mute button, they must work together to hit the mark with content and timing. In some cases, if one is slacking, the other must do their best to pick them up as sportscaster, Mike Patrick was forced to do on Saturday.
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| espn.go.com Elmore (left) and Patrick (right) |
At 4pm EST, the North Carolina men’s basketball team hosted the Boston College Eagles on ESPN with Patrick as the play by play announcer and Len Elmore as the color analyst.
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| AP Photo |
Prior to tipoff, the duo discussed the two teams’ first outing and established a good segway into the game with the Boston College “mindset.” Then once the game began, Patrick went pass to pass giving good descriptions to make the game easy to follow. He allowed the game to breathe when it was necessary and brought the excitement level up naturally. In the beginning of the game, Boston College had the ball and was clearly unaware of the shot clock. Patrick took hold of the moment by counting down the time and setting Elmore up perfectly. With no bite, Patrick added his own explanation for the commotion as they put the ball in the hoop at the buzzer. With every play, he gave credit where credit was due but also wasn’t afraid to point out what the team and/or player could have done differently.
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| AP Photo |
During the second half, Patrick continued to keep the audiences’ attention with the tone of his voice. The Eagles’ Reggie Jackson sunk a three and it seemed as though the shot had placed them in the lead, but the score was 41-28 North Carolina. It was instances like those that kept me tuned into the game despite the sloppiness of both teams’. When Boston College came back with minutes to go, Patrick explained every replay and often provided his input as to which way the calls would go. In contrast, Elmore waited until there were seconds left to offer his knowledge to the audience, often trying to talk over the play by play.
If Patrick had been the only announcer and only “clueless fans” were watching, this might have been perfect commentary. However, he wasn’t the only announcer and more background information was definitely needed for such a slow-paced game. At times, Elmore would come in and do his job, but for the majority of the game he left Patrick to fend for himself. Elmore would be set up for a perfect background insert and either he would leave a long pause or Patrick would fill in the information himself. Then at the end of the game, Elmore was suddenly revived and would not stop talking. When there is a two point game and time is running out, the last thing the audience wants to hear is a bunch of statistics all at once.
As Patrick, I would have tried to fix the camaraderie at halftime. Realizing Elmore was so off would have forced me to say something. As Elmore, I would have taken advantage of the set up’s from Patrick and offered justifiable information to back up his play by play. By doing that throughout the game, there would have been no need to ramble at the end.
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| AP Photo |
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