Partying with Jonny Pepperoni: My Definitive List of the Best Sports Announcers

Watching a sports event is an experience. Sports announcers give us a live commentary of the events that we watch. They are an essential part of the experience. For us viewers, they are our tour guides and we entrust them to lead us through the action. As we look forward to Super Bowl 50 today, I had been thinking about some of my favorite sports announcers, whether they be play-by-play guys or color commentators.

I present to you, my definitive list of the best sports announcers from my lifetime. To be clear, I only included people who actually call games, no sideline reporters or analysts.

Mike "Doc" Emrick

"Myyyy goodness!" Doc Emrick is the best hockey play-by-play announcer of all time. I touched on him in my Devils blog from earlier this week and it inspired me to write this blog. You may say I am biased as a Devils fan. He was the first voice of New Jersey beginning in the 1982-83 season until 1986. He then returned to the team in 1993 and stayed until 2011. He still wears his Devils Stanley Cup ring on broadcasts to this day. But, ANY hockey fan would be lying if they said there was anyone better. He is a walking hockey encyclopedia with the most eclectic vocabulary of anyone I have ever heard. Close your eyes and listen to Doc Emrick calling a hockey game, you won't miss a thing.

Marv Albert

"Yesss!" Obligatory. The voice of basketball. I don't even watch basketball that much anymore, but he has to be included on this list. Besides basketball, he's even called both the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup. We'll forget about the whole getting fired thing. What I really remember him for was the NBA on NBC in the late 90s. I always used to post up and watch on Sundays. Absolute gold. I'm talking John Tesch intro. Ahmad Rashad hosting NBC Showtime. I always felt like Marv Albert called every single game. I'm pretty sure he teleported in between commercial breaks.

And this was the real NBA. I'm talking Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen's Bulls, Patrick Ewing and John Starks' Knicks, Reggie Miller and Rik Smits' Pacers, Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson's Suns, Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp's Super Sonics, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler's Rockets, Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway's Magic, John Stockton and Karl Malone's Jazz, Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning's Heat, David Robinson and Tim Duncan's Spurs (Now think about how old Tim Duncan is).

Never forget.

John Madden

BOOM! Everyone remembers John Madden from Monday Night Football, his Madden NFL video games and his "nuclear turkeys" with 8 legs on Thanksgiving. Everyone can also remember him for saying some of the dumbest shit ever and scribbling all over your TV screen.

What's better than John Madden? Frank Caliendo's impression of John Madden.

Al Michaels

You can't mention John Madden without thinking of his partner for many years on MNF, Al Michaels. While he is known as a football announcer, he may have had the most famous call in a hockey game of all time. Do you believe in miracles?

Jon Gruden

The Monday Night Football torch got passed a few times after Madden and Michaels left and is now rightfully in the hand of John Gruden. I could care less about his partner, Mike Tirico. Monday Night Football = The Jon Gruden Show. And I make sure I have a front row seat every week. His enthusiasm for football is contagious. He's a pig in shit every Monday Night, which is why I believe he'll never return to coaching either. When sits down with quarterbacks for Gruden's QB Camp and talks about Spider-2 Y Bananas he's completely in his element. He may seem goofy at times considering he says "I like this guy" about every player that sets foot on the field or says that a practice squad player who has no chance of making the team has "big-time ability." But, he's a Super Bowl-winning head coach, he's credible. I love him because he doesn't have an "H" in his name, just like me. I also love him so much that I named my fantasy football team Gruden's Grinders after one of the segments he does.

Always funny when they have Frank Caliendo impersonating Gruden in front of him, he get's soooo pissed. I love it. This guy...

Ian Eagle

Such a nerd, but might be the most underrated play-by-play guy out there. I used to watch every single Nets game as a kid. They were bad. Really bad for a long time. And from 1994 until now, Ian Eagle AKA "Bird" has been there. I don't watch the Nets anymore, but I still love to hear him call the shitty Jets and pull-up pops in NCAA basketball games.

My favorite Ian Eagle line ever came from this year when he talked about Michael Crabtree "sucking in balls." So unintentionally funny.

Bill Raftery

"Onions! Double Order!" He has this phrase trademarked believe it or not, along with "with a kiss!". I grew up listening to Bill Raftery when he was a part-time analyst with the Nets, who didn't have "a lot of nylon!". Of course, he made his mark as The Governor of college basketball with this legendary call "Send it in, Jerome!"

Gus Johnson

Gus Johnson is March Madness. March Madness is Gus Johnson. This guy absolutely loses his shit for college basketball. He might be the most exciting announcer to listen to in all of sports. "Here comes the pain!" It's almost as if it's Gus Johnson that makes the end of games exciting and not the actual game. "Cold-blooded!" He and Bill Raftery are a match made in NCAA Tournament catch-phrase heaven.

Gary Thorne

"Scoreeeee!" I miss Gary Thorne. He's not dead or anything, I just never hear him announce games anymore because he only does baseball now and you can't pay me to watch baseball. But, he's the #2 hockey announcer in my book behind Doc. He actually did serve as the Devils play-by-play guy from 1987-1993 during Emrick's hiatus. He also called every Stanley Cup from 1993-2004, so he's synonymous with NHL playoff hockey. I always associated him with the NHL on ESPN with Bill Clement. Those were the days...

Jim Nantz

"Hello, friends." Jim Nantz is known for the NFL, NCAA basketball and of course, The Masters. That and being kind of a dumb-ass with Phil Simms. I included him because we'll hear him call the Super Bowl today and because I wanted to include the beautiful Masters theme music. I feel so old now that I actually like golf.

Brent Musburger

Calling viewers "folks." Referencing gambling lines. Always keeping his eye on hot chicks in the crowd. Saying he feels bad for his Morman friends because they don't drink. How can you not like Brent Musbuger? If I am going to watch college football, I want Brent on the mic. Just don't get too excited when you see Katherine Webb, big guy.

Chico Resch

Ok, now you can really say I'm biased. But, so was he. The ultimate homer. While Chico was never the most technically sound color commentator, he was entertaining as Doc Emrick's sidekick. It was obvious that Chico was sympathetic towards all of his fellow goalies, but Doc didn't let it slide, always making a sarcastic joke to call him out. Whether it be talking about random towns in Canada like Moosejaw, Saskatchewan or reviewing the food at the arena, Chico will always have a special place in my heart.