John basically says two things about players during matches — they need to come to net more, and they need to show more emotion. He should just shout, “Play like I used to play!”  I have a mental image of riding in the car with the two McEnroe brothers on the Long Island Expressway, both of them constantly critiquing how people are driving.  ESPN2 would be much better off with Cliff Drysdale, who once described his own style as trying to be like the ball boys and not interfere with the match.   Jim Courier and Jimmy Arias are also much more pleasant announcers.  (I’m still stunned about how badly the McEnroe’s mangled the facts about Bill Tilden’s record, and U.S. Open/Championships history in general. ) 

My biggest worry is that this ratings success could prompt a network to give John another shot at a talk show. Here’s a promo from his short-lived show if you forgot it or missed it.

But it could be worse.  Imagine if Mary Carillo got a show.  Check out her obnoxious rant about Badminton from the Olympics if you want to see what she would consider entertaining.

Are these the two best people America has to talk to us about tennis?

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The Direct TV package, which both for Wimbledon and the French Open, offers six courts of coverage of the first week of these Grand Slams. What’s better, several of the Direct TV channels are the British television feeds, where the announcers speak only when necessary and actually talk about the match, instead of the blowhard Americans, especially Mary Carillo, who can’t let a quiet moment pass. Dick Enberg sounds like he should be conducting a city council meeting and reading proclamations honoring award-winning vegetables at a Midwestern county fair.

The network tennis coverage, terribly handled by NBC during the French Open when they showed the men’s semifinals on tape delay, continues to be bad with ESPN2. Unfortunately, the announcers are obsessed with clothing, modeling jobs, and occasionally the actual tennis played by the women. The men, with the exception of Federer and Nadal, and sometimes Djokovic, get very short shrift, as both Roddick and Blake did Thursday. No wonder tennis is withing in America. At this rate, the only network other than the Tennis Channel to carry Grand Slams will be the Bravo network or a shopping channel.

Related posts:

1. Roddick, Blake and Querrey U.S. Open Draws Lead to Djokovic, Federer The draws of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Sam Querrey —...
2. Americans Batting .500 in Australia — Querrey Out, Isner Hangs In, Blake and Young Win Of the eight Americans in action Tuesday in Australia, the...
3. Roddick and Blake Out of Davis Cup 2010 The U.S. first round match in Serbia has become even...

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The Direct TV package, which both for Wimbledon and the French Open, offers six courts of coverage of the first week of these Grand Slams. What’s better, several of the Direct TV channels are the British television feeds, where the announcers speak only when necessary and actually talk about the match, instead of the blowhard Americans, especially Mary Carillo, who can’t let a quiet moment pass. Dick Enberg sounds like he should be conducting a city council meeting and reading proclamations honoring award-winning vegetables at a Midwestern county fair.

The network tennis coverage, terribly handled by NBC during the French Open when they showed the men’s semifinals on tape delay, continues to be bad with ESPN2. Unfortunately, the announcers are obsessed with clothing, modeling jobs, and occasionally the actual tennis played by the women. The men, with the exception of Federer and Nadal, and sometimes Djokovic, get very short shrift, as both Roddick and Blake did Thursday. No wonder tennis is withing in America. At this rate, the only network other than the Tennis Channel to carry Grand Slams will be the Bravo network or a shopping channel.

Related posts:

1. Roddick, Blake and Querrey U.S. Open Draws Lead to Djokovic, Federer The draws of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Sam Querrey —...
2. Americans Batting .500 in Australia — Querrey Out, Isner Hangs In, Blake and Young Win Of the eight Americans in action Tuesday in Australia, the...
3. Roddick and Blake Out of Davis Cup 2010 The U.S. first round match in Serbia has become even...

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