Columnist Dean Juipe: Mute button more handy than ever

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003 | 9:13 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

You wouldn't want me to RAISE MY VOICE AND SHOUT AT YOU intermittently during this column, would you?

Nor would you want me to HOLLER on a whim, or SHRIEK for the heck of it, or generally interrupt the serenity with BLARING, RINGING proclamations that do little but draw attention to myself.

Yet that type of offensive approach is what football fans are subjected to every week as they sit in front of their TV sets. The days of hearing a competent, subdued broadcast have long since passed and have been replaced, unfortunately, by self-centered, egotistical "personalities" who see themselves as bigger and more important than the games they are announcing.

It's at its worst on ESPN's Sunday night broadcasts, with Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire taking turns patting themselves on the back and talking down to the audience.

"Let me tell you why that happened," Maguire will say, almost invariably, as a preface to any and all comments he makes during the evening.

He sets himself up as the lordly know-it-all, doing us a favor with his supposed expertise.

Theismann isn't much better and finds himself in duels with Maguire to see who can talk the loudest, who can talk over the other and who can display the least amount of tact and professionalism.

I used to like Maguire and I certainly enjoyed Theismann as a player, but now I'm sick of these guys, and -- when the game's worth watching but the audio isn't worth hearing -- I have gone to the mute.

I don't expect them to ever get any better or to tone it down, so I'm back to looking for alternative programming Sunday night.

Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were it during the summer.

In contrast to Maguire, Theismann and many others, Miller and Morgan -- who usually handle ESPN2's Sunday night baseball telecast (but who had this past Sunday off) -- are thoroughly enjoyable. They tell the story of the game without bias, without offensive interruption and without attempting to showcase themselves.

I watched more Sunday night baseball this year than ever, and it was because of Miller and Morgan.

But now that we're into football season, TV broadcasts are harder to take.

An exception is Pam Ward, who does college games for ESPN2 and who is absolutely delightful. She's calm, clever and even-keeled.

She's so good that I'll watch a game she's working even if I have no real interest in the teams, which strikes me as the ultimate praise.

But most football announcers these days seem to be following in the John Madden school of self-promotion, although Madden has certainly reduced his boisterousness since joining the ABC Monday Night telecast that is anchored by the steady and competent Al Michaels. I know lots of people who couldn't stand Madden when he was with Fox, but he has cut back on his grating, I'M THE EXPERT ways.

Chris Berman, whose WAKE UP! approach to sports highlights also set a bad example for budding broadcasters, is another who is slightly better -- i.e., more reserved -- than he once was, at least on occasion.

But on the whole, we're into the genre of the BLOWHARD egotist and I'm not enjoying it.

AND EITHER ARE YOU.