Don Criqui---worst announcing job in NFL history today...

[plenzmd1]

I do believe he lives in WNY, so when they put him on the game saves some travel cost. I think Criqui is one of the all time greats,and he has called some of the most memerable games in history. Miami-Nebraska, Miami-San Diego etc, but he is just past the time when he is even average at his job. I don't know how many times he said"unrestricted free ageant" instaed of "undrafted". Maybe technically the same thing, but really do have differant meanings.The Evans thing was funny, and you just kina went:no chit, he went to the bench and he not been back..where do you think he went? which leads me tp my next point.

 

I feel like Dr.Z here, but i would like these guys to focus more on who is coming in and out of the huddle. I hate they focus on the replay..i can see the replay, but while you are playing the replay, I can't see Rhinhart come in for Howard etc.

Edited December 13, 2010 by plenzmd1

[/dev/null]

It was the 2-10 Bills vs 5-7 Browns, CBS wasn't exactly going to assign their A Team to the game nobody paid any attention to outside of northern Ohio, parts of Central NY, and Arkansas.

[eball]

Criqui's not bad...he does evoke memories of the glory days.

You're holding onto 20-year-old memories, Vet...Criqui still has the pipes, but he hasn't been a decent or insightful play-by-play guy for more than a decade. He's brutal.

[Bills4154]

Criqui's not bad...he does evoke memories of the glory days.

I have always liked Criqui calling the games. That said, his voice seemed a little weak at times yesterday.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

For those who had the pleasure of not watching the game today, you missed one of, if not THE worst announcing jobs in the history of the NFL today. Don Criqui was so bad, I almost thought he was doing it on purpose. He inexplicably kept saying "they are close to a first down" or "Its going to depend on the spot of the ball", when the ball was clearly a yard or two past the first down marker and the only person in the stadium who was unsure whether or not it was a first down was Criqui. Must have happened at least 8 to 10 times during the game, and at one point like 3 or 4 first downs in a row on one of the Bills drives. They made no mention of how the Bills got jobbed out of a TD when the officials reversed the ruling on the field and called Delhomme's forward pass a fumble, and there was little if any insights into the game, other than how the Browns' Hillis has had fumbling problems this season. That was basically the extent of the commentary. If was really, really bad, and seemed as if they were just very unprepared to do their jobs properly. Almost bordered on being unprofessional, IMHO.

This is why I use my DVR to pause and listen to the Bills feed of games.

[The Wiz]

Yeah... That comment along with his comment about The Browns' running back Hillis playing like "a man against boys".... On the opening drive... That really pissed me off... Criqui is a loser. He is the worst I have ever heard. He makes Solloman Wilcox look good... That's not easy to do...

And after they had the ball within the 10 yard line he said "Just give it to Hillis two more times and then they can kick off right away". That has to be one of the most idiotic things I've heard an announcer say. I understand speculating but he basically flat out said he's gonna score, no stopping him.

 

Also I really liked the fact that every 2 minutes he felt the need to mention how it was "a cold, freezing rainy day in Buffalo".

[CodeMonkey]

For those who had the pleasure of not watching the game today, you missed one of, if not THE worst announcing jobs in the history of the NFL today. Don Criqui was so bad, I almost thought he was doing it on purpose. He inexplicably kept saying "they are close to a first down" or "Its going to depend on the spot of the ball", when the ball was clearly a yard or two past the first down marker and the only person in the stadium who was unsure whether or not it was a first down was Criqui. Must have happened at least 8 to 10 times during the game, and at one point like 3 or 4 first downs in a row on one of the Bills drives. They made no mention of how the Bills got jobbed out of a TD when the officials reversed the ruling on the field and called Delhomme's forward pass a fumble, and there was little if any insights into the game, other than how the Browns' Hillis has had fumbling problems this season. That was basically the extent of the commentary. If was really, really bad, and seemed as if they were just very unprepared to do their jobs properly. Almost bordered on being unprofessional, IMHO.

This was the Bills and the Browns in one of the most boring, irrelevant (to playoffs) games possible yesterday.

What did you expect, the best announcers to broadcast to the Cleveland market and a few people watching on DirectTV?

More than half the stadium was empty, how many people do you think even watched that game?

 

Yes, they sucked. Almost made me long for Tasker (almost).

But turn off the audio and have the radio playing if the announcer bothers you so much.

[billsfreak]

For those who had the pleasure of not watching the game today, you missed one of, if not THE worst announcing jobs in the history of the NFL today. Don Criqui was so bad, I almost thought he was doing it on purpose. He inexplicably kept saying "they are close to a first down" or "Its going to depend on the spot of the ball", when the ball was clearly a yard or two past the first down marker and the only person in the stadium who was unsure whether or not it was a first down was Criqui. Must have happened at least 8 to 10 times during the game, and at one point like 3 or 4 first downs in a row on one of the Bills drives. They made no mention of how the Bills got jobbed out of a TD when the officials reversed the ruling on the field and called Delhomme's forward pass a fumble, and there was little if any insights into the game, other than how the Browns' Hillis has had fumbling problems this season. That was basically the extent of the commentary. If was really, really bad, and seemed as if they were just very unprepared to do their jobs properly. Almost bordered on being unprofessional, IMHO.

I didn't notice, I was focusing on the game, but I do know that in almost 40 years of watching football, it wouldn't compare to some of the worst I have seen. The guy is an announcing legend (he has been doing the NFL since 1967) and has done some of the most historic events in NFL history not to mention the Olympics, basketball, etc. that he has announced. If you really don't like to listen to him I would recommend turning the volume on the TV down and listening to the radio, as he does alot of Bills games and always will, since he is from the Buffalo area (Kenmore).

[Logical Reasoning]

For those who had the pleasure of not watching the game today, you missed one of, if not THE worst announcing jobs in the history of the NFL today. Don Criqui was so bad, I almost thought he was doing it on purpose. He inexplicably kept saying "they are close to a first down" or "Its going to depend on the spot of the ball", when the ball was clearly a yard or two past the first down marker and the only person in the stadium who was unsure whether or not it was a first down was Criqui. Must have happened at least 8 to 10 times during the game, and at one point like 3 or 4 first downs in a row on one of the Bills drives. They made no mention of how the Bills got jobbed out of a TD when the officials reversed the ruling on the field and called Delhomme's forward pass a fumble, and there was little if any insights into the game, other than how the Browns' Hillis has had fumbling problems this season. That was basically the extent of the commentary. If was really, really bad, and seemed as if they were just very unprepared to do their jobs properly. Almost bordered on being unprofessional, IMHO.

 

The guy, from what I understand, does his homework and prepares himself. He is doing alot of college and pro games. Doing both sounds like it may be a bit much, but his 'throw in' facts about players has always proven to me that he is prepared. There have been far worse, so your hyperbole is blatantly incorrect if not for obvious effect. Everyone has a bad day and it could have been his.

[BuffaloWings]

Once upon a time, Criqui was good. I remember watching games with him as the play-by-play man and I thought he was excellent. I think he was even the guy who called the classic Miami-San Diego OT playoff game. Of course, that was back in the early 80s and I was an impressionable early-double-digit-year-old youth.

 

But he's not the same anymore. His call is a good 2-3 seconds behind the action and he's frequently messing up the names of the players. I noticed this a little bit with Van Miller at the end, as well. You can hear it in his voice - it's as if he doesn't know how the play is transpiring or what call a certain official makes. Heck, even when Criqui does the Notre Dame games on radio, you can tell he's behind the play.

[8-8 Forever?]

Tough day for the Buffalo born, St. Joes grad who must be in his mid 60's by now.

Maybe the network teams don't spend much time preparing for the Bills broadcast, since they know so little of the USA sees the games anyway.

yeah, bills games are throwaways... the crew just prays it doesnt go to overtime and they miss their 7pm plane out. .. your announcing career is either just starting or over when you are doing bills games

[BuffaloWings]

The guy, from what I understand, does his homework and prepares himself. He is doing alot of college and pro games. Doing both sounds like it may be a bit much, but his 'throw in' facts about players has always proven to me that he is prepared. There have been far worse, so your hyperbole is blatantly incorrect if not for obvious effect. Everyone has a bad day and it could have been his.

While this is very true, I don't think it's the case with Criqui. When I watch a game, I like for the broadcasters to create some flow to the game so it becomes easy and interesting to watch...primarily during the action.

 

Criqui used to do this, but not anymore. He has been very choppy and difficult to listen to lately. You can hear a delay in his voice as if he's trying to figure out what happened on the play.

[Mike In Illinois]

I was not impressed with Criqui's call yesterday. I, too remember when he was a good play-by-play man for NBC 20-25 years ago. He and Bob Trumpy always seemed to be calling the AFC Central games.

 

Criqui did make me laugh at some point in the second half. He had a little banter going with James Brown back in the CBS studio when they would pitch to Brown for scoring updates. When Brown pitched back to the Bills game, Criqui- in setting the location of their game- announced "We are in the BUF!" A frightening thought on any occasion when taken out of context.

[Marv's Neighbor]

Tough day for the Buffalo born, St. Joes grad who must be in his mid 60's by now.

Maybe the network teams don't spend much time preparing for the Bills broadcast, since they know so little of the USA sees the games anyway.

Maybe he should have made a stop at Buffalo Optical while he was in town.

[Fan in San Diego]

Criqui was awful. Plus it took the better part of an hour for them to realize Evans was hurt.

 

What does that tell you? No one will miss Evans when he's gone. We need an upgrade at the #1 WR spot. In fact I suggest we make SJ our #1 and promote Easley to our #3. Parrish being our #2.

[Roc Bronson]

Criqui's not bad...he does evoke memories of the glory days.

 

C'mon man!!! That hideous beast was beyond dreadful, I cannot believe they let this guy even appear on tv.. He seem to have no knowledge of football let alone the Bills or Browns. He only knew Peyton Hillis, and that the Bills have the worst run D. All my years of watchin football never have I witness a monstrosity like him.. Great topic..

[Cotton Fitzsimmons]

I understand that sometimes we're too harsh on the announcers calling these games, and generally, Criqui has been decent, and I like the guy. However, that first drive yesterday, I thought Criqui was going to explode with excitement over the Browns and Hillis. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard. 2 plays in "and it's MEN against BOYS out there as the Browns are just PUSHING the Bills around!" was a little over the top, but then when he said, "and they'll be in the endzone 2 plays hence!" YE was just completely taken aback. It was just very strange sounding. But, to be fair, he then came back and was like, "Ryan Fitzpatrick will no doubt lead the Bills to the endzone here!" as soon as our guys took the field. It seemed to even out with regard to bias, but it was just a complete overstatement of everything that went on. All things considered, Criqui is not too bad usually, but yesterday was very peculiar. I'm not a huge fan of Beurlein. I understand that he's on the lower rung of announcing teams CBS has, but he rarely seems prepared with any information or insight to me.

[IDBillzFan]

It seems like every Sunday, somebody posts something exactly like this, about whatever broadcast team worked the Bills game...ZZZZZZZzzzzzz

Maybe we expect too much out of a broadcast team? What exactly do you expect? I guarantee, if you name the best broadcasters in the business, somebody here will vehemently disagree with you...they are all great, and they all suck! To me, it is kind of irrelevant if Criqui got the ball spot wrong more than once...I really don't need these guys to tell me all that much. I will say, I just like the sound of Criquis voice. It conjures up better days of yore for the Bills...

In all fairness, Criqui was really, really bad. As I mentioned to a friend yesterday, from the very get-go Criqui sounded like he was channeling Capt Stillman at the end of Stripes,huddled in a parka, standing next to a military igloo, wondering where it all went wrong.

 

Now, I try to see my glass as half-full, so while Criqui was bad, at least he wasn't Dan "Thuffrin' Thuccotash!" Dierdorf.

[Cotton Fitzsimmons]

In all fairness, Criqui was really, really bad. As I mentioned to a friend yesterday, from the very get-go Criqui sounded like he was channeling Capt Stillman at the end of Stripes,huddled in a parka, standing next to a military igloo, wondering where it all went wrong.

 

Now, I try to see my glass as half-full, so while Criqui was bad, at least he wasn't Dan "Thuffrin' Thuccotash!" Dierdorf.

 

Completely agreed LA. As I said, I think the announcer bashing is overplayed at times, but Criqui was on another planet yesterday. That "and they'll be in the endzone 2 plays HENCE!" comment was just bizarre. His whole performance yesterday was just bizarre. It wasn't even just bad, it was just strange as hell. I thought the guy must have stopped off at a few too many tailgates on the way in to the stadium.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Cotton Fitzsimmons

[BillsPhan]

For those who had the pleasure of not watching the game today, you missed one of, if not THE worst announcing jobs in the history of the NFL today. Don Criqui was so bad, I almost thought he was doing it on purpose. He inexplicably kept saying "they are close to a first down" or "Its going to depend on the spot of the ball", when the ball was clearly a yard or two past the first down marker and the only person in the stadium who was unsure whether or not it was a first down was Criqui. Must have happened at least 8 to 10 times during the game, and at one point like 3 or 4 first downs in a row on one of the Bills drives. They made no mention of how the Bills got jobbed out of a TD when the officials reversed the ruling on the field and called Delhomme's forward pass a fumble, and there was little if any insights into the game, other than how the Browns' Hillis has had fumbling problems this season. That was basically the extent of the commentary. If was really, really bad, and seemed as if they were just very unprepared to do their jobs properly. Almost bordered on being unprofessional, IMHO.

 

While I like Murph over on the radio side for those of us blacked out yesterday, I am never going to switch to radio on televised games due to Professor Kelso and his motor mouth. Even if it means putting up with old Don Cirqui and his sidekick. I remember hearing so many of those radio sound bites of the Steelers glory days of the 70's on the old NFL specials. Anyone remember Myron Cope of Steelers radio during that era? The guy was hysterical. He had the most Pittsburgh-ish Pittsburgh accent of any Pittsburgh native I've ever heard to in my life, and he was nothing more then a Steelers male cheerleader in the booth. The guy was classic, and I don't think he could tell you a cover-two from a a pair of cover-alls, yet the Steelers fans loved the guy (he was the inventor of the 70's "Terrible Towels".)

 

Our "color guy" with Murph is quite different. He's the only color commentator on TV or radio I have ever heard tell me where the receivers lined up, what the corners coverage was and the exact assignments of every other freakin' player on both offense and defense after a 2 yard run up the middle. Kelso thinks he is teaching Football 101 to a classroom of eager JV football coaches instead of providing COLOR commentary to a radio audience who most likely are not watching the game. Murph: "Fitz takes the snap, drops back, throws it over the middle...incomplete. Boy Mark, Fitz was way off on that throw, huh?" Professor Kelso: "Well I don't know if I want to go that route Murph. The Browns were in a Tampa Two out with the safety in and the nickle back over. They rushed 3 and the Left Outside Linebacker dropped into his Sam coverage just outside the box. The Bills had trips right with the tight end on the left and were obviously running x outs z middles and y flats. Johnson, the inteneded receiver, ran his route a little shallow and the ball was thrown to his outside....no I mean inside shoulder, and Eric Wood, the center, blocked down on the nose tackle which allowed the off defensive tackle to slip in and pressure Fitz just enough to rush his throw a little bit." Murph: "OK, it's second and 10."

 

And that's what the Professor gives us after every single play the entire game. I'd rather have Myron Cope back in the day saying: "Yeah Murph, Fitz had Johnson open long enough, but his damn inconsistent arm reared it's ugly head again on that play....Comon Fitz, practice throwing the ball 200 times a day if you have to, damn it!" Now that's color commentary I can enjoy! I wish the Bills radio decision makers whould fire the Professor and bring in a local Buffalo cheerleader type with a sense of humor to work with Murph next year.

Edited December 13, 2010 by BillsPhan