5 Best Announcers In Sports

As promised at the end of the last installment, here is the list of the top 5 announcers in sports.

#5 Marv Alberts

I know what you're thinking, "Really? Alberts? I can list at least 10 other people who should be on this list."

You know what, you're probably right, but Marv gets the nod for two reasons.

Reason number 1: His trademark "For the win....YES!!" when someone wins at the buzzer has worked itself into my watching of other sports. For example this year's NHL Winter Classic. Sidney Crosby with the game on his stick. First thing out of my mouth to Gopher was the above line. This is just one example on a long list of things this has been used in.

Reason number 2: Celebrity Death Match's Death Bowl 1998. Pamela Anderson's breasts bounce back into place and Marv is stuck on repeat "Let's see that again...YES!" for the entire show. Classic. Him being made famous in clay gets him on the list.

#4 Gary Thorne

This man is one of the reasons I wanted to get into sports in the first place. I always enjoyed watching hockey on television, but Thorne brought the viewer into the game like few can.

I'm amazed that Bill Clement can even hear anything today after being in the booth with Thorne for years. Thorne was like you and I watching our favorite team. He lived and died with every play. You could hear his heart jump up into his throat when someone drilled the post in overtime.

One of the greatest things EA Sports could have done was putting Thorne in their NHL series games. I'd sit there with the volume cranked just to hear Thorne scream. It didn't matter if I was up 12 goals in the second period. That game never got old.

Here's a message to ESPN. Please for the sake of all hockey fans in this country bring back hockey. Thorne shouldn't be calling baseball, he needs to be calling hockey. The man makes the Little League World Series feel like it's a life or death situation and the kids are 11 and 12 years old. Bring hockey back!

#3 Gus Johnson

Can you really picture March Madness without this man? You know you count down the hours or sit impatiently through Selection Sunday just to hear Johnson go nuts during the 16 vs. 1 drubbing. Never mind if that 16-seed is keeping it close through the first half like Fairleigh Dickenson three years ago.

If Johnson calls the eventual 16-seed upset, there better be paramedics nearby to revive him. Gus Johnson is by far the most entertaining basketball announcer out there. Imagine if he and Marv teamed up for the NCAA tourney? As if you wouldn't tape every game as proof that something that unreal actually happened when you woke up from the self-induced coma after watching your office pool bracket go up in flames?

#2 Mike Emrick

My roots are in hockey and as a result of living in the NY/NJ market I get the pleasure of hearing Emrick go nuts in the booth all the time. As the main man for the New Jersey Devils he actually makes their games entertaining even if the team plays the most boring hockey on the planet.

I especially love listening to him call non-Devils games on Versus and NBC. His call of Crosby's winner in the Winter Classic had me jumping around my basement throwing fist pumps and yelling at the top of my lungs.

The Mrs. had just left for work so there was no potential of landing a haymaker and having to explain to the cops that I was overly excited about my team winning an unbelievable hockey game. It might fly in Canada, but I highly doubt it would here.

Anyway, I don't care who's playing if Doc is calling the game. Like Thorne he just appreciates a good hockey game and if I wasn't a Penguins fan he'd be numero uno.

#1 Mike Lange

If you are a Pens fan you know and love Mike Lange. How can you not? With all his wacky sayings after goals that have you laughing while cheering? It's impossible to not like the man.

My personal favorite line is when the Pens get on the board early in the game. "Get in the fast lane grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll!" His sayings make no hockey sense at all, but that's what makes him great. Lange gets so into the game. Yes he's biased toward the Pens, but he also gives the other team credit for good goals and nice plays.

For a long list of lines that Lange uses CLICK HERE AND ENJOY

I have a small bone to pick with FSN Pittsburgh though. Last year I finally decided to get the NHL Center Ice package and as soon as I got off the phone with the cable company I was beaming with the thought of listening to Lange.

Literally one week later, FSN announced that they were letting him go. This put a damper on why I even bought the package in the first place. Then the Pens announced he would be the radio man. At this point I decided I could watch the games on television and listen to Lange's goal calls over the net.

If you think I'm joking, ask the Mrs. who just looks at me and shakes her head whenever Lange says one of his classic lines.

Thus completes the top 5 list. Stay tuned for updates on the fantasy team's recent surge up the standings as we close in on the playoffs and how Gopher is growing more and more anxious for my entire team to be involved in freak accidents.