opposites complementing one another. Mike Rice often throws out inaccurate stats and generality's and often uses the wrong player's names. Does this bother me? Not at all. Barrett usually subtly corrects him and Rice keeps going off. I have loved Rice's knack for hyperbole, his crooked grin and lazy eye's since his Swami days on the radio. Rice say's whatever the hell is on his mind. You don't want to know that the play by play guy is on the Blazer's payroll. At least for me I would prefer to have the hometown announcer come across as a fan who is going to call it how he sees it about the players,managment, the league, etc.  Barrett took awhile to grow on me and I still can tell that he holds back at times. He is informed, articulate and obviously a dedicated fan. Not just an employee. I also like the fact that it seems he is close with some of the player's. I don't really get into the whole "integrity of journalism" side of things. I am a fan and as a fan you like to watch games with other fans. Even if they are the ones announcing the games. One thing I forgot to mention that I also like about Barrett is that he doesn't call the game one sided. If the Blazers get away with one he say's it. If it was a foul it was a foul. It's not like the ref's are listening to him anyway. I love the tandem and hope they stay together!

I don't mind Barrett all that much, to be honest.  He's a bit of a homer and exaggerates, but he seems to try.  I enjoy people who try.

Rice on the other hand is so irritating and what I consider unprofessional.  It annoys me when normal fans (and hardcore ones) can't get players right, salaries right and stats right.  When a broadcaster can't get it right it just infuriates me.  They're provided statistics before and during the game, they're given a media guide, and still they can't?  He's being paid good money for this, and he can't take an hour before the game to look over things?  To keep them by his side during the game?  For 60 plus games a year?

And then he starts in on making fun of how other team's players look and their names.  It is just so unprofessional and I feel makes the organization look a little well, bushleague or petty.  I really, really miss Snapper.

When I watch and listen to Rice I feel like I'm watching a really bad comedy act that I didn't even tune in for, but received anyways.  I wanted enlightening commentary to enjoy along with the game, and instead it's like I'm in the stands with a really annoying class clown.

I think Rice is out there, bordering on a melt down somewhere soon. Barrett I think is kind of a nerd, but I like the fact that he is well-informed and seems like a real fan. Impartiality, for what it's worth, belongs only on networks, and I don't really consider Fox Sports Net a real network, just a regional broadcast. So, all in all, I'm fine. When they start talking about tennis and stuff like that (prunes for Rice) I just pretend I'm at the game and ignore them like the morons at games who don't pay attention to the game.

I like our guys just fine, though I miss The Snapper.  If they are a bit biased towards our team, that's OK.  I think Barrett is great, probably as much for his blog work as for his game time calls.  I appreciate the extra effort to connect with the fans.  Rice is a bit of a goofy old guy, but he's a legend in my mind for being the only broadcaster ever thrown out of an NBA game.  That's pretty cool.  :-)

But, above all else, I think the focus of the broadcast should always be the game, not the announcers or anything else.  Announcers that go on extended diatribes about barely related topics while interesting things happen on the floor bother me.  But, our guys are pretty good and don't do this much.  

But, a growing trend that really gets my dander up is the celebrity interviews while the game is going on.  WTF!  ESPN is by far the worst offender, but others are doing it too.  Last year, during Monday Night Football (I know, stay will me here) ESPN spent the entire 2nd quarter interviewing Matthew McConaughey!!!  You'd barely know there was a game being played.  

During the NBA playoffs last year, both ESPN and TNT were doing this during at least some of the games.  Maybe not movies stars for entire quarters, but retired players sitting in the stands would be interviewed for 5+ minutes during game play.  Seriously, when the game is on, the game is on! That's what we tuned in to see.  Do your interviews during halftime or timeouts, never while the game clock is ticking.  

That's my rant...

i like the mikes... not perfect? so what? i really liked Steve Jones though... smart guy.

I know what you mean about "Too many broadcasters try to create excitement instead of conveying the game, at least for my tastes."

i notice a trend on radio where the anchor will play a call an announcer made of a play, then the anchor comes back with that was so and so with the play by play... I never used to hear that.... the announcers now get their 15 seconds of fame?

Geeze, what a time we live in!

I'm a big Mike Barrett fan, and here's why:

When I was a sophomore in high school, I started doing PA announcing for the football and baseball teams (basketball was taken).  The experience was enjoyable enough that I decided I might like to be a broadcaster someday.  When our principal got wind of this, he took it upon himself to try to get me an internship or job shadow opportunity with Mike Barrett (an alum of my school and at that time the Blazers' studio host).  This was still in the Trader Bob Era, so it wasn't a complete surprise when management rejected the idea of an outsider poking his nose around at One Center Court.  However, Mike was good enough to ask his father - who coached my school's basketball team for decades well before my time - to meet with me and discuss broadcasting as a career.  Through this discussion, I got some great insights on how to pursue work in both broadcasting and sports journalism, and Mr. Barrett gave me the distinct impression that Mike had wanted to do all he could to help me.  Though my studies eventually took me in an entirely different direction, I will always be grateful to the Barrett's for giving me - a snot-nosed 16 year-old if ever there was one - the time of day when the organization was letting me down.

Also, does anyone else miss Snapper's "Keys to the Game?"  My brothers and I loved trying to guess what order "Turnovers, Shooting, and Energy" would come in, because it was almost always some combination of the three.  Now that was fun.

to a degree,barrett goes overboard about roy getting stars treatment,something b.roy has to earn.while his despise for manu giniobli and the spurs are so evident.well s.elliott is about to co author a book called "the shot".a buddy of mine works for sports publishing,and the book is about how is 3 on memorial day 1999 started the spurs dynasty.something i have been saying for a while, elliott loves to let the bandwagons know how is 3 started something special in s.antonio.and the beginning of the blazers oblivion.the book should be ready by the nba finals,providing the spurs will be in the finals.which i seriously doubt anyway rockets babee book it !!!!as for rice,if people have a problem with a 67 year old man.please get a damn life seriously he's harmless.

I like Steve Jones on the radio when he's talking to fans. He will correct them if they don't know what the heck they're talking about. But on tv, my god, he said the same things every game. My own mother couldn't stand the sound of his voice. I've always wondered why we feel the need to have the same commentators on every game. Shouldn't it be a rotating basis?

I can stand Jones if he's with Walton because the two arn't afraid of slamming each other. Former teammates and all. More folks hate Walton's commentating than anyone else cept maybe Dick Vital who is the worst commentator of any sport in the history of broadcasting.

I have no problems with Barret and Rice. I like Rice actually because he does not say the same thing over and over.

Now is it true, as someone told me once, that he said the quote, "Like a rim shot in a titty bar." on live radio? Anyone here this or hear of it?

I love Barrett and Rice for home-town calls, don't get me wrong, but both have their flaws.

-Barrett is, as noted, sometimes too much a homer and too sarcastic about calls. Sometimes that leads to gold ("Blazers get a 5-on-3 breakaway...and pull back to wait for help," or however that exactly went) but on rare occasions it's too whiny.

-like mentioned near the top, Rice sometimes doesn't get facts right...thankfully he's nowhere NEAR John Madden levels of being senile as hell, but it does remind me of auto racing announcer David Hobbs, who sometimes stumbles across sentences but it still a lovable old guy.

Don't get me wrong, I love the broadcasts, but you have to understand and accept their flaws.

By the way, Marv Albert is what basketball sounds like in heaven. That he's on contract with TNT and can't join ABC for the Finals is a damn shame.

it's like watching a game with your nerdy brotherinlaw and goofy uncle (or grandpa). they're fine.

retrospectively, steve jones was good but tended to say the same things every game. it seemed like he had to be nudged to say something in more depth.

the worst ever was eddie doucette, who made terrible, corny jokes and whose voice was a few miles on the wrong side of wimp.

and maybe not on this post but since i'm drunk...

Should Bill shawn-lee ever have been demoted? yes I was one at the time who said that he was losing it but now I think, screw it, he should be the radio guy until death.

He is a terrible homer, who exaggerates to the point of absurdity, and he is the worst whiner about officials I have seen.  Whenever I can watch a different feed on League Pass I do so.  Mike Rise is funny, and surprisingly observant, with good things to add.

The worst announcer in the entire NBA is Gil Gregor with the Hornets.  He is flat out rotten.

I thought Snapper was great...I loved the occasional national games when he really called walton out for some of his idiotic comments.  

I liked Eddie Doucette, OK... he seemed like the kind of old school guy that knocked back a few cocktails right after the game (and occasionally right before!).  Plus he would sometimes where those sweet Eddie Sutton like circa 1984 suits!  

Pete Pranica though was absolutely horrible!  He must have been someone's nephew because this guy had no business outside of a minor league ballpark somewhere in the midwest boonies.  

Barrett is a huge upgrade over Pranica!

My favorite Eddie Doucette/Snapper exchange:

Eddie:  "I'm telling you Joe Kleine has no business playing in the NBA".

Snap: (laughs) "Eddie you can't say that!"

Eddie:  "I just did!"

past Blazer analyst I too started finding him obnoxious his last couple of years here. Perhaps he was burnt out and no longer wanted to be here with the culture that was in place and the fact that he had a higher dollar and higher status national gig. Back in the glory days of the early 90's their was no one better than Steve Jones. But man...I could not agree more with TSE's earlier comments. The Snapper got awfully snarky there towards the end. It's seems as if he were waiting for his counter part to say something that he could belittle or laugh at condescendingly. You all know the type. There are people who you can have a great and easy going conversation with that both parties enjoy. Or there are those people who take every opportunity they can to correct you. The conversation no longer flows as easily. Steve quite frankly came off as a jerk.

I really like Mike Rice with his comments and analysis.   I have followed the Blazers from the very beginning of the franchise and think Rice is close to the top in analysts who have worked Blazer games.   I did not play much basketball so do not know plays and defenses very well.   Rice provides great information on what is happening and compares players with others in the league.  He provides context.  

I do not see all that many errors.

Of course, I think Bill Schonely was the best ever in Portland  --  despite his obvious and many mistakes.   He made basketball games fun and Rice does also.

Mike Barret does good work and is far better than the radio guy.   I do wish play by play TV announcers across the world would actually do more play by play and not assume every watcher is watching intently every moment -- some of us do read and talk with friends or spouses and take breaks to go to the john or get snacks/meals  during the game.

in the late 80s?  i can't remember his name and it's killing me.  anyway, it's probably just nostalgia, but i have fond memories of him and snapper.

i moved from portland before barrett started, so i've actually never heard him call a game.  i'll remedy that with the league pass this year.  mike gorman here in boston is fantastic.

I recall a taped pre-game show in San Antonio when Lafferty and Jones were paired together in a very small boat on one of the local waterways. As the show was concluding Steve looked at Lafferty and said something like "no, you're not going to do it". Then Lafferty put down his mic and intentionally went head-first into the water. Too funny!!!!

Barrett used to seem boring to me, at first, but he is really just laid back because he is trying to do his job the best he can. After you get to know him you pick up on his sarcasm he throws in there sometimes, which is great--it allows you to sense that he is a real fan without going overboard and becoming an annoying homer. I just get the sense that he's a really genuine guy that cares about the team a lot.

Mike Rice, as has been said, does have a lot of valuable things to say when you really pay attention, and once you get to know him i think you can see that he sounds crazy sometimes not because e is genuinely insane or out of touch, but because he is a goofy old guy that wants to have fun. You get the sense that he figures "heck, I'm old, I'm gonna say whatever I want, and have some fun along the way" He IS a prankster, that's the perfect word. He is like your sarcastic, goofy friend watching the game with you, not a high and mighty announcer that has to be perfect. Then Mike Barrett subtly makes fun of Rice with his sarcasm when he says crazy things, but he knows Rice is just running his mouth and doesnt take it too seriously.

I remember one of the games against the lakers, in 05-06, when Rice just went off on Phil Jackson's personal, padded chair that he brought along with him on road games, calling it his Throne, and just going off all game... me and my buddy were almost in tears, I'll never forget that...

Maybe i've just grown up and started noticing things like spin and bias, but i don't recall any of the past announcers being so homer-ific as MB.  The constant complaining about blown calls makes me want to turn the radio on and listen to Wheels instead, but Antonio Harvey is such a bore.  Send Harvey and Barrett to the d-league.  
I enjoy Rice, simply because old men tend to say some unintentionally (and occasionally intentionally) hilarious things from time to time.  
Definitely miss Snapper's keys to the game.  
As a side note, Eddie Doucette called one of the Blazer summer league games.  Classy commentator, that Doucette.