McCarver announces as if his audience is made up solely of 6 year old Little Leaguers. He treats every play, every angle, every nuance of the game as if he is the only one who understands it and as though you couldn't possibly grasp the obvious with your own two eyes. He'll talk down to his audience and has that haughty attitude that would lead the casual viewer to think that he must have been a great player in his day.

I think most fans enjoy their own home team announcers. I grew up on the Yankees with Phil Rizzuto, Bill White and Frank Messer. Nobody can touch them in my book; but I am obviously prejudiced because of the comfort level they gave to me in my youth. My father loved the previous team of Yankees' announcers, Mel Allen, Red Barber, Phil Rizzuto, and Joe Garagiola. Listening to your home town guys is like having a friend shooting the breeze with you while you are enjoying the game.

When the Yankees used to be on WPIX-11 on TV and also had WABC on the radio, they used to rotate their announcers too. 2 guys would always be in the TV booth and one guy on radio. Or when there was no TV for a game, they would rotate on the radio doing play-by-play and color.

Believe me, it was always more fun listening to kooky old Phil wishing some 80-y/o Yankees fan a Happy Birthday when the game was on the line in the 9th inning than it is listening to McCarver explain to me for the umpteenth time why the rightfielder is playing too shallow "in my opinion." Sorry, Tim, but I'm tuning in to watch the game, not to be inundated with your opinions.

As much as I don't care for McCarver, though, I still think what Dion did with the water was uncalled for and pretty unprofessional.