The 10 Most Enthusiastic US Sports Radio and TV Broadcasters
The Most Enthusiastic Sports Broadcasters in the USA
As technology and the ability to consume content through TV and radio has gradually evolved over the last 60+ years, there have been some sports personalities that have become icons.
In this article, we are going to be talking about 10 of the most enthusiastic US radio and TV broadcasters ever!
1. Johnny Most: Boston Celtics
Have you ever heard the call on TV when the radio announcer is screaming that Johnny Havileck or Larry Bird stole the ball? That was Johnny Most!
His time as the voice of the Boston Celtics, which ranged from 1953 to 1990, lasted two spans of some of the Celtics' best years in their history.
In that time, the Celtics demonstrated unprecedented success, amassing 16 championships, including 11 in 13 years.
The game in which Havlicek stole the ball was game 7 of the 1965 eastern conference finals, and the game in which Bird stole the ball was in the 1987 conference finals against the Detroit Pistons.
The difference between the two plays is that, in Bird’s version, the Celtics were losing and, after stealing the ball, he had to pass the ball to Dennis Johnson who executed the layup to beat the Pistons.
In Havilcek’s version, he quite simply stole the ball, passed to Bob Cousy and the game was history, a game in which they beat the Philadelphia 76ers.
Here is a list of Most’s other famous calls. Note: All information for Johnny Most came from this site.
2. Vin Scully: Los Angeles Dodgers
In the announcement of Vin Scully’s death in the New York Times, which happened on 22 September 2022, fellow broadcaster Bob Costas described him this way: “I regard him, all things considered, as the master of radio and TV.”
Costas also once told The Arizona Republic, recalling listening to Mr. Scully with a transistor radio under his pillow as a youngster in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, “I regard him as the best baseball announcer ever.”
Some of Scully’s most famous and memorable calls include Hank Aaron’s 715th home run, and Kirk Gibson’s walk-off homer in the 1988 World Series, a game in which Gibson was playing on a bad leg.
Here is a complete list of his famous calls.
3. Larry Munson: University of Georgia
While Larry Munson spent the bulk of his career at the University of Georgia, this wasn’t his entire career.
Before going to Athens, Georgia, Munson started his broadcasting career much closer to his home state of Wisconsin, or more specifically Devil’s Lake, ND, a town that did have a small radio station.
Munson had a few other gigs, mainly in Oklahoma and Tennessee, before arriving at the University of Georgia, a place where he truly became a legend and joined the Georgia Association Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
Munson did not immediately become a star of US TV broadcasting, but he won the hearts of Georgia fans over the years and he has announced great Georgia football players such as Herschel Walker.
Former Georgia Head Coach and Quarterback’s Coach Ray Goff had this to say about Munson to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "If you ask the average Georgia fan who best represents the spirit of Georgia football, it wouldn’t be a player or a coach. It would be Larry Munson.
He cared about Georgia and our fans loved him for it. There will never be another one like him.”
For those who may want to hear them, here are some of Larry Munson’s most famous, enthusiastic calls.
4. Dick Vitale: NCAA basketball
While there is no question that all of the announcers listed in this article called their games with tremendous amounts of zeal, there is no question that Dick Vitale had the most energy of them all!
He is most famous for his numerous catchphrases. He was nicknamed sports personality of the year by the American Sportscasters Association in 1989 and he won the Curt Gowdy Award in 1998.
This award is given to someone who has made a large contribution to the game of basketball.
5. John Madden: NFL
Just like a lot of other former and present National Football League broadcasters, John Madden didn’t immediately start NFL broadcasting at the beginning of his professional career.
Immediately before broadcasting, he held a couple of different coaching jobs from 1960-1966 at Allan Hancock College and San Diego State.
This was followed by a stint as a linebacking coach with the Oakland Raiders. He then became head coach the next year in 1968 as a coach for the Oakland Raiders. He won numerous Super Bowls in this position.
During his radio and TV career, Madden did something very few US broadcasters do.
Since he was loyal to the NFL and not necessarily a network, he spent some time broadcasting games for all four major networks in the US: ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
A video game is even named after him, updated yearly by EA sports, a company which develops sports games for major sports leagues.
For those not familiar, EA Sports also has other games such as NBA Live and MLB The Show
6. Bob Costas
There is no doubt Bob Costas has been around for a while.
If you have been following sports for a long time, regardless of the sport you watch, chances are you will probably remember some of the enthusiastic calls from this New York native whose hero was Mickey Mantle.
The 28-time Grammy Award winner has had the privilege of calling a wide variety of major sports events such as the NBA Finals, the World Series and the Olympics.
7. Brent Musberger
While it may be a minute since you saw Brent Musberger on TV, that doesn’t mean he is retired.
He has taken on his true passion: sports betting. He is currently the Managing Editor and Lead On Air talent at VSIN.
This is a sports betting network in Las Vegas, Nevada, a move he made after spending 27 years at ESPN and sister station ABC.
Just like Costas, Musberger has broadcast numerous major US sporting events such as the Olympics, the BCS national championships pregame and the Super Bowl halftime shows.
He has also called a variety of other sports.
8. Harry Caray: Chicago Cubs
While Harry Caray is most famous for having been a broadcaster for the Cubs, he also broadcast for several other US teams, including the Saint Louis Athletics, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox.
During his time broadcasting, Caray didn’t feel that he was employed by the team, but that he worked for the team’s fans.
It was during Harry Caray’s years that various celebrities would come by Chicago Cubs games to help sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
9. Scott Van Pelt: SportsCenter
Scott Van Pelt is most known for having been an anchor on SportsCenter, but he has also worked for the Golf Channel and he is the chosen voice in several golf video games.
His time at SportsCenter happened during one of the worst times of his life, when his Dad passed away. He now has a scholarship programme named after his Dad.
He would have witnessed some serious action in his time on SportsCenter, including the best and worst teams to play in the NBA!
10. Stuart Scott: SportsCenter
If you watched SportsCenter in the 1990s and 2000s, chances are you might have heard Stuart Scott either talking about “being as cool as the other side of the pillow” if the athlete was performing under pressure, or saying “booyah” if there was an exciting play, such as a slam dunk, during a basketball game.
There is no question that he was one of the most enthusiastic US broadcasters to ever host SportsCenter.
He also appeared in several ESPN commercials and he was on the first set of SportsCenter shows to be replayed on ESPN most mornings during the weekday.
From 2007-2015, Scott had a myriad of health problems and he won the Jimmy V Perseverance award in 2014 before passing in 2015.
