YES!
Here are my breakdowns...
1. Jim Nantz & Phil Simms - People really (really) hate Nantz, and he admittedly would prefer to be in the studio, but I like him. Cool, calm, understated, and a throwback professional. Simms is the problem. The guy has lived in New Jersey for like 30 years and still speaks like a country bumpkin. For every good insight he provides, he screws up at least two others. He's shaky on rules, which is a major pet peeve of mine, and Nantz is hardly Al Michaels so there is nobody to ever bail him out, so this team constantly gets rules wrong and leaves viewers hanging. Simms also has an annoying habit of not admitting when he is wrong.
2. Greg Gumbel & Dan Dierdorf - Dierdorf is a blowhard. I hated him when I was 10, and I hate him now. Gumbel, like Nantz, catches too much flack. He isn't good, but he's hardly terrible.
3. Ian Eagle & Dan Fouts - The best team, by far, on CBS. Ian Eagle is my favorite pbp man on the network now that Gus is gone. He does his homework, has a good delivery that makes up for a non traditional voice, and never tries to step on his partners toes. He's also got a goofy sense of humor. Fouts is great, and always has been. He has never gotten the proper respect he deserves for a long career or being awesome. Great insights, not afraid to call people out or be critical, and knows the game inside and out. You can not beat this crew. Eagle moving up to #3 is well deserved after many years of toiling in the middle doing Browns/Jaguars every week.
4. Marv Albert & Rich Gannon - Marv is Marv, if you don't know what he's about then you haven't watched much sports the last thousand years or so. Gannon is a rising star who does a real good job. He was buried deep, like the #8 team deep, just a couple of years ago.
5. Kevin Harlan & Solomon Wilcots - Kevin Harlan has the worst voice in sports. He sounds like he smokes four packs a day, and on top of that, is perpetually excited for no reason. People used to rip Gus for screaming, but Gus knew when to scream. Harlan just yells all the time with a voice that sounds like Robert Loggia drowning to death. I can't stand him, and refuse to watch games he works unless there is the ultra rare shot he is doing the Rams. He's that bad.
6. Bill Macatee & Steve Tasker - Macatee is a jolly fat black guy who could easily play Santa at a mall in Harlem. Tasker is just a guy. This team screams #6 team. Hello, Raiders!
7. Spero Dedes & Steve Beuerlin - Spero Dedes has been doing NFL & March Madness for years on CBS, and never moves up. He's the #8 March Madness pbp man (that's last, btw), and he's always between #7-#9 for the NFL. He's better than that, but has no charisma and will never move up. Beuerlien has a weird voice that doesn't fit his face. He's ok.
8. Don Criqui & Randy Cross - Don Criqui has been doing AFC games since the NBC days, and has slowly fallen on the depth chart over the years (he used to be a solid #3 pbp man who would seemingly do the Dolphins every week during the Marino days), likely due to age. Being on the #8 crew gives him some weeks off. He used to work with Beasley Reese, but is now paired with Randy Cross, a former rising star who must have fucked the wrong guy's wife or something. He's one of those 'Madden Clones' that the networks rushed to hire in the late 80's, and interestingly almost all of them rose quickly before dropping off the map (Bill Maas, Matt Millen, Tim Ryan, etc). Maas was arrested at an airport and busted with a gun and drugs, Millen left a cushy job at FOX, ruined the Lions, and lost his swagger, Ryan is AWOL, and Cross will be doing lots of Bills & Bengals games.
