JIM DONOVAN AND DOUG DIEKEN – SIMPLY THE BEST

By STEVE KING

This piece – at least most of it — wasn’t supposed to run until later, but after what I heard – joyfully so – on Tuesday afternoon, this is a great time to share it.

The entry, as it was originally constructed, was supposed to be about how fortunate the Browns – and their fans — are to have a great radio announcing team like play-by-play man Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken (color analyst).

If they’re not the best radio team in the NFL – I think they are, and I’ve heard most of the duos, so I think I can speak on it with some degree of expertise – then they’re certainly on the short list of such.

I was going to compare their excellence to the utter ineptitude of the ESPN Monday Night Football announcing team of Joe Tessitore (play-by-play) and Booger McFarland (color analyst). They are abysmal.

Unlike just about everyone else, from what I understand, I don’t mind McFarland – that is, by himself. He’s not bad at all. But when he’s paired with Tessitore and he does what he’s being asked to do on the telecasts, he comes off sounding awful. Most of that awfulness is because of his requisite interaction with Tessitore, who acts as if he’s calling the most serious activity in the history of the world. It’s a game, buddy, so loosen the necktie and smile a little bit.

In a very public and embarrassing way, ESPN officials have been trying everything and anything recently to get rid of them – at least for the telecasts – and they most likely will be able to do so.

Meanwhile, nothing has needed changing in the Browns booth for 20 years.

I was reminded of all this – and this is the new part, making this piece so timely – when I heard Donovan do a radio interview Tuesday. What a voice. What a delivery. What a bank of knowledge he has, so much so that when he says something, you can be assured that it is the truth.

So, then, what a thrill it was to hear him.

It will be even better when the games start being played again in the fall.

Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken – Simply the Best

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