Jim McFarlin, in the current issue of The Metro Times, declares that Tigers TV analyst Rod Allen is the best that the team has ever employed at that position. Ever. (The dangling word “ever” is McFarlin’s dramatic emphasis, not mine). I’m usually not one to declare anyone in modern times the best ever at anything because I’m a curmudgeonly history guy who often rolls my eyes at such declarations. It’s amazing how many young folks think that nothing of much interest happened before they started following sports.
Well, McFarlin isn’t young, for one. And second, even though he mistakenly tosses George Kell into the list of “analysts” (Kell was a play-by-play guy, and one of the best. Ever.), he makes a good case. He also rightly acknowledges that Allen’s competition isn’t all that enthralling. Jim Northrup, Al Kaline, and Kirk Gibson, for starters, weren’t terrific — although I still have never heard anyone on TV who knows more about baseball than Kaline. Al just didn’t always have a compelling way of conveying it, is all.
Still, I have no problem giving Allen his due as the best Tigers TV analyst. Ever. Mr. McFarlin and those who agree, have my permission.
McFarlin mentioned all the catch phrases Allen uses, and even gives a nod (I think) to my friend Big Al and his Rod Allen game, without mentioning Al’s site by name. And Allen, in the story, frets a bit about being made fun of, as opposed to being taken seriously. It’s easy for me to say, but I don’t think Allen should worry too much about that. I get the impression that he’s respected and liked far more than he’s mocked. Heck, we made fun of Kell and his Arkansas twang. Remember George Baier on WRIF radio and his “George Swell” character?
But reading McFarlin’s anointing of Allen made me wonder when someone is going to do the same for Greg Kelser. So I guess I will.
Kelser, Special K, is the best Pistons TV analyst. Ever. Yet he flies under the radar, and I suspect it’s because he’s taken for granted. That, and Kelser doesn’t really have any catch phrases. He’s not loud or over-enthusiastic. He’s just smooth as silk. If he was still a player, he’d be considered a “bad interview” because he doesn’t utter anything outlandish. But if you want the straight dope on the basketball you’re watching on television, then Kelser’s your man.
Kelser’s Pistons career started auspiciously, if only because of the clown who drafted him.
Dickie Vitale held a draft party at the Silverdome in 1979, prior to his second season as Pistons coach. Dickie’s Pistons had finished 30-52 the season before, an eight-game drop-off from the previous campaign. It was about to get much worse. For here came Vitale, proud as a peacock, waving a box of Special K cereal. No joke.
“The Pistons have just made a trade!,” Dickie declared to the curious and perplexed inside the Dome. Then Vitale told of how he had bamboozled the Milwaukee Bucks into trading draft positions so the Pistons could select Kelser, from MSU. Special K was Kelser’s nickname at State. So Dickie thought he was a laugh riot, waving the box of cereal as he announced the trade and, in his mind, how smart he was.
Here’s how smart he was: the Bucks had no intention of selecting Kelser, despite his fine career in East Lansing and the NCAA championship he won with Magic Johnson a couple months earlier. The Bucks had their eyes on Sidney Moncrief, a dynamic guard from Arkansas. All along. So they took the $50,000 of Bill Davidson’s money that Vitale waved as enticement, and agreed to switch draft positions with the Pistons. It was because of decisions like that, that Vitale made a much better living barking into a television microphone than he ever did as an NBA coach and personnel guy.
Now, nearly 30 years later, Kelser is still with the Pistons, the perfect complement to George Blaha’s stirring play-by-play work. The Pistons are lucky to still have him; I would be shocked if he didn’t have opportunities to work at the network level. I’ve listened to all the blowhards on TBS and TNT and NBC and ESPN, and I’m not seeing where any of them are more insightful about the NBA and aware of the nuances that go on during games than Gregory Kelser. Seems that most of them are a little too cognizant of the fact that their words are being broadcast, because they seem to enjoy listening to themselves so much.
Jim McFarlin can have his Rod Allen as best Tigers analyst thing, without my dissent. Just allow me my Greg Kelser thing. Anyone got a problem with that?
