Broadcasters Aren't Biased

I read this great article today online at the New York Times website about baseball announcers and how fans perceive them to all be biased against their teams.

Obviously this hits home with me because of the job I do, but you'd be amazed at how many people hate announcers because they feel the announcers have something against their team. In an attempt at full disclosure, I will admit that I'm guilty of this at times as well.

The article makes an excellent reference to a series between Boston and New York years ago where NBC got 1,800 calls complaining about the announcers. There were 1,000 calls from New York complaining that the announcers were biased against their team, and there were 800 calls from Boston saying that the announcers hated the Red Sox. Oh, and if you are wondering about the 200 call difference...it was a toll call from Boston.

On a personal note, I was accused by a South Bend fan this year of rooting against the Silver Hawks in a game against Fort Wayne because I got "too excited" about a great diving play by a TinCaps player. I also received an email from a Beloit fan two years ago, saying that I talked too much about the Dayton Dragons on the air (I was broadcasting for the Dragons at the time). I realize that the Snappers didn't have a radio broadcast, but I politely reminded the fan that I was employed by the Dragons, and my broadcast was on the radio in Dayton! It's simply amazing.

Or then there are the comments that I get whenever I tell someone what I do for a living. My favorite is "I hate listening to Joe Buck. What do you think about him?" First of all, you can replace the name with whatever announcer floats your boat (Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler, etc.). Secondly, these guys are paid millions of dollars because they are good at what they do. My opinion on all of these guys is that I would love to have their jobs, because they are the best of the best.

I'm not writing this to criticize fans for their opinions -- and again, as I mentioned earlier, I have some broadcasters that bother me for the same reasons. However, I think it is important to realize that very rarely is a broadcaster truly biased against a team. As a line in the article says, the bias is not in the voice, it's in the ears.