Colour commentator: no pun intended- The ‘new’ voice of reason


Sports can be classified as a masculine genre, but it should not be considered a racial genre. While discussing males and sports, it is emphasized that in the readings— specifically in “The Televised Sports Manhood Formula” by Michael Messner— that white males are most often casted as sportscasters to give a “white voice of authority” to the game (231). Though this may have been the case in years past, I believe this trend is expelling itself in modern-day North America. The reading by Messner states: “Although viewers commonly see Black male athletes, they rarely hear or see Black men or women as voices of authority in the broadcast booth (231).” This is simply not true... at least not anymore. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of African-American commentators. Clark Kellogg, Cheryl Miller, James Brown, Michael Wilbon, Greg Gumbel, Sal Masekela, Mike Tirico, and Solomon Wilcots (from left to right) are just a few of the people responsible who have successfully teamed up to make the “new voice of reason” while watching sports African-Americans.

Their powerful voice has not been confined to the arena of sports, either. This ‘new’ voice has been powerful enough to also be featured in the narration of movies, such as Morgan Freeman (left) in War of the Worlds; video games, such as Dennis Haysbert (right) in Call of Duty; and in commercials, which Freeman and Haysbert also both frequently participate.

The focus of this piece will primarily be on the emergence of the powerful voice of African-Americans. The point is apt to make especially in the field of sports, and through sports, it effectively illustrates that Messner’s conclusions are no longer applicable today (Messner, below.

“When black people do appear as commentators, they are usually ex-athletes, whereas white men have no need for such external qualification.” This statement is unfair, because for colour commentary (as opposed to play-by-play), former athletes are almost always casted. Colour commentators who are not former athletes, regardless of race, are very few… if any at all. Most African-American colour commentators and analysts are former athletes, such as the pre-mentioned Kellogg, as well as Avery Johnson for the NBA on ESPN, and Joe Morgan, a baseball colour commentator also for ESPN. The reason I contest that ‘white men need no such qualifications to be a colour commentator’, is that white colour commentators are always ex-athletes themselves (to think of even one who isn’t, I cannot). Harry Neale (formerly of the CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada), as well as Cris Collinsworth and John Madden (last of NBC’s Sunday Night Football), are just a few of the white colour commentators who were former athletes. Having white former athletes as colour commentators is common, so having African-American former athletes as colour commentators is perfectly just.
(Pictured left to right: Johnston, Morgan, Neale, Collinsworth, Madden)

Play-by-play coverage is the other primary area of broadcasting. Perhaps the best example of this ‘new’ African-American voice across sports is Gus Johnson (left, below paragraph). Typically, if it is an African-American commentator, he is a colour commentator (as Morgan). As explained last paragraph, colour commentary is essentially reserved for ex-athletes, so African-Americans, being good at athletics, have a fair share of colour commentators. However, Johnson is a play-by-play commentator. He does commentary for CBS, and his voice is powerful and very excitable. Tony Reali, host of the television show Around the Horn, who is white subsequently, said of a premier football game on Monday, October 18th that “Gus Johnson was on the mic, so you know it was exciting.” When an ESPN show announces that it had to be exciting just if Johnson was commentating is high praise. Unlike the aforementioned men, Johnson was never a professional athlete. Since 1996, Johnson has worked men’s NCAA basketball (typically during the annual culminating March Madness tournament), as well as for the NFL. Johnson’s voice does the magnificent call that you just need to hear of the Denver Broncos defeating the Cleveland Browns on a last minute, tipped ball that turned into a touchdown reception by Brandon Stokley of the Broncos (below to the right). Johnson’s voice is great for sports, so much so that his voice also is featured in the video game Madden ‘11.

Another example of a non former athlete as commentator is James Brown. Brown also had no playing career in sports, but has been the recipient of many awards for his excellence in the work of sports broadcasting. He is a three-time Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Studio Host (for the NFL Today on CBS currently, and previously for FOX NFL Sunday... Brown is pictured below, left). Brown also won Sports Illustrated’s “Best Studio Host of the Decade” and hosts “Inside the NFL” on SHOWTIME where he won yet another Sports Emmy for Outstanding Studio Show-Weekly.

An article on ESPN.com has a mini-biography of yet another African-American commentator: “Mike Tirico has handled a variety of assignments for ESPN and ABC— Monday Night Football (pictured above), PGA Tour golf, NBA, College football, College basketball, and even the World Cup—since 1991, establishing himself as one of the most recognizable faces and steady voices across ESPN’s multimedia platforms and in the industry altogether.” ESPN tagging an African-American as not only one of the most steady voices, but one of the most recognizable faces on the entire “Worldwide Leader In Sports” is saying something about the emergence of the ‘new’ voice of reason across the sporting world.

When Messner et al. write “A Black Male briefly appeared to welcome the audience to open one of the Extreme sports shows but he did not do any play-by-play; in fact, he was used only to open the show” (252). I am confident that this male who appeared was Sal Masekela. Masekela is the host of the X-Games for ESPN, for both the summer and winter versions. On the contrary to Messner, TV Week Magazine says Masekela is “described by some as the face and voice of action sports.” Perhaps Messner and his writers did not sample enough of the extreme sports to miss him perform at his real capacity. Masekela also has no professional sports background, but to be coined as the face and voice of action sports make him a big deal, especially considering that while Masekela is African-American, and Messner et al. write that the X-Games and extreme sports are “an almost totally White show” (65).
(Masekela pictured below, to the right, with skateboarding and X Games hero Tony Hawk).

Curt Menefee (below, left) is an African-American who has no background in professional athletics, yet, like Brown, hosts an NFL morning and halftime show... that being FOX NFL Sunday.
Greg Gumbel (below,middle), an African-American, was selected by CBS to do host Super Bowls XXVI, XXX and XXXII, and followed these appearances by being chosen to call Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII.

Another prime example of an African-American man on television is Michael Wilbon (above, right). While colour commentators, such as Morgan, or play-by-play commentators, such as Johnson, are mainly heard as a background voice, Wilbon is front and centre (along with co-host Tony Kornheiser) debating sports issues with his journalistic opinion on his widely successful show called Pardon the Interruption on ESPN and TSN (right). Wilbon offers his sports knowledge and information and is a trusted host to ask questions to athletes, and addresses details geared to inform his audience to the fullest. Wilbon is widely respected by athletes and viewers alike, and when most people want to hear about sports, they go to Wilbon.

Other examples of African-Americans who are not only heard, but are also seen are the team on TNT. Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley who team up on a pregame and halftime show for the NBA, as well as perform live commentary (TNT employs five men on their primary crew, and four of them are African-American. Two appear below… Smith, middle; Barkley to the right). For football, African-American pregame and halftime analysts include Cris Carter, Michael Strahan, Warren Sapp, and Shannon Sharpe (of ESPN, FOX, SHOWTIME, and CBS respectively). Notably, all of the pre-mentioned men from both sports have probable bids for their respective Hall of Fames. However, while there isn’t a doubt that a previous playing career got them the gig as analysts, I believe that their voice is what keeps it.

You may think the use of African-American people from broadcasting in sports would exclude hockey, as it is generally considered a white man’s game (and the fact that hockey isn’t necessarily seen as a major sport in the U.S.). However, the CBC employs Kevin Weekes (below, left), an African-American, as a commentator for Western games for Hockey Night in Canada.

Away from sports, the best example of ‘the voice’ has to be of Morgan Freeman. When Freeman stepped on to the Hollywood scene, right away people took to his powerful and authoritative voice. Freeman narrates the film “War of the Worlds” and also narrates— and co-stars— in the movie “The Bucket List” with Jack Nicholson, as they try and live their lives before their lives outlive them. Freeman’s narration gives the story great power. His voice also speaks for Listerine, McDonalds, and Visa commercials.

The original black voice of reason though is the voice of James Earl Jones (below, right), who plays Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” series. Jones, of course, is an African-American. Darth Vader (below, left) is a villain though, and while paranoid researchers may classify this as meaningful that the villain is African-American, this performance laid the groundwork for the emergence of black males to do voicework, for heroes as well.
Jones also voices for the film The Lion King.

An example of a heroic voice is Dennis Haysbert, an African-American man, who beginning in 2001, starred on the television show 24 when he played U.S. President David Palmer (perhaps foreshadowing the election of Barack Obama), and this television show was wildly successful. If Jones played a villain in Darth Vader, an African-American playing the President of the United States provides great contrast. However, nowadays, this is not just going against a stereotype (the white man as the voice of reason), it is a new trend.

This trend is clearly emphasized and taken to a new level with the election of Barack Obama (below) as President of the United States. “The repertoire of stereotypical figures drawn from slavery days has never entirely disappeared (Hall, 252).” With his election, Hall’s point seems to be about dead. His election is paving the way for our society to be more open to powerful, African-American voices to emerge. This is only right, I believe, because the black man’s tone of voice has more authority to it, and in many cases, it is more appropriate to use a more powerful voice.

Haysbert has since been employed by Allstate Insurance among a few other companies as their spokesman. Haysbert doesn’t always appear in the commercials, but his voice does… adhering to the theory of the ‘new voice of reason’ being that of African-American males. His final line in the commercials is usually “That’s All-State’s stand” or “Are you in good hands?” which are to sound so powerful that the viewers are pressed to ponder their insurance situation.
His voice is so powerful that he has even been asked to do voice in video games. Most notably, he has done voicework for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and in Call of Duty 4: Finest Hour, where he is the narrator of both.

Perhaps the best, most contemporary example of the African-American voice rasing in pop culture is the Old Spice commercials (above, right). These commercials are hilarious, and they work (Old Spice sales are up a reported 107% according to Adfreak.com). Although they may use deception by saying ‘if you buy this product, you’ll get girls’, all commercials use similar tactics. To advertise their product, Old Spice uses a persona that is strong and right to the point, which is the prime criteria employed by Craig Reiss, former editor of 200 magazines, for a good commercial. And voice is paramount to achieving this. As Reiss says, “it is vital that you capture the personality in spoken voice.” And to complete this important task, Old Spice chose a black man to fulfil the role.

In total, voices of African-Americans are usually more powerful than white people... especially in sports. There, they have been heard with notable success. In sports, it is clear that you don’t need to be white or a former professional athlete to become a play-by-play announcer, such as the cases of Gus Johnson, James Brown, and Greg Gumbel. Colour commentary has proved equal for whites and African-Americans to permeate, and since this role is garnered for former athletes, it extends to African-Americans and whites both, such as Joe Morgan and Harry Neale respectively. It is most clear from the examples of TNT and various NFL pregame and halftime shows that race has no bearing on who appears on air. I believe from the collection of examples I’ve used, it illustrates the fact that in sports, race is a non-issue nowadays. Even in the vicinity of narrating in movies, video games, and commercials, the voice of African-Americans has proven to be the voice of power and authority. If any coverage of this ‘dilemma’ is being given, then it should be redirected elsewhere, because adequate equality in voice is now looking to be served more than ever. With the influx of African-American commentators lately, if anything, it would seem a healthy bout of reverse discrimination is occurring in the sporting world.



BIBLIOGRAPHY
MLA Citation
Messner, M.A. et al., “The Televised Sports Manhood Formula” from Critical Readings: Sport. Culture and Media (ed: Rowe, D.) Pp. 229-245 “ Open University Press, 2004.
“Sal Masekela”. TV Week Magazine. 27 August, 2007. Wikipedia also uses this quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sal_Masekela
Sabo, D. and Jansen, S.C. “Images of Black men in sport media” in M.A. Messner and D.F. Sabo (ed.) in Sex, Masculinity and Power in Sports: Rethinking Masculinity. Freedom, CA. Crossing Press.
Hall, Stuart. “The Spectacle of the other” from Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Pp 223, 225-290. Copyright Sage Publications Inc. 1997
Editor. “Mike Tirico”. ESPN.com. Posted 12 December 2009.