John Anderson - PLEASE continue with Track and Field

Why do so many start posts here with one simple comment. If it's worth posting let us know what your really thinking .

Agreed, he continues to do well for track and field. ESPN did a fairly good job with the NCAA championship this year

Is this the John Anderson who won the Boston Marathon in 1971? Anderson is a lifetime resident of Eugene Oregon.

NO, that was a guy named Steve Prefontaine

douglas burke wrote:

Is this the John Anderson who won the Boston Marathon in 1971? Anderson is a lifetime resident of Eugene Oregon.

That was Jon Anderson.

This is John Anderson and he's a former University of Missouri High Jumper

whatabowtism wrote:

douglas burke wrote:

Is this the John Anderson who won the Boston Marathon in 1971? Anderson is a lifetime resident of Eugene Oregon.

That was Jon Anderson.

This is John Anderson and he's a former University of Missouri High Jumper

And a former announcer for hit T.V. show "Wipeout"

winnr1 wrote:

whatabowtism wrote:

That was Jon Anderson.

This is John Anderson and he's a former University of Missouri High Jumper

And a former announcer for hit T.V. show "Wipeout"

And he's the lead singer for Yes. Busy guy for sure.

I think he's great as a trackside reporter. I would take him over Lewis Johnson any day.

Dr No wrote:

NO, that was a guy named Steve Prefontaine

"Jon" Anderson won the Boston Marathon in 1973. Prefontaine never ran a marathon.

Do you mean Juan Anderson, the announcer?

The only John Anderson that matters.

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics I thought John Anderson was annoying and Not funny. But at the Tokyo Games he was great. He toned down his comedy act and his true talent really are through. He now might be the best track announcer we have in the USA. And I agree get rid of Lewis Johnson and replace him with Anderson

John Anderson was the man who guided David Moorcroft to an amazing world record in the 5000m. 13.00.41 solo run.

I have been vey critical of Anderson, calling him “Drunk Uncle” for his strange comments and treating track and field like one of his ESPN 8 joke sports.

But he does bring great energy to the broadcasts at times.

The last meet I saw, Lewis Johnson did a great job with his interviews that had previously been cringey, so I am fine with him continuing to see if he has improved.

But I agree, track and field needs announcers who are energetic, knowledgeable and intense so they can describe the incredible competition taking place at every meet.

It’s embarrassing that golf announcers are more intense than track and field.

Not at all. Golf is perfect for television because it's one shot at a time and one competitor at a time. The analyst can instantly pick up on the variables in play with the particular shot, and how this player is likely to handle them, given his game and also the situational aspect.

Track has too many things going on for that type of scope. Calling a race is a very difficult job. But unquestionably the post race interviews should be exponentially better. At that point it's one athlete and no moving parts

Agreed. Anderson was very good in that Tokyo booth role with the two Australians. I think they were Australian. Regardless, they had excellent rapport. It was interesting that they would alternate each leg of a relay, with the Australian guy calling one lap and then Anderson taking over the next lap. Each had different perspective and eventually it became obvious beforehand what they would focus on once it was their turn.

Anderson also called some races solo. This was on the backup NBC feed. I think he called the famous women's 400 hurdles race between McLaughlin, Muhammad and Bol. I thought he did fine but his style is markedly less enthusiastic than the Leigh Diffey version. When that race was uploaded to You Tube with the John Anderson call, lots of comments below condemned the announcer as being too low key.

And that's indeed what the networks have to deal with. The public wants the screaming over the top guys, regardless of competency level. That's how Rowdy Gaines has kept the swimming role for decades.

Yes, the swimming announcers and figure skating announcers act like everything they see is the most amazing performance. Track and field is actually much more exciting and competitive, but the announcers often act like it is no big deal. They need a sense of wonder, a sense of “wow, look at the best athletes in the world,” because they are not capturing the reality of the events.
The swimming guy is not wrong, those are amazing races, it’s just that track and field is much more amazing and they downplay it.