One Man's Quest To Rid The NFL Of Joe Buck And His Humorless, Emotionless Act

Many sports fans criticize Fox's Joe Buck for his sometimes wooden broadcasts of NFL and MLB games. One writer suggests it's time for Fox to look elsewhere for big games.

Writer Stephen Kaus posted his anti-Buck screed to Huffington Post, which subsequently went to SI, which depending on how you feel about either one of those sites, may or may not help its cause. Kaus' main point is that Joe Buck doesn't act like he's having fun anymore, and this was glaringly obvious to him after he and Troy Aikman soberly called the Eagles/Giants last Sunday. He even goes as far to suggest Kenny Albert should be the man who calls the showcase games from now on. Yikes.

Oh and then, of course, there are the inevitable comparisons to his late father:

Where, exactly, was Joe Buck while his father Jack was urging St Louis Cardinal fans to "go crazy folks" when the Redbirds won a playoff game* or telling a national radio audience that "I don't believe what I just saw" after Kurt Gibson's 1988 world Series blast off of the Eck?**

It's an interesting thought given that Buck, when not broadcasting, seems like a likable guy who's, for whatever reason, been severely neutered by the constraints of being Fox's go-to voice for national sporting events. Ever since his infamous over-the-top reaction to the Randy Moss "mooning" incident, we've seen a man who's been struggling with how he's supposed to broadcast games: should he strictly call it and let the on-field action be his one jumping-off point or loosen up a bit and remember that sports aren't supposed to be treated with the reverence of a presidential funeral? Or maybe he's just bored with the whole thing. Remember it was just this past summer where he openly admitted to Colin Cowherd that calling baseball games isn't that fun anymore and he actually doesn't watch any sports off-hours. But when it gets to the point where you have sports fans clamoring for more Kenny Albert during the most exciting time of the NFL season, maybe it is time to just step out of the booth forever to drink tall boys in the back of a cab with Paul Rudd and actively pursue those late night talk show dreams. Even at Buck's worst, he'd still be better than Jimmy Fallon. Kenny Albert Should Replace Joe Buck As Fox's No. 1 Act Before We're All In A Coma [HuffPo]