I would like to thank the Twitter peoples for this posting because without their 140 word allotted blurbs, this posting would never have come into existence. I am sure Phil Wood will thank you later.

MASN Sports contributor, back-up to Ray Knight, and avid blog hater, Phil Wood wrote a doozey of a blog of his own today saying that he wishes that he could punch the announcer of the Washington Nationals games in the face because Phil just doesn’t like it when the guy puts emphasis on the player’s names when they are announced.

This of course goes against years of such vocalizations by multiple announcers in multiple sports.

It’s when he announces the Nationals that I have to resist the urge to find him and, to quote Fred Sanford, give him one across the lips.

Is it really necessary to announce the Washington shortstop as “Cristian Goooooooooooooooooooozmonnnnnnnnn.” Or the right fielder as “Elijah Doooooooooooooooooooooooooks.” What is this, professional wrestling?

It’s not just me who finds this annoying. It’s a frequent topic of conversation in and out of the pressbox, and I’ve yet to find anyone who likes it. That type of theatricality might be okay in the WWE, or maybe in the minor leagues somewhere, but this is neither of those.

I don’t know, Phil. The WWE and MLB do have their fair share of steroids and prima donnas. I might also suggest never attending a minor league game. You’d hate it for the amount of fun and pizzaz people have there.

For a guy who loathes bloggers because they aren’t ever in the locker room, Wood’s view has an amateurish quality that rivals any high schooler with a computer and time on his hands. The announcer doesn’t do it for anyone in the press box. He does it for the thousands of people who actually paid for a ticket, not for the guy who flashes his media badge and then disappears into the press box to read the paper and check his Facebook page.

Sorry, Phil. The Jurassic Period is over. Call this a changing of the guard. The game is evolving and being passed down to the next generation. It might pick some things up that you might not like, but PLENTY of other people not in the locker room or press box do. It happened with my father and it is no doubt going to happen to me with my daughter. But the naaaaame emphasis isn’t anything new. I’ve gone to sporting events for nearly 29 years and never have walked out of a stadium, park, rink, or field that didn’t have some sort of call like that.

Maybe the announcer does it because some old fart from the yesteryear has already nailed him in the face and now he can only say “Goooooooooooooooooooozmonnnnnnnnn” because of his sore jaw.

Someone beat you to the punch, Phil.

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