Good News Everyone!

Joe Starkey, the execrable long time play-by-play announcer for the Forty-Niners, is being replaced by Ted Robinson. In recent years I've found that I can't stand more than a minute or so of Starkey per week, so this means that I will once again be able to listen to the game broadcasts. A typical Starkey play call would include the mention that a pass had been thrown downfield, but would usually leave out such information as to whom the pass was intended, how far downfield it had been thrown, and whether or not it had been completed. I have been amazed for years that somebody so obviously incompetent could have retained such a visible job for so long. You could blame it on the York family's infamous inablility to distinguish talent from the lack thereof, but Starkey's presence and lack of discernable talent on 49er broadcasts is a holdover from the Debartolo era.

Ted Robinson isn't the second coming of Bill King, but he's at least competent and easy to listen to. I caught him on a broadcast a couple of weeks ago and was pleased to have some sense of what was happening on the field.

More on Starkey's retirement, from SFWeekly.com.