Lions Thursday open thread: Who is your favorite sports personality?

We sadly lost one of the best sports media personalities on Wednesday. John Saunders suddenly passed away at the age of 61. I have become terribly cynical about sports personalities and announcers, but Saunders transcended that. He always seemed incredibly genuine and never slumped into the Sports Shouting culture that is growingly pervasive in this field. Having lost one of the greats, let’s take time to appreciate those who we still have. Today’s question of the day:

Who is your favorite sports talking head? It can be an announcer, ESPN personality or even radio host.

My answer: Mike Tirico. Tirico has an endless depth of knowledge in pretty much any sport he covers, and he does an excellent job at keeping the games he calls interesting and enthralling. As a play-by-play announcer he manages to successfully toe the line between hype man and educator. When he’s calling the game, I know I’ll enjoy it more.

Your turn.