I know I do. I hate him because he's an idiot. God and I have a hatred of idiots in common(remember The Good, The Bad and The Ugly?) He's supposed to be a play by play guy but he never knows what is going on. He anticipates calls and usually get's them wrong. I remember one time seeing an official signal a technical foul just as they were going to commercial. When they came back the opposing player lines up to shoot the technical foul. Marlowe had no idea why that guy was shooting a free throw and mumbles something about a technical foul. We never and I mean never found out who the technical was on or what it was for. One time the official makes a big signal about the foul being before the shot. A player goes to the throw in spot indicated by the official, a bunch of player substitutions start and Marlowe says "We don't know if this is a shooting foul or not". He had to be the only guy in the building that didn't know if it was a shooting foul or not. It's embarassing to have to hear him make a fool out of himslef so much. So many times he says what is going on with the vocal inflection of a question as if he is asking Hastings or some behind the scenes guy what is going on. I spend half the broadcast correcting the TV about the stuff Marlowe got wrong.

I brought this up because some discussion was going on about the "local blithering idiots" vs. the national guys in another post. The national guys will at least stop their little chat about everything but the game in front of them to let you know what a call was or what was going on.

I do like Hastings because even if he is a homer, in the past he has not held back on criticising the players for bad decisions. I like it that he once in a while has those teaching moments where he's telling the young player's at home what to learn from what they are seeing. Don't forget that Hastings was in the NBA for a long time and he didn't make it on his good looks. He made it because he learned from coaches and did what he was told and played the role he was assigned. I remember when the Miami Heat had their first year. They had gotten in their first few players and Hastings was one of them. He was quoted as saying "Right now I'm the best player we have. If that doesn't change we're in a lot more trouble than anyone can imagine." He is not an idiot, but he plays one on TV, just to be one of the good old boys. I'd love to have him over to watch a game with me. Marlowe can stay home. In his case he really is an idiot.