Best And Worst Sports Media Personalities In The Bay Area

The Bay Area is filled with plenty of sports media personalities due to its many sports teams, radio stations, local channels, and newspapers.

Some of these people I find very interesting and knowledgeable, but there are plenty of others who I find annoying and ignorant.

One of my favorites is Damon Bruce (pictured above)of KNBR. Bruce does the Sportsphone 680 show in the evening from 7pm to 10pm, and he is also on after every Giants road game. Bruce has great knowledge of all the sports teams and leagues in the Bay Area, and also nationally.

Bruce is ready to talk about the local teams as well as the teams and players in conferences such as the Big 10 or the Big East. Unlike a lot of local sports personalities, Bruce will talk about non Bay Area teams.

But what separates Bruce from everyone else is that this guy is genuinely funny. I think he could be a good stand-up comedian if he wanted to be one. I find him especially funny after a tough Giants loss, or when the Giants or another Bay Area sports team is doing poorly.

Bruce makes you laugh but he is also very logical and sensible. He has a lot of loyal listeners who probably would vote for him to be the next Giants or 49ers GM.

Another good local sports personality is Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. Kawakami writes about the local teams such as the 49ers, Sharks, and Giants. He has a very good blog in the Mercury News, and it is updated almost daily with his thoughts and opinions. Kawakami's best posts on his blog are probably during basketball season where he often writes about the Golden State Warriors.

Mike Krukow is one of the best color commentators in baseball. Krukow has been working on Giants broadcasts for many years. He is a very knowledgeable and as a former major league pitcher, he knows the game very well. Krukow is one of the best broadcasters in helping explain what is going on in a game to viewers.

There has been many times where he has anticipated a pitch by a pitcher before it happened. Stuff like that makes me like to watch Giants broadcasts even if the Giants are not a fun team to watch.

Some of the worst Bay Area personalities work for the San Francisco Chronicle. Writers and columnists such as Bruce Jenkins, Gwen Knapp, and Nancy Gay are just terrible.

Jenkins and Knapp seemed to make a living bashing Barry Bonds. Gay is a NFL writer who has made many mistakes in her writing. One time she wrote a preview for a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Carolina Panthers last season and she said that Larry Johnson would have a big game because Carolina's offensive linemen were injured.

Johnson is a running back so why would the Carolina offensive players affect him in the game? Stuff like that makes readers like me laugh and not take her or the Chronicle seriously.

Knapp is one of the worst writers I have ever read. I stopped reading her columns because they were just horrendous to me. Knapp might have a good article once every six months, but usually her ramblings just make me want to cancel my subscription to the Chronicle.

I still continue to read Jenkins' columns because his views on things are always opposite of my opinions, and reading his columns actually makes me laugh at times. I remember a few years ago when he said that Bobby Crosby of the A's would be a great shortstop.

One of the worst talk show hosts on KNBR is former Golden State Warrior, Tom Tolbert. Tolbert received criticism and jeers from Warriors fans during his playing days but now a lot of fans have turned on him because they have accused him of racism.

Tolbert once used a racial slur to make fun of Asians on the air last year and he also defended Shaquille O'Neal when O'Neal made fun of Yao Ming a few years ago with his "ching chong" comments.

The Asian community did not take his comments lightly in both situations and many KNBR listeners have vowed not to listen to his afternoon show anymore. Nevertheless, Tolbert's show with Ralph Barbieri is still one of the most popular shows on KNBR.

Another sports personality in the Bay Area that fans are not very fond of is Amy Guiterrez, the in-game reporter for the Giants. Guiterrez doesn't seem to have much knowledge of baseball at all and she often makes many blunders on the air.

She never asks a tough question to any Giants player, and there was a time  when she did not know she was on the air and started counting down from five before beginning her interview with a Giant.

One time this year she interviewed Bengie Molina after a victory, and after asking him one question, she quickly ended the interview by saying "The game speaks for itself."

I am sure Amy G, as she is called, means well but the Giants should have hired someone better. I am jealous of the Boston Red Sox fans who get to watch the sexy blonde, Heidi Watley, every game. Why can't the Giants have her or Clarissa Thompson, the gorgeous former in-game reporter for the Colorado Rockies? I guess I am asking for too much.

While there are a lot of good sports media personalities out here, there are also a lot of bad ones, but the good thing is that a lot of the bad ones are old and hopefully they will retire soon so we won't have to hear from them ever again.