Paul Azinger to replace Johnny Miller on NBC Golf

RedOctober3829

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After 29 years, Johnny Miller is going to retire as NBC’s lead golf announcer and will be replaced by Paul Azinger, The Forecaddie has learned. In a fascinating twist that may have been inspired by Alex Rodriguez’s split time on ESPN and Fox baseball coverage this year, Azinger will remain on Fox Sports broadcasts of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open while taking the NBC seat vacated by Miller. An announcement is set for as early as Tuesday.

The Man Out Front is positively delirious at the news on many levels, even as it’ll be hard to say goodbye to Miller. In Azinger, NBC/Golf Channel is getting the one voice in the game with comparable wisdom and ability to launch a hot-take in effortless fashion. Mostly The Forecaddie is just happy that family man and great guy Miller sounds ready to enjoy less time on the road.

“It’s been 50 years on the road, and part of me is saying, ‘That’s enough,’” Miller, 71, said at the recent Safeway Open media day in Napa where he resides and holds a stake in Silverado Resort.

https://golfweek.com/2018/10/15/the-forecaddie-johnny-miller-to-retire-paul-azinger-replacing-him-in-nbc-booth-will-still-work-for-fox/
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Thank fucking God. I have no opinion on Azinger - I can’t even recall hearing him? Fox? - but I’d rather they fill the chair with a sack of potatoes than listen to Miller anymore.

What’s the opposite of ‘fond farewell’? Get bent?
 

gtg807y

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I still like Johnny, but news of his retiring isn't exactly surprising, seems like he'd been cutting his schedule back a bit in recent years. I like Zinger a lot, and am really looking forward to him on the Ryder Cup broadcasts.
 

cshea

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Yeah, I liked Johnny too. I’ll miss him.

I’m pretty indifferent towards Azinger, but mostly I’m glad it is not Leonard. It seemed like they were grooming him for the gig and he is awful.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I won’t belabor it, but I couldn’t stand him. His arrogance was on par (no pun intended) with only Jack’s, but at least Jack has earned it. My typical experience of Johnny is either him recalling playing a course thirty years ago or something along the lines of ‘this guy shouldn’t hit this shot...oh, he hit it and stuck it to two feet...he still shouldn’t have hit it, he should have punched out’. He also is the king of previewed clips and producers feeding him how a shot went so he can sound smarter than everyone. Jack/Johnny/Brandel are my top (bottom?) three. Throw Nantz in there somewhere but that’s mostly just for the melodrama.
 

PayrodsFirstClutchHit

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Azinger is bland along the lines of Faldo who adds very little to non-Master's broadcasts.

Johnny would take a stand or be willing to criticize the course or the players. Not everyone's cup of tea, but he at least brought something to the telecast. You could replace Faldo with a cardboard cutout and hardly anyone would notice.
 

gtg807y

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I like Azinger, but I like even more that NBC and Fox are finding a way to share him.
Agreed, I think the Fox broadcasts are getting better and better and he's a big part of that. Granted, that's "better and better" from Chambers Bay, which was a very low bar to clear. Now if we could just get Ken Brown on a similar deal to see him more often...

I'm curious if Zinger will be on any of the coverage on Golf Channel earlier in the day before it turns over to NBC. Faldo does that, I don't think Johnny ever did. It's been a long time, but I do have fond memories of Zinger and Faldo together back in the ABC/ESPN days. Wonder if they'd try to pair them back up again. There might not be enough oxygen in the atmosphere for those two to be in the same booth at this point, though.
 

Lupe Whalewatch

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I didn’t really mind Johnny Miller that much. Paul Azinger on the other hand, is a bumbling moron.
“I think you and I are firm believers that feel trumps thought ... actually feel creates thought ... then you try to repeat the thought, so you can repeat the feel ... remember the thought at least, so you can repeat the feel. And nobody has had greater feel than Tiger ... when you can combine the power with the feel ... what a combination that is. Dustin Johnson’s got that going. Golf is a real thinking man’s game.” -Paul Azinger June 14, 2018
 

patinorange

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I’m a Miller fan. Honest, irreverent, and really didn’t give a damn what tour players thought of him. Pretty rare in sports commentary.
I would agree he has slipped and seems somewhat disconnected to the current tour , but I will miss him. Seems like yesterday he hit a surprise tour win at Pebble Beach in his later years. He never did do much on the Champions tour, but I don’t think he was really interested in it.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I didn’t really mind Johnny Miller that much. Paul Azinger on the other hand, is a bumbling moron.
“I think you and I are firm believers that feel trumps thought ... actually feel creates thought ... then you try to repeat the thought, so you can repeat the feel ... remember the thought at least, so you can repeat the feel. And nobody has had greater feel than Tiger ... when you can combine the power with the feel ... what a combination that is. Dustin Johnson’s got that going. Golf is a real thinking man’s game.” -Paul Azinger June 14, 2018
I have literally no idea how this quote denigrates Azinger, outside his assumption on DJ.
 

joe dokes

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I’m a Miller fan. Honest, irreverent, and really didn’t give a damn what tour players thought of him. Pretty rare in sports commentary.
I would agree he has slipped and seems somewhat disconnected to the current tour , but I will miss him. Seems like yesterday he hit a surprise tour win at Pebble Beach in his later years. He never did do much on the Champions tour, but I don’t think he was really interested in it.
He and Watson stumbling to the finish, IIRC. Lions in winter.