Fellas after over a decade of watching lacrosse and after weeks of putting this tier list together, I am happy to present you with part 1 of the Lacrosse Commentators Tier List. The amount of adderall I consumed while researching and composing this list could keep a raging case of ADD at bay for 4-6 months. Part 1 will cover both the S Tier and the A Tier while part 2 will cover tiers B-F. Hope you enjoy.
S Tier
Joe Beninati
Joe B is the most electric lacrosse commentator of all time. If you disagree, you either don’t know ball, are too poor to afford Big Ten Network, or both. The voice, the goal calls, the catch phrases, the ball knowledge, this legend has it all. Fun fact, Joe B still holds both the single season saves record (263) and single season blondes smashed record (37) at Bowdoin. That was back in the day when the NESCAC was still conservative and cared more about sports than weird hair colors and stupid nicknames like “they.” The best part about Joe B is, lacrosse isn’t even his main sport. Now that the Capitals got rinsed in the first round of NHL playoffs we should be hearing a lot from him on the lacrosse scene for the remainder of the season. Go look up when Mac O’Keefe broke the D1 scoring record, that call is a classic. There is absolutely nothing comparable to a “FIRES HE SCORES!” from the great Joe B. GOAT.
Anish Shroff
Anish is ESPN’s go-to play by play guy for lacrosse, and widely known as the voice of the sport. Anish’s first exposure to the sport didn’t come until his time at Syracuse watching the Gait brothers, and since then he’s climbed the ladder up to calling some of the highest rated and most watched lacrosse games of all time. Conference Tournaments, PLL Playoffs, and the NCAA National Championship, Anish is the guy for the biggest stages. I got drunk with Anish last summer (he’s a huge Modelo guy) and he told me he only took the gig with the Carolina Panthers for the money and that they’re gonna be fucken garbage for the next 25 years. Dude is nails inside and outside of the press box, I blacked off some crazy liquor and he let me whip his murdered out M4 from the bazaar back to my AirBnB. Total legend, here’s to next summer brother.
A Tier
Eamon McAnaney
Eamon “Milf Master” McAnaney is a total nailgun. Called some of the biggest college games in the 2010s. Lyle’s glory days, Blaze’s coast to coast, UMD UNC natty, the list goes on and on. Lacrosse film room on YouTube has a fucken sweet compilation of his best calls. The only reason he isn’t S tier is because he doesn’t do it anymore. “Goes to the question mark, and there’s your answer.” Legend.
Chris Cotter
If you’re a fan of Connor Shellenberger’s college highlight tape, you’re a fan of Chris Cotter. Cotter calls a ton of lacrosse and is most known for his ACC games. He also has been loving the fact that Brennan O'Neill and Joey Spallina don't show up against big teams and loves talking about it. Huge respect for that, most people are scared of attacking Big Lax. Total baghound too, you seen the shnoz on that man?
Jay Alter
Sounds a bit like Carc without the whole “I want to kill myself” part. If you watched Syracuse Virginia the other weekend, that was Jay Alter. He's been in the game for a while now and knows how to bring the big moments (and big women) to life. That game was electric and Jay brought the juice. Dawg.
Drew Carter
Drew “Dabz” Carter majored in Cannabis Studies and minored in Communication. He starts every day with illadelph rips and keeps the penjamin on him at all times for commercial breaks and intermissions. I heard he used to finish up a Cuse night game and head straight to the lax house with an O for Tucker Dordevic to attack the weekend with. Congrats on the Celtics job too brother.
Brendan Burke
Still can’t believe Pauliberal got him to do PLL before he really blew up. Burke graduated from Paul’s Liberal League to the big leagues, where he calls Islanders games as well as nationally broadcasted games on TNT. This dude’s a true pro and is just getting started. He had a great first run with lacrosse and knows ball so it sucks they couldn't keep him locked in. Wish he would call lacrosse again but $100 a game doesn’t cut it for this big timer anymore.
Who's too high or too low? Who's just right? Who's missing? Let me know your opinions and stay tuned for next week's drop of tiers B-F, where I'm sure there won't be any surprises and certainly no controversy whatsoever. Cheers gentlemen 🍻