https://defector.com/its-time-i-lived-my-truth-i-love-joe-buck/

The Fox Sports announcer is frequently hated for his call of sports moments that happened more than a decade ago, says Drew Magary. But the Joe Buck of today is actually a great announcer. "All I know of Joe Buck is what I see of him on my television, and what I see I almost always enjoy," says Magary, adding: "Everyone’s relationship with an announcer is deeply personal. It’s their voice talking to your brain, often when your brain is at its most agitated and/or vulnerable. If you’re watching a game by yourself, and this happens to me quite often, theirs is the only other voice in the room. So, despite appearances, it’s not easy to get into the booth and call a game live, for four straight hours, and leave the average fan pleased with the exchange. F*** up just once and they never forgive you. “I don’t hate him” has been my ultimate compliment for announcers all throughout my adult lifetime, so much so that it doesn’t even register with me at first if I actually LIKE the person doing the games. But it’s time I gave Joe Buck credit for achieving more than the bare minimum. He’s the most important play-by-play man in sports right now, and that’s because he’s the best one as well."

**** Joe Buck and Madison too!

From what I gathered, much of the apparent disdain for Joe Buck stems from the perception that he's just about the safest choice for an announcer on a live broadcast. What I mean by "safe" is that he's putting zero risk into what he does and says. This in return, tends to err on the side of being and sounding boring. He just seems way too buttoned up and never seems to have fun or the rock the boat while on air. There's also a sense, that he got the prime position from his last name and his ability to schmooze TV execs.

What I hate about Buck is how he will prattle on with his side talk, almost in defiance of play by play,...it's like he thinks whatever tangent he's gone on supersedes the importance of game play.

Someone probably told him to push the human interest angle, but with him he often gets so wrapped up in the tangents that he drowns out the game.

Regarding the NFL, the issue that people have with Joe Buck is that there's no real explanation how exactly he got where he is. What I mean is that it's debatable that he shouldn't have become the youngest TV network NFL announcer ever at 25 nor the #1 NFL announcer at 32.

To put things into perspective, Dick Enberg was about 44 years old (so I read) when he officially became NBC's lead NFL play-by-play man. Keep in mind that Enberg's ascension to the top came at a time in which it took easily better announcers much longer to get lead network roles. And this was also back k when the jobs were less competitive. So in a nutshell, there aren't really any comparables for guys as young as him getting those roles these days.

Also a lot of the supposed hate for Joe Buck as least as an NFL announcer from a national level, likely stems from how he was like or perceived as announcer from a decade prior. To Buck's own admission (when talking to The Ringer when the early days of NFL on FOX), he was trying too hard to replicate his predecessor, Pat Summerall.

When Troy, Cris, and I took over for Pat and John, I tried to do my version of Pat Summerall, which made me sound boring. I didn’t fall into the trap of trying to sound like my dad. I didn’t fall into the trap of trying to do anything as anybody else. But when the three of us stepped into that void, that void felt so big that I tried to imitate Pat. It didn’t work.

The problem with trying to mimic Summerall's minimalist tone, is that Joe Buck simply doesn't have the personality, gravitas, or voice characteristics to pull it off without sounding unenthusiastic and underwhelming. Take for instance, Buck's infamous infamous call of the David Tyree catch from Super Bowl XLII.

Pat Summerall for one thing, had a terrific speaking voice that was very booming and authoritative. Plus, he was paired with the explosive and animated John Madden, so Summerall didn't really need to yell and scream if he didn't have to. And while Summerall may have sounded bored calling Adam Vinatieri's game-winning field goal at Super Bowl XXXVI (the final one that he did as a broadcaster), that was just the tone that he always took as a play-by-play man, so it was easier for him to get away with it.