Without irony, McCarver refers to Buck as ‘pompous’

ST. LOUIS, MO — Tim McCarver was just having a normal dinner conversation when someone asked him a question that changed the whole evening — “What do you think of Joe Buck?”

“I gotta be honest, Joe’s a little pompous,” McCarver said, with a completely straight face. “He’s just so full of himself, and he just sort of sits there and really thinks that everyone needs to hear exactly what he thinks about every little thing, and it’s just a little bit annoying, after awhile. You know? It’s like, ‘God, do you have a comment on everything?’”

The dinner party sat in abject silence for a second, and then erupted in laughter.

“Ah, you’re joking,” exclaimed one guest. “Hilarious!”

“I know, it seems like a joke, or at least a shock,” McCarver replied. “Well, I’ll tell you, Joe’s a great guy. And I hate to even say anything bad about him, because he’s such a good guy. I mean, he’s just an okay guy. But he’s very full of himself, and frankly, a lot of people don’t like to be around people who are very full of themselves, I think. I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but I’m pretty sure that people don’t like it.”

“Well played, Tim!” screamed one of the guests. “Well played! I really thought you were being serious there!”

“I was being serious in the booth with Joe, because that’s what I’m paid to do,” McCarver said. “But I just have to be honest right now, and let you know how I really feel about this situation, because I owe you all that kindness.”

The unbridled honesty of McCarver had the guests rolling.

“Can you imagine?” shouted one of the guests. “Tim McCarver calling another person ‘pompous!’ This is truly amazing, right?”

“It is amazing,” McCarver said. “Because I am so gracious. And so wonderful. But sometimes you have to tell the truth.”

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!