Super Bowl XXXXI Announcing Review
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Good lord...I'm writing checks my body can't cash these days. I say I'm going to be back to regular posting, and what happens??? My Internet access is lost for a half a day. Let's make this quick because I'm sure you sick of the Super Bowl talk (plus I need to get back to Tiki Barber updates).
What the "Others" are saying (quotes from Sports Biz Daily):
Richard Sandomir, who yesterday complained about the lack of crowd shots on CBS’ Super Bowl telecast, notes CBS “said that the weather caused so much condensation on its camera lenses that it used whatever cameras were not fogged or misted over to show the game.” CBS showed fans four times and crowd shots twice. CBS Sports VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade: “It wasn’t a philosophical thing, but it was what was going on with the cameras.” But Sandomir writes the wet cameras “should not have prevented CBS from providing a couple of looks at weather radar ... or forecasts of when the rain might end”- NY Times
Bill Taaffe writes while CBS studio analyst Boomer Esiason “made cogent points,” Shannon Sharpe “runs his motormouth in a monotone and it’s next to impossible to focus on what he’s saying.” Game callers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms had a “somewhat uneven performance”- Las Vegas Review
Leonard Shapiro writes CBS "took a safe and mostly sound approach to its entire Super Bowl production." But many of the stories in CBS's pregame coverage "were rather predictable and none of them exactly broke much new ground." CBS "simply chose to ignore some of the biggest stories of the week in its Sunday coverage"- Washington Post
There were some small glitches. CBS missed a live snap in the third quarter. The announcers didn't seem sure where Bears ace kick returner Devin Hester was positioned on a second-quarter Indianapolis Colts kickoff. And CBS lost audio in a live pregame talk with Chicago's Brian Urlacher. And CBS didn't predict all the rain. Said Nantz in the second quarter: "I failed meteorology school." (Said Simms: "You would have given the teacher an apple and changed the grade.")
Before the kickoff, CBS didn't fumble — or turn in any amazing plays. Super Bowl pregame shows can't really unearth anything terribly new anyway given how much all things Super Bowl have been chewed over.- USA Today
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And that was really just the start of the bad reviews......
I think the overall feeling is that CBS' coverage was very underwhelming. Phil Simms yelled for no apparent reason because the crowd was silent the entire game. Jim Nantz almost seemed bored with the whole thing. I don't even remember seeing Sam Ryan or Lesley Visser. And I only saw Wilcots and Tasker once.
The two things about the broadcast that I noticed the most were A) Almost Zero crowd shots, and B) No discussion of the weather.
Sure it was raining but it's the damn Super Bowl. I'm sure Bears fans were going crazy in the stands, but there were absolutely no shots of them at all. The weather thing blew my mind though. Nantz even said on the missed extra point that Hunter Smith "mis-handled the snap". Yes he "mis-handled" it, but do you think it might have been because of the torrential downpour?!?!
Overall it was a pretty boring Super Bowl, and CBS didn't help.
Grades:
Jim Nantz- C-
Phil Simms- D+
Solomon Wilcots- C
Steve Tasker- C
Sam Ryan- Incomplete
Lesley Visser- Incomplete
Pregame- B-
Halftime Show- Umm....didn't watch.
9 Comments:
How can anyone not enjoy the Puppy Bowl?!
Prince made the Super Bowl halftime show tolerable (even musical genius can't make it must-see viewing). No one noticed his dancers mocking the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction?
Phil Simms was standing very, very close to Nantz when they did camera shots.
I put the pre-game on mute, especially when Katie Couric was on.
How could you not watch the halftime show? It was, by far, the high point of the broadcast.
"Nantz even said on the missed extra point that Hunter Smith "mis-handled the snap". Yes he "mis-handled" it, but do you think it might have been because of the torrential downpour?!?!"
Not only that, but the NFL mandates that a new ball be used for each snap of the first half of the Super Bowl so they can hand out game used pigskin to sponsors and the like. I don't understand how this and the weather weren't brought up.
I recall a lot of discussion about there being 4 sideline reporters for the game (why, god would you ever need more than one person providing you with information you basically already knew?), but I too never remember seeing Visser or Ryan appear on my screen (although a distinct intake of alcohol could account for a lapse in vision).
It's pretty embarrassing that CBS had no idea the rain was coming.
I can't believe CBS has never heard of Rain X. It makes the water bead up, instead of spreading all over the place and condensing. I woudln't be inclined to put it on the lenses of my expensive hd cameras, but I've used it (on my car windshield) and it's a degradable product. CBS can afford new cameras, if that was even necessary.
Eh, it's Solomon Wilcotts, not Simon. And I watched the entire game sober and never saw Ryan or Visser - are we sure they were supposed to be there? Never even heard their names mentioned.
I must say: I did not miss the crowd shots one bit.
Halftime Show-F
Puppy Bowl-D+
Taking a crap-A-