I seriously hate piling on in cases like this, and the video from last night almost stands on its own, buuuuuut FOX is getting absolutely destroyed this morning and I just have to talk about it. Most networks fail on just one thing when broadcasting Football. It's either the announcers not knowing what's going on, the camera crew can't keep up, or the production truck is behind. It's rare that a broadcast achieves even two out of those three, but that's where FOX's BCS games come in.

I'll get to my review in a second, but first I wanted to share what others, on both the Internet and in Print, are saying....

Richard Sandomir, NY Times: "Having to pay attention to two or four shots at once, live, with a play about to begin, is needless. Sometimes, Fox lingered too long in a four-shot, almost missing going to a full-screen for the snap. One particular shot in the quadruple screens — of coaches’ signals from the Oklahoma sideline — would have been useful to dissect as a replay; but in a quarter-screen, it looked like the coaches were playing pat-a-cake.

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: "Brennaman settled down after a shaky start. Davis was decent. But a "no-frills" performance for the network's last title game anytime soon. Nothing special, nothing awful. Nothing to be missed."

TBL: "Can someone please check Thom Brennaman’s identification? Seriously. We’d like to see his social security card and passport. We firmly believe he is in some way related to Mountain-Mover/QB Tim Tebow."

Mel Bracht, Oklahoma News: "Brennaman and his Fox cohorts went overboard in gushing about how great a man Tebow is off the field. His comments would have been more fitting on a feature story than a game broadcast."

Fanhouse: "What I do know is this: Brennaman was so far over the top in his pro-Tebow hyperbole on Thursday that the game became darn-near unwatchable unless the volume was off. Not only did Brennaman go on and on about what a remarkable man Tebow is, but he backed Tebow against Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks -- who said Tebow would be no better than the fourth-best QB in the Big 12 -- stating that was "probably the most ridiculous statement ever said."

Neil Best, Newsday: "Fox's Thom Brennaman often seems to be doing a clever parody of an old-time sportscaster, except that he's serious. His outing with analyst Charles Davis for Fox's third and final BCS Championship Game was particularly amusing, especially his over-the-top deification of Tim (Superman) Tebow. My favorite moment came late in the game, when - just as it seemed Brennaman and Davis were ready to bronze Tebow on the spot - the saintly quarterback was flagged for taunting an Oklahoma player with one of those Gator chomp motions."

Spencer Hall, Sporting News: "Assumptions one should not make about this game: 1) Bob Stoops always loses big bowl games. Untrue. By the record, he only loses 66% of them. 2) All Big 12 defenses are uniformly awful. Inaccurate. This proves only that the defenses Oklahoma faces are uniformly awful, which means all Big 12 defenses save Oklahoma, which kept Florida's offense in check for most of the game. 3) Fox puts on an incompetent broadcast. No. Incompetent doesn't cover how inept their clodfooted work on the BCS has been."

Ever since the network took over the BCS, you could immediately tell that they were going about the production all wrong. On top of that, it has almost gotten worse over the last three years. The first problem is that the people in the booth don't get subjected to any College Football during the year. Sure you can follow along at home, but most NFL announcers are preparing all day Friday and Saturday for their game on Sunday. Now that isn't the case for every team that FOX put out there, and you would think Brennaman and Davis' work on the Big Ten Network would help them, but alas....it doesn't seem that it does.

The second problem is the sheer madness that is created between plays. The production truck is certainly talented because they can jump between 40 different shots between snaps, but their looks are beyond unnecessary. It's almost as if they enjoy the pomp and circumstance of the College environment rather than the actual game.

The biggest problem though? They don't listen. People have been saying the same things above for the past three years and the only thing that changed was that they showed us more cheerleaders this go around. Of course, none of this matters because FOX only has one more year of driving us crazy during Bowl Season. Thank God! Oh and one last thing.....EVERYONE IN THE WORLD KNOWS THAT THE CLOCK STOPS ON A FIRST DOWN IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL! If you want to tell us once, that's fine, but forty times is just downright maddening.

Oh and as far as Thom Brennaman goes, I think this screenshot of his Wikipedia page after the game, sums up his night perfectly (click for larger)....


(Wiki page edit "rumored" to have been done by this guy)

After the third year of Monday Night Football on ESPN, the trio of Tirico, Jaworski and Kornheiser have definitely improved in the booth, but there are still some things that bother both myself and the masses. Kornheiser doesn't seem to annoy everyone as much as in years past, and is starting to settle into his role, but some of his tangents and on-air "articles" remain over-the-top. The constant Brett Favre talk through the first five games or so was unnecessary, and it took a chastising from Tirico to finally make him stop.

Other than that, the only other thing the trio suffered from was a set of terrible games. But even with some stinkers, Monday Night Football was the most watched program on cable this past year. Via ESPN PR....

ESPN’s third season of Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable television in 2008, set an all-time cable viewership record for the third straight year and drew the year’s three biggest cable household audiences and 13 of the top 15. In three seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered seven of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the Eagles-Cowboys telecast on September 15, which attracted cable’s largest household audience ever (an average of 12,953,000 million homes).

ESPN’s 17 Monday Night Football telecasts in 2008 averaged a 8.9 rating, representing an average of 8,679,000 households (11,962,000 viewers – P2+), increases of 3%, 5% and 7%, respectively, vs. 2007 (8.6; 8,277,000 and 11,230,000). MNF ended on a particularly strong note with last night’s Chicago Bears’ 20-17 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers delivering a 9.8 rating, representing an average of 9,582,000 households (13,803,000 viewers – P2+). The game ranks as the third-largest household audience on cable this year.

The numbers don't lie, and for those of you expecting or wanting a change, aren't going to be getting it anytime soon. I know we poke fun at the trio each Monday night, but they're slowly getting better each season and each broadcast. If it ain't entirely broken, I'm sure ESPN feels no need to fix it. And they honestly shouldn't mess with what's working (for the most part) at this point.

That's not to say that there weren't some funny moments and quotes throughout the year, so what I've done is come up with a top ten set of quotes, and a compilation video of clips I've saved throughout the year. We've got Tony apologizing for a comment on Hispanic Heritage Day, Emmitt being Emmitt (Plaxico Berries, Rites of Patches and more) and Kat Deluna butchering the National Anthem. So buckle up and enjoy your 2008 Monday Night Football Season in just eight short minutes!



10. "Hi Brett, Hi Diana."- Mike Tirico during the Week One Packers-Vikings matchup

9. "This is not a Buccaneer team that's built to come from behind." - Jaws
"But they have, on the road. 3 times." - Mike Tirico

8. "Does that mean that, Delhomme, he went to Jarrett?" - Tony Kornheiser

7. "Great play calling, I can't tell you anything else. Very hard."- Mike Ditka

6. "The good thing about being short is that everyone else is tall...."- Emmitt Smith

5. "They were dooing for Deuce McAllister."- Mike Tirico
"Dooing?"- Tony Kornheiser
"Deucing."- Mike Tirico

4. "We put the focus on Favre because people like me are in love with him."- Tony Kornheiser

3. "That's exactly the kind of pass Favre would have thrown. Does it remind you of him at all?"- Tony Kornheiser
"Yes, but you've got to let it go, Tony."- Ron Jaworski
"I'm going to put a Favre moratorium on the Second Half. You only get five mentions!"- Mike Tirico

2. "I took high school Spanish, either he said he's not going to be caught, or please pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow." - Tony Kornheiser
"I said something before which I shouldn't have said, I apologize for it. Not my first mistake, undoubtedly won't be my last, but a 100% apology."- Tony Kornheiser

1. "This kid has obviously not earned his rites of patches in the locker room."- Emmitt Smith
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Thanks again to all of you who took the time to join in on the live-blogs each Monday Night, and sorry for bailing near the end of the season (there was good reason, but I don't want to bore you with the details).

I really hate to say anything bad about Coach Knight, as the guy scares me to death, but his first trip to the booth last night was less than stellar. It's not like he didn't provide analysis, but a lot of it just seemed either completely obvious or uninspired. Not only that but I think ESPN might be afraid to put him on camera. I watched a good bit of the Duke-S.Illinois game last night and I think I only saw him on camera once.

Combine that with the odd choice of essentially replacing him on the second game with Vitale, and it was just a random night altogether. So much so, that Coach Knight's son decided to steal the headlines. Pat Knight's Texas Tech Red Raiders put up a school record 167 points in a win over East Central Oklahoma. Via the Dallas Morning News....

Texas Tech gave coach Pat Knight something his father never got with the Red Raiders — 167 points.

The Red Raiders defeated East Central 167-115 Thursday night.

Trevor Cook scored a career-high 20 points and was one of 10 players in double figures for Texas Tech, which easily eclipsed the record for most points scored by the Red Raiders. Alan Voskuil and John Roberson each had 17 points and Mike Singletary and Wally Dunn each had 16.

"I'm a big believer in confidence," Knight said. "We got 10 guys that score double figures. Proves to them they can at least put it in the bucket. Our defense is a little different. The game is just so different from anything. We're not going to face anything like this."

That's just wild. Take a look at the boxscore when you get a chance as well, it'll just blow your mind. Shooting 52%, on 13 of 25, from 3-point range will always help you out. And who said that the new 3-point line would cause scoring to be down?

Texas Tech defeats East Central 167-115 (Dallas Morning News)

This post is about a day old, but after staying up until 4am and then getting up at 8am the same day to continue watching the ESPN "Tip Off Marathon", it's taken me a bit to process the overkill. Well overkill isn't really that right term. That would insinuate that I didn't enjoy all of the coverage, which isn't true, so let's use the term "surplus". USA Today's blog, Game On, covered what the "surplus" told us about , but I wanted to look into what it told us about ESPN's College BBall coverage.

I mentioned the other day that the games were boring, and outside of an overtime game between Hawaii and Fresno State at 4am and a Stephen Curry-Blake Griffin battle, that was definitely the case. While the games themselves weren't the best, ESPN's coverage throughout the day long event was actually pretty good. The marathon allowed the viewing audience to experience the full breadth of ESPN's programming ability in the Sport, and just about every announcing team seemed almost in midseason form.

The studio shows were all spot on, and for once, I was extremely impressed with the Basketball version of College Gameday. Rece Davis is a great host, Hubert Davis is improving, Bob Knight actually seemed to be enjoying himself and Digger Phelps....well, okay....I wasn't impressed with everything! I'm beyond sick of his whole schtick with Bobby Knight, and hopefully he can just lay off it the rest of the season. Other than that they were enjoyable, and every announcing team that I questioned last year appeared to show improvement. Even the duo of Terry Gannon and Steven Bardo who gave us this great call of Fresno State freshman Paul George's posterization of the entire St. Mary's backcourt.

Bam! Watch that one again....I'll wait. Okay, good. And while it's true that the network has seemingly improved as a whole, there's another spot where it's lacking any semblance of betterment. And that's within its constant, and nauseating, barrage of Dick Vitale. Look, I love the guy for his work in bringing attention to the Sport, and I believe he should be in the Hall of Fame, but his homerism and love for all things in the state of North Carolina is just beyond distracting at this point. I think The Dagger explained it best with the following statement....

Vitale seems less interested now in calling games than in using his two hours on ESPN as a bully pulpit for his pet causes [Ed note: Tyler Hansborough, naming the Indiana Gym after Bobby Knight, the one and done rule, and jump ball versus possession arrow]. I doubt many fans are interested.

Anyway, after UNC had sufficiently pulled away from Kentucky, I switched to the Davidson-Oklahoma game, and it was like this auditory crush had been lifted off my chest. I could just enjoy basketball.

Yep, that about sums up ESPN Basketball at this point, and in comparison, much of their coverage across all Sports on the network. I know it's tough to fill so many analyst roles, but for every great analyst (Tom Jackson, Tim Legler, Dan Shulman, Ron Jaworski) and great show (NFL Live, OTL, PTI), you have three times as many distracting and just downright terrible ones (Emmitt Smith, Pam Ward, First Take, Any NBA Show, Skip Bayless, Jay Mariotti, Mike Greenberg, Chris Berman, Joe Morgan, etc.).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Every time that ESPN takes a few steps forward, in what seems like a matter of minutes, the take a gigantic leap backwards. I like what they've done with College Football, NFL Coverage and the start of College Basketball this year, but for some reason their main shows and announcing teams for each of those entities (I.E.- Monday Night Football and the team of Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale) continue to be terrible.

Let's hope they can phase out the bad elements of each Sport as quickly as possible, and then let the cream rise to the top. Oh and one more thing...."Interactive Tuesday" for Basketball is just as bad as it is for Football.

After college basketball's first two nights, a grade for ESPN (The Dagger)
What we learned watching 24-hours of hoops on ESPN (Game On)
Seriously, Stop With the 'Interactive Tuesday' (The Sporting Blog)

I know a great deal of you still don't have the NFL Network, so I did you the favor of watching the Browns collapse against the Broncos last night for you. The game was rather entertaining with Brady Quinn exploiting the Broncos defense, but then again, so hasn't every other quarterback Denver has played. The point of this post however is to illustrate just how great a hire that Bob Papa is for the network.

Every early review that I've read seems to be in line with my thinking, and that's that the pairing of Papa and Cris Collinsworth could already be one of the top announcing teams in the NFL. I know that's a little bit over-the-top, and the closeness of the game obviously helped, but I honestly really enjoyed the broadcast. Moreso than I have for an NFL game in quite some time. I've always been a fan of Collinsworth, but his assignments with Bryant Gumbel just dragged him down. Papa was spot on throughout the night and when two announcers can laugh, be serious and breakdown plays, you've conquered about 99% of the announcing game. The only thing left is to get the players and the downs right (Hi Pam!).

The NFL sponsored channel isn't going anywhere, and even though they can't get a carriage deal to save their lives, so this excellent transition was a much needed one. You officially have my approval, NFL-N. Not that it matters, but you've got that going for you....which is nice.

Elsewhere....

Papa, Collinsworth Worth A Listen (Sox & Dawgs)

It can't be easy to throw together a random collection of people for a two week period (which has multiple games a night), but TBS definitely benefited from having a year under their belt. For the most part, the network pulled off a great Postseason, and should be praised for vastly improving over last year. There were a few hiccups, which I'll get into, but they completely outdid FOX his Playoff season. I'm almost sad to see them turn it over to the national network. Let's get into things as a whole with the positives/negatives and then we'll look at the winners/losers as well as final grades.

Negatives

The thing about airing a ton of games over a short period is that there will always be mistakes, but in the end it only matters how a network limits or handles those errors. The biggest transgression was obviously the delay of coverage at the start of Game Six. Two circuit breakers went out before the game, which caused the feed to go out and viewers to not see the game until the Bottom of the first.

Obviously this was a freak accident, but thousands of events are aired on networks across the Country and I can't remember that happening in recent memory. Every single precaution should have been taken to make sure that didn't happen, so TBS does need to shoulder some of the blame.

The biggest negative to me continues to be the biases of some of the announcing teams. I really don't know why the A-Team latched on to the Rays the way they did, but at times the hyperbole was borderline unbearable. Even as someone who's not a fan of the team, I could understand why Red Sox thought that Chip Caray and Co. were pro-Rays for most of the Series. It's hard to juggle two storylines, especially with one being a "Cinderella Story", but you have to give it a better shot than that team did.

Other than that, the list of negatives is pretty short. The Frank TV thing has been commented on ad nauseum but they really need to rethink that marketing strategy for next season. Hopefully the show will be long gone by then though.

Positives

First and foremost, the new people, that the network worked into the booths and studio show, almost all worked out. Using the Inside the NBA formula, the network put together an amazing pre and postgame show in Inside MLB. If you're comparing it to FOX, or even Baseball Tonight, it blows them both out of the water. I still think they could do with out Cal Ripken, but even he seemed to improve over the course of another season. Eck, Granderson and Harold Reynolds worked great with EJ, and each other, and I actually looked forward to watching them following each game.

The network also addressed some of the huge negatives from year one including perhaps the biggest one, graphics. Everything was much cleaner and again, if we're comparing it to FOX's production, about a thousand times less distracting.

Winners

We've already touched on the studio show, but as far as the announcers went, I think most teams in the early rounds (outside of one...see below) worked well together. Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson had a perfect balance of play-by-play and analysis, and with the added inside info from John Smoltz, created one of the best trios I've heard in quite some time. Having Anderson call the Brewers series was a bit skeptical at first, but didn't turn out nearly as bad as I thought it would.

Orsillo and Harold Reynolds were also stellar and even Chip Caray and Buck Martinez worked well in the Division Series. Ron Darling had a tough time working with his first round partners (see below), but he impressed me in the ALCS.

Losers

I don't know how many times that I can say this, but it's seriously time to phase Dick Stockton out of all broadcasts. I know the guy is a legend, but he just can't keep up with the pace of any Sport at this point in his life. Having Tony Gwynn as an analyst didn't help either, and Ron Darling was left picking up the pieces. I hadn't really enjoyed Darling up until these Playoffs, but as I mentioned above, he was the only thing keeping those broadcasts afloat.

Grading

- Studio Show Personalities:

Ernie Johnson - A (Best in the business)
Dennis Eckersley - B (Got made fun of a lot but took it in stride and provided great analysis)
Harold Reynolds - B- (Made the transition from the booth flawlessly. He's actually better in this format)
Cal Ripken - C (Still don't think he works as an analyst)
Curtis Granderson - B (Great showing by the rookie in the opening round)

- Division Series Teams:

Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and John Smoltz (MIL-PHI) - B+ (The only three-man team that disproves my theory that a third man is useless)
Dick Stockton, Ron Darling and Tony Gwynn (LAD-CHC) - D (Stockton and Gwynn need to go)
Chip Caray and Buck Martinez (BOS-LAA) - B- (Didn't become annoying until the ALCS)
Don Orsillo and Harold Reynolds (CHW-TB) - B+ (Just a great team from the jump)

- ALCS:

Chip Caray, Buck Martinez and Ron Darling - C+ (Would have been good if it wasn't for the Rays bias, the plus sign is all Darling)

Overall

I was extremely impressed with TBS' second year. It takes networks years of different announcing combos, and production elements, and TBS is almost "up to speed" after two attempts. I said it before, but I think if people had to choose between TBS and FOX, the majority would be picking the cable network after only two attempts. I think that speaks volumes to the progress they've made.

Final Grade - B

Last week, it was a double shot of Emmitt, and this week's MNF Video of the Night features Mike Ditka going crazy at random times during the second half of last night's Broncos-Raiders contest! But before we get to that nonsense, I have to talk about that double-header that went down last night.

The main team of MNFers spent a lot of time during the offseason trying to fix issues that have been bothering fans over the past two years. And while I applaud them for trying, last night's game was just as bad as ever. There were no guests, there weren't a lot of fancy graphics taking up the screen, but once again a certain #4 Quarterback was mentioned probably over a hundred and fifty times during the broadcast. I just don't think it crossed their mind that the entire network has just shoved this down our throat for an entire Summer. You would think they would have learned when the same thing happened with Mike Vick two years ago, but I guess not.

I understand that they have to bring him up, but you can really get all of that out of your system in the first quarter. The problem as I've stated many times though is never with Tirico or Jaws, but rather Kornheiser. When both the lead and the second analyst are noticeably bothered by hearing his name in the second half, someone has to tell Tony to shut about about whatever topic he's beating to death. Good for Tirico for finally say something, but that didn't come until the fourth quarter. If the Packers can move on ESPN, so can you.

As far as the second team, just please never subject us to those three again. I could easily be considered one of the worst broadcasts ever if it wasn't for the same three's performance in last year's opener. I think that, and this video, tells you all you need to know.

The amount of ooohs" and "oh gods" that came out Ditka probably rivaled the Favre mentions by the end of the night, but teeth sucking and analysis is what drove me crazy. He did this the ENTIRE GAME! I think Ditka is a smart guy, and that he knows his Football, but he really doesn't belong anywhere near a mic. I normally take the morning to re-watch some of the game, and let it all sink in, but I didn't need to today....that game was just dreadful. Onto the quotes before I get mad....
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Game One:

"Hi Brett, Hi Diana."- Mike Tirico

"I call this the great gamble of the 2008 season. It's like John McCain picking Sarah Palin."- Tony Kornheiser

"Last year he was the Rookie of the Year and he went over a million yards like nine times."- Tony Kornheiser on Peterson

"He sits and listen when people like me talk about him."- Tony Kornheiser
"Especially you talking about him."- Ron Jaworski
"I know nothing!"- Tony Kornheiser

"That's exactly the kind of pass Favre would have thrown. Does it remind you of him at all?"- Tony Kornheiser
"Yes, but you've got to let it go, Tony."- Ron Jaworski

"It's all about penetration." - Ron Jaworski

"I'm going to put a Favre moratorium on the Second Half. You only get five mentions!"- Mike Tirico

"Our cheese curds are saltier than your cheese curds."- Tony Kornheiser on the battle of Minnesota and Wisconsin

"Driver! He got Winfield to bite, and says 'good night!'" - Mike Tirico

"He was too pooped to leap."- Tony Kornheiser after Will Blackmon's punt return TD

"And the Packers saying to the Jets if you trade him at all you lose you first born for fifty three years or something like that."- Tony Kornheiser on the Jets and Vikings collusion

"Lollipop yes, Lazer no."- Mike Tirico on how to punt

"It's a great storyline, it's a great point, but let's not do this week after week."- Mike Tirico on the Favre discussion in the fourth quarter

"We get the Packers twice more on Monday night."- Tony Kornheiser

Game Two:

"He's got a hole...here he comes!"- Mike Greenberg

"Great cutback, but he cutback into all problems."- Mike Ditka not making sense

"And bear in mind that the yellow line isn't actually on the field. The referees don't see that."- Mike Greenberg

"When he rolls out, he goes to that side of the ride."- Mike Golic not making sense

"Stupid is, as stupid does."- Mike Ditka quoting Forrest Gump

"You remember what happened when Eddie Pipp got hurt? A guy named Lou Gehrig took over."- Mike Ditka getting mixed up

"Oh they were all moving."- Mike Greenberg
"Oh just end the half!"- Mike Golic

"He asked me if I HAVE any answers."- Suzy Kolber on Lane Kiffin

"You got to sue the offensive line for non-support"- Mike Ditka not making any sense

"He's not going to stay with a guy that fast."- Mike Golic
"He looked like a traffic cop there."- Mike Ditka not making any sense

"Great play calling, I can't tell you anything else. Very hard."- Mike Ditka not making any sense

"Can't make chicken salad out of chicken noodle" - Mike Ditka not making any sense

"That's a great run right there. That's a great two yard run. That's a great run because there was nowhere to run."- Mike Ditka not making any sense

"The kid Chris Johnson was drafted in the fourth round."- Mike Ditka on the first round draft pick, Johnson

"Touchdown Raiders!!!!!!! Raider Nation goes wild."- Mike Ditka freaking out
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Let's just thank god that's over and that like Tony said, we only have to see the Packers on Monday Night Football two more times this year! Wait what? Oh fuck me. Oh and ESPN...please, please add a down and distance marker to the screen somewhere. I'm all for the new look but it was maddening to wait for the snap to finally see where the ball was. Most people look for the yardage right after the play, so I'm also going to need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday and take care of that. Thannnnks.

What Exactly Does Co-Horsing Mean? (And The Rest Of Your Monday Night In Emmitt) (Awful Announcing)
Tony Rags On The AFL (And The Rest Of Your Monday Night In Quotes) (Awful Announcing)

So last night's telecast was rather interesting. Monday Night Countdown had more analysts than ever, Tony Kornheiser complained about the heat in Arizona and Emmitt....well, Emmitt actually wasn't that bad (not THAT bad at least). The broadcast definitely got stale at times, namely the second half, but you can expect that in a preseason game. Let's break this out and do a paragraph on each element, shall we?
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Countdown: Your players were (from left to right) Trey Wingo, Keyshawn Johnson, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson and Emmitt Smith. The problem wasn't the content, in fact they all had solid contributions at one point or another, but rather just too many cooks in the kitchen (per usual).

The best segment of the show came when their collection of former players at the ready explained how Favre would help each individual offensive position for the Jets next season. Carter discussed how the offensive line should buy in right away, Key broke down how the receivers should be excited for not having just 6-yard routes to run, and good ole' Emmitt actually made sense when explaining how all of this would lead to a huge year for Thomas Jones.

Emmitt still had his moments, and while this pregame show wasn't bad, it still wasn't great. In all honesty a host (not Berman), Tom Jackson and Cris Carter would be solid, but with 80 people on the payroll that's probably not possible.

1st Half: Okay, what the heck happened to the whole nixing the sideline reporters thing? Michele Tafoya was all over this broadcast and Suzy Kolber was milling around during Countdown. As recent as a month ago, Tony Kornheiser confirmed that the two would likely be seeing less time but he wasn't sure of the reasoning.

Other than that obvious addition, or rather non-deletion, the first half was pretty spot on. Lots of Leinart and Bush talk, but that was expected, and amazingly....and I mean AMAZINGLY....very little Favre talk. The trio talked about the potential of the Saints offense, delved into the dicey acquisition of Shockey and had a few good interviews. It was a good mix.

Halftime: By far the best part of the program. It was just Wingo and Carter on the set (which looked insanely small with just them at the desk) talking highlights. The two even delved into Baseball and Golf and had a pretty good rapport that obviously developed over the Summer during NFL Live.

2nd Half: This is where things usually derail for the trio. Tony goes off on inane tangents, Mort forces stats talk and Tirico is left picking up the pieces. If the game is a blowout or a preseason game, it's even worse. Never fails.

This game was no different with Tony's cheesy joke du jour being that it was ridiculously hot in Arizona. Who knew it was hot in the f'ing desert? I'm not sure how many actually enjoy his act at this point of the game, but it can't be many. He also added in a "Brett Favre has been traded to the Knicks" joke for good measure. Look for it around either the 3-minute mark of the third quarter or the 11-minute mark of the fourth of every game this year.

Tirico, on the other hand, was extremely good throughout the game and even made me laugh out loud at one point in the second half with this exchange....

“You have a incredible amount of facts at the ready. You knew that was the only first down of the half. I think no more than five people in the world knew that.”- Tony Kornheiser
“Enjoyable moments in play by play. Men dream of the fourth quarter in preseason games. These are the happy moments of the year.”- Mike Tirico

(I guess that's a good segue into the quotes)

Your Top Ten Quotes:

We're changing up this year. Going with both good and bad in the same spot....well, mostly bad.

10. “The question I have for Matt Leinart, does he love playing in the National Football League? Or does he love the benefits of being a player in the National Football league.”- Cris Carter (Great way to pose it)

9. “Jaws, this maybe as good a quarterback situation as any team in the NFL.”- Mike Tirico on the Cardinals (Ummm really?)

8. “Watch Terrell Smith here, this is one of those Chris Berman lines…..rumbling, bumbling, bullying to the endzone.”- Ron Jaworski (Huh?)

7. “This just in….Brett Favre has left Jets, he signed with the Knicks, I’m tired all the stuff the Jets said about me.”- Tony Kornheiser (Boooooooo!)

6. “440 Completions for Drew Brees.”- Ron Jaworski
“That was like five years for you right?- Tony Kornheiser (Now that's funny)

5. “This is the thing, Brett Favre is coming to New York and leaving Green Bay.”- Emmitt Smith (Thanks for the insight Emmitt!)

4. “He’s been the Most Valuable Internet Player for awhile with those beer pong photos. You want to say, hey dude....it’s not Entourage.”- Tony Kornheiser on Leinart

3. “I don’t know how they can truly be comfortable with Aaron Rodgers considering that the fact, that, he has only played in that number of games.”- Emmitt Smith

2. “I don’t know anything about Football, but I believe what Keyshawn says.”- Cris Carter (I'd rethink that)

1. “Where does Hochuli go to get his shirts made that tight?”- Tony Kornheiser (Come on, you knew an Eddie Gunz joke would make it in)
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In the end (I'm sure it doesn't read like it above) the broadcast wasn't bad. With the way the past two years have gone you have to know that this is a vast improvement. There were still some elements that were less than desirable, but that just comes with the territory. Again, it was the first preseason game of the year.

There is one final note I wanted to make though. For the first time ever, Jaws really got on my nerves in the second half. He was forcing things and his stance that the Packers were better off without Favre was laughable. Especially after Tony asked him why he'd pick Rodgers and he responded, "Because when you build a Football team you build it for the future. Right now they could probably win more games with Brett Favre." Huh? That makes zero sense. I understand he's the "nice" one, but he'd be better served by at least once talking bad about something or someone. Just a thought.

Overall Grade for the Night: C+/B- (I can't talk myself into giving out a solid B out this early in the season)

(Normally there'd be a video of the night in this spot but this post ran super long. Once I get the format down and/or figure out how to add a "jump" feature....it'll all go in the same spot. Stay tuned for your MNF Video of the Night coming in the next post. Oh and if you have suggestions on the "Review" format and/or a title for the brand new "Pam Ward Chronicles" of the NFL, let them be known in the comments.)

I don't know why I found this ad so funny, perhaps it caught me off guard, but I couldn't stop laughing following this "anything you can do" inspired commercial with the Manning Bros....

Awww! So very cute. I had also planned on doing a review of NBC's preseason opener, but there were so many elements and folks missing that I decided against it. With that said, I thought the broadcast was as good as you can get for your first of the year. They didn't go overboard talking about the Olympics or Brett Favre until the fourth quarter (understandable to do so then) and Michaels and Madden really didn't seem to make any big mistakes. I was also a huge fan of the bump music choices which included Journey, Jay-Z, Peter Gabriel and Guns N' Roses.

Also, Adam Schefter of the NFL Network stood in for Andrea Kremer, who is in Beijing, and did a stellar job. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add him full time, but I think that'd put the on-air talent count at about twenty six. Expect more reviews and recaps as the preseason goes along, and get ready for the return of the Pam Ward Chronicles later this month.

Look, I understand that he has called more Championship games than virtually any other announcer, but if you can't see that he takes away from every broadcast CBS, I don't know what to tell you. Everyone who reads the site on a regular basis knows which commentators rub me the wrong way. Take Emmitt Smith for example. For all of the idiotic things that he says you can't say that he doesn't love the game of Football. I can't say the same about Billy Packer. He questions teenage players and coaches during games, he makes up story lines and he pats himself on the back when he's right.

He's like no one that's ever covered a Sport before. He's like Bob Knight without the insight. You don't have to be Gus Johnson to impress the viewing public if you don't want to. You can be Ron Franklin, Keith Jackson, or even Mike Tirico. You hear him say all the time that he's "not there to impress anyone", well f**k that....yes you are. You're supposed to know more than me, you're supposed to provide me with things I wouldn't normally notice. Sure Packer does this on occasion (the Kansas Box and 1 from last night), but when you do so you don't need to gloat and tell us how right you were.

Let's go to last night's game. Packer started calling for Kansas to start jacking up threes with three minutes left in the game. Three minutes and down eight! When a Kansas player (Arthur I think) hit a nice jumper inside the 3-point line with 1:30 left with his team down six he called it, "the worst shot you can take in Basketball at this time". Are you kidding me? Kansas was playing against arguably the worst free throw shooting team in the Tournament. How did that work out for them?

I honestly don't want anyone to lose their job and I never get joy out of such things. When Joey Sunshine got axed from Monday Night Football I actually felt really bad for him. There's a difference between someone who actually cares about their job but isn't good on television and someone who doesn't respect the fact that they have the best job in the world. It's beyond ridiculous now and I think that CBS only sticks with him because of the press gained from the hate surrounding him come Tournament time.

That's not a good reason to keep him if you ask me. I also know that he doesn't care what I have to say, but just realize that I'm not alone. Here are the commenters thoughts.....
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"I don't know how CBS continues to employ Packer. He is way too critical of these young athletes most of the time. All he does is criticize and point out the mistakes of the players and coaches. I'm all in favor of being critical at appropriate times, but kids 18-22 do not deserve to that blowhard whining at their every move."- Jerome

"I can handle Packer's criticisms (which are often valid) if he didn't consistently beat them into the ground. In the UCLA-Memphis game, Rose was flying by Collison in the first half and Packer correctly pointed out how Rose was too strong for Collison. Perfectly fair. But in the second half, UCLA made adjustments and Rose made very few shots (he shot under 50% for the game). Yet Billy continues to cite how nobody can stay with Rose even as he's missing shot after shot. Last night, as Packer said for the 100th time how Rose was making it too easy for Kansas to guard him, did it occur to him that since he had been sick all day Sunday, maybe Rose was conserving his energy for the second half? And how can you not put together the fact that Rose went off when Kansas went to the box and one on CDR?"- Anon

"Packer was just plain bad. His calling the UNC v. KU game over with 7:32 to go in the first half was insanity. Last night he was insisting on 3's from KU with two minutes to go - when it clearly wasn't necessary. Then, when Memphis was down late in OT he was criticising them for trying 3's. What?"- Mal

"Packer wanted Kansas to start jacking up threes with three minutes left to play. This was after he griped most of the second half that they weren't pounding it inside. I'm glad he's not coaching my team. Worse yet, he took credit for telling them to shoot those threes as the overtime began. If I recall correctly, Kansas took and made two in that stretch--the one in the corner of the steal and the one by Chalmers to tie. And does he not know that the clock was not running when Rose was letting the ball roll toward half court? At least twice he told us that Rose was wasting too much time by not advancing the ball. The clock wasn't running you bitter, bitter man!"- Anon

"My biggest issue with Billy is that at times it seems like he's auditioning to be a head coach. For instance, in the second half Billy made it clear numerous times that he thought Memphis should stop setting screens for Rose. Mentioning it 2 or 3 times is enough, but Nantz and Packer kept bringing it up every time Memphis set a screen for Rose. Yeah, we get it Billy, you disagree with the philosophy there. This happens a lot during his games and it's terribly annoying. Do I want his insight? absolutely. Is he right sometimes? Absolutely. But the focus of the telecast should not be on Billy Packer's strategies, and all too often it is."- Bryan

"I truly appreciate Packer pointing out it was 2 possession game when down 5 points. That's the kind of insight I'm looking for from an analyst."- Anon

"Packer is so self-absorbed he is ridiculous. Packer makes some good commentary - but his "I wouldn't do that" stuff is toooo much."- Mark

"The whole game it was here is how I would do things better than you. If Packer was such a good coach, he wouldn't be sitting in the press row."- Anon

"My biggest gripe is Packer and Nantz are always reminiscing about some game in the past. That's fine in a blowout. But with four minutes left in a close national title game, maybe you should focus on the action in front of you -- instead of talking about 1973."- Anon

"Packer is all reaction. Someone does something and Packer tells us if it was good or bad, right or wrong. It's insulting, not just because of his tone but because we can see what just happens. But the best color men are the ones who can entertain while predicting and analyzing how the action is going to develop."- Doc
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To be fair some liked him last night and I did for the better part of the first half, but something switches in his brain at the end of close games and he becomes a joke of an analyst. Someone who says, "Kansas has been in overtime games before. The 1957 championship against UNC," as a reason for how Kansas will be prepared for an extra period is just downright bad.

I really don't want either of them calling the final game after the best month in Sports, but if you really want Nantz you can keep him. Please just relegate Packer to a first weekend team with Tim Brando so I can enjoy the end of the Tournament again.

[/soapbox]

"Rock, Chalk, Championship!" (Awful Announcing)

A wrote a piece for Sporting News about Bob Knight's first night on ESPN and rather than quoting myself I'll just provide the link...

Knight Makes Debut, Proves He Is a Company Man (The Sporting Blog)

There was no yelling, no chair throwing, but plenty of scowls and attempts at humor. I know many of you said in previous posts that you refuse to listen what he has to say, but I have to tell you....he was pretty good. He made great points about Conference Tournaments and the Big East, but in the end didn't seem overly joyed to be on camera.

Not that he should be, but at least act like you care. At points he had his arms folded or would stare down at his notes as others talked. The highlight of the night though was when Rece Davis threw questions at the Coach in a segment called "Knight's Insights". The Digger Phelps answer actually made me laugh out loud....

I loooooove the ESPN sweater as well Bobby! Nice touch.

I know many of you think that I don't have a nice thing to say about Joe Buck, and you're right. Just kidding. I think that our good friend Joseph did an admirable job last night and I was shocked at FOX's overall production of Super Bowl XLII.

Sure it was a close game and that had a lot to do with the record numbers of people that watched, but since I was probably the only person who watched from 2pm until close I wanted to break the whole thing down as in years (or year) past.
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Pregame: I was actually dreading the "red carpet" stuff before the game more than Joe Buck's call during the game. I couldn't think of any possible way they could pull this off, and they really didn't. Instead they pulled an Eli Manning (or Rex Grossman last year), but managing the game and almost making it tolerable.

Ryan Seacrest's interviews never went longer than they should, Terry and the gang were pretty funny throughout, and they didn't focus every piece on the New England Patriots. Sure the guests were terrible (outside of Marissa Miller), the promos were ridiculous, and Paula Abdul was dreadful, but everything else was mildly entertaining. For someone like David Hill, who gave us all of the band shots during Bowl Season, to make something NOT completely annoying was a major coup.

Grade: C+

During The Game: If you had told me before the game that I would have actually enjoyed Joe Buck and wouldn't be able to stand Troy Aikman I would have called you crazy. In the end though that's exactly how it played out. I poked fun at Buck briefly when I posted the Tyree catch and I think that led people to believe I didn't enjoy him. It was the exact opposite. I couldn't believe he was really calling such a great game given the boring nature of the first three quarters and with Troy Aikman stumbling all over him. His one un-energetic call didn't diminish from a great game.

This isn't the first Super Bowl for Aikman so I really don't know what went wrong. I think the ex-QB was just nervous for some reason. He mixed up names, lost the English language at times and for the most part just didn't make much sense. This was highlighted by his explanation of the "Giants wanting to hold the Pats at Half" explanation and his "Eli threwed it in there" quote.

It wasn't the worst job an analyst has done, but I expected more. If he was on par with how he normally is in the booth that might have been one of the best called Super Bowls in quite some time. Actually it probably still was.

Grade: B-

Postgame: I think they went out the same way they went in. Terry Bradshaw was great talking to everyone after the game and the interview by Chris Meyers with Bill Belichick was priceless (via Sports Wrap)...

Grade: B

Overall: Great game and great broadcast. I don't think I could ever give a Pregame Show higher than a "C" when it has Nick Lachey featured, but I was surprised it didn't even come close to an "F". Great broadcast FOX, and great job Joseph. I'm proud of you....now let's see if you can keep it up during Baseball season.

Overall Grade: B+

Top 10 Quotes:

10. "If he'd had to held the ball any longer than he did there."- Troy Aikman

9. "Maroney set it up with a 43 yard kick return.......What set it up, the pass interference on Pierce. Patriots lead by four."- Joe Buck

8. "I've had enough of it. I want to give these New England Patriots that trophy tonight to shut that bunch up down in Miami up."- Terry Bradshaw

7. "Mark this down in your diary."- Joe Buck on the Giants' twelve men on the field penalty (he actually made me laugh with this one)

6. "He throwed it up there."- Troy Aikman

5. "We may not be the best announcers out there but our truck does that stuff the best."- Joe Buck

4. "Pretend you're going after Tom Brady's girlfriend back there. Whatever helps."- Jimmy Johnson

3. "When looking at that piece of tape one thing is apparent. Just how butt ugly I am."- Terry Bradshaw

2. "Another Malibu's Most Wanted."- Howie Long when describing the pregame rapper

1. "Hey Seacrest, the only time I thought I'd see you at a Super Bowl man would be as a cheerleader."- Terry Bradshaw

Okay folks....here it is....your 2007-2008 College Football Media Review! Per usual these are just opinions of one man and you are entitled to your own. If you have something to add or don't agree with one of the submissions then say so in the comments.

Let's get into it. This year's awards are brought to you by YOUR LSU National Champion Golden Girls.....

Regular Season

CBS- At the beginning of the year I stated that enjoyed both Lundquist and Danielson as a team and they have a distinctive advantage calling the same conference all year long. Boy was I wrong. Danielson not only tripped over himself and his partner on his way to the first ever Regular Season Pammy Award, I'm actually convinced that the ex- Quarterback doesn’t even know the rules of the game of Football. I don’t know how many down by contact and one foot down rules he couldn’t get right but at a minimum it was 15.

Lundquist isn’t necessarily THAT bad. Sure he messes up a bit here and there, but you can actually tell he enjoys the games he covers and has a passion for SEC Football. He still seems to know more about the players in NCAA Basketball, but he’s not what’s giving his team this grade....

Overall: C-

P.S.- I really enjoyed Craig Bollerjack when he filled in. Not that CBS would make any changes, but he’s definitely a great lead.

ESPN/ABC- College Football is far and away the best thing the WWL has going. ESPN College Gameday is still the best Pregame Show on television and the wealth of their talent is put to use during the NCAA Football season. The only problem is that there’s not one team that sticks out more than another. Either the lead was horrible or the analyst was stinking up the telecast. If ESPN mixed up the teams a bit they could really make some amazing pairings for next year. Just put the dreadful people with the other dreadful people, so I can finally get my dream team of Pam Ward and Andre Ware. The Wardes!

Overall: C+/B-

Best Announcing Team- N/A

I’m sorry but there wasn’t one team that stood out as great this season. Either lead or the analyst did a horrible job, and in a lot of cases it was both.

Just missed: Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham

Worst Announcing Team- Pam Ward and Ray Bentley

I don’t even know where to start with this team. They were factually wrong multiple times, didn’t know rules, messed up player’s names, and did about a quarter of a game near the end of the season with no sound. Obviously that last one isn’t necessarily their fault but it culminated the end of a dreadful season.

Best Individual Lead- Ron Franklin

I can’t even express how much I love Ron Franklin on any sport. He speaks well, is accurate, and works perfectly with whomever his partner is. The guy is a class act and was solid all year long.

Honorable Mention: Brad Nessler, Sean McDonough

Worst Individual Lead- Pam Ward

I’m sorry, but someone who doesn’t know the difference between a punt and a kickoff would not be a lead for me if I was running things. She is much better for College Basketball and should really stay there full time.

Honorable Mention: Mike Patrick, Thom Brennamen, Gary Thorne

Best Individual Analyst- Todd Blackledge

Having to deal with Mike Patrick’s insane comments should qualify him on it’s own, but Blackledge was light years better than any other analyst throughout the year. ESPN loved him so much that they started to go to him during SportsCenter pieces and even added him to Gameday for the BCS Championship. Good move.....he should replace Desmond Howard full time.

Worst Individual Analyst- Andre Ware

These are the ones that are hard to give out. There’s a difference between guys like Ware and Spielman and Paul Maguire. I can tell that Ware and Spielman actually care about the Sport they are covering, but they just don’t belong on the call of any game. They really just can’t keep up with their own minds and furthermore their leads. I am convinced that Andre Ware just starts making stuff up when he runs out of stuff to say.

Honorable Mention: (Obviously) Paul Maguire, Chris Spielman

Best Studio Personality- Chris Fowler

I’d almost be willing to say that Chris Fowler is the best host in any Sport and on any Network. You would hard pressed to find anyone with more knowledge about College Football and keeping Lee Corso in line is a job in itself. Speaking of Lee....

Worst Studio Personality- Lee Corso

He just doesn’t even know what’s going on anymore (not that he ever did). I mean the guy was convinced that Boston College was still in the Big East earlier in the year. Come on.

Best Newcomer- Jonathan Wiener of Trinity College

Every announcer could learn a thing or two from his passionate call at the end of the “Lateral Game”

Honorable Mention: Jesse Palmer

Worst Live Broadcasting Idea- Where’s Paul

The idea to put Paul Maguire in various spots throughout the stadium during the game was the most distracting and pointless idea I’ve ever seen. When they showed him on the camera truck getting confetti thrown at him to celebrate New Years Eve during the Chick-Fil-A Bowl…..I wanted to throw my Champagne flute at the screen.

Best Sideline Reporter- N/A (Sideline Reporters are pointless)

Just kidding…….of course it’s Erin Andrews!

Best Player Introductions- Cartman



Quote of the Year- Mike Patrick

“What is Britney doing with her life?”
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Post Season

Overall I have to say this was one of the worst Bowl Seasons in quite some time and not just in regards to the Announcing. Almost every game was uneventful and I can’t imagine how hard it gets to call a game when there’s a blowout on hand. In a Bowl Season filled with boring games I think only one word can sum up the entire College Post Season: Bands.

FOX’s BCS Bowl Bash was the worst set of Post Season games by any network I’ve ever watched in my life. Thom Brennaman was dreadful, Charles Davis regressed, Terry Donahue was confusing, and the only Announcing highlight, Matt Vasgersian’s Beer Truck and Dingle Berry comment, seemed to be poached from other mediums. I'm also praying that Oklahoma never makes another BCS game again…..not because I hate the team, but if I hear that school Fight Song ever again I’m going to lose it.

FOX’s Grade: F (first ever in AA history!)

Best Announcing Team- John Saunders, Doug Flutie, Jesse Palmer

I’ve never seen a team more passionate about a game (International Bowl) that no one was watching.

Best Individual Lead- Matt Vasgersian

Even if he did borrow those lines for broadcast I think that he was the only breath of fresh air during the BCS. He seemed to be genuinely excited about the game and was hilarious at times. I don’t buy the fact that his humor takes away from the game. I think he balances it perfectly.

Best Individual Analyst- Jesse Palmer

You may laugh it this selection, and I did when he was signed by ESPN, but the kid is solid. He’s as knowledgable as any person in the business and his timing is perfect. I was really impressed with him in the Studio all year, but especially during the International Bowl.

Post Season Pammy Award Winner- Lou Holtz

As if there was any doubt. You say you’re going to cut someone on National television…..you’re going to win something (probably a restraining order). Thanks for your almost one thousand votes and I give your final Post Season Pammy Standings and the video of your winner.

5. "Now you know why his teammates call him 'Sweet Pea'." - Charles Davis
"He's got a couple of nicknames. Donny Avery called him a white Michael Vick." - Mike Mayock
"I think Sweet Pea is a little safer." - Brad Sham
4. "Owen Schmitt, like a big runaway beer truck" - Matt Vasgersian
3. "You have an I-Pod and an I-Phone?"- Todd Blackledge
"Anything with an I in it I have it. If they come out with an I-Car I'm buying it."- Mike Patrick
"Do you have Britney Spears on that I-Pod?"- Todd Blackledge
"No.............although I hear she might be renting out that double wide to a family member."- Mike Patrick
2.
"You know, I did Larry Fitzgerald when he was a young redshirt freshman at Pittsburgh."- Gary Danielson

And your winner.....



Thanks to all of you readers and commenters for a great season and hopefully next season will be just as crazy! Leave your thoughts in the comments.