Every year, I try to put together some of the better quotes from each round of the Tournament, and this year is no different. The first two rounds had some hilarious quotes, and thanks to everyone who took the time to send them in or post them as comments. Before we get to those, I'd like to take a look at some of the early CBS announcing "winners and losers". Let's get into it....

LOSERS:

Tim Brando- I thought Brando had a much better showing this go around, but he still tries to force things. You don't need to try to come up with an analogy or witty comment for every single play during a game. Especially when you're terrible at it.

Gus Johnson- GuJo seemed a bit rattled in the first few rounds, and even read scores from other regions while trying to relay the score of the game he was calling. Maybe he was still reeling from the restaurant incident a few days back.

Clark Kellogg- Just isn't ready for the big time yet. He's another guy who tries to force everything and make the routine exciting. You don't need to yell at the top of your lungs about a box-out....especially in the first four minutes of an opening round games.

WINNERS:

Bill Raftery- Raft has taken away the "Gus Johnson Karma" and ended up calling just about every close game in the first two rounds. He always has fun and anytime he brings his "lingerie" reference into a game, I just crack up. Some might find him annoying, but I've always loved his passion, and he should be on the first team with Nantz. DOUBLE ORDER!

Jay Bilas- I still think he seems a bit angry at times, but there isn't a better live game analyst in the game at the moment.

Jim Nantz- He surprisingly didn't get on my nerves early this year, and he made up for Clark Kellogg's hyperbole throughout the first two rounds.

QUOTES:

“With the nine inches size advantage he has on Abrham.”- Clark Kellogg
“And that’s a big one.”- Jim Nantz
“That sure is a large one.”- Clark Kellogg
“It’s a big one too.”- Jim Nantz
“That’s big all the way around.”- Clark Kellogg

“Oh Onions! Double order!!!”- Bill Raftery

"He is working up on Johnson." - Jim Nantz

"The iron down right rude."- Tim Brando

"He gets that guy behind him and takes him for a ride." - Clark Kellogg

"He is listed at 210, but I think that is with 2 anvils in his pockets."- Dan Bonner

"Brockman with his 59th double double of the season."- Kevin Harlan

"Manny just being Manny from downtown!" - Tim Brando

"A lot of DNA left on the floor tonight." – Tim Brando

"A lot of blood, cotton swabs, are we here for CSI?" – Tim Brando

"That brings back memories of my wedding night."- Kevin Harlan, talking about a song they played coming back from break (BTW- It was “The Humpty Dance)

"You gotta bring your slingshot and be ready to go." - Clark Kellogg

"Larry Sanders shot...shocking..block.....SHOCKING BLOCK SHOTTING..." - Dick Enberg

"Tigers lead by a dozen. They've got the eye of the tiger." – Tim Brando

"They've got fans in full throat today in Portland." - Kevin Harlan

"Most of the times you need a saddle to ride a guy like that"- Jay Bilas

"They don't necessarily have to score, but the ball has to touch the rim every time they are down there." - Clark Kellogg

"I can't drive 55, in Kansas City."- Tim Brando referring to the score of the game which is 55 all.

“Hackett pops out wide open. And strokes it." – Gus Johnson

And my personal favorite....

“Lingerie in the air! Swirling!!!”- Bill Raftery

I mentioned yesterday afternoon, that the pregame show on NBC was all over the place, and after I wrote that, I was a bit worried that the game would continue along the same lines. Thankfully it didn't, and not only was the game itself a great one, I think it was one of the best broadcasts I've ever seen. Perhaps even the best.

The production elements were spot on, the replays were stellar and there wasn't much overkill in the network's reporting. As far as the announcing, there's a reason why people still respect and want to listen to Madden and Michaels. In recent years, I've commented that Madden had lost a step, and Michaels didn't seem to like the game anymore, but they both had a resurgence this past season. To end it on a high note in the Super Bowl like this, just adds to their legacy as broadcasters.

I enjoyed everything about the game and even thought that the normally boring halftime show was rather exciting as well. I don't even like Bruce Springsteen that much either. As far as negatives go, the only things I would point out were the terrible commercials (which isn't NBC's fault) and the number of sideline reports. Other than that I think I'll be giving out one of my first "A" grades in the site's history.

There's just something about NBC's broadcasts each Sunday that are just light years better than any other network. Al and John don't try to make themselves bigger than the moment and let the games speak for themselves. FOX and CBS' telecasts come off as boring at times, and it seems as if the announcers are talking down to you, but not with the "Peacock".

There were 11 years between Super Bowls on NBC, and the NFL needs to make sure that never happens again. Onto the grades....

GRADES:

Matt Lauer- C+ (Good questions with Obama, but he didn't seem to care when he was on-air)
Al Roker- F- (The Super Suite was a horrible idea and Roker was just not good in the role)
Bob Costas- B+ (Was at his best/non-annoying self yesterday)
Cris Collinsworth- B+ (Still the best analyst in the Sport)
Dan Patrick- B- (Entertaining and informative)
Keith Olbermann- C (Just too smarmy for my taste)
Jerome Bettis- C+ (Better than he normally is, but the Steeler homerism showed)
Tiki Barber- C (Pointless)
Peter King- D+ (Doubly pointless)
Matt Millen- B- (Good analyst again and he works well with Collinsworth and Costas)
Tony Dungy- C (Loved the connection to Tomlin, but also pointless)
Mike Holmgren- C- (Really pointless)
Rodney Harrison- D+ (Just wasn't ready for the big time. The Tyree stuff could have been interesting, but he still seems bitter about the play)
Alex Flanagan- B- (Should be NBC's full-time sideline reporter)
Andrea Kremer- C+ (I'm biased here, because I've never been a fan, but she wasn't bad)
John Madden- B+ (Hopefully he's got another year in him)
Al Michaels- A- (Best Football play-by-play man period)

Pregame Show- D
Halftime Show- B+
Game Coverage- A

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).

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)

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

Journalists worldwide are giving their final opinions on the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and I thought I'd chime in as well. NBC's broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Games brought on varying emotions throughout the two weeks for everyone, both good and bad. People across the Country seemed to be both happy and mad at the network's coverage at various times throughout the two week span and my feelings probably don't differ from all of theirs all that much.

I personally enjoyed many aspects of the coverage and after bashing them, and NBC, for just about the whole Summer, I was certainly impressed at times with the end product. The majority of the announcers were very knowledgeable of the Sports they covered and every host and reporter appeared genuinely interested in the country of China and topics they covered. Cris Collinsworth said last night that these Games provided a great place for the World to forget about its problems for two weeks, and I couldn't agree more.

With that said, there were mulitple frustrating elements of NBC's programming that infuriated viewers in the U.S. and across the globe. In the States, everywhere but the East Coast suffered by not being able to see live events and even those in the East were "blacked out" of monumental and record breaking performances. Let's delve into this a bit more with the good, the bad and the ugly of the broadcast and then I'll give you some announcing winners and losers.
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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:

The Good- Sheer Numbers and The FOBs

Given that these Games were across the World from us in Beijing, I think that NBC did an admirable job of getting at least some of the contests to us live (well at least for us East Coasters). I don't even remember watching the past two Summer Olympics (Athens and Australia) because barely any of the event were aired as they took place and the change this year was certainly welcomed. It obviously wasn't perfect, but for Gymnastics and Swimming at least they seemed to get it right. I personally thought that 3600 hours of coverage was an insane undertaking but for the most part, they pulled it off in the end.

Bob Costas and his FOB's were also a "good" for the Peacock during these Olympics. I truly enjoyed the excitement of Bela Karolyi and the heartfelt love for his Sport. Collinsworth and Carillo didn't really give us anything groundbreaking but both filled a lot of the downtime with at least somewhat interesting stories. Costas himself pulled no punches in delivering controversial pieces himself and his interview with George W. Bush was surprisingly eye-opening. I don't think anyone else has gotten more out of the Leader of the Free World in eight years.

Obviously numbers don't lie and through sixteen days of coverage over 211 million people tuned in. That makes the 2008 Summer Olympics on NBC, the most viewed event in U.S. television history. Even though there are no other programs considered "events" other than the Olympics within the ratings system (not even the Super Bowl), that's a heck of a lot of people.

The Bad- Online and Post Phelps Coverage

It's hard to find fault in a network that aired events live online for free and gave of us one of the most awesome performances we've ever seen, but I'm going to try. There are reports that NBC's online content only made a quarter of the ad revenue that March Madness did and that's pretty mind blowing given the number of people that signed in online. The network actually decided against airing certain events on the platform (I.E.- Usain Bolt) and in turn hurt the final product that it put out there for customers and even advertisers.

(Now my personal relationship with NBC Universal's Piracy Department aside) It was more than frustrating that they billed NBCOlympics.com as the go to site for every live event, when that certainly wasn't even close to being true. They also didn't even make their videos available for embedding and promotion on other sites (not just blogs). They seemingly ruined their chances at a big payday and record numbers online with that move alone.

As far as post-Phelps coverage, the absence of one individual illustrated exactly how he alone gave NBC the boost they needed in the ratings. After Phelps left the pool, NBC only surpassed the ratings of the Sydney Olympics on one night out of seven. The Games in total were 7% higher than those in 2000 and that percentage is all Phelps.

The Ugly: "Live Events"

I think we've beat this one into the ground but the live/delayed coverage across the country was reprehensible. I still don't understand how if Swimming and Gymnastics started at 10/11pm on the East Coast that they couldn't be aired live in West Coast primetime, but I'm not a TV exec. It's completely unrealistic to think that someone could go through an entire day/night and not hear or see a result. When you're also not airing the most important events live online just to save them for TV....you're going to piss a good number of people off.

There's absolutely no way they can do this again in London, but it wouldn't surprise me.
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Announcing Winners and Losers:

Winners-

Bob Costas (see above)
Ato Bolden (Track and Field)- Provided great insight to running events for a rookie
Bela Karyoli (FOB)- "BEAUTIFUL!!!!"
Dan Hicks (Swimming)- The call of the 4x100 Free Relay will be replayed for decades
Tim Ryan (Rowing and Canoeing)- A vet of the Games but continues to impress
Mike Breen (Basketball)- Solidifying himself as the second voice of the NBA after Marv.
Doug Collins (Basketball)- When not talking about himself, he's one of the best analysts out there (I still can't stand him though)
Bob Papa (Boxing)- Anybody who can work well with (and understand) Teddy Atlas is a winner in my book
Andrew Catalon (Handball)- I didn't know this until recently but Handball is exciting as hell. So are the announcers.
Bill Clement(Various)- He called events from Shooting to Table Tennis and was even sideline reporter for Badminton. He was solid throughout.
Kirch Kiraly (Beach Volleyball)- Exactly what an ex-athlete analyst should sound like covering his/her Sport.

Losers-

Cynthia Potter (Diving)- MSMers applauded her but I couldn't stand her. She was negativity personified and coming from me....that's saying something.
Rowdy Gaines (Swimming)- The Doug Collins of Swimming
Eric Collins (Baseball)- Just downright boring
Craig Sager (Basketball)- Outside of talking about Hooters the sideline reporter was dreadful. He ruined results from events for West Coasters and even said that if the U.S. beat Argentina they'd "play finalist China on Sunday".
Andrea Kremer (Swimming)- "How does it feel to win ______ swimming race?" was all she ever asked
Shane Hamman (Weightlifting)- Actual Quote: "What a huge amount of weight! We're talking a refrigerator, not just a regular refrigerator, but like a big one!"
Al Trautwig (Gymnastics)- Just terrible and the hyperbole was off the charts. He was even quoted as saying this at one point...."The Olympics begin with footprints in the sky." (Blech!)
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There you have it. Overall the Olympics were ultimately just what they've always been, a nice distraction. They come at the perfect time during the Sports Calendar, and some of the physical performances amaze you, but are you really starting the four year countdown right now? Didn't think so. Outside of the live event issues and not utilizing the Internet content correctly, the Games were a success for NBC because they made money.

In the end the bottom line is all that really matters. Who cares if they screw an entire half of the country, right? Right???

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.

This was just about the only exciting moment from last night's All Star Game. Yogi Berra was a guest in the booth in the 3rd inning and Joe Buck decided to chat him up about Sex and The City's Carrie for some reason....

Too funny. Enh....she ain't bad. On another note, good lord that game was long wasn't it? It was borderline torture and for once it wasn't because of the announcers. While they had a few hiccups here and there, and seemed ready to fall asleep at any moment, they weren't all that bad. Fifteen innings is enough to make anyone go insane and they should be happy they just made it through.

Before I get into the coverage I just wanted to note how draining last night's NBA Draft was. I can't remember being completely exhausted after a live-blog of one of the best nights of the Sports Year. Maybe it was the lack of notable players in the second round, or the fact that there were no random Europeans jumping out of the stands, but by the end I was spent. Also, before the grading goes down I wanted to note that I don't have anything against anyone on the Draft telecast last night (yes, even Stu Scott somewhat). I think all parties involved are good on their own and know their stuff, which is why this is so odd to say....

EVERYONE...and I mean EVERYONE....involved in the program last night was just downright terrible.

I don't really know what it was, but as a group they combined to makeup the worst coverage team I think I've ever seen. I even waited through the morning to start writing this because I wanted to think it about it again and be fair. Wait, let's think a little more......nope still awful.

The host of a program doesn't necessarily need to be flawless in and out of transitions and segments, but he has to be close to it. That's what made Mike Tirico and Dan Patrick so good on NBA Draft coverage. It's almost like a good referee or umpire. They don't do anything crazy and you don't even mention them. It started off bad for Stu Scott and it just got worse. I started keeping track of his mistakes after a few picks and here's the list I and the commenters came up with.

1. Said Eric Gordon was Big Ten Player of the Year for Illinois (I know there was a battle for him, but come on).
2. Said the only time the Knicks have picked higher in the draft was when they picked Sky Walker at #5 (some guy named Ewing was picked somewhere in the Top 5 I think....oh yeah first).
3. Said the Knicks last made the Playoffs seven years ago (it's only been four).
4. Called the Pac-10 a Basketball school.
5. Lost it during a Portland-Hornets trade.
6. Ragged on the Doc Rivers Gatorade soaked shirt which was auctioned off for charity.
7. CONSTANTLY talked about the record number of Freshman taken and didn't once mention the NBA's age limit.

Etc, Etc, Etc. I know it's live television, and it's far from easy, but that many errors just distracts you from what the other analysts on set are saying. Not that they were ACTUALLY saying anything interesting (which is a perfect transition into the other three on stage).

First up, Jeff Van Gundy knows nothing about College players. He even openly admitted it. I have zero problems with that, but they only went to his strengths (NBA teams and strategy) three or four times in the night. He just looked lost up there and no one was setting him up at all. Jay Bilas on the other hand is one of ESPN's brightest minds in regards to the College game. He knows every player on the board and has stats memorized. That's why I hope one day someone passes along this bit of information to him.....making up terms makes you just sound goofy and a lot less smart than you really are.

"Pick Popability"? "Dunking with his elbows"? "He's bouncy"? "He's a pre-packaged guy"? "He's got an elongated reach"? "He can't find the keys to the toolbox"? "Second jumpability"? WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT MEAN?!?!?! Good lord. I know it's a long broadcast, but Bilas has to be (and is) smarter than that. It is so g'damn distracting. Lastly, Mark Jackson....I actually don't have anything bad to say about him because I didn't really even notice he was there. He adds zippy to the broadcast outside of his Draft Day experience being from NY and being drafted by NY. If you note the NFL Draft they only go to the MNF team about three or four times.....THEY DON'T PUT THEM ON THE MAIN STAGE!

I think we all knew it was going to be bad when we saw who was involved, and maybe ESPN was just trying something different, but I didn't think it was going to be THAT BAD! Add to the foursome depressed Stephen A. who didn't even want to be there, an overacting Doris Burke and the euro-stalker Fran Fraschilla and you have ESPN's worst broadcast in years. I'm sorry, but that was worse than "Who's Now". ESPN even let Bill Simmons mock them in his "Diary" they were so bad (more on that later).

I wish I was kidding when I say this, but they made "Monday Night Countdown" look like "60 Minutes". Just dreadful. Sorry for the length but I'm just done with ESPN's coverage of Drafts. They ruined day one of the NFL Draft and now the entire NBA Draft. I don't know what needs to be done to change it though. Maybe it's about time we got to vote on who gets to cover what events? I don't even know anymore....I'm all out of ideas at this point. If you have any good ones leave them in the comments.....you never know when ESPN is reading.

I was trying to get this post up sooner this week, but tonight before the start of the NBA Finals is probably the perfect time. I'm going to take you through the highlights and lowlights of all eight announcing teams, but a note on the coverage as a whole first. Both ESPN/ABC and TNT did a tremendous job sharing with each other throughout the bulk of the Playoffs this year. The cross promotion even mentioned the other station's announcers and they updated you on the upcoming days games for their rivals as well. This along with a great set of games made for a cleaner viewing experience for fans and ultimately lead to amazing ratings compared to years past.

The announcing was actually really good across the board, and like I've said before, no one ever watches a game because of an announcer, but they'll certainly change the channel because of one. There was really only one team that I didn't enjoy but even they weren't that bad. Let's get into it from worst to first in grading terms.
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Dick Stockton and Mike Fratello: D+/C-

I honestly once enjoyed both of this individuals, but for some reason I can't stand either of them anymore. Dick Stockton is just way too out of touch to cover the new NBA game and The Czar is just annoying at this point. Fratello's insistence to argue with Stockton over whether the TNT promos were indeed "very funny" just made for awkward television.

Matt Devlin and Mike Dunleavy: C-

I think I only saw one or two of the games they covered, but Dunleavy just wasn't prepared for the booth. I'm pretty sure he decided to rely on his coaching "expertise" to get by and it didn't work. I don't really have anything against Devlin but he was left out on a limb by his analyst.

Dave Pasch and Rick Carlisle: C+

I think Rick Carlisle is possibly one of the most boring individuals on the Planet, but he worked well with Pasch. Dave Pasch was a great hire for ESPN and while the two don't add much to the broadcast, they don't screw it up.

Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy: B-

This grade would have been a solid "B" if Jeff Van Gundy would have toned it down even the slightest bit. The whole first two rounds was him and Mark Jackson making fun of each other, and while humorous at times, it gets old quick. The trio did much better in the Eastern Conference though and I think they'll do a fine job for the Finals.

Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown: B-

I started this site because of Hubie Brown, but I've grown to understand and enjoy his broadcasts. Mike Tirico also might be the most vanilla announcer on the Planet but the guy is as solid as they come. The two are also arguably the best teammates out of these eight groupings.

Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins: B-

I despise Doug Collins as an announcer absolutely and completely but for once he was tolerable. I don't know if people told him to stop stepping on his PbPer's feet, and to not mention Michael Jordan every five minutes, but he did an okay job. Kevin Harlan's "No Regard For Human Life!" call on Lebron's dunk was one of the best I've heard.

Dan Shulman and Doris Burke: B

I am absolutely enamored with Dan Shulman and I think he's the best thing that ESPN has in their stable of announcers. The guy is funny, knows the teams he's covering, and interacts with his partners well. That's really all you can ask for. I also think that Doris Burke's work during these Playoffs was actually pretty groundbreaking. I have nothing against women in the booth, but ESPN's attempts have been horrible until now. Her work as a sideline reporter obviously helped her prepare and more sideliners should get a shot.

Marv Albert and Reggie Miller: B+

It almost pains me to write this, but Reggie Miller is growing on me. He still stumbles over his words and is a bit of an over actor, but he works with Marv. Albert was at the top of his game this year and I don't ever see me not wanting to hear him call a game. I still miss Steve Kerr with Marvelous, but not as much.
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So there you have them. It was a great Playoff Season for both TNT and ESPN/ABC and the teams they gave us all worked pretty well. Let me know what you think and you're welcome as always to disagree in the comments.

You know it’s a bad omen for a review when I have no idea where to even start when picking apart a broadcast. ESPN’s Day One coverage of the Draft was probably only slightly behind the 100+ Band view broadcast of last year’s Orange Bowl, as the worst telecast I’ve ever seen. They missed picks, talked over picks and each other, had 40 people trying to chime in, got into fights with each other, and had more commercials on-air than the Draft itself. I was listening to Sporting News Radio late last night and I think their host Matt Spiegel summed it up best by saying, “I was begging for more Mike Tirico.”

Chris Berman is now on the short list of people that should be banned from ever touching the mic again and it’s kind of a shame. We all grew up with the guy but somewhere along the way the schtick overtook any semblance of Sports knowledge he had. He was so lost the entire broadcast that he would have to occasionally pause and rethink his own cheesy nicknames before blurting them out. I’m no Rich Eisen fan, but in this capacity he is head and shoulders above the “has been” Berman. I still think he works well on clip shows and gimmicks like the Homerun Derby, but too many people take the Draft seriously and he’s just a joke at this point. It’s time to phase him out as soon as you can.

As far as the other analysts what can you say? I don’t know when Ron Jaworski got the where with all to argue every single prediction from his partners, but he might possibly be more annoying than Berman. It’s okay to debate the picks and trades but when you’re shouting over top of your “teammates” you just look like a fool. I love his football knowledge and he knows the QB position like no other, but he needs to just settle down and pass along his knowledge calmly. Cris Carter really added nothing and while Mel Kiper’s player knowledge is unprecedented the staged on-air feuds with Todd McShay were unbearable. You need to pick either one or the other and be done with it. The last bad thing I’m going to say about their coverage is that Chris Mortensen should never be on live television. He’s like a deer in headlights out there.

Okay, now that the negatives are out of the way let’s get into what they did well, so they can improve for next year. Trey Wingo should be the host. He leads one of your main NFL shows during the season and offseason and his Football acumen is on par with anyone ESPN has. Adding Kirk Herbstreit on the coverage (presumably for Emmitt Smith) was a good decision and while Michael Smith is a work in progress, he has some promise. Overall the Day Two coverage was actually pretty good and the interview with Caleb Campbell, although somewhat over-the-top, came off as a good addition late in the Draft (even though Jaws almost fell of the stage trying to stand up and shake his hand).

Grades:

Chris Berman: Z-
Trey Wingo: B
Ron Jaworski: C-
Cris Carter: D
Mel Kiper: C+
Chris Mortensen: D
Mike Tirico: B
Kirk Herbstreit: B
Todd McShay: C+
Michael Smith: B-
Producers: F (For deciding it was okay to miss about 10% of the first round)

Overall: D- (only because of Day Two)

You can’t miss live picks, have more commercials than coverage, and have people constantly bickering, and expect to get good reviews. I’m more than positive that there won’t be one major writer in the Country that would give ESPN a passing grade for Day One, and if you see one let me know. Just a horrible, horrible attempt at something they’ve done well in the past.

Video of the Weekend: McShay vs. Kiper (DING!)

NFL Draft Media Review: NFL Network
Weekend Tube Review: NFL Network vs. ESPN (The Sporting Blog)

There’s no other way to say this than the NFL Network dominated ESPN on Day One of the NFL Draft this past weekend. They scooped ESPN on just about every pick and trade and when ESPN was going to commercial, the NFL-N had every single pick live. Adam Schefter was the star of this Draft, as the predicted pick after pick while ESPN’s talking heads were not even talking about the right position. Mike Mayock is arguably one of the smartest people in all of Football, and came off so much better than the bickering duo of Kiper and McShay. Even the two people I usually can’t stand, Rich Eisen and Charles Davis, added to an already great broadcast.

The NFL Network isn’t ESPN, which is good, but that’s to say they don’t still have flaws on their coverage of the Draft. Sure they are light years better than ESPN, but every so often they’ll do something to make you cringe. The first thing was the layout of their graphics on the screen. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to ESPN’s layout but having the pick revealed on the top of the screen just threw me off. They had a giant bar at the bottom with information on the team picking, but a tiny one at the top. Just didn’t look right. Also, I personally can’t stand Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk. I think they add nothing to a broadcast and one or both should be sent to the studio or home for good. Steve Mariucci and Brian Billick, while not necessarily bad, seemed kind of useless to me.

Oh, and if I hear that Bravery song they used for their telecast, I’m going to shoot myself.

Grades:

Rich Eisen: B-
Mike Mayock: B+
Steve Mariucci: C-
Charles Davis: B-
Jamie Dukes: C+
Adam Schefter: A+
Deion Sanders: D
Marshall Faulk: D+
Brian Billick: C+

Overall: B-/B

If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to watch both broadcasts for the site, I would have never changed the channel away from NFL-Network on Saturday or Sunday. They need to trim their roster down and it's hard to tell if their telecast is good, or if it just looks good because ESPN's is so bad.

(ESPN's review coming shortly)

Well it was a crazy four days of Basketball wasn't it (or three rather)? The announcing was right on par with the games the first two rounds meaning that it was all over the place. Four pairs have moved onto the Regional Semis and Finals while four others have been relegated to radio work or the bench. Let's get into it....

In a complete contradiction to how I normally do things, I'm going to start with the positives first and then move onto the negatives. CBS' changes to the teams seemed to have worked on a whole based on the fact that I enjoyed the first two rounds more than I have in quite some time. Nantz and Packer weren't nearly as bad as last year, and while they are still somewhat boring to me they still provide more stats and information on players and teams than any other pair on the roster. Billy Packer even actually seems to be interested in the games this year which is a drastic improvement.

Another team that surprised me was Lundquist and Raftery. At this point last year my least favorite announcer was Verne. He just couldn't keep up with the games and his partner, but this Tournament he's hanging right there with Raft. Sure they make mistakes and are a little goofy, but they're fun to listen to. I was also very impressed with Carter Blackburn who filled in for Dick Enberg in the first round. He and Stephen Curry both looked 10-years old, but both acted a lot older than their appearances let on. So much so that Blackburn and Bilas was probably the best team of the first two rounds (up for debate).

Here are the passing grades......

Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas, A-

I just couldn't find anything wrong with this team. Normally Bilas is paired with Enberg whom he feels he has to fill in dead air for. He is constantly talking when he's paired with someone who can't keep up with his analysis. Blackburn actually got him to shut up for a few seconds giving the two a perfect balance of lead and analyst.

Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, B

I'm an unabashed Ian Eagle fan. He was starting to dig into the "Pun Well" in the Second Round, but this team was as solid as they come. Spanarkel is a perfect compliment to Eagle and this team shows what happens when you stay away from the "age gap" pairing. Two young guys and two old guys together is better than the mix and match approach CBS took last year.

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, B-


Pretty much explained it above but these two are just plain fun. They don't take themselves too seriously and Raftery hasn't gone annoying on us.....yet.

Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, B-/C+

Again, I mentioned it above, but these two actually seem like they care about the games they are covering. Points taken away for "Hansbrough Love" and having to call blowouts.

Gus Johnson and Len Elmore, C


This probably is the first time that I've given Gus and his partner anything under a "C", but I just wasn't that impressed. A lot of that has to do with some boring games to call, but at times it seemed like Gus was trying too hard. The "Notre Dame- popping their collars" line was just too much. Len Elmore impressed me though and seemed to do much better with anyone other than James Brown.

Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner, C

This grade should probably be incomplete because I saw this team less than any other (damn you Tim Brando and your upsets), but they too seemed a little lackluster as compared to usual. Maybe Harlan thought he was still calling NBA games.

Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas, C-

Enberg actually did a pretty good job with the rest that Blackburn provided him. Having to call only two games in a day worked well for the veteran and Jay Bilas has seriously upped his telestrator work this Tourney.
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Okay, now onto the bad. There are no words to describe how ridiculous Bob Wenzel and Tim Brando were this Tournament. Bolerjack and Wenzel were hands down the worst team in the first two rounds and if were up to me, would never set foot in a Basketball Arena ever again. The two are not nearly as bad on Football coverage and I've even praised Bolerjack during SEC coverage in the past. Wenzel just provided us with pun after pun and as evidenced with the clock problems he had....didn't really even know the rules.

Brando had far and away the worst individual performance this Tournament. Mike Gminski is actually pretty solid, but Timmy kept throwing off his game every chance he got. Brando had multiple problems with math during the tournament trying to explain leads and how many possessions a team was done, and it was basically a snowball effect from the opening tip of the first game he called. I almost feel cheated that Tampa got all of the upsets.

Tim Brando and Mike Gminski, F+ (only because of G-Man)
Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel, G or lower
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So there you have it. Hopefully now that the dead weight has been dropped the four teams moving on will be able to shine. Although I'm feeling a strong push from Gus coming during the Sweet Sixteen.

Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments.

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

What can you say about this game? It was a pretty boring affair and if I wasn't a fan of the Redskins I may have tuned in and out. With that said, the team of Ticico, Jaws, and Tony kept the game relatively interesting through the first half and most of the third quarter. And then something happened.....

Charles Barkley came into the booth and they talked about Philadelphia for what seemed like 4 hours. I don't have a problem with them talking about the home team's city at all, and if you're going to have a guest Charles Barkey is the way to go. Buuuuuut it was just too much McNabb talk and you could tell that the scripted talk would carry into the fourth quarter. It seems like they plan on the home team winning and to talk about the home team's quarterback when they take control of the game (i.e. Carson Palmer last week).

By the time the 4th quarter rolled around and Portis ran off tackle they just barely showed any excitement for a Touchdown when there had been barely any scoring the whole game. Ron Jaworski then began showing his homerism for the Eagles and D-McNabb for the rest of the quarter. It wasn't even disguised homerism, at one point he said, "McNabb just threw that one away" when the QB threw a pass at a receivers feet right in the middle of the field.

This practice was/is pretty bad for a number of reasons, but it hurt the team overall because Tirico and Tony Kornheiser were actually having a great games. The team completely ignored the fact that Jason Campbell and the Redskins D was quietly making the Skins relevant again in that second half. This grade is entirely on Jaws this week, and all of the Philly talk. The rest of the game was pretty good.

If it's this bad for the Eagles how bad was it when he did Philadelphia Soul games (he's part owner of the team).

Grade: C, it was about a B+ after the first half.

Announcing Quotes of the Night:

"Let's send it to the Monday Night Football booth where they have all the answers"- Stu Scott
"We do? We're stupid has he not met all of us?- Mike Tirico

"Did you say exotic blitz scheme, like from a foreign Country?"- Tony Kornheiser

"Elizabeth Hasselbeck is worth the turn of the dial wouldn't you say?"- Tony Kornheiser

"Jason Taylor grew up in Taylorsville, Mississippi....Jason Campbell rather."- Michele Tafoya

"We don't want to talk about Auburn right now."- Charles Barkley
"It was you or Christian Slater....good to have you back."- Mike Tirico

"I told them I wanted help, and Shaq was coming out in the draft....they drafted Charles Shackleford."- Charles Barkley

Commenting Quotes of the Night:

"At some point, i am going to live-blog your live-blog."- Lozo

"Exotic Blitzing. Wasn't that the name of the Viking Sex Boat party?"-Anon

"The only thing that makes me happier than hearing "FORMER EAGLE James Thrash" would be "Former Eagle Sean Considine"."- RUTS

"Good job by Tafoya. She didn't say "Randy McMichael is injured. I mean, Randy Thomas."- Anon

"I want a Mark Mangino Fathead."- Hollywood Wags

"Damn, Berman's using more hair slop than Clooney used in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?""- Anon

TNT is really wasting Sir Charles' talent in the studio, they need to move him to games, this is gold.- Phil

"I think Jaws is overrated. Or maybe he just should do Eagles games anymore. During this whole game he sounds like Joe Theismann when he did 'Skins games doesn't he? I understand that when you play for a team it is kinda in you but it really bothers me during the telecast. I feel like I should listening to the Eagles radio broadcast."- Brett

"Chris Mortensen says the Falcons are about to sign Byron Leftwich. I guess that means that he will be a Raven in 24 hours."- Anon
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Hopefully next week's Titans - Saints game will be better, and let's hope we don't hear about Drew Brees getting snubbed by the Dolphins and his Mom all game.

(Sex Boat plaque photo obviously from Deadspin)

Update: The ratings are in from last night's game and they were down 9.6% from last year's Steelers-Jags game.

"We wanted to keep Charles in the booth longer. I think he helped liven up what was a flat kind of game"- ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Jay Rothman (SBD)

Hmm...I guess I buy that.

Interesting game last night considering all that was surrounding the Patriots. NBC kind of over did the whole spying angle, and at one point spied on Belichick while he was reading a printout. Some of it was enjoyable and some of it was a bit overkill. There was also a moment during the 4th where Andrea Kramer reported that there might now be illegal audio that New England recorded as well....by that point I think everyone was thinking that we should just move on. The Pats cheated, Roger Goddell crapped the bed on the penalty, and the Pats won. It's amazing how everyone quickly forgets things nowadays (see: Shawne Merriman).

As far as the announcing goes Madden was Madden and Michaels was Michaels. John didn't have anything crazy to say and Al was less than his normal grumpy self. For a game that was such a blowout they did a pretty good job.

Grade: B

Announcing Quotes of the Night:

"He is so calm back there. I think he's calmer than Peyton Manning."- John Madden

"It was not a hold. The defender was just overpowered."- Ed Hochuli

"The Charger players were yelling 'We've got them where we want them!'"- Andrea Kremer

"Brought to you by 'Knocked Up', the funniest movie this summer..." - AM"- Al Michaels

I didn't get the exact wording but I was a little weirded out when Madden called Tom Brady "silky". Very awkward.


Commenting Quotes of the Night:

"Jeezis I hate it when Al Michaels calls Brady "Tom", so informal and cute. So much love for Tom, like vomit overflowing in a urinal on the South side of Pittsburgh."- Hollywood Wags

"The Foxboro crowd boos Shawne Merriman. Good to see them make a stand against cheaters. And there's the mandatory "Boston Song" segue to the commercial."- Anon

"And I was about to applaud NBC for not being ESPN and bringing "Chuck" to the game."- Anon

"With all these shots of Cameramen and Radio Equipment, and of them printing out pics of every play, why don't they just start the Spy vs. Spy theme music?"- Dummy

"How can you have LT and Michael Turner, and Lorenzo Neal blocking for them, and you can't move the ball on the ground for 6 quarters?"- Anon

"What would you get if you combined the offensive genius of Norv with the defensive genius of Marvin Lewis? Temple?"- Dan

"At least we didn't have to deal with the 'Parliament' sized halftime crew. If they just kept it Costas/Collinsworth, actually showed more than 15 seconds of highlights, NBC could be onto something here."- Anon

Amen.
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Pretty good game for NBC and can you guess who wasn't there? Keith Olbermann missed the game because of emergency apentectomy surgery, and while I wish you a speedy recovery Keith....I didn't miss you one bit.

I'm still bitter that the halftime show is against showing any highlights of the game that is being televised, and the highlight package of 3 games they show is a joke, but at least Chris Collinsworth got to talk this week. See how much smoother that goes when there aren't 20 people vying for airtime NBC?

(Photo via Deadspin. Get in there Ditka!)

Before I get in to this I just want to say that it can't be easy to call a game if it's not your full time job. With that said.....Mike and Mike have been calling games for the past year in the Arena League and Mike Ditka has been Football all of his life.

First up, Mike Greenberg. I don't know what people see in this guy at all. He seems like he used to know his stuff, but he's become so egotistical and craves camera time that he doesn't seem to even care about the game. His level of incompetency last night was beyond words, and I hope I'm never subjected to it again. I forget who said it in the comments, but I will echo it here. Please go become the next Pat O'Brien as fast as you can.

Second, Mike Ditka.....really looked and sounded like he'd never seen a Football game in his life. I couldn't understand him for the first two quarters at all, and contradicted himself on just about every play. I think it's safe to say he won't be invited back in the booth again after that showing.

Third, Mike Golic surprised me and a lot of others as well. Sure he had a few gaffs here and there (probably because Ditka was in his ear all night), but overall he was solid. I think if you trash the Kornheiser project and put him in with Tirico and Jaws you would have a hell of a team. One defensive analyst, one offensive analyst, and Tirico to keep it all together. That's a winner right there.

Grade: D-

It would have been a Z if not for Golic.

Announcing Quotes of the Night:

"We will get a look at Alex Smith as the 49ers take over next."- Mike Greenberg (It was the 2nd Quarter)

"Walt Harris is a good Football player, but he was a good player in Chicago."- Mike Ditka (He played for them in 2001...two teams ago)

"That was mild pressure. That was a lot of pressure" - Ditka

"That's the greatest 2 yard run you've ever seen"- Ditka

"That analysis by Mike sounded like something a dentist would say."- Ditka

"Watch Gore on this...WATCH GORE!"- Ditka
"They go wide Arnez Battle with score!!!"- Greenberg
"Watch Frank Gore on this gang....I thought they were gonna hand it to him. No it wasn't Gore. It was..."- Mike Ditka
"Michael Robinson."- Mike Golic
"Robinson it was."- Mike Ditka

"I think it might have hit the ground but I think he caught it."- Ditka

"A pass, a screen, a draw"- Mike Golic

Commenting Quotes of the Night:

"I'll make the first "Who's got the number of a good divorce attorney?" joke of the 2nd game."- Jeremy

"Mike Ditka is giving more advice on running an offense. This from a guy who thought he could make the playoffs in his last job with two Billy Joes, Heath Shuler and Danny Wuerffel at quarterback."- Anon

"Greeny sounds like a high school kid calling the JV game on 520 AM The Fan in Oshkosh Wisconsin."- Anon

"I'd much rather listen to Mike Gottfried and Pam Ward stumble through this game than listen to Mike Greenberg's voice that only dogs can hear."- Dollar

"You know, when Bonnie Bernstein is far and away the most talented member of your announcing team, you might want to pack it in and call it a career."- Oops Pow Surprise

"We need to give Greeny a break, I am sure he is drooling over Mike Nolan in his power broker suit. Greeny loves a sharp dressed man!"- Anon

"I swear Greeny sounds like he swallowed a dictionary and is throwing it up in our laps in a mess of adverbs, adjectives, superlatives, hyperbole and prepositions and Ditka is cut off from the Stroh's!!"- Anon

"I just now noticed that Greeny has been calling Edge James 'The Edge' the entire game. "- Anon

"Mike Ditka was going to be a dentist. "Good Thing They Chose Football." Sorry, I couldn't resist."- Anon

"Sorry, ESPN. Maybe Matt Leinart isn't the Future of the NFL after all. Oh well. There's still Brady Quinn"- Anon

"This just in. Ditka just saw the TD replay. He says that Roger Craig scored the touchdown.- Anon

"We really need 2 Monday nighters every week. It's been fun."- Anon

(It has????)
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If you couldn't gather from the comments this game was an abomination of all things Announcing. They talked over each other, they didn't close their mics coming in and out of commercial, they laughed at their own jokes, they yelled at all the wrong times, and you really couldn't understand a word they said for most of the first half.

I have no idea why ESPN didn't go with Nessler and Vermeil again. That call made absolutely no sense. Actually it does make sense, they wanted to promote the radio show just like NBC hypes Countdown. I would rather listen to ANY announcing team them then. I'd listen to Charles Davis, Mike Gottfried....hell even Collin Cowherd before them. Just awful.

If you want to bring Golic in on a broadcast that's fine, but I never want to see Ditka and Greenberg in a booth ever again. Ever.