This wasn't nearly as entertaining as his performance of "I'm So Lonely I Could Cry", but Terry Bradshaw decided to lead the troops in Afghanistan in a rousing rendition of "God Bless America". It looked like it was going to be a tad awkward, but it actually turned out rather well....

Well said by all of them.

During FOX's OT yesterday evening, Curt Menefee and the gang announced that they are talking the show on the road. Well overseas to be exact. FOX's NFL Sunday will be broadcasting a show for the troops in Afghanistan next weekend.

FOX Sports, in conjunction with Armed Forces Entertainment, proudly announced that it would broadcast an unprecedented two-hour special FOX NFL SUNDAY on November 8 (11:00 AM ET/8:00 AM PT) from an undisclosed military installation in Afghanistan.

The Emmy Award-winning team of Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson and Jay Glazer make this exciting trans-global journey just three days before Veteran’s Day as a tribute to the dedication and sacrifice of our country’s servicemen and women.

“Our men and women in the military put themselves in harm’s way to protect everything we hold dear, and none more so than those who are stationed in the Middle East,” said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill. “It is our privilege and honor to take FOX NFL SUNDAY to them in November, right before Veteran’s Day. Amidst the fun and football, it’s our hope to showcase the dedication of these men and women who have to defend against a lot more than the Wild Cat.”

Well this should certainly be a blast. Veteran's Day occasionally becomes a forgotten holiday, and needs to be recognized especially during times when America is at war. Great idea by FOX if you ask me.

The MLB on FOX's pregame show was just a complete trainwreck. The hosts and analysts were pretty boring, it was way too long and the set looked like it was from the 1970s. Well all that is going to change this year as the pregame show will be cut down to only ten to twelve minutes, and the program will be hosted at the "Game of the Week". According to SBD, Chris Rose will be your host....

When Fox begins its 14th season as a broadcast partner of MLB Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm ET with three regional games, there will be a different look at the beginning of the telecasts. The net will debut a pregame segment hosted by Chris Rose that emanates from the site of one of the games. Fox Sports President Ed Goren today in a conference call said of the decision to eliminate the 30-minute pregame show that preceded coverage in years past, “Like every other business, whether it's newspapers or other broadcasters, there was certainly a need to tighten up our broadcast and focus on sales for the game.”

Goren: “The pregame in the past, for the most part, hasn’t had any national inventory. So we decided that, in this environment, certainly we weren’t going to come on at 3:30.” Goren also said that current coverage on other networks – including ESPN, FSN and the new MLB Network – serves the role of the traditional pregame show. Goren: “There’s a tremendous amount of baseball coverage on a daily basis today before you even get to the Internet. Doing the weekly show for a half-hour really isn’t as significant as it has been through the years.”

I really don't think that FOX's problem was with the timing of the show itself, but rather who they employed to be on it. This however is probably the most cost effective way to handle things, as no one really cares about pregame shows outside of College Gameday these days.

FOX To Debut At-Ballpark MLB Pregame Segment (Sports Business Daily - $)

At the beginning of the season, I thought it was a lock that CBS was going to take the NFL "TV Partners Cup" this season, but because of the Brady injury and a "fading Favre", FOX once again won the ratings battle for the year. It was a close race though. I've sifted through the numbers, via SBJ, and here's how they networks came out in the end....

The NFC's channel averaged a little over 17 Million viewers for the year, with NBC clocking in at 16.6, and CBS hitting exactly a 16.2. The interesting thing with the numbers though is that, when compared to the 2007 totals, the only network that did better was NBC. CBS was hit the hardest by being down 2.1, and while FOX was down slightly from last year, NBC actually gained 4.2% in viewers and 2% in the final average rating.

As far as Pregame Shows go, FOX won the overall award with CBS only trailing slightly, as both networks showed gains over 2007. ESPN's Countdowns were the only pregame shows that brought brought in losses (Monday: -4.8%, Sunday: -4.5%), and in its first year, NFL-N's "NFL GameDay Morning" averaged a rather paltry 270,000 viewers.

Other notable numbers:

- Cowboys played in six of the top games on FOX and CBS.
- Steelers played in five.
- ESPN averaged an 8.9 cable rating for its third season of Monday Night Football (up 3.5%).
- The NFL Network averaged a 6.2 cable rating (down 12.7%).
- "The OT" on FOX beat out "Football Night In America" on NBC by an average rating of 6.9 to 4.0.

Game 1: NFC Wild Card Playoff
Teams: Atlanta Falcons (11-5, 2nd in NFC South) vs. Arizona Cardinals (9-7, NFC West Champs)
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Start Time: 4:30 PM EST
Announcers and Network: Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth, Tiki Barber (NBC)
Miscellany: Ears pegged for mentions of Michael Vick, Bobby Petrino and the amazing comeback of the Falcons, combined with any on-air fellatio of Matty Ice comparable to the QB Trinity (Favre, Peyton, and Brady). Also note hagiography of Kurt Warner, and if Cris comes out and tells us how much the NFC West sucked this season.
Favorite: Arizona (-1.5)
S2N's Pick: Atlanta. Cardinals don't have much in the way of rushing D, Falcons do okay on the pass D. I suspect a heavy dose of Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood will keep Kurt Warner and his three 1,000 yard receivers off the field.

Game 2: AFC Wild Card Playoff
Teams: Indianapolis Colts (12-4, 2nd in AFC South) vs. San Diego Chargers (8-8, AFC West Champs)
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
Start Time: 8 PM EST
Announcers and Network: Al Michaels, John Madden, Andrea Kremer (NBC)
Miscellany: Naturally, let's be on alert for obvious Manning slurpage, shots of Archie Manning in a luxury box, and shots of both Norv and Manning Face.
Favorite: Indy (-1)
S2N's Pick: Colts. 9 game winning streak > 4 game winning streak. No Gigantor on defense all season for the Chargers means no good pass rush against a good O-line, so Peyton Manning should have all day to throw against corners who have regressed (remember when Antonio Cromartie was a Pro Bowler?). Plus, fuck Philip Rivers right in the goddamn ear, that's why.

Get ready. Live-blog doubleheader starts in about 30-45 minutes.

I have yet to find/see the video on this, but a few outlets are freaking out because the NFL on FOX's Howie Long decided to call co-worker Terry Bradshaw a "scumbag" during the pregame show on the network. The comment came after Bradshaw said he was rooting for the Lions to lose their last game and finish 0-16. Via Phil Mushnick at the NY Post....

WHAT are we doing to us, why do we continue to do it, and when, if ever, will it stop?

Two minutes into Fox's one-hour pregame yesterday, host Curt Menefee noted that panelist Terry Bradshaw last week said he'd like to see the Lions finish 0-16.

"S--bag," panelist Howie Long said of Bradshaw.

"I am a s--bag," Bradshaw said.

That gave Long, Bradshaw and Fox 58 minutes to apologize, to express their regrets to a national audience for having ambushed it during Sunday daylight.

None came. Perhaps they felt they'd said nothing inappropriate, or, at worst, it was no big deal. Hey, if there were kids watching, that's what the Fox robot is for!

I think Phil Mushnick is a fine journalist, but that's a little much if you ask me. I'm of the vein that thinks kids have heard a thousand times worse in their time on this Earth, but I guess I'm not the person who should decide where the line is drawn. I didn't even know the term "scumbag" was that bad of an insult. Good to know.

Foul-Mouthed Ambush Mars Pregame (NY Post)

I have no idea what will happen to the likes of Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy, but FOX is cutting out it's Sunday pregame show for the upcoming 2009 season. According to LA Daily News' Tom Hoffarth, the network's losses over the past few years are more than likely the main cause....

Fox sources have confirmed that the network will drop its Los Angeles-based Major League Baseball pregame show for next season as part of a network-wide cost-cutting move, and Fox Sports chief Ed Goren informed all the talent about the decision just before Thanksgiving.

Some of it has to do with the fact that the network lost up to $50 million on its MLB coverage in '07, no doubt helped along by the less-than-attractive World Series, and that the pregame show hosted by Jeanne Zelasko and including Kevin Kennedy, Eric Karros and Mark Grace, never made money with national ad sales (they were sold by the local affiliates, rather than the national ads that are seen on the Fox NFL pregame show).

I'm not one to pile on, but if there was ever a pregame show to be cut, it was this one. No one ever watched it, and the personalities were just downright annoying at times. It looks like Zelasko and Kennedy will be absent next year while Karros goes back in the booth.

The other great thing that comes out of this decision is now FOX can possible just start World Series games at 8pm, instead of jerking us around for a half an hour. Let's hope they don't bring it back for the Playoffs.

Fox cuts MLB pregame show in '09 (Farther Off The Wall)

Who: Giants at Browns
Where: Cleveland Browns Stadium
Why: ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ELI, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO, BRETT FAVRE, ROMO, ROMO, ROMO
Spreads: Giant -9, O/U 44
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser

MNF Links:

Before we get to the links there are a couple of MNF items of note. First is one I mentioned the last week, and that's the item of the pregame and game itself featuring a new Kenny Chesney song called, "I'm Alive." Also, injured Giants DE, Osi Umenyiora will be sitting in with the Countdown crew tonight. Onto the links....

Browns hope to turn around season by beating the champs (NFL)
Browns Can't Forget Exhibition Loss To Giants (Hartford Courant)
A look ahead to New York Giants at Cleveland Browns (NJ.com)
10 Reasons the Browns Will Beat the Giants in MNF Game (Cleveland Leader)
Giants in Trade Talks with Chiefs for TE Tony Gonzalez? (Big Blue Interactive)
Winslow Has Swollen, Um, Parts (PFT)

Monday Night Countdown Segments:

ESPN the Magazine's “For Love or The Game:” Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin
To find out who knows the coach better, the series quizzed Coughlin’s daughter, Kate, and her husband, Chris Snee, a Giants starting guard.

EA Sports Virtual Playbook:
Countdown’s Cris Carter takes viewers on the field to show how Eli Manning has become one of the best play-action passers in the NFL.

Weekly Monday Night Countdown Segments: Field Pass, Quarterback Conundrum (Steve Young and Trent Dilfer offer their views on topical issues), Teams at 20

AA's Prediction:

Pretty sure we're going to get a blowout in this one, but with the way the NFC East teams looked this week, anything is possible. The Browns just don't have it this year and I don't see them challenging that Giant D at all....

Giants 31 - Browns 13

James Brown took the time to answer a few questions during a Washington Post chat today. Some of the answers in regards to the pregame shows he has worked for were pretty interesting. He was asked some tough questions about the differences between the two rival networks, but the former FOX and now CBS Host, had some good responses....

Q: It seems these days that just about all the NFL gameday programs have really ramped up their "production values" and have become in your face, loud, quick paced product. Despite this overall trend, CBS has struck me as being more restrained, perhaps the thinking man's gameday program.

Did you notice such a difference when you left FOX and joined CBS?

James Brown: Yes, I noticed that CBS, to use your words, was more restrained, and I hear that concern loud and clear in terms of broadcast maybe being "in your face." Hopefully we can as broadcasters temper that with an upbeat, energetic presentation that's not so "in your face," because the viewers are very mature, knowledgable, savvy football fans who don't need to be yelled at. In all honesty, one of the complaints about the CBS show is that some find us by comparison to be boring, and too conservative. Taht was the concern and reputation I heard when I left fox for CBS. Hopefully we have stepped up the excitement without engaging in bufoonery, presenting solid football information in a humorous or interesting fashion. We aren't talking financial crisis, world wars, etc. -- we want to make it fun.

Q: JB what ultimately led to you leaving the Fox pregame show for CBS? Was it the fact that the CBS show is done in New York?

James Brown: It was an exceedingly difficult decision leaving the No. 1 pregame show and people who were more than just colleagues, they were friends. But on balance, the opportunity presented at CBS was too good to pass up. The opportunity to do a range of things is why I pursued the opportunity at CBS.

The great thing about all the pregame shows is certainly the variety that they provide, and while I miss JB on FOX, I think he's a much better fit for CBS. I'm also surprised that he didn't try and skate around the differences between FOX and CBS, and I highly approve of the use of a word like bufoonery when describing them.

James Brown Talks NFL, Sports Broadcasting (Washington Post)

Who: Vikings at Saints
Where: The Superdome
Why: So we can hear all three in the booth talk about how the Saints drafting Reggie Bush, was actually a good move.
Spreads: Saints -3.5, O/U 47
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser

MNF Links:

'MNF' drinking game: Vikings vs. Saints edition (CBS Sports)
Team has had some success vs. Saints (Star Tribune)
New Orleans Saints prepared for physical battle with Minnesota Vikings (Times-Picayune)
VIKINGS-SAINTS: Keys to tonight's game (Sun Herald)
Driving and YouTubing: Your Vikings/Saints preview (Randball)

Monday Night Countdown Segments:

“Unmasked:” Adrian Peterson
See what drives this sophomore sensation to be the best as Countdown goes under the helmet with Peterson.

ESPN the Magazine's “For Love or The Game:” Scott Fujita
“For Love or The Game” Countdown segment that matches a player’s significant other against a teammate to see who knows them best. This week, Fujita's wife, Jaclyn, and his teammate Charles Grant battle.

EA Sports Virtual Playbook: Reggie Bush in space
Countdown’s Cris Carter takes you on the virtual playing field to show how the Saints create big plays for Reggie Bush in the passing game.

“Soundtracks:” Adrian Peterson
Get a unique look at what it's like to be a star running back in the league as Adrian Peterson – wired in the Vikings Week 2 loss to the Colts.

Weekly Monday Night Countdown Segments: Field Pass, Quarterback Conundrum (Steve Young and Trent Dilfer offer their views on topical issues), Teams at 20

AA's Prediction:

This is a tough one that I see going either way. The Vikings are desperate for a win, and they're going to come out strong, but in the end I don't think they have enough weapons outside of A.P. to keep up with the Saints....

Saints 27 - Vikings 17

I wouldn't say that TBS entirely failed during their first attempt at the MLB Playoff, but you could definitely tell they weren't entirely ready last year. There were problems with the graphics, the announcing teams weren't familiar with each other and some fans sensed bias among those assigned to National League teams. Not all of the problems were their fault though. There were a trio of first round sweeps, and after both the big market National League teams (Phillies and Cubs) were eliminated, they were left with a ratings downer of the Diamondbacks and Rockies for the NLCS (which also ended in sweep).

With last year's attempt, and a full season of Sunday games under their belt, TBS says they're ready for a second try. They'll get no breaks though as they have all four opening round series. Via the AJC....

Turner Sports executive producer Jeff Behnke said he was pleased with last year’s show: It did well in the ratings and got the network’s name and face out there. This year, he said, the analysts need to keep covering the stories that are on the field and make sure viewers know who the players are.

“We came in to a white-hot scenario: All of the lights were on, and all of the attention was on TBS,” Behnke said. “We thought we were very ready last year, but we’re enormously ready this year.”

The pregame and postgame shows’ producers are hoping to build on last year’s momentum. They are also taking advantage of the network’s Sunday games to become more familiar with teams other than the Atlanta Braves — the longtime Turner staple before this year — and their opponents, said Tim Kiely, coordinating producer.

Kiely’s strategy is simple: find people who can talk about baseball and can forget that a TV camera is following them.

“You have to take chances on guys and hope some of them have the personalities to do it,” Kiely said. “Your rocks have to be the guys who can handle themselves in front of the camera.”

For TBS, that rock last year was Ripken, Kiely said. He also placed veteran announcer Johnson, who won two Emmys on TNT’s NBA studio show, as the show’s host. Eckersley was added this year because he blended well with Ripken, Kiely said.

“I push them to remember those kinds of stories and those kinds of ways of personalizing it: what did it smell like, what did it taste like. And then you have the right person to deliver it, without putting the person to sleep.”

I think that last sentence is definitely the key. Growing up in and around Baltimore, I had been trained to listen to every word that Cal Ripken says, but last year he just didn't seem ready to go. If I felt that way as a native Marylander, I can't imagine how awkward it was for the rest of you. With that said, I still think he's right for the job. Ernie Johnson is the best studio host out there, and with Eck filling in the gaps instead of Tony Gwynn or Frank Thomas, I think they've set themselves up with the right people for a solid pregame show.

As far as the announcers, they seem to have some of the right people on board, but they just don't know where to place them. I think Brian Anderson is fine, but you just can't put a guy in a series which features the damn team he works for in the regular season! Phillies fans have already begun groaning about that choice and it's just going to get worse if A) Anderson shows any bias and/or B) Philly goes down in the series. Other than that, the additions of Harold Reynolds and John Smoltz should help their teams, Dick Stockton will be his normal old self and Chip Caray will continue to be polarizing. In the end, the key is to not distract people from the action on the field, and I think that's exactly what happened last year.

I'll be keeping track of each of the teams throughout the first round, and we'll see how it works out starting with the Brewers and Phillies this afternoon.

TBS readies for year two of postseason-baseball deal (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
A Look At TBS' Pairings For The Opening Round Of The MLB Playoffs (Awful Announcing)

I was trying to come up with a way to do a video highlight with clips from each of the pregame shows for each Monday, but I'm still working out the kinks. In the meantime, I wanted to share my thoughts (and get yours) on each of the pregame shows. I'll get into each network individually, but I thought as a whole every show seemed to lose a bit on their fastball and only one really has improved (see below). It's not that Strahan and Patrick were necessarily bad, but all of the new teams seemed a bit dull compared to last year. The only crew that even came across as slightly excited that it was the first weekend was that of the Sunday Countdown team. The three network groups really didn't wow me and in the case of NBC....made me want to change the channel. Let's get into them network by network....
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NBC: I still just can't get past the amount of people on the show and all of the switch overs and moving around of the analysts gets distracting about ten minutes through. While I thought Dan Patrick was good in his first showing, I personally think Keith Olbermann despises his role on the show. He seriously makes me want to change the channel and I think he's so polarizing that other people probably feel the same way. Bob Raismann of the Daily News even went so far as to call Olbermann an "agenda-driven punk" and that he should have "better things to do".

Now I don't necessarily agree with the term agenda-driven punk, but I can understand Bob's frustration. As far as the rest of the program goes, I really think that Peter King should be getting all of Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis' airtime. Sure he plays to his favorites, but he has more relevant information than Barber or Bettis could ever come up with combined. I feel bad for Cris Collinsworth when he tries to start up a discussion with those two.

The show should really just be Costas, Collinsworth and Dan Patrick with Peter King providing reports, but every network seems to think they need an ex-player to provide nothing these days.

CBS: The only difference between CBS and NBC is that with the peacock I get mad an say I'm going to change the channel, and with CBS I actually do. I just don't get a sense that any of the participants, outside of JB, are that into their roles.

Also, if you saw the halftime show you probably lost your mind just like I did. I tuned in to catch any information on Brady's injury and they spent the whole time airing a glorified commercial for the new CBS building that Robert Kraft built outside of Gillette Stadium. I understand that there needs to be time fillers occasionally, but they really should have scratched it and talked about one of the most important injuries in the history of the league. Maybe CBS wanted to ignore it in hopes that people will still watch Patriots games this season on the network, and not hurt them in the ratings game (thank god for Brett Favre right?).

FOX: I really thought Michael Strahan was going to wow me during his first show, but he too came off as lackluster. I can't stand the whole Terry Bradshaw "dumb redneck" schtick they put us through every Sunday and with Strahan now on-set, it's only going to get worse. It really takes away from the genius of perhaps the best analysts the Sport has (minus Jimmy Johnson). Although I did chuckle when Howie Long said, "he brings our Championship total to eight and our divorce total to six," about Strahan.

Menefee is getting better though and it's still my go to pregame show in the morning. Well, until Frank Caliendo shows up and then I switch to ESPN. Speaking of which....

ESPN: I don't know what it is about this group of people, and I hate to say this in their presence (Hi Bristol!), but when Emmitt isn't on the show....Countdown is actually not bad. Sure it's a bit cheesy, and both Ditka and Key are a little bit over-the-top, but the analysis is there and they seem to be genuinely excited that early in the day for Football. If you can get past all the chuckling every 10 minutes, they actually have a lot of good points and gameday information. The show is especially good for you fantasy freaks out there because they update injuries and starter info just about every 15 minutes or so.

I'm not saying it's the best, but it somehow became tolerable in the offseason.
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All in all, I'm just not overwhelmed with any of the shows or the new hires. Outside of ESPN, the other three have regressed, and in one case even became almost completely unwatchable. I really hope for NBC's sake that they get rid of some of that ridiculously large cast of characters, but that doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future.

No place for partisan Keith Olbermann on NFL show (NY Daily News)