I guess it was my knee-jerk reaction to anything "Not FOX", but I got hammered for my support of TBS' #1 Team last week, and after the last two games...I believe deservedly so. There are so many complaints about Chip Caray in my inbox that I can't even keep up and respond to all of them. Just know that I'm almost there with you. Almost.

For some reason I think there's something there, and I think I've figured out one of the problems. They are all National League guys. Bear with me here....

Is there such a difference in the two leagues that it would make it hard for them to study up on all of the teams and their nuances in time for the Series? You would think not, but I'm sure it's possible. Their coverage seems to lack any emphasis on, well....anything American League. They don't understand the League or even know the players. Now that's not a necessity for a good broadcast but it does help a bit.

The gnats on Saturday were crazy, but they seemed to not care how it was affecting the game. Could they have stopped a game because of bugs? Who knows...but I'm sure if you were like me you asked that question. There have been a ton of pitching/position changes that have gone unquestioned or even noticed. And somewhere during this series Chip Caray stopped rooting for the Indians and turned to praising the Yankees' every move.

Tony Gwynn seemed so likable at first that I didn't even notice the fact that he questions nothing. Nothing at all. Is this a prerequisite for all baseball players who go into media (Frank Thomas, Tim McCarver)? As Tiki has shown us....that's certainly not the case for Football. Brenly is the only one that brings up anything substantial at all.

All in all, the past two games have shown that I was waaaaay off-base by praising them after the first game like I did. I told you I would do so if that was the case so here's my apology....I'm sorry I did that.....I did a bad thing.

There's one more thing though.....I'm not burying them entirely. I think they'll be much more comfortable covering the National League when this Series ends. With all three understanding the different play and knowing most of the players. Too bad no one will be watching them then.

Can Chip, Tony, And Bob Make TBS' Playoff Run Succesful All By Themselves? (Awful Announcing)

P.S.- Ron Darling is moving into the studio for the rest of the playoffs, which I'm looking forward too. Can we please just send Frank Thomas back to Canada though?

Again, TBS had about 36 hours to put together everything for the Phillies-Rockies game, so I'm not saying it was easy, buuuuuuuut that was some of the most boring Baseball coverage I've ever seen.

Let's get through the bad.......

First off, Frank Thomas. I think Frank is a likable guy, but he is not meant for TV. I remember a comment that someone made when I was on Blog Show. The first thing you need to think about before anything else is posture. Thomas is a huge guy and he just looked small in the seat between Cal and Ernie.

Second, for those of you wanting Cal Ripken to be the next Charles Barkley.....just shut up. That's so dumb it makes me laugh. Cal has never been that outspoken and looked much better than his first night during the play-in game.

Third, I don't know if it was because the games were so boring but these seemed like meaningless games being played in June. There's only energy from a few of the announcers and I started to fall asleep during the Cubs game.

Fourth, enough of Frank Caliendo. Seriously. No more.

Fifth, Jose Mota.......sorry.....you are horrible.

Sixth, I say this every year and I know some of you people love Dick Stockton, but he's past his prime. He called the Rockies Closer Julio Jorge at one point and mixed up a bunch of other details. I love his voice and I know he tries hard, but he just has too many mistakes

Seventh, I do not like the pairings at all. You have a high energy guy in Stone with a boring ass Robinson. It just doesn't work.

Now onto the good........

First, It's not Fox. While the announcing was pretty dull most likely because the games were slow as hell......these analysts seem capable of providing accurate insight. This is unlike anyone on FOX.

Ron Darling and Steve Stone are great. They were about the only thing(s) keeping me awake during some of those innings.

And ummm.......that's about it.

Here are some reader and columnist's comments that I'd like to share as well.....

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?

I'd love to tell you that I stuck it out for the sake of the site, but that's not the case. The moment I saw Chris Mortensen (while being interviewed by Michele Tafoya) talk over an amazing touchdown by Jerious Norwood (1:50 Mark), I started watching Enemy of the State on cable.

The Vick coverage started yesterday at 9am and didn't end until almost midnight. You knew it was coming (hell the producers even told us ahead of time), but I would have really loved to have watched some Football last night. They so could have wrapped up all the discussion at halftime and just moved on.

I think Sean Pendergast (during my spot on 1560AM in Houston last evening) summed it up best. The only people staying up that late to watch the 2nd Half of Monday Night Football are hardcore Football Fans (and probably high stakes gamblers). Times that by 20 for the preseason. The only people watching the 2nd half of that game are people who want to trash MNF, degenerate gamblers, guys trying to decide who their 12th round fantasy pick is, and insomniacs.

Everything was just too much last night. The legal analyst, Mort, the African-American lady that Suzy Kolber interviewed for 14 minutes, Tony getting mad because Chad Johnson didn't celebrate a TD in the preseaon, etc, etc. It never ended. The only highlight for me was when Tony Kornheiser took Bobby Petrino to task for not allowing media to ask his former teammates questions regarding the quarterback. It's the first time I've agreed with Tony in awhile. This is what you are good at....not those cheesy jokes. Keep this up.....

"That may work for him as a new coach, but these guys were his teammates, some of them for many years. And to deprive them a chance to see his first step in rehabilitation, I would have gone the other way on that."- TK

ESPN has set MNF up to fail, but again....we already knew that. And can we please get rid of the term "Dress Rehearsal"? Any game that has a TD from Ovie Mughelli is not a "Dress Rehearsal"....it's a crappy preseason game.