http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/ 15 Breaking down the NFL announcers en Copyright 2008 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:01:31 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.2-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the day with ESPN as the Monday Night Football train came rolling into Philadelphia this week. Throughout the day, we'll take a look at one of the largest traveling shows in sports for the biggest program in cable television history (well, the cast of High School Musical was unavailable, so we're stuck with football). It's quite a production. In part one, we looked at the personalities of Monday Night Football. Part two focused on the men calling the shots. In part three, as Playback often does, we looked at the game as called by the trio in the booth. Part four is just an excerpt of my interview with producer Jay Rothman, talking about the changes over the last three years to Monday Night Football and how, much like the League itself, the television coverage of the League is full of http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-iv-actual-scenes.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-iv-actual-scenes.html MNF Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:01:31 -0500 I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the day with ESPN as the Monday Night Football train came rolling into Philadelphia this week. Throughout the day, we'll take a look at one of the largest traveling shows in sports for the biggest program in cable television history (well, the cast of High School Musical was unavailable, so we're stuck with football). It's quite a production. In part one, we looked at the personalities of Monday Night Football. Part two focused on the men calling the shots. In part three, as Playback often does, we look at the game as called by the trio in the booth. (All photos by Dan Levy) We discussed each personality in the booth in part one. But it's the interaction between those personalities that's so fascinating. Clearly the combination of Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser did not work. Enter Ron Jaworski, and in http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-iii-the-game.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-iii-the-game.html MNF Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:03:43 -0500 I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the day with ESPN as the Monday Night Football train came rolling into Philadelphia this week. Throughout the day, we'll take a look at one of the largest traveling shows in sports for the biggest program in cable television history (well, the cast of High School Musical was unavailable, so we're stuck with football). It's quite a production. In part one, we looked at the personalities on the show. In part two, we look at the guys behind the guys. (All photos by Dan Levy) The stars of Monday Night Football aren't the players on the field. Each week, players are interchangeable. Helmet colors change. Numbers change. Incompletions and interceptions and cutback runs and wildcats change. But the one thing that remains constant to the viewer is who is giving you the information. So often we focus on the two, or http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-ii-the-puppeteers.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/behind-the-scenes-at-mnf-part-ii-the-puppeteers.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:37:32 -0500 I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the day with ESPN as the Monday Night Football train came rolling into Philadelphia this week. Throughout the day, we'll take a look at one of the largest traveling shows in sports for the biggest program in cable television history (well, the cast of High School Musical was unavailable, so we're stuck with football). It's quite a production. In part one, we look at the personalities of Monday Night Football. (All photos by Dan Levy) The trend these days in television punditry seems to be that more people means a better product. Sporting events are often looked at more for who is covering the event than the teams competing. It's not just sports, as outfits like CNN have managed to fit eight or nine people on the screen at once to "rumble, bumble and stumble" their way to a collective point. http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/bts-at-mnf-the-personalities-are-quite-personable.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/bts-at-mnf-the-personalities-are-quite-personable.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:42:04 -0500 In a game key to both Carolina's and Green Bay's playoff chances, you might have expected a good game (if you ignored the Packers' sub-.500 record). But if you were Fox play-by-play man Sam Rosen, you just couldn't wait for the snow to start falling. Maybe he's itching to get back to hockey, but I really don't think that some late flurries are going to impact the game so much that they need to be mentioned every two minutes. Even when it finally did start to snow in last Sunday's game, it didn't change the way the teams were playing as much as the wind did, which they failed to mention at all until the Packers' final drive of the game in the fourth quarter. How did the rest of the broadcast go? Read on ... http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/week-13-rosen-ryan-and-myers.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/12/week-13-rosen-ryan-and-myers.html Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:15:26 -0500 This week Playback decided to review a pregame show instead of a game broadcast. And since the pregame shows use so many on-air personalities, we followed suit and assigned three people to review Fox NFL Sunday. First, each will share his or her overall impressions. Then, in a tribute to our pals at the Sunday Line, we present the transcript of their live chat, held as Curt, Terry, Jimmy, Howie and Michael held court on national television. http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/fox-nfl-sunday-some-say-its-fine.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/fox-nfl-sunday-some-say-its-fine.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:42:55 -0500 Be honest: If somebody had asked you back in August if you thought you'd be watching the Tennessee Titans' game at the Jacksonville Jaguars in three months, you would said "only if I need to nap that afternoon." Outside of Nashville and a very confined stretch of Interstate 95 in northeast Florida, who really gave this matchup any thought? Well, the Titans, while lacking the constant adoration of national television, are undefeated. Really. And so Sunday's contest in the facility formerly known as the Gator Bowl and Alltel Stadium actually mattered. Not a bad game, either. Here's how CBS's broadcast team of Dick Enberg and Randy Cross brought it to the home viewer: http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/oh-my-enberg-and-cross-still-get-it-done.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/oh-my-enberg-and-cross-still-get-it-done.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:02:23 -0500 For the last few years, NBC's primetime lineup has been steadily dropping in the ratings. While some shows have received critical acclaim, many haven't been on long enough for most viewers to notice they were canceled. Gone are the glory days of "Must See TV" with George Clooney and Jerry Seinfeld. Now, based on numbers, the biggest stars on NBC are men in helmets. NBC knows that their audience for Sunday Night Football is nearly twice that of any other time during the week, and they take full advantage of that, wasting nary a second of air time without some sort of promotion for Chuck, Life, Heroes or My Own Worst Enemy. NBC doesn't give the viewer football. NBC gives the viewer entertainment with enough football mixed in to keep the audience around. Even the Faith Hill-infused opening is a giant sponsorship opportunity for NBC and the NFL. Set to http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/al-john-solid-for-fans-valuable-for-nbc.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/al-john-solid-for-fans-valuable-for-nbc.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:23:33 -0500 It was evident early on in the telecast of the New York Giants' 35-14 victory over the hapless Dallas Cowboys on Sunday that Fox color commentator Troy Aikman was out to prove something. After Boomer Esiason accused Aikman of having "a legitimate bias" toward Dallas, the former Cowboys quarterback took the high road: "Well, I'm glad Boomer is watching the NFL on Fox," Aikman told the Dallas Morning News. "I take great pride in not showing a bias towards any team that I am broadcasting and I'm confident the teams that I have covered over the last eight seasons would agree that I've been balanced and fair with my coverage." http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/week-9-buck-and-aikman.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/11/week-9-buck-and-aikman.html Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:24:31 -0500 Maybe you heard, but less than a week before they played the Redskins, the Cleveland Browns engineered a shocking, season-changing upset win over the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Oh, what's that, you hadn't heard? Well CBS announcers Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots will be happy to tell you about it. Again. And again. And again. At separate points over the course of Sunday's telecast, we learned, at least twice, how many times the Browns had punted against the Giants (zero). We learned, at least twice, how many yards Derek Anderson had thrown for against the Giants. We learned how their third-string tight end and their Pro Bowl wideout had fared against the Giants (good, and better). We learned about a dream highlight for a Browns cornerback. "Speaking of that Giants game," Eagle began at one point, which was confusing, because I wasn't sure when they had STOPPED http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/10/week-7-eagle-wilcots-and-week-6.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/10/week-7-eagle-wilcots-and-week-6.html Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:15:39 -0500 Late in the telecast of the Saints' 34-3 home victory over the Raiders on Sunday, CBS color commentator Rich Gannon drew a comparison between New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees - who was having yet another great game - and now-retired NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Both quarterbacks suffered serious injuries in 2005 and went to noted sports surgeon James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., for surgery before the 2006 season. Brees rehabbed in Birmingham for weeks, Gannon said, while Culpepper didn't hang around long. "He's made some bad decisions, Daunte Culpepper, and that was one of them" Gannon said. "That was a mistake and it came back to haunt him." Strong stuff from Gannon -- it's pretty rare to hear out-and-out criticism of an NFL player on game telecasts. And if his comments seem off-topic, remember that this game was never close. http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/10/week-6-harlan-and-gannon.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/10/week-6-harlan-and-gannon.html Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:40:05 -0500 Fox's broadcast of the Vikings-Titans game Sunday in Nashville gave Playback the rare opportunity to review sports television veteran Chris Myers, who filled in for Matt Vasgersian as the play-by-play man alongside JC Pearson. The matchup wasn't bad, and neither were the broadcasters. Let's break it down ... Who Are These Guys? Myers -- working his first NFL game of the season -- has done play-by-play before. But his voice is so closely identified with in-studio interview programs that it must have caught longtime viewers off-guard at first. The guy is far from a novice. At the age of 16, he managed to create his own show and get it on a Miami radio station in 1975. He hosted "Up Close" on ESPN after Roy Firestone left the show, and his run included an uncensored chat with O.J. Simpson shortly after the civil jury returned its verdict in You Know http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-4-myers-joins-pearson-for-vikings-titans.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-4-myers-joins-pearson-for-vikings-titans.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:41:20 -0500 The New York Giants had their hands full on Sunday, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 26-23 in overtime. I'd love to tell you how the final drive looked on TV, but CBS thought it was more important for me to see commercials than actual football. More on that later. Perhaps since CBS's contract to televise pro football has them doing mostly AFC matchups, broadcasters Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf seemed to go out of their way to showcase the Giants as Super Bowl champions. After a superbly-produced introduction that had me ready for some football, the telecast immediately stalled as Gumbel introduced the game by asking, "are the New York Giants content to rest on last year's Super Bowl trophy?" Interesting visual. Let's imagine that while we take a commercial break after 20 seconds. http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-3-gumbel-dierdorf-and-commercials.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-3-gumbel-dierdorf-and-commercials.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:17:59 -0500 The New Orleans Saints faced first and goal at the Washington Redskins 1-yard line on Sunday. On their first stab at the end zone, the Redskins stopped Pierre Thomas for no gain. "This is the thing they don't have, necessarily, without Deuce McAllister," opined Brian Billick, in his second regular season game providing color commentary for Fox. "They've got some good backs, obviously Pierre Thomas, but he just doesn't carry the load that a Deuce McAllister has, or the ability to go over the top. This is where they miss Deuce McAllister." Pretty straightforward stuff from Billick, right? I'm guessing there weren't too many people confused by that statement. But just in case: "This would be prime Deuce McAllister territory," said Brian Baldinger, the other color commentator for Fox on this day. Earlier, Baldinger had this to say about the Redskins' offensive goals: "They want to try to play keepaway http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-2-dick-stockton-and-the-killer-bs.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/week-2-dick-stockton-and-the-killer-bs.html Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:45:46 -0500 With all the excitement surrounding the end of Sunday's Chargers-Broncos game, Playback could not resist a bonus mini-review. Here's panelist Dan Levy on the way CBS team Dick Enberg and Randy Cross handled the final minutes of Sunday's best game: I have watched a lot of football in my life. I'm not sure I've seen a more exciting ending than the Denver-San Diego game on Sunday. Sure, as a fan of the Broncos my interest in this game was certainly vested, but the last six minutes of this contest were as good as it gets. Well, unless you listened to the announcers. The venerable Dick Enberg and longtime CBS color man Randy Cross seemed overmatched by the back-and-forth action of the last few possessions. Let's recap: http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/chargers-broncos-blowing-the-tv-call.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/playback/2008/09/chargers-broncos-blowing-the-tv-call.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:57:31 -0500