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The
New NFL Today By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--After five weeks, only a few things in the NFL are performing like they were suppose to - instant replay is still a controversy, the Browns haven't won a game yet and the revamped The NFL Today has improved dramatically from a year ago. The additions of analysts Craig James, Randy Cross and Jerry Glanville certainly have improved the show's quality but haven't improved the ratings, which is only up slightly from a year ago and still far behind Fox NFL Sunday. "I think the pregame show is in a different league than the show last year was," CBS Sports President Sean McManus told me during my daylong visit to CBS Sunday. "We are always going to be at a disadvantage because they [Fox] have much bigger markets, especially in the 1 p.m. games. This was a problem 20 years ago with NBC and CBS, and it's going to be a problem with us and Fox." Of course, 20 years ago, The NFL Today was the trendsetter thanks to characters like Brent Musberger, Phyllis George and Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. "All we can do is put on the best and most entertaining show that we can, which I think we're doing, and people will eventually find it. It will be a long time, if ever, before we beat Fox because of the major market size." CBS Sports Executive Producer Terry Ewert says people just have to give the new show a chance. "Our concern is doing enough promotion to get people to sample it. I think once they sample it, they'll find it very entertaining. The key, I think, is information. We're trying to give them as much information as we possibly can, and we're trying to give them information for that particular day. "Our hope is that there'll be enough people that'll see us around Thanksgiving or see us around Christmas Day or see us on the Saturdays in December that they'll look at it and hopefully will catch on and people will get excited by us." LIVELIER, MEATIER Well, I have sampled the new show, having watched four of the first five episodes, and I like what I see. The studio banter is livelier and getting better as NFL Today director Bob Matina allows his crew to debate meatier topics, such as Ray Buchanan's take-down fine and NFL realignment. As a matter of fact, I would like to see the crew tackle more NFL issues and less individual games. Glanville has proven to be a much-needed source of humor on the show. This past week, he said about Rams quarterback Kurt Warner's CFL days, "What do we know about Canadian football? We know nothing, and we don't want to know any more. Canadian football is not what we're all about." Cross, meanwhile, has been surprisingly smooth in his first studio role. The former 49er offensive lineman had the scoop of the week when he reported that San Francisco quarterback Steve Young's concussion may have stemmed from a hit in week two against the Saints - a week before the knockout blow on Monday night against the Cardinals. Cross was the first to report that news, even though days later other NFL reporters on other networks tried to claim it as their own. I guess using that logic, I can report that the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXIII. What? It's already been reported? Elsewhere, James' Chalk Talk, in which he moves players around on video as he breaks down a play, is one of the show's best weekly segments, and host Jim Nantz smoothly and effortlessly keeps the show moving. HELP NEEDED
However, a couple segments still need to be improved (and a spell-checker wouldn't hurt as the show misspelled millennium - two n's, not one - no less than three times Sunday). First, Marcus Allen still looks more uncomfortable than a man in a Victoria's Secret store. Allen, the lone analyst leftover from last year's show, only does features but delivers his lines like a high school reporter. Take this example from Sunday's show: "After talking to and experiencing the confidence of Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison, I got to believe I'll be back here [in Indianapolis] sometime in January to do another story." Ugh! Allen's actual features are OK, but they certainly are not as hard-hitting as those last year from sideline reporters Armen Keteyian and Bonnie Bernstein. Those features last year were often the show's best part; however, I haven't seen either Keteyian or Bernstein on this year's show. The other thing that needs improvement is the show's "I Bet You Didn't Know" segment, in which the three new analysts take turns picking games. The segment runs way too long and is no different than what people see in newspapers or on shows like Inside The NFL, beginning on Thursday night. By Sunday afternoon, viewers want more insight, less predictions. IT'S GLAZER TIME And it's not like the show doesn't have programming to fill the space. The NFL Today runs some of the insider information discovered by new information man, Jay Glazer, at the bottom of the screen, instead of vocalizing it. This week, Glazer reported that Saints receiver Alex Molden demanded a trade, Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski received another fine and the Bucs are still trying to trade 1997 first-round pick, defensive end Regan Upshaw. All of which was reported in a scroll at the bottom of the screen. Glazer also found out, which James revealed on the show, that Washington defensive coordinator Mike Nolan approved the Redskins' hiring of former defensive coach and Nolan's mentor, Bill Arnsparger. Glazer's story contradicted an ESPN report, which said Nolan was upset with the hiring. However, Nolan told Glazer that he didn't know where ESPN got its information. This past Sunday, Glazer also reported that one of the leading realignment proposals has the NFL creating eight four-team divisions (with the addition of the new Houston team) and moving Seattle to the NFC from the AFC. Glazer's information, which he told me he gets more from digging in the locker room than he does from people in front offices, has proven to be reliable, such as his Bubby Brister story this weekend. Glazer's sources told him that the Denver quarterback wouldn't start Sunday, despite being listed as probable in the team's injury report. Brister, however, told CBS' production staff in Oakland for the Broncos-Raiders game that he was going to play. CBS officials decided to believe Brister and didn't report Glazer's rumors - only to find out a couple hours before game time that Brian Griese was going to start for the injured Brister. CBS should consider giving Glazer his own on-air time and cutting down the picks segment. "That's one thing that we'll deal with in the future about how to, at least, carve out a segment of inside information and make it its own," Ewert said. "I know when you talk to a lot of the players and a lot of the coaches around the league that they tune into that." "Jay has great contacts with players and with coaches and with GMs and players agents, which I think is to his credit. ... I don't see that [an information segment] as beyond the realm of possibility." Clearly, James, Cross and Glanville are much more comfortable in front of the camera than Allen, Brent Jones and George Seifert ever were last year. And because of that, this year's The NFL Today is livelier and more interesting. McManus says it's only a matter of time before more people realize that. "It's a very, very entertaining, informative show, which is what we want it to do. Eventually, enough people will find it and the ratings will go up." |
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