Johnson
Overload
AQB Reviews TV's Coverage Of Sunday's NFL Playoffs
By
George Stahl
NEW
YORK (AQB)--Some thoughts, notes and reactions from my view
on the couch on television's coverage of Sunday's NFL action -
on and off the field.
CNN
and CNNSI.com are promoting the fact that Peter King broke the
story about Jimmy Johnson's likely resignation on Saturday, but
that's still unclear. ArmchairQB.com first saw King's report at
the beginning of CNN's NFL Preview at 11:30 a.m. Saturday,
a few minutes after ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported it
on NFL Countdown.
What's
unknown is whether King first broke the story on CNN/SI. AQB hasn't
been able to get that confirmed.
King,
though, was the first person - and as far as we know the only
one - to suggest that Tampa would be a good fit for aging Miami
quarterback Dan Marino. He also was the first Sunday morning to
confirm that Johnson's resignation was a done deal.
While
"Who reported it first?" is an interesting question,
the bigger mystery is why CBS on Saturday never reported Miami's
preset 11 a.m. news conference for Sunday, as Mortensen and King
did. As we said
yesterday, AQB never heard CBS, during its 4 1/2 hours of
NFL coverage Saturday, which included Miami's disastrous loss
to Jacksonville, mention anything about a Dolphins news conference
on Sunday.
A
major, major embarrassment for the eye network.
King
also was the first to report that Parcells doesn't want to coach
anymore and that he nominated Al Groh to the Jets owner for the
head coach post. ESPN, Fox Sports Net and Fox later reported that,
too.
The
four networks also said ESPN's Marty Schottenheimer was going
interview this week with the Packers, which are also interested
in Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
Other
reported rumors:
The
delay in Jimmy Johnson's news conference, originally scheduled
for 11 a.m., sent ESPN and Fox Sports Net scrambling to fill air
time. Both networks' used their studio analysts to waste time
- or "filibuster" as Chris Berman said - while they
waited for Johnson to speak.
During
that time, ESPN's Sterling Sharpe made the best point. In talking
about three of the five AFC East teams making coaching changes
since the end of the season, Sterling Sharpe said all three coaches
caused their own problems - Parcells going without a quality backup
quarterback, Johnson's inability to build a dependable running
game and Pete Carroll's mental attitude that he brought to the
Patriots.
At
11:30 a.m., ESPN went into its regularly scheduled NFL Countdown,
while Fox Sports Net continued its NFL This Morning, putting
it in direct competition for the first time with its sister pregame
show on Fox.
Johnson's
conference didn't start till about 12:50 p.m. Major kudos to
Fox who used the lengthy break between the first and second
quarters of the Vikings-Rams game to show clips from the press
conference and analyze the move.
Now
with Johnson and Mike Ditka officially gone, how does a Monday
Night Football booth of Al Michaels, Jimmy Johnson and Mike
Ditka sound to you?
Thought
so.
ABC
probably doesn't have enough money or space in the broadcast booth
for their two egos, but
if so, get ready to do college football or figure skating, Boomer.
Didja
notice that:
Good
job by Fox's Ron Pitts to tell the story before kickoff of Isaac
Bruce forgetting his ankle braces and then needing a police escort
to get them to him in time for the game.
Best
line of the day: John
Madden on Marshall Faulk's speed: "When he played tag as
a kid, he was never 'it.'"
How
gutless is Minnesota quarterback Jeff George? He showed his courage
with that "phantom sack" (as Madden correctly called
it),
when he went down without being touched. George also really went
diving for that loose ball on that snap he dropped in the second
half.
A
hint for Tampa Bay: Madden said Vermeil told him that when St.
Louis receiver Ricky Proehl is in the game as a third receiver,
he is the Rams first option.
I
refuse to watch Fox's Malcolm in the Middle simply because
I'm tired of all the commercials. Fox's hype machine knows no
bounds.
What
were Summerall and Madden doing by laughing off the fact that
Minnesota receiver Randy Moss sprayed water on an official after
not getting the call that he wanted? Where was the outrage? Considering
the lack of respect that NFL officials have been getting recently,
this was not the time to kid.
And
I'm
sure that if
it was somebody less popular than the untouchable Moss, Madden
and Summerall would have criticized the spraying more. But, because
Madden apparently likes Moss, he gets a free pass.
Disgusting.
As
we said last week, Pat Summerall just doesn't have it anymore.
He misidentified players, he misstated the score and he's often
late in describing the action. The worst was when he said the
Rams' Torry Holt returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
He later corrected it to Tony Horne.
Listening
to Summerall is like
watching Marino play. You see or hear flashes of the old Dan or
Pat, but in the end you realize those days are long gone.
On
the other hand, the simple call of CBS' Greg Gumbel is refreshing.
Gumbel lets the camera do all the work, and he just fills in the
empty spaces with names and brief descriptions.
CBS'
The NFL Today started 20 minutes late because the preceding
Illinois-Michigan game went into overtime. Although it started
late, it sure seemed like the network got all the commercials
on the air.
Although
I'm not sure I totally believe it, I found it interesting that
CBS' Phil Simms says no Colts coaches know what it means when
quarterback Peyton Manning pumps his fist downward at the line
of scrimmage.
Simms
said early in the Indianapolis-Tennessee game that the Colts didn't
want Titans running back Eddie George to beat them and that they
were tired of all the talk about how they can't stop the run.
I think that chatter is going to continue after George went for
162 yards on 26 carries, including a 68-yard touchdown, against
Indianapolis.
Nice
camera angle by CBS on George's touchdown run. The head-on shot
as George ran to the endzone was similar to NFL Films' classic
shot of Willie Brown's interception return for a touchdown in
Super Bowl XI.
Was
it me or did it appear that George looked up to the scoreboard,
possibly to see how close the Colts defenders were to him, as
he galloped into the endzone on that 68-yard touchdown run?
Why
does CBS insist on showing the coaches after nearly every play?
Can't we just take a look at the whole field or the teams huddling?
Is that so wrong?
CBS
got Wannstedt for an interview at halftime but couldn't deliver
on Jimmy Johnson. Of course, CBS might have plenty of time to
talk to him when he sits at The NFL Today desk next season.
Hey, it's certainly a possibility.
CBS
did an awful job by going to a commercial just as the referee
was going to speak about using replay to review Terrence Wilkins'
punt return. Wilkins returned the punt to the Titans' three yard
line, but Tennessee claimed he went out of bounds near Indianapolis'
30.
CBS,
fortunately for the network, got back in time for the decision,
but that was a terrible time for a commercial break. At the most
critical point in the game, during a decision that was going to
severely influence the game, CBS decided to go to a commercial
instead of showing more replays.
I
have to agree with my partner, Randy, who said a few weeks ago
that the Colts fans were the worst in the NFL. How could they
leave a 10-point playoff game with nearly four minutes left? Terrible.
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