Monday Night Football

[emeryjre]

Watching Raiders and Chargers
Realize I really miss "Dandy Don" Meredith and Howard Cosell
The new guys are OK
But they just don't measure up to the old duo on ABC

 

[ScoopKona]

Don was in the bag by the third quarter.

Cosell had a voice that could be used as an harsh interrogation tactic.


I'd much rather listen to no play-by-play at all. But since people want to be told what they're seeing, I'm happiest watching games being called by Tony Romo. John Madden/Tony Romo would be my "of all time" commentary crew.

 

[emeryjre]

I remember driving to high school in the morning and listening to Howard defend Cassius Clay
Cassius had adopted his new name, but the media would still referred to him as Cassius
Howard defended Cassius’s right to apply for a deferment and the like

Howard’s voice was unmistakable

I had friends who had sponge bricks to throw at the TV screen when Howard was talking

He was one of a kind

I spent two days acting as Tony Romo’s personal Marshall at a charity golf event
What a nice guy

He is a good broadcaster

But he is not on MNF

 

[TolmiePeak]

Isn't the real problem that there is 10 minutes of real action stretched out to almost 4 hours?

 

[ScoopKona]

He is a good broadcaster

But he is not on MNF

Absolutely.

If I could "press the button" on announcer's careers, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Chris Collinsworth and Al Michaels would be working the parking gate in Green Bay in December instead of calling football games. Well, that's not entirely fair. I'd have Joe Buck shoveling snow somewhere at Lambeau.

And I'd move Romo into prime time. It would not surprise me in the least if Romo made it to Canton as a commentator. He's easily as good as the others who did.

 

[pedro47]

Watching Raiders and Chargers
Realize I really miss "Dandy Don" Meredith and Howard Cosell
The new guys are OK
But they just don't measure up to the old duo on ABC

Those two announcers made Monday Night NFL Football worth watching. IMHO.

 

[Rolltydr]

i realize Cosell had a long stint on MNF, boxing bouts, and many other sporting events, and he was a favorite of mine for a long time. Unfortunately, when I hear his name now, the first memory I have is of him on MNF announcing that John Lennon had been shot. He knew John personally and was devastated by the news.

 

[jorcus]

Don was in the bag by the third quarter.

Cosell had a voice that could be used as an harsh interrogation tactic.


I'd much rather listen to no play-by-play at all. But since people want to be told what they're seeing, I'm happiest watching games being called by Tony Romo. John Madden/Tony Romo would be my "of all time" commentary crew.

Cosell was just as drunk as Don at times. He infamously threw up on Don in the both from drinking too much. To be honest I don't remember old broadcasts being all that good with the exception of the fact that they did not talk as much in the booth. The constant ramble of modern sports broadcasters makes me turn the sound off. For that reason I am not Romo's biggest fan. He can be good at times but sometimes his comments make me wonder if he is actually watching the game that closely. Collinsworth dives me up a wall. At least Aikman is not so dramatic. He is kind of quiet in a way. I will take the quiet guys over the noisy ones.

 

[buzglyd]

Joe Buck drives me up a wall. More so in baseball than football. He’s in love with his own voice and speaks so loudly it makes the other announcers scream to keep up with him. His dad was better.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I/we didn't watch last night, but the week before (and last season) we enjoyed watching the Manning Boys (Peyton & Eli) on ESPN2 . . . they are insightful and entertaining. They also have guests who add to the shows' entertainment factor.

 

[bizaro86]

Isn't the real problem that there is 10 minutes of real action stretched out to almost 4 hours?

Apparently not a problem for a huge amount of people...

I don't get it either - but I don't have to watch so I don't.

 

[Talent312]

... Unfortunately, when I hear his name now, the first memory I have is of him on MNF announcing that John Lennon had been shot. He knew John personally and was devastated by the news.

Of anything Cosell ever said, that's the one thing that sticks in my memory.
I can't remember the result of the game... Miami 16 - New England 13 in overtime.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Isn't the real problem that there is 10 minutes of real action stretched out to almost 4 hours?

That and the infantile nature & quality of almost all the ads. As for that, maybe 40 yrs ago, somebody actually used a stopwatch to measure the "action time" in an entire Super Bowl "TV Show", which, idk, may have lasted 5 hrs. The result: 6.5 minutes iirc. So you were being generous.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

serendipitous thread; I happened to watch last night, which I don't do all that often. I had to when the announcer said of J Herbert
"He started out 1 of 5 and now he is 15 of 20, so that is 14 straight completions."
Yikes. And nobody said anything.

The idea that people will pay to watch J Cena wrestle B Lesnar was also quite a revelation. They must both be close to 50 yrs old, on top of the underlying farce of the whole thing.
Other than that, had to applaud when Aikman, must have been him, said Mayfield was "the turnaround story in the nfl over the last few yrs". In CLE, Mayfield was such a clown. He looked like he was TRYING to do dumb things on the field, at least once every game. I would watch a CLE game mostly just to count how long it took Mayfield to do something dumb, then I'd shut it off instnatly. That was the gratification of watching Mayfield in CLE. Now, he has completely cleaned that up, and tends toward being "Brady-like" among nfl QBS. Night to day

 

[Brett]

Watching Raiders and Chargers
Realize I really miss "Dandy Don" Meredith and Howard Cosell
The new guys are OK
But they just don't measure up to the old duo on ABC

No they don't but that's sports broadcasting now. And Howard Cosell turned mean and vindictive in his later years

 

[TolmiePeak]

Apparently not a problem for a huge amount of people...

I don't get it either - but I don't have to watch so I don't.

Why do people like such a slow moving game? Just keep the clock running and break 20 minutes at half time. Get the games done in less than 90 minutes.

 

[Rolltydr]

Why do people like such a slow moving game? Just keep the clock running and break 20 minutes at half time. Get the games done in less than 90 minutes.

Because a lot of people apparently find it very exciting, not boring. Oh, and a lot of people also have money riding on the games. Just to show how popular NFL football is, in 2024:
- 10 of the top 11 most watched telecasts were NFL football
- 17 of the top 25 were NFL football
- 31 of the top 50 were NFL football
- 43 of the top 100 were NFL football

There is plenty of fast-paced action during football games. It's fine if it isn't your cup of tea but with television ratings like those, it'll be around for a while.
The numbers above came from here: https://www.aol.com/100-most-watched-telecasts-2024-193000671.html

 

[ScoopKona]

Why do people like such a slow moving game? Just keep the clock running and break 20 minutes at half time. Get the games done in less than 90 minutes.

Football is the sports equivalent of chess. Each piece has rules about what it can do. Every play, the teams line up their players, give them instructions, and then we see what happens.

What I like most about the game is that while "any given Sunday" is true to this day, the better teams with the better plan and the better athletes tend to win more during a season. The only two sports I watch anymore are NFL football and college basketball. (And basketball only when my alma mater is playing.) The reason for college hoops is that they still use the zone defense so it's a far more interesting game. The NBA is one long fast break, with long pauses. Women's college basketball is an even more interesting game -- real strategy happens as opposed to "run real fast and shoot three-point shots until someone wins."

I could just as easily say the same about soccer "Why watch people run back and forth for 90 minutes interrupted by some of the worst acting in all of human history?"

 

[TolmiePeak]

Football is the sports equivalent of chess. Each piece has rules about what it can do. Every play, the teams line up their players, give them instructions, and then we see what happens.

What I like most about the game is that while "any given Sunday" is true to this day, the better teams with the better plan and the better athletes tend to win more during a season. The only two sports I watch anymore are NFL football and college basketball. (And basketball only when my alma mater is playing.) The reason for college hoops is that they still use the zone defense so it's a far more interesting game. The NBA is one long fast break, with long pauses. Women's college basketball is an even more interesting game -- real strategy happens as opposed to "run real fast and shoot three-point shots until someone wins."

I could just as easily say the same about soccer "Why watch people run back and forth for 90 minutes interrupted by some of the worst acting in all of human history?"

At least in soccer they keep the clock running to speed things along.

 

[emeryjre]

No they don't but that's sports broadcasting now. And Howard Cosell turned mean and vindictive in his later years

Not all people get mean and vindictive as they age
But some do
Some decide they are going to impose their concepts of right and wrong on to everyone

 

[Elan]

Why do people like such a slow moving game? Just keep the clock running and break 20 minutes at half time. Get the games done in less than 90 minutes.

Really? You want 300lb linemen out there running no-huddle offense without clock stoppage? Be ready for multiple injuries and/or 10-7 final scores.

If you don't want to watch, don't watch.

Sent from my Pixel 9a using Tapatalk

 

[Big Matt]

Not to be too simple, but the rules of soccer and football are nothing alike and neither are the sports. The only thing that is the same is that the field is about the same size, there are 11 players and you use a ball. Oh, and they are both called football by some folks.

 

[davidvel]

Absolutely.

If I could "press the button" on announcer's careers, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Chris Collinsworth and Al Michaels would be working the parking gate in Green Bay in December instead of calling football games. Well, that's not entirely fair. I'd have Joe Buck shoveling snow somewhere at Lambeau.

And I'd move Romo into prime time. It would not surprise me in the least if Romo made it to Canton as a commentator. He's easily as good as the others who did.

Luckily, you cannot.

 

[Brett]

Luckily, you cannot.

But it would be interesting if people could "vote" for their favorite sports announcer
Tom Brady is OK as an NFL announcer but NFL owner Brady in the upcoming Raiders - "Commanders" game ......

 

[TolmiePeak]

Really? You want 300lb linemen out there running no-huddle offense without clock stoppage? Be ready for multiple injuries and/or 10-7 final scores.

If you don't want to watch, don't watch.

Sent from my Pixel 9a using Tapatalk

Why would there be injuries? Can't they take running at full throttle for 60 minutes?