Football Night in America makes me want to cry
October 8, 2007 by Mike Olbinski
Yes, cry.
Cry for what used to be awesome about Sunday afternoons.
“Kurt Warner threw that pass like Frank Jo Shobbly from the Saskatchewan Moccasins did back in 1745 when King Phillip of Lucland reigned supreme!”
What? Who? Really Keith Olbermann? NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
Keith is like the failed Dennis Miller experiment on Monday Night Football. His jokes didn’t make any sense because no one watching gave a crap about what he thought was funny.
They just cared about football. Football. That is what we’re missing on Sunday afternoons these days, yet all we have is this pathetic excuse for a recap show.
This blog post has been a long time coming. Ever since the NFL switched all their TV contracts around and NFL Primetime was no more, this blog has been coming.
I tried to give FNiA a chance last season, but it failed. And it’s worse this year.
Last night there were recaps, and then Tomorrow’s Top Headlines which was a recap of their RECAP’s top stories, and then at the very end, guess what? Keith did ANOTHER recap of the recaps!
I was recapped out. And I am fairly certain I learned very little about what actually happened in these games.
Bob Costas is the worst. He and Keith sit next to each other and throw around their pompous jokes that only 10% of the population gets. Costas is good at the Olympics, but when it comes to football, he’s unbearably hard to watch. I’d almost compare him to Bryant Gumble’s NFL Network commentating, but I don’t hate Costas THAT much.
They try so hard to be funny when in reality, people just want one thing:
Football.
What’s with the separate room for Collingsworth, Bettis and Barber? How ridiculous is this sending back and forth? And how ridiculous is Collingsworth? I really have a hard time with him. Barber and Bettis are okay, but they are stuck on a show that gives them no time to build a rapore with their viewers.
The show gives us precious little time talking about the games by people who know what the heck is going on. Bob and Keith spend most of the show seeing who can make their recaps funnier than the next, which makes me yawn and want to sleep.
I miss NFL Primetime.
I miss Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. Two guys who had fun because they absolutely LOVE the game of football. Yeah, Berman’s little “Mike ‘I’m in good hands with’ Alstott” could get old, but damn I miss them now.
Yes, they are on The Blitz during Sportscenter later on Sunday nights, but it’s not the same at all. They don’t recap all of the games and you have to watch over an hour of Sportscenter to get 20 minutes from them.
Berman and Jackson would delve into the games and tell you what you wanted to know. What the game meant for each team, who played well, who stood out, who sucked, etc. Everything about that show exuded quality and passion. I would look forward to what they’d say about the Arizona Cardinals because I valued their opinions.
They made Sunday afternoons worth waiting for. It was almost like a third event that day. Morning games, afternoon games, NFL Primetime and then Sunday Night Football.
Who cares about what Bob or Keith think? In fact, I don’t even know what they think usually other than they obviously believe themselves to be the cleverest hosts on the face of the television.
Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. Just two guys talking about football with an obvious understanding of what it’s all about. Nothing fancy, no side rooms with three people separated by glass. No un-hilarious political jokes or commentary. Just football.
Maybe I’m remembering NFL Primetime being better than it actually was, but I think that proves just how bad FNiA truly is.
It’s just sponsors and spit. Nothing original, nothing informative. With the NFL as huge and great as it is, fans everywhere really deserve something better than this junk.
Heck, I made it this far and almost failed to mention the most grotesque part of the entire show. The name!
Football Night in America? Ugh…
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Mike:
You are correct, sir. I had no idea how much I’d miss Primetime until it was gone. And watching the Blitz–after suffering through interminable NASCAR “highlights”–is like rubbing salt in the wound.
The funny thing about Olbermann is, he and Dan Patrick were probably the best team SportsCenter ever had. It’s like he forgot how to do sports (i.e., a little bit of snarky and hipper-than-thou goes a long way). Go figure.
WC
So true…I remember how he used to be, and Dan Patrick as well, and Keith has just totally become self-aware of his supposed humorous, political side I think. It’s just not right on this show.
Thank you for expressing a view shared by every football fan I know. For me, the greatest thing about NFL Primetime was the down-to-earth-quality of Berman and Jackson. I believed, if they were on the ESPN set with lights, camera and make-up or in the backyard in a t-shirt and a beer in their hands, they would still be having the same conversation.
The only thing I disagree with…Ricky Proehl Shampoo never got old.
I don’t remember that Shampoo one
I always loved Berman’s Alstott sound effects personally…whenever he plowed people over.
I miss it.
Keith Olbermann is more about politics than sports these days, and gives very little effort in connecting with the football fan seeking highlights and insights. Bryant Gumble reminds me of the smart kid that sat in the front of the class and made fun of the jocks and slow kids sitting in the back. Except for one big clarification, I don’t consider Bryant Gumble to be that smart.
I strongly agree with you, it seems that production executives are over thinking things a bit. However, in their defense, they are trying to keep a few casual fans tuned in - and during primetime, that is a difficult task. ESPN, who historically just sat back and threw out sports with no excuses has made subtle changes to programming and set design. It is a very competitive market right now, and most die hards have been finding other outlets such as blogs, forums, radio, etc… The TV executives know this and need to expand their market reach.
BTW, Bob Costas knows baseball - and knows it well. He may not translate into football, but that guy is very astute with the ball and stick. It is a shame that they put him in a position that is compromising his good name to sports fans. I haven’t watched him yet on the NFL, so I can’t comment on his effectiveness.
One more thing, does Chris Collingsworth ever stop smiling?
I agree wholeheartedly on this one. I used to be willing to miss the end of a few games just to catch Primetime. It was a vital element to the football day. I still enjoy “Bermanisms,” and Tom Jackson always gave strong insight.
Football Night in America just seems to be striving to be far too classy. The show reminds me more of an FDR “Fireside Chat” than it does a show about football. I’m well versed enough to get the Olbermann and Costas references, but they still don’t mesh with what football is all about.
The NFL has made some strange contract decisions as of late. Giving EA Sports the exclusive licensing agreement for all NFL videogames was a poor idea, as the Madden products that they’ve been churning out are still inferior to the 2K5 and Madden 2006 games in their respective years. Now, by drastically changing the landscape of how the NFL is broadcast, they’re alienating long-time viewers. I’m not one to constantly reminisce of glory days, but Monday Night Football has become a secondary game it seems. I’ll be looking forward to a new TV agreement.
Solar, nice point about Monday Night games…they really have become secondary to Sunday Night football it seems.
Agree 100%. Hate the show. Echoing what was said a couple of comments above, is it just me, or does it look like Chris Collinsworth has had multiple face lifts? To me it does. And I don’t want to hear football commentary from anyone who’s ever had a face lift.
This is so spot on! I’ve really tried to get onboard with Football Night in America, but it’s hopeless. Could NBC have assembled a more boring group for this?
Olberman was awesome when he was part of ESPN’s the Big Show with Dan Patrick, now he’s all politics, which is fine, but he’s no longer relevant when it comes to anything related to the NFL. And while I love Bob Costas, he’s bad on football. Stick to baseball and the Olympics Bob, that’s what you’re good at.
I think if ESPN put NFL Primetime on opposite FNIA, it would kill. We’d all watch Pimetime right up to the evening game, just like we do in the mornings with NFL Countdown.
The only thing worse or close to FNIA is the impending Bryant Gumbel on the NFL channel….ugh….makes me cringe just thinking about it.
[...] We stopped watching that piece of junk weeks ago, and I’ve even written on why the show has completely ruined the Sunday afternoon NFL recap time we used to [...]
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