4 Things To Be Thankful For, in the Sports World November 28, 2008
Posted by Paul in : Uncategorized , 2commentsOn a short hiatus from stuffing myself with foul, I thought it perhaps most appropriate to look back and ponder what I’m thankful for, in my small sports universe.
1) Dick Ebersol: TV executives rarely get a lot of ink or praise, when it comes to our sports universe. We’re usually instead quick to write prose on head coaches, quarterbacks, diva wide receivers, or top sluggers. We’ve all realized for decades now, how powerful a medium television can be… Political candidates have won or lost elections on certain key speeches, or debates because they were televised, and reached a large audience immediately. Most of us remember certain significant news events, from “living” them through the boob tube. But we’re just scratching the surface when it comes to understanding the power of television, when consuming our sports. Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Sports, is one of the shrewdest men in TV. He has latched on to the belief that the NFL has been peddling its broadcast partners for a while now: the National Football League–now more than ever–is a TV show. Following that axiom to the “T”, he has done an incredible job in building the most pristine prime time football package, we’ve ever seen. At 30-Rock, he’s managed to reunite the duo from “The Big Show”: Dan Patrick after his recent departure from the Worldwide Leader, and Keith Olbermann, who has single-handedly taken up the liberal cause on MSNBC. Cris Collinsworth, a top NFL analyst, breaks down the happenings from their cushy New York studios. SI’s Peter King, one of the top three information men in the National Football League, is constantly getting calls from the top protagonists in pro football, as they simmer down from the day’s contest. And let’s not forget the legendary Robert Costas, who presides over these broadcasting festivities. Al Michaels and John Madden–two of the best in the business–call the action on the field. You sprinkle in the showbiz flair and broad appeal of having Faith Hill introduce the proceedings, the experienced interview savvy of Andrea Kramer on the sidelines, and a gravitas-inducing jingle/bumper–taking us to-and-from commercial breaks, and you’ve got yourself one of the most polished and best produced sports programs I’ve ever seen.
2) HD Television: the goose bumps on a pitcher’s neck, as he attempts to close out a high-pressure complete game. The spin of a heavy topspin forehand dipping just inches inside the baseline. The sweat droplets accumulating on a defensive lineman’s brow, as he looks on as his offense on the field, after a particularly rough defensive series. All things that were once almost either not noticeable or barely so, now are fully visible to the naked eye, thanks to high-definition television. You add the new sky cams, better access, new graphics, and other assorted special effects, and you suddenly realize that a lot of sports are better consumed from the warmth of your living room, than the raucous atmosphere of a stadium near you. The next frontier, you ask? Your sports in 3-D. The NFL recently announced that it would be presenting next Thursday’s game in 3-D theaters for select cities. Can you imagine Jevon Kearse coming at you, in 3-D? Bring your eye black, and jock strap…or perhaps a change of clothes if you happen to soil yourself.
3) Al Davis: as a member of the Faithful since my early childhood and sports talk show host, the former Raider coach and present owner never disappoints in giving us things to mull over and talk about. His recent projector press conference, where he was adamant about proving that his former coach Lane Kiffin had been dismissed “for cause”, in the court of public opinion, made for great drama, and good grease for the sports talk mill. His mixture of continued ineptitude, warped sense of reality, enormous ego, and undying charisma make him one of the most compelling figures in sports, and his franchise a consistent underachiever. Because of his stranglehold on his organization, his inability to get along with any coach he brings in, and his delusional self-belief, the Raiders will most certainly remain the laughing stock of the NFL until their leader either steps away or expires. Consider the latter option as most probable…
4) Brett Favre in the World’s Media Capital: move over Broadway Joe, a new gun-slinging sheriff is in town. He wears #4, and is about to lead his team into the playoffs by winning the AFC East. Having him pull this off, in the microscope of the Big Apple only amplifies the effect he’s had on his squad. While the football happenings occurring in Green Bay may be crucial to the state of Wisconsin, what transpires in New York is important to the rest of the world. Moving out from the small-town feel of Title Town to the most overexposed city on the globe only helps in further building Favre’s legacy by globalizing his brand. Now with the Jets’ Meadowlands co-habitants poised to defend their title, it has most people asking: could we be in for an all-New York SuperBowl?
Fulmer Out As Tennessee Head Coach November 3, 2008
Posted by Paul in : Uncategorized , 2comments(We’ve often missed out on the opportunity to publish some of our backstage email conversations, despite them being pretty good. This is our attempt at making up for this trend. After all, our Show was founded when Neil and I came to the realization that we should be sharing our late night phone conversations with the rest of the world.)
These are excerpts from emails back-and-forth between Neil and I, as we were reacting to the news that Fulmer had been asked to step down as the Vols coach, after this season. Here’s the story, from the Worldwide Leader, as background to our exchange: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3679810
As additional background, Tennessee is my adoptive college team, as I didn’t go to a big football school (to say the least), in UCSD, and was drawn into them by longtime friend, mentor, and frequent YSNC contributor Volunteer Mike Richards, who was good enough to take me to a game at Neyland Stadium a few years back…
Neil starts by responding to the story I sent his way:
“Both Mike’s and my alma mater have had their coaches forced to “step down” this season. With all the great coaches and teams in the SEC, it could be a long time before we hear “Rocky Top” played in an SEC Championship Game or BCS Bowl.”
To which I replied:
“Yeah, but wouldn’t you think that they can attract another big name, to follow Fulmer?
The university is still a huge name in football, as was seen by their overestimated pre-season rankings (in the top 20).”
I knew I was going to get a decent response, when prodding my Co-Host, but I didn’t know we were going to get into such granular and in-depth detail when it came to recruiting ins-and-outs, ebbs-and-flows, pipelines-and-faucets ;)…
But here’s Neil’s intelligent dissection:
“While it is still a big name, their recruiting has taken a huge hit in recent years with the emergence of Florida under Urban Meyer, South Carolina under Steve Spurrier, LSU under Les Miles, Auburn under Tommy Tuberville, Georgia under Mark Richt, and most importantly perhaps the re-emergence of Alabama under Nick Saban. Also, Vanderbilt in the Vols’ own state is better then them right now.
Tennessee is not a hotbed of high school football. It doesn’t produce enough talent per year to feed even one decent Division I team. The Vols have had the ability throughout their history to go out-of-state and recruit some of the best from around the country, especially plucking out players from other SEC states and the occasional skill position player from Texas or Southern California. With the great coaching and resulting play from the other SEC schools, top-tier Southern boys from other states realize that they don’t need to wear Orange and White to play for National Championships and are staying in-state.
Further, with the dominant ability of Pete Carroll to keep LA skill position players at home, and I predict Slick Rick will pick up all of the leftovers in So Cal, the Vols aren’t getting some of the So Cal studs they used to get all of the time to play QB and other high-profile positions. There also used to be a pipeline from Northern California (especially De La Salle) to Knoxville, but that faucet has been shut off by Jeff Tedford at Cal.
In addition, while Texas always produces a suplus of talent, those players not matriculating to Austin to play for Mack Brown and the “Horns are going to play in Lubbock for Texas Tech, and I am sure that Texas A&M will also turn things around in short turn.
The landscape has changed so much, that I have a hard time believing that consistent 10+ win seasons and major bowl berths are once again going be a consistent result for Volunteer Mike and Co. Thus, big name coaches may not be too attracted by the position, and even if one does come he may struggle to fulfill the elevated expectations that have been created for those who inhabit Neyland Stadium by the success of past regimes.”
Hope you enjoyed the dialog…and we certainly invite you to join in…
