SOMEDAY, although I wouldn’t bet on it, all sportscasters will learn there’s no substitute for good faith, for honesty. To that end, Thursday, CBS analyst Dan Fouts could have pretended he didn’t say it and/or we didn’t hear or remember it.
Down 21-10 to Clemson in the third quarter of the Gator Bowl, Nebraska took over, first-and-10, when Fouts asserted that Nebraska go into a pass-only mode because, “They’re not going to be able to run the ball.” On the next play, RB Quentin Castille busted one for 50 yards.
Fouts immediately hollered, “Just like I told you – they’re not going to be able to run the ball!”
And that’s how, in a matter of seconds, you can be completely wrong, yet, instead of allowing an audience to think of you (and remember you) as a jerk, still win the day. You would think all sportscasters would act similarly; you wouldn’t think very few do.
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Local Man Wins World’s Wrongest Man Competition, Again: While we’re on the subject, wrong, as Fouts demonstrated, comes in many flavors. For example, there’s Regular Wrong, Strong Wrong, Colossally Wrong, and then there’s Francesa Wrong.
Mike Francesa‘s most convinced bowl tout – his holiday gift last week to the kingdom’s serfs – was Georgia Tech, four-point favorite, over LSU. As Francesa authoritatively said, GT is home, hungry and highly talented; LSU lacks motivation and plays no defense.
Final: LSU 38, GT 3. If Francesa had a sense of humor about himself, he would play the tape on the air.
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Sometimes it seems as if bad graphics are the result of poor quality control or just a general dip in the pride and professionalism of chimpanzees. In a season widely noted for Michigan’s 3-9 record, a full-screen Fox graphic during Thursday’s Orange Bowl showed Michigan, not Michigan State, having lost to Georgia, five hours earlier.
L.A. Clippers radio broadcasts now include ads for Aladdin Bail Bonds. Seriously. The endorsement possibilities are endless. . . . When WFAN’s Joe Benigno refers to the Jets as “we,” he may think he’s playing the populist, but he becomes the same kind of yahoo who calls sports talk shows in every city, the kind who inspires intelligent fans to check what else is on.
Early in Fox’s Cotton Bowl on Friday, Pat Summerall called Texas Tech’s defense “underrated.” Hard to figure why such a misconception exists, unless one considers TT’s defense previously had allowed a ton of running and passing yards and points, which is what Ole Miss proceeded to do in its 47-34 win.
Bowl Week’s most disappointing, pandering comment was spoken by CBS’s Gary Danielson, during the Oregon State-Pitt Sun Bowl. After identifying booing as a response to OSU’s post-tackle taunting, Danielson added, “I have no problem with it.” Given Danielson’s track record for thoughtful analysis, I don’t believe he believes that. Incidentally, Oregon State 3, Pitt 0, took 3:45 to play.
Throughout the Christmas/New Year’s break, rows and rows of empty seats were seen during NBA telecasts, here, there and everywhere. Once upon a time, say, two years ago, even the worst-drawing teams would come close to filling the house during school vacation breaks.
Mike Emrick, out last week with laryngitis – Dave Strader filled in on NBC’s Red Wings-Blackhawks from/on Wrigley Field, New Year’s Day – expects to return late this week. Versatile, credible Steve Cangialosi fills on MSG’s Devils telecasts.
The graphic we don’t see during Bowl Week is the one noting the annual percentage of scholarship players who, at the conclusion of the game, simply drop out of school. I don’t know the number, but whatever it is, it’s scandalously high.
Many of us didn’t realize (or hadn’t been told) until after last week’s Dolphins-Jets, that Eric Mangini is Satan’s favorite nephew.
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From reader Paul L. Evans: “How can you suggest [in Dec. 22’s column] that the NFL salute recently deceased Hall of Famer ‘Slingin’ Sammy Baugh by affixing a No. 33 sticker to all QBs during the playoffs?!
“His QB rating, 72.21, had him ranked 101st, all time, behind, among others, Tim Couch (78th), David Carr (71st), Jeff George (39th) and the No. 7 QB of all time, Chad Pennington! How did Baugh ever get into the Hall of Fame? And how can we get him evicted?”
Finally, Russ Kestler, reader from Fort Myers, Fla., is weary of watching the ends of 4:15-start NFL games on CBS and hearing, “For those of you who have tuned in to see ’60 Minutes’ . . .” During football season, Kestler notes, ’60 Minutes’ hasn’t started on time “in 20 years.”
