After the 85+ yard TD pass from Far-ve to Driver, and after the commercial break, they came back and Madden did a telestrator diagram on Driver’s route…
And he was circling the wrong players. Glenn was lined up on the left, Driver on the right – and Madden circled Glenn and the CB covering him and talked about Driver’s speed and how quickly ‘he’ got around the Chicago DB. The playback began and we saw Glenn get around the DB, then we saw Driver come into the picture from the right and catch the pass and score.
I mean, come on.
Just before I was about to post this, after another commercial break, they came back with Madden’s ‘Chalk Talk’ where he explained that Driver had actually lined up on the right and had come all the way across the field to catch the pass, sounding amazed that that could be possible. Schmuck.
Okay, that thing with the yardstick was funny.
Yeah, I was thinking about it last week, and I decided ABC should put up a section on their website of Madden translations, like they did last year with Miller – but instead of explicating the obscure references Miller made, it would just explain what the hell Madden is talking about with some of the nonsense he spouts.
He seems to me to be like a semi-crazy uncle who says some really wacky stuff. At the same time Madden really does know football and usually does a good job of diagraming what happened.
Mistakes happen and Madden, while he has lost a step or two, is better than most at what he does.
Also, you have to respect the guy who came up with the 6 legged Turkey for Thanksgiving games.
I liked when he asked Al what the TV’s were with widescreens (they are widescreen TV’s or 16:9 TV’s)
Neither of them knew what they were called. Madden thought DTV or something. AL thought it was HDTV. Yes, are know HDTV’s are almost always widescreen.
My favorite Madden moments was last year when he and Pat Somerall were calling a game. The QB faked a handoff and a lot of the defenders chased the wrong guy. Madden said that they followed him “like Pavlov’s rats in a maze.”
Somerall then said, “No, Pavlov had a dog.”
Madden replied, “That’s what I meant. Pavlov’s dogs in a maze.”
I read in a Terry Bradshaw book how all color commentators have to tone down their analysis of the game. He says the commentators that give true Xs and Os are quickly canned. The average viewer does not want to hear what really happened. They prefer the dumb stuff like “they wanted it more” or “he just ran faster”.
This really frustrates me because I’m an Xs and Os kind of guy.
I still remember Madden one time going on and going about the butt sweat of the O-line. That was pure entertainment.
Gah. Madden is obnoxious. He’s really really scary-lookin. And he doesn’t say anything worth hearing.
I wish the networks didn’t delude themselves into thinking he’s the announcer they should have convering all the important games. I’ve heard better coverage from college commentators.
I think Madden is ok, some of the time, but sometimes he really makes a mess of things, like the play on Monday.
The one thing which really annoys me though is the use of a computer game to illustrate a point. Why can’t they just reshow the play and why do they have to tie it in to one of Madden’s games?
I used to respect Madden, but no more. I must concede that he is truly an idiot. Or, more correctly, he has BECOME an idiot.
He just starts talking now, and doesn’t know where it’s going. It is extremely annoying.
“And see, we were talking about, you know, see, there’s the blitz, and and and, then, see, here’s this with the 2 and the 3 on his jersey, that means his number is 23, so that’s what his number is…”
And it goes on after every friggin play like that!
I think Al Michaels is going to just go off someday and tell Madden to shut the f*ck up. “That wasn’t Gruber! That wasn’t a linebacker! John! You don’t know what the hell you are talking about!!! Arrgghhh!!”
I like Madden ok. I don’t like him as much as the Buck/Aikman/Collinsworth team on Fox, but he’s light years ahead of the asshats on ESPN. Anyone catch the Atlanta game on Sunday night? If they mentioned another player on the field besides Vick, it was to point out that said player is really playing much better because Vick is back. Sheez they wouldn’t shut up about him for the entire game.