All I want to hear about is play by play, sometimes not even that, I can see what is going on. I do not want to hear about a 2 Calcium Deposits on some football players head. Quit Blathering ON. I guess maybe I need to find the remote and MUTE their ASS.
What can I say, I like 'em. Al Michaels is a great sportscaster and John Madden knows his football(even though he may say some fairly obvious things once in a while).
I enjoy the banter too. I remember years ago a network, (I think it was NBC) tried broadcasting games with no play by play or color commentary at all. The games were quite boring.
I will take a Madden or a Michaels any day over what passes for sportscasting lately. Michaels has always been the consumate professional sportscaster, sort of a throwback (in a way) to the Vin Scullis, Mel Allens and Harry Careys of the world. Knows, understands, and even loves the sport, yet stays somewhat separated from the sport, knowing that is is ABOUT THE SPORT, NOT THE SPORTSCASTER.
Madden has very successfully made the change from the field to the booth. Perhaps because his greatest field success was on the sidelines and not withing the field of play, he as maintained that separation. His unpolished familiar style is as much the guy sitting next to you at the bar, also watching the game, as they guy with the million dollar broadcasting contract.
As for what passes for sportscasters today, I will leave that alone. Names not named to protect the guilty.
Can I call you Mike?
Lookn at the bright side. Ay least we don’t have to hear Dennis Miller any more.
At least Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikmen are covering this game.
Amen. I wish those fucking announcers would shut their pie-holes, and just let ABC play some more commercials. (Which have been awfully dissappointing, thusfar…)
I especially liked the Moster.com reference so randomly inserted (oh, wait, they’re a sponsor. . who knew?).
Ha! The writer of Madden’s script will himself soon be looking for a job on Monster 
Only if you saw the movie:D
(I will admit, the inspiration for the name came from a moderator who calls himself C.K. Dexter Haven )
I was just telling my mom that more women would watch sports if there wasn’t so much blathering going on. REally, I would be perfectly capable of watching an entire football or baseball game if I had headphones on and was listening to music, or even if there was just the roar of the crowd in the background, anything but rich white guys with three chins wobbling above their stupid ties.
Al Michaels rocks. I’ve been listening to him since he was calling baseball games way back when, and, unlike a lot of them who do it for the money, he truly enjoys the sports.
When the game gets boring like it is now, I thank the Sports Gods for people like Madden.
God I’ve always hated Madden. I hate his droning voice! He blathers on like that drunk know-it-all that you sometimes sit by at a sporting even. Blah blah blah. When he was on Fox I remember him blathering about something that had happened 3 plays prior, yet he said nothing about what was going on at the time. Duh!
I like a good blather.
I’ve always liked Al Michaels, but it really doesn’t take John Madden to point out to me that at the end of the game, the team that wins will be the team that scores more points. I swear that man comes across as being of roughly the same intellectual caliber of your average not-very-bright rutabaga.
Wasn’t that just a one-game experiment back in the late 70’s? I vaguely remember it being a Tampa Bay game, when they were the laughing stock of the NFL, if not of all of professional sports. And now look where they are. Somewhere Pete Rozelle is smiling.
I do like Madden and Michaels, however it gets a little annoying when games are blowouts and they start to get “cute”.
John Madden actually said that a third-quarter touchdown by the Raiders may have been “too MUCH, too late.” 'Nuff said.
STIGMATA