The sky-high uncertainty produced by the coronavirus pandemic will result in ESPN suits getting a pass on the new “Monday Night Football” broadcast team they select.
Yes, ESPN needs to choose voices to replace Anthony (Booger) McFarland and Joe Tessitore, but with a looming 2020 NFL season far from being a certainty, fans are going to care more, and be thrilled, if they even get a football season. These same fans are not going to care who is calling “MNF” games as long as the games are being played.
ESPN could go announcer-less, or use a one-man booth for social distancing purposes, and the fans wouldn’t care. Yet, if ESPN goes with a three- or two-person booth, and the 2020 NFL season is actually played, it will have every reason NOT to sign the new team to a multi-year contract and consider the 2020 season as an audition for the broadcast team.
No, not because ESPN has recently done a miserable job selecting “MNF” voices. This is about the 2020 season — if there is one — being highly unusual, even from a television standpoint. What could happen? Well, how about a-season-in-progress being suddenly shutdown because of a multitude of players suddenly testing positive for coronavirus. No matter how the voices were doing, did the Bristol Faculty see enough to either merit keeping them or dumping them and starting a new search?
If the 2020 season is played there’s a good chance fans will not be allowed in the stadiums. Broadcasting in an empty stadium, with no crowd to play off of won’t be easy, especially for broadcasters who have not worked together before. The whole “sound” of the broadcast will be altered.
Will a play-by-play voice sound silly cranking up an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown with no crowd noise or fake noise piped in? And in a “silent” stadium will the analyst’s job be altered? Will a priority be placed on enhanced sounds from the field during a time when analysts are usually analyzing?
This NFL season — if there is one (tired of hearing that?) — will be an aberration from a TV standpoint. Not the greatest year to break in a new “MNF” crew. That’s why the “new” team, even if it’s only signed for one year, should be a two-person booth featuring an experienced nuts-and-bolts play-by-play voice and a battle-tested analyst working a no-frills production.
For ESPN, this is no time to get cute.
Four things we have learned — or didn’t learn — from the first eight episodes of “The Last Dance” which ends its first run on ESPN Sunday night.
(1) The director of the documentary told “The Dan Patrick Show” he was shocked Michael Jordan didn’t ask for changes in episodes seven and eight. Couple that with Team Jordan receiving a sizeable share of the about $20 million license fee from ESPN & Netflix and that equates to the highest form of editorial control.
(2) Did His Airness have a family life during his extraordinary run in Chicago? We have seen next to nothing about his first wife or his three children from that marriage. There was a shot of Jordan dribbling in a Paris gym with his young boys in 1997.
(3) The marginalization of Jordan’s agent during Michael’s rise to super-stardom. David Falk’s appearances have been minimal. He had a profound influence on Jordan’s rise to becoming a billionaire.
(4) Bob Costas sure was an integral part of NBC’s NBA coverage during this span. And give ESPN credit for not forcing its roster of NBA experts into the presentation.
Ex-Yankee and current ESPN analyst Mark Teixeira caught much heat for saying players should accept MLB’s 50-50 split of revenue if baseball eventually starts the 2020 season.
The Players’ Union has no use for the deal and in some precincts Tex is being called a traitor.
“I would rather make pennies on the dollar and give hope to people and play baseball than not make anything and lose an entire year off their career,” Tex said on ESPN.
Teixeira’s decision to analyze rather than proselytize on the MLBPA’s behalf is not surprising. Unlike other former players who have crossed the line into media, Tex has been an independent voice, not taking a predictable stance.
As an ESPN analyst he is underrated but always provocative.
At least Joe Judge could recently breath one sigh of relief.
Got to believe the Giants rookie coach exhaled deeply after hearing ESPN-98.7’s Michael Kay called him “a smart dude.” On previous radio shows, the Gasbag had ripped Judge for not referring to Daniel Jones, and other Giants, by name and being uptight.
How ghastly!
No doubt Judge was quaking in his boots. Yet after perusing a recent Judge interview, Big Head flip-flopped. “I see something in him,” Kay said on the air. “Maybe someone from the Giants said ‘let’s loosen up on that.’”
Whatever. Here’s hoping Judge will recognize Kay’s incredible benevolence, his change of heart and pay his proper respects.
Bet Joe Buck never thought he would become chief spokesman for the Laugh Track Artists Association. ... If one Gasbag has played it straight with listeners about whether sports is likely to return this year, it has been CBS Sports Radio’s Brandon Tierney (Tiki & Tierney). Instead of parroting every report describing how and when a sport might return, BT has been highly definitive outlining why he doubts any of these sports will be back in 2020. ... WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts are replaying five “top” John Sterling home run calls each day. Guess the fellas, along with boss Mark Chernoff, are looking for a way to drive down their afternoon-drive ratings. ... Chris Canty was beyond being righteous when he said there is no “urgency” to “put college kids (football players) on the field this fall.” ... Nice on-the- fly work by 98.7’s Chris Carlin, piecing together info and interviewing football folks Thursday night, as the DeAndre Baker story was developing. Solid stuff. ... One phrase you won’t ever hear on WFAN’s “Moose (Malusis) and Maggie (Gray)“ show: “Our Mystery Guest sucked!”... CBS Sports boss Sean McManus is finding creative ways to get his money’s worth out of Tony Romo. The network’s No. 1 NFL analyst will host a QB show (What? Adam Schein wasn’t available?) with Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones and Josh Allen on Sunday, May 24. Just wondering if Romo will collect any of that $17 million he is scheduled to earn this season if the NFL cancels its 2020 slate?
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: KEVIN DURANT
The Nets superstar may not have set foot on the Brooklyn court yet but his impact in the community continues to grow. Durant has consistently been active in drives to feed the hungry and came up big last week, auctioning off his NCAA player of the year trophy.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: JOE ROGAN
The UFC voice could have set an example for handling an interview during these non-contact times but chose not to. Rogan violated the UFC’s written coronavirus plan for UFC 249. He decided to shake hands with the combatants in post-fight interviews (he wasn’t wearing gloves) rather than adhering to the organization’s request for no “contact based” greetings.
DOUBLE TALK
What Rob Manfred said: “We would never force them [players] or try to force them to come back to work.”
What Rob Manfred meant to say: “We would never force them to come back. We can get the job done by having our media friends embarrass them by depicting the players as greedy.”