Sports Illustrated put out this list of what it believes to be the Top 20 all-time sportscasters. Some of these guys are before my time, but unfortunately, most of them are not. Anyway, here is the list and a snappy comment or two, as well as who they missed and who I’m glad is not on here:
1. Jim McKay—The Bob Costas of his time. McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” as well as The Olympics. It’s hard to argue with putting him on top here, but it’s also easy to argue for a few of these others to be #1.
2. Vin Scully—If I hear ol’ Vin doing a game on TV, and with the MLB package it’s nice to still hear him doing Dodgers’ games, I don’t care who is playing….I stop and watch, and listen. It’s just comforting to hear the guy’s voice, which was made for broadcasting baseball.
We won’t be posting much today, since we’ll be spending time with our families (i.e. watching football), but we want to wish our loyal readers the happiest of Thanksgivings. Make John Madden proud…
John Madden was, um, colorful in the color analyst role on a NFL telecast. His catch phrases were the sound effects from the old Batman television series. After every play, you were guaranteed a “boom” or a “bam” from Madden in his description. He brought fun to the no fun league (NFL), and his name is synonymous in the gaming community for playing video football. And Madden was a maverick in another way; he left on top in two professions. He will be missed.
The NBA and NHL postseasons start this weekend, and there are a few good baseball games on the tube as well.
All times ET…
NBA Playoffs
Sat, 12:30 PM: Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics (ESPN)
Sat, 3 PM: Detroit Pistons @ Cleveland Cavaliers (ABC)
Sat, 8 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs (ESPN)
Sat, 10:30 PM: Houston Rockets @ Portland Trail Blazers (ESPN)
Sun, 3 PM: Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
Sun, 5:30 PM: Philadelphia 76ers @ Orlando Magic (TNT)
Sun, 8 PM: Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks (TNT)
Sun, 10:30 PM: New Orleans Hornets @ Denver Nuggets (TNT)
NHL Playoffs
Fri, 7 PM: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins (Versus)
Fri, 10 PM: St. Louis Blues @ Vancouver Canucks (Versus)
Sat, 1 PM: New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (NBC)
Sat, 8 PM: Montreal Canadiens @ Boston Bruins (Versus)
Sun, 3 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers (NBC)
Sun, 7 PM: Vancouver Canucks @ St. Louis Blues (Versus)
Sun, 10 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks (Versus)
MLB
Sat, 3:40 PM: St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs (Fox)
Sun., 1 PM: Cleveland Indians @ New York Yankees (TBS)
Sun., 8 PM: St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs (ESPN)
Cris Collinsworth will take over for the now retired John Madden in the broadcast booth for Sunday Night Football games.
Collinsworth had the role before but never got to perform.
The former Cincinnati Bengals receiver, who got his TV break working NFL games not deemed worthy of airing in much of the USA, had worked his way up to lead analyst on Fox until NBC lured him back to work games on TV’s most-watched night. NBC’s Sunday night games would supplant Monday Night Football as the NFL’s marquee prime-time package.
Collinsworth sat out the 2005 season to wait for NBC’s 2006 kickoff. When Madden became available, a prospect no network has been known to resist, NBC suggested Collinsworth could still work the games — but doing play-by-play.
NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said Thursday that he didn’t want to talk about the analyst who would replace the only announcer to call Super Bowls on all four networks: “I just want to declare this ‘Celebrate John Madden Week.’ ” But then, Collinsworth is used to waiting.
Collinsworth is pretty solid as an analyst, but he can be hit and miss calling games. He has the tendency to be an obvious-stator, but as he gains more confidence and experience I’m sure he’ll be fine.
NBC made an announcement this morning that long-time NFL color commenter John Madden has decided to retire. Dick Ebersol also made an announcement of Madden’s retirement, but it’s unclear at this point whether or not this is effective immediately or if John will be in the broadcast booth through the 2009 season.
Details to follow as they’re released.
We’ve all laughed at the MadTV skits, the Frank Caliendo’s impersonations and the overall hilarity that comes with listening to a Madden broadcast. And if you’ve watched football long enough, there’s no doubt you’ve said to yourself many times throughout the course of a season, “What the hell is Madden talking about?”
But one thing is sure: John Madden has always known football. He might go off on long tangents about what people are eating in the stands or wear out his commenting pen trying to describe a play. But if you get through all of that, he knows the game and even in these latter years where you think he’s off his rocker, he was still always through out a great nugget or two that made you say, “You know what? Madden is right.”
Whether you like him or not, John Madden is an icon and a broadcast legend. Personally, I hope Madden gives us one more year in the booth before hanging it up.
The NFL released the 2009 NFL Schedule today, so I’ll do what the 4,000 other websites do and list some of the more juicier matchups of the year. (Although in the sake of being at least a little creative, I’ll list one interesting matchup for each of the 17 weeks on the schedule.)
Before we get to the matchups though, let me state for the record that it’s a complete farce that the Cowboys get six nationally televised games next year despite not making the playoffs last season. I guess “America’s Team” opening a brand new stadium is worth major national exposure…six times a year.
Week 1: Bears at Packers, 8:20PM ET
Jay Cutler’s first game in a Bears uniform will be at Lambeau against the rival Packers on Sunday Night Football. How much will John Madden overplay the, “The Bears finally have a quarterback” angle after every pass Cutler completes?
Week 2: Giants at Cowboys, 8:20PM ET
One of the ‘Boys six nationally televised games, Dallas will open up their new stadium against division rival New York on Sunday Night Football. How much will John Madden overplay the, “Tony Romo and Wade Phillips must win now because Jerry Jones built this brand new stadium and he wants a contender” angle?
Week 3: Falcons at Patriots, 1:00PM ET
The over/under on the number of times Matt Ryan is compared to Tom Brady in this game has officially been set at 800,994,990.
Week 4: Chargers at Steelers, 8:20PM ET
AFC Divisional Round rematch in Pittsburgh – let’s see if the Chargers can hold onto the ball for more than 17 seconds in the third quarter unlike the last time these two teams met.
Week 5: Patriots at Broncos, 4:15PM ET
If Bill Belichick shakes Josh McDaniels’ hand at midfield after this game, I’m calling shenanigans on the behalf of Eric Mangini.
Week 6: Bears at Falcons, 8:20PM ET
Here’s hoping the Bears’ secondary figured out that they have to cover the out pattern when that’s the only route Matt Ryan can look for when there’s 11 seconds on the clock and he needs to get his team into field goal range.
- THE LOVE OF SPORTS specializes in lists, and they released a list of their Top Nintendo Sports Games in late December. Why am I just reading about this now? I used to play the hell out of Double Dribble (right).
- AWFUL ANNOUNCING confirms that Chris Collinsworth is in line for John Madden’s job as NBC’s top color commentator.
- Alana G., friend of TSR from YARDBARKER, had a sit down with Matt Cassel. YB has the video.
- DEADSPIN explains how the story of Kurt and Brenda Warner is even sadder and more inspiring than the error-filled email you’ve probably seen in your inbox lately.
We at TSR love the many faces of Frank Caliendo, especially when he’s doing his spot on impression of John Madden.
TBS.com is giving everyone a chance to win $5,000 in their “Let’s Be Frank Contest.” Basically all you have to do is an impression of one of Frank’s many characters. There’s no purchase necessary and it’s easy to sign up and submit your video.
Seriously, you know you’ve been practicing your George Costanza and William Shatner in front of the mirror. Might as well try to win $5,000 while you’re at it.
John Madden has worked 476 NFL games in a row. But that streak will end this Sunday after he decided that taking another cross-country trip by bus was too much and won’t call the Seahawks-Bucs game in Tampa.
The 72-year-old Sunday Night Football analyst, who travels by bus because of a fear of flying, will take a break to spend time with his family instead of making three straight cross country trips, NBC said Monday.
Madden went from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Diego last week; he would have had to return to Florida for this Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay. There’s no Sunday Night Football game the following weekend, so Madden would have then headed home to the Bay Area.
Cris Collinsworth, normally a part of NBC’s studio show, will fill in for Madden.
Does any one believe John Madden when he claims he doesn’t hate Frank Caliendo’s hilarious impression of him? Here’s his response to a question on Caliendo in a recent interview in Time:
What do you think of Frank Caliendo’s Madden impression? —Alan Tucker, Charlotte, N.C.
It’s always said that I don’t like him. I’ve never said that. The guy’s making a living. That’s his job, and he’s a good little comedian.
You gotta love that one – “Good little comedian!”
Here’s a clip of Frank Caliendo doing his John Madden impression on The Late Show with David Letterman:
