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Super Bowl XLVII on CBS: The Good, Bad & Ugly
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TMC
Feb 4, 2013, 6:54:34 PM2/4/13
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http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/super-bowl-xlvii-on-cbs-the-good-bad-ugly.html
Written by Brad Gagnon on Monday, 04 February 2013 11:14.
Good, bad, and ugly posts tend to naturally force writers to give the
negative more coverage than the positive. Had NBC broadcast Super Bowl
XLVII, that might have made things tough on me. But with CBS in charge
and a 34-minute power outage in the mix, it was easy to find enough
problems to fill the "bad" and "ugly" columns. This was not a smooth
broadcast, but I did notice some non-terrible things, too, and I'll
kick off the recap with those.
The Good
* The introduction featuring Joe Namath, Don Shula, Marcus Allen and
other Super Bowl legends was pretty sick. I liked the CBS intro with
Jay-Z and Rihanna three years ago, and they stuck with a classical
remix this time, using Queen's "We Will Rock You." It was tasteful,
well-produced and not too cheesy.
* I focused mainly on the game, but Boomer Esiason went in on Ray
Lewis late in the pre-game and it was the best thing that came out of
a CBS broadcaster's mouth the entire day or night. It's too bad Boomer
had to jump over to the radio side and we never heard from him the
rest of the night on CBS. Boomer's final comment on the CBS airwaves
Sunday night: "This is not Ray Lewis' personal Super Bowl." Nice.
* I don't want to rip on CBS too hard for the way in which the talent
handled the long stoppage from a power outage, and so in the "good"
category I want to give credit to Steve Tasker, who was aggressively
trying to get information to viewers. Tasker had to essentially host
the coverage when Jim Nantz and Phil Simms lost power, and he did a
very good job without any time to prepare.
* Some might consider this to be bad or even ugly, but I was happy to
see CBS avoid discussing Lewis' history for the majority of the game.
Nantz delicately addressed the double murder early in the fourth
quarter. I don't think it deserved more than that single mention
because Lewis wasn't a big factor in the game, but I do think casual
viewers needed to hear it and I think it would have been better off
coming earlier in the game. Still, I'm happy that Nantz and Simms
generally didn't bother with such a tired storyline.
* CBS captured a very real moment between Joe Flacco and Marshal Yanda
right after the game, and that moment included two four-letter words,
including an f-bomb from Flacco. I'm not offended by such words and
the majority of viewers are probably in the same boat, so it's good.
It was an authentic moment.
* Nantz was pretty damn quick to suggest the Ravens take a safety on
that final play from scrimmage, and he was bang-on. (Too bad Simms
didn't agree with him.)
* The highlight of my night was Nantz' refusal to surrender the mic to
Lewis during their post-game interview. He held on for dear life and a
country is grateful.
* It wasn't the best game for Nantz, but I also think he deserves
credit for a solid call on Jacoby Jones' kick return touchdown to
start the third quarter. His stats guy was on the ball, too, because
Nantz was able to tell us that the return was the longest in NFL
history only five seconds after Jones reached the end zone. Combine
that with good analysis from Simms and it was the best play of the
night for CBS. It was also probably the difference in this game.
The Bad
* I'm guessing that CBS also avoided overkill on the Harbaugh brothers
in an attempt to save us from an overplayed storyline, but I think
they might have actually undersold one of the most incredible
storylines in NFL history. I'm sure many of you will disagree, but
let's remember that these guys have to cater to a very casual audience
and brothers were coaching against each other in the freakin' Super
Bowl. I would have liked to see a little more on the Harbaugh family
history.
* “If Colin Kaepernick could not run the football, he would still be a
top-five NFL quarterback.” Relax, Phil.
* Oh yeah, and Simms also inexplicably suggested that the 49ers remain
conservative while trailing by 18 points in the second quarter. Say
what?
* Haters finally rejoiced when they thought they had the moment they'd
always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
Without voices, CBS cut to some shots of the roof, which showed half
of the lights on and half out, before going to break unannounced. That
was well played. Unfortunately, though, the analysts weren't ready to
further break down a game they had just been breaking down at
halftime. Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher were fine while discussing
the Jones kick return, but beyond that they were just grasping at
straws. Sharpe used the delay to try out some sort of comedy act and
it flopped miserably. I think he used the same "the power surge is the
Ravens" joke seven times.
* Bill Cowher at halftime: The 49ers have "no need to panic right now"
and shouldn't deviate from what they've been doing. Bill Cowher during
the power outage, which took place less than two minutes into the
second half: "There's gotta be a sense of urgency and Alex Smith "may
be able to be more efficient" than Colin Kaepernick. This is what
happens when you've got nothing left to say and have time to fill. And
of course, Kaepernick nearly led the Niners on an amazing comeback.
The Ugly
* The Ravens ran a fake field goal up 11 with three minutes to play in
the first half and all we got was one full replay before the
commercial break. Simms didn't say a single word about one of the most
important plays of the game until after the break and the Niners' next
play from scrimmage. And even then, we only got one more look.
Considering the shock of seeing a fake field goal in the Super Bowl
and the debatable call, it needed more discussion.
* After what was essentially the Super Bowl-clinching play for the
Ravens defense in the final minutes, Simms was a disaster. It looked
like a fairly obvious holding or pass interference penalty on
Baltimore's Jimmy Smith. Simms suggested at first that it was a "good
no-call," citing the fact that it was "late in the game." But then
Simms began to backtrack. After more looks, he admitted that “the more
angles I see the more confused I get," but still said "it's hard to
throw a penalty in that situation."
* Simms was the target of much criticism after the game, receiving a
shellacking from media writers around the country for his
performance...
Richard Sandomir, New York Times: "Once the game resumed, Simms did
not seem to draw inspiration from Beyoncé or studying highlights in
the dark. He offered a trite truism about the 49ers, who were trailing
badly: “When you’re down, you have to make great catches.” Simms then
added this tortured analysis: “One thing I’ve taken out of this game,
and really all through the playoffs, is if you watch it, the number of
big plays in the games are because the quarterbacks are throwing the
football.” (Yes, yes!) Arm strength, he emphasized, is important.
Tom Hoffarth, LA Daily News: "Simms was in the middle of explaining
how San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick couldn't avoid a sack by
Baltimore's Arthur Jones: "He is going to throw this down the middle
to Vernon Davis. Watch. But look at the safety, he antic ..." And
then, nothing. Kind of like a World Series in San Francisco. That made
almost as much sense as anything when Simms, who has called six
previous Super Bowls for NBC and CBS coming into Sunday, seemed to
have his own knowledge outage during what will be remembered as the
Blackout Bowl."
Ed Sherman, Sherman Report: "I’m not sure why, but Phil Simms really
was off his game Sunday. Following John Harbaugh’s decision to go with
a fake field goal, Simms came back from commercial and said he wasn’t
going to second-guess the coach? Huh? Isn’t that what an analyst does?
The call was begging for more analysis, agree or disagree. You can’t
be a network analyst in the Super Bowl, and shy away from weighing in
on such a controversial decision. Big blow to Simms’ credibility, as
evidenced by the reaction on Twitter."
Ken Fang, Fang's Bites: "Replays were sharp. The production was going
well. Jim Nantz was Jim Nantz, calling a good game. However, Phil
Simms was missing and perhaps CBS needed to issue an Amber Alert for
him as he did not have his best broadcast. Simms did not step up for a
big game, a rarity for him. Normally in the upper echelon of NFL
analysts, Simms had a pedestrian performance. Several times Nantz
tried to set up him, but instead, we received silence from Simms. I’m
non sure what was going on in the booth."
Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated: "People will be talking about the
broadcast on Monday (and beyond) and not for the right reasons. This
crew has had much better games, and I say that knowing it faced
challenges no other Super Bowl broadcaster ever has dealt with. The
biggest problem on Sunday was Simms. He did not have a strong game,
from his inability to let plays breathe (tweeted media critic and NBA
All-Star Kevin Durant: "Feel like I'm playin madden, Phil Simms talkin
to damn much.") to too often not providing clarity to the questions
posed at him by Nantz. It took Simms forever to answer when asked if
the momentum had changed during the delay, and on the final offensive
play for the Niners, when Kaepernick's pass to Michael Crabtree fell
incomplete after there was jostling between Crabtree and Ravens
defensive back Jimmy Smith, Simms offered viewers confusion."
* I know this isn't a CBS thing, but it was quite ridiculous that CTV
in Canada cut out of CBS' post-game celebration coverage in order to
air the pilot for some new, crappy-looking series. Canadians went nuts
on Twitter, because the simulcast was still trumping the local CBS
affiliates. In other words, the entire country missed a large part of
the celebration that followed the biggest sporting event of the year.
http://fangsbites.com/2013/02/the-post-super-bowl-xlvii-linkage/
Written by Brad Gagnon on Monday, 04 February 2013 11:14.
Good, bad, and ugly posts tend to naturally force writers to give the
negative more coverage than the positive. Had NBC broadcast Super Bowl
XLVII, that might have made things tough on me. But with CBS in charge
and a 34-minute power outage in the mix, it was easy to find enough
problems to fill the "bad" and "ugly" columns. This was not a smooth
broadcast, but I did notice some non-terrible things, too, and I'll
kick off the recap with those.
The Good
* The introduction featuring Joe Namath, Don Shula, Marcus Allen and
other Super Bowl legends was pretty sick. I liked the CBS intro with
Jay-Z and Rihanna three years ago, and they stuck with a classical
remix this time, using Queen's "We Will Rock You." It was tasteful,
well-produced and not too cheesy.
* I focused mainly on the game, but Boomer Esiason went in on Ray
Lewis late in the pre-game and it was the best thing that came out of
a CBS broadcaster's mouth the entire day or night. It's too bad Boomer
had to jump over to the radio side and we never heard from him the
rest of the night on CBS. Boomer's final comment on the CBS airwaves
Sunday night: "This is not Ray Lewis' personal Super Bowl." Nice.
* I don't want to rip on CBS too hard for the way in which the talent
handled the long stoppage from a power outage, and so in the "good"
category I want to give credit to Steve Tasker, who was aggressively
trying to get information to viewers. Tasker had to essentially host
the coverage when Jim Nantz and Phil Simms lost power, and he did a
very good job without any time to prepare.
* Some might consider this to be bad or even ugly, but I was happy to
see CBS avoid discussing Lewis' history for the majority of the game.
Nantz delicately addressed the double murder early in the fourth
quarter. I don't think it deserved more than that single mention
because Lewis wasn't a big factor in the game, but I do think casual
viewers needed to hear it and I think it would have been better off
coming earlier in the game. Still, I'm happy that Nantz and Simms
generally didn't bother with such a tired storyline.
* CBS captured a very real moment between Joe Flacco and Marshal Yanda
right after the game, and that moment included two four-letter words,
including an f-bomb from Flacco. I'm not offended by such words and
the majority of viewers are probably in the same boat, so it's good.
It was an authentic moment.
* Nantz was pretty damn quick to suggest the Ravens take a safety on
that final play from scrimmage, and he was bang-on. (Too bad Simms
didn't agree with him.)
* The highlight of my night was Nantz' refusal to surrender the mic to
Lewis during their post-game interview. He held on for dear life and a
country is grateful.
* It wasn't the best game for Nantz, but I also think he deserves
credit for a solid call on Jacoby Jones' kick return touchdown to
start the third quarter. His stats guy was on the ball, too, because
Nantz was able to tell us that the return was the longest in NFL
history only five seconds after Jones reached the end zone. Combine
that with good analysis from Simms and it was the best play of the
night for CBS. It was also probably the difference in this game.
The Bad
* I'm guessing that CBS also avoided overkill on the Harbaugh brothers
in an attempt to save us from an overplayed storyline, but I think
they might have actually undersold one of the most incredible
storylines in NFL history. I'm sure many of you will disagree, but
let's remember that these guys have to cater to a very casual audience
and brothers were coaching against each other in the freakin' Super
Bowl. I would have liked to see a little more on the Harbaugh family
history.
* “If Colin Kaepernick could not run the football, he would still be a
top-five NFL quarterback.” Relax, Phil.
* Oh yeah, and Simms also inexplicably suggested that the 49ers remain
conservative while trailing by 18 points in the second quarter. Say
what?
* Haters finally rejoiced when they thought they had the moment they'd
always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
Without voices, CBS cut to some shots of the roof, which showed half
of the lights on and half out, before going to break unannounced. That
was well played. Unfortunately, though, the analysts weren't ready to
further break down a game they had just been breaking down at
halftime. Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher were fine while discussing
the Jones kick return, but beyond that they were just grasping at
straws. Sharpe used the delay to try out some sort of comedy act and
it flopped miserably. I think he used the same "the power surge is the
Ravens" joke seven times.
* Bill Cowher at halftime: The 49ers have "no need to panic right now"
and shouldn't deviate from what they've been doing. Bill Cowher during
the power outage, which took place less than two minutes into the
second half: "There's gotta be a sense of urgency and Alex Smith "may
be able to be more efficient" than Colin Kaepernick. This is what
happens when you've got nothing left to say and have time to fill. And
of course, Kaepernick nearly led the Niners on an amazing comeback.
The Ugly
* The Ravens ran a fake field goal up 11 with three minutes to play in
the first half and all we got was one full replay before the
commercial break. Simms didn't say a single word about one of the most
important plays of the game until after the break and the Niners' next
play from scrimmage. And even then, we only got one more look.
Considering the shock of seeing a fake field goal in the Super Bowl
and the debatable call, it needed more discussion.
* After what was essentially the Super Bowl-clinching play for the
Ravens defense in the final minutes, Simms was a disaster. It looked
like a fairly obvious holding or pass interference penalty on
Baltimore's Jimmy Smith. Simms suggested at first that it was a "good
no-call," citing the fact that it was "late in the game." But then
Simms began to backtrack. After more looks, he admitted that “the more
angles I see the more confused I get," but still said "it's hard to
throw a penalty in that situation."
* Simms was the target of much criticism after the game, receiving a
shellacking from media writers around the country for his
performance...
Richard Sandomir, New York Times: "Once the game resumed, Simms did
not seem to draw inspiration from Beyoncé or studying highlights in
the dark. He offered a trite truism about the 49ers, who were trailing
badly: “When you’re down, you have to make great catches.” Simms then
added this tortured analysis: “One thing I’ve taken out of this game,
and really all through the playoffs, is if you watch it, the number of
big plays in the games are because the quarterbacks are throwing the
football.” (Yes, yes!) Arm strength, he emphasized, is important.
Tom Hoffarth, LA Daily News: "Simms was in the middle of explaining
how San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick couldn't avoid a sack by
Baltimore's Arthur Jones: "He is going to throw this down the middle
to Vernon Davis. Watch. But look at the safety, he antic ..." And
then, nothing. Kind of like a World Series in San Francisco. That made
almost as much sense as anything when Simms, who has called six
previous Super Bowls for NBC and CBS coming into Sunday, seemed to
have his own knowledge outage during what will be remembered as the
Blackout Bowl."
Ed Sherman, Sherman Report: "I’m not sure why, but Phil Simms really
was off his game Sunday. Following John Harbaugh’s decision to go with
a fake field goal, Simms came back from commercial and said he wasn’t
going to second-guess the coach? Huh? Isn’t that what an analyst does?
The call was begging for more analysis, agree or disagree. You can’t
be a network analyst in the Super Bowl, and shy away from weighing in
on such a controversial decision. Big blow to Simms’ credibility, as
evidenced by the reaction on Twitter."
Ken Fang, Fang's Bites: "Replays were sharp. The production was going
well. Jim Nantz was Jim Nantz, calling a good game. However, Phil
Simms was missing and perhaps CBS needed to issue an Amber Alert for
him as he did not have his best broadcast. Simms did not step up for a
big game, a rarity for him. Normally in the upper echelon of NFL
analysts, Simms had a pedestrian performance. Several times Nantz
tried to set up him, but instead, we received silence from Simms. I’m
non sure what was going on in the booth."
Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated: "People will be talking about the
broadcast on Monday (and beyond) and not for the right reasons. This
crew has had much better games, and I say that knowing it faced
challenges no other Super Bowl broadcaster ever has dealt with. The
biggest problem on Sunday was Simms. He did not have a strong game,
from his inability to let plays breathe (tweeted media critic and NBA
All-Star Kevin Durant: "Feel like I'm playin madden, Phil Simms talkin
to damn much.") to too often not providing clarity to the questions
posed at him by Nantz. It took Simms forever to answer when asked if
the momentum had changed during the delay, and on the final offensive
play for the Niners, when Kaepernick's pass to Michael Crabtree fell
incomplete after there was jostling between Crabtree and Ravens
defensive back Jimmy Smith, Simms offered viewers confusion."
* I know this isn't a CBS thing, but it was quite ridiculous that CTV
in Canada cut out of CBS' post-game celebration coverage in order to
air the pilot for some new, crappy-looking series. Canadians went nuts
on Twitter, because the simulcast was still trumping the local CBS
affiliates. In other words, the entire country missed a large part of
the celebration that followed the biggest sporting event of the year.
http://fangsbites.com/2013/02/the-post-super-bowl-xlvii-linkage/
Message has been deleted
skep...@aol.com
Feb 5, 2013, 10:56:36 AM2/5/13
to
On Feb 4, 10:46 pm, Yertle <yer...@sala.ma.sond> wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 15:54:34 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/super-bowl-xlvii-on-cbs-...
> droning to be the silver lining in the game interruption. It would be
> interesting to find out what Simms has on CBS execs to keep his color
> job. Nantz is OK, and he might be better than just OK without the
> burden of Phil Simms.
Good post TMC. It's interesting to hear what the over all view the
industry had on the broadcast.
> On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 15:54:34 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/super-bowl-xlvii-on-cbs-...
>
> >* Haters finally rejoiced when they thought they had the moment they'd
> >always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
> >play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
> >parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
>
> I'd guess a good portion of the country found the break from Simms
> >* Haters finally rejoiced when they thought they had the moment they'd
> >always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
> >play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
> >parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
>
> droning to be the silver lining in the game interruption. It would be
> interesting to find out what Simms has on CBS execs to keep his color
> job. Nantz is OK, and he might be better than just OK without the
> burden of Phil Simms.
Good post TMC. It's interesting to hear what the over all view the
industry had on the broadcast.
TMC
Feb 7, 2013, 8:57:21 PM2/7/13
to
On Feb 4, 10:46 pm, Yertle <yer...@sala.ma.sond> wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 15:54:34 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/super-bowl-xlvii-on-cbs-...
>
> On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 15:54:34 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/super-bowl-xlvii-on-cbs-...
>
> >* Haters finally rejoiced when they thought they had the moment they'd
> >always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
> >play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
> >parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
>
> >always been asking for when Simms was cut off while breaking down a
> >play early in the third quarter, but instead the power had gone out in
> >parts of the Superdome, causing an unprecedented 34-minute delay.
>
> I'd guess a good portion of the country found the break from Simms
> droning to be the silver lining in the game interruption. It would be
> interesting to find out what Simms has on CBS execs to keep his color
> job. Nantz is OK, and he might be better than just OK without the
> burden of Phil Simms.
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/february/looking-at-the-top-candidates-to-replace-phil-simms-at-super-bowl-50.html
> droning to be the silver lining in the game interruption. It would be
> interesting to find out what Simms has on CBS execs to keep his color
> job. Nantz is OK, and he might be better than just OK without the
> burden of Phil Simms.
Color commentators have it tough. Even the best of them are still torn
to shreds by sofa-dwelling critics who think they could do a better
job breaking down games on the fly. This website has about 10 of them.
But top CBS analyst Phil Simms has taken such a public beating of late
that you have to wonder what the future holds for him.
The fact that Simms has lasted as long as he has in this job -- he's
been a lead analyst since he joined NBC in 1995, one year after
retiring from the NFL -- indicates the networks love him despite the
fact he's become a caricature of everything that people hate about the
current sports broadcasting landscape. Simms' form has dropped in the
last few years and that was played out on the game's biggest stage.
https://twitter.com/philsimmsquotes
Sports broadcasting is notoriously slow to change and it'd be a shock
if CBS did not let Simms work his seventh Super Bowl when the network
televises Super Bowl L from either San Francisco or Miami on Feb. 7,
2016. But if things change between now and then, here are potential
candidates who could analyze the 50th Super Bowl...
I don't think CBS would bench Simms for Dan Dierdorf or Dan Fouts
because both have been doing this for a long time and neither is
considered to be a rising star. Rich Gannon is too green and dry and I
can't see Steve Tasker, Solomon Wilcots or Steve Beuerlein being
promoted that quickly or into a role with that much prominence.
If CBS moves current talent into the role, look for Boomer Esiason to
be the man. Boomer has served as the primary radio analyst for the
last 13 Super Bowls on Westwood One and Dial Global. He's also worked
five games as a studio analyst and called Super Bowl XXXIV with Al
Michaels on ABC. He's edgy and experienced but also not a dinosaur,
and I can't figure out why CBS hasn't been using him as a more
prominent member of their television arsenal in recent years.
Outside of the network, three names that stand out are NFL Network's
Mike Mayock as well Brian Billick and Daryl Johnston of Fox. Mayock
probably gets better reviews than any other analyst doing live NFL
games today. If a Super Bowl job opened up at CBS would he think about
leaving his Thursday night and Notre Dame NBC duties? One would think
he certainly would consider it. Mayock is widely regarded as one of
the best game analysts in the sport and can capably fill a top slot.
Billick is considered to be an up-and-coming star (in spite of his
troubles in Atlanta) after he and Thom Brennaman were promoted to do a
playoff game this January. It's extremely rare to see analysts jump
networks and doubtful that CBS poaches Billick from Fox, but Moose
could be a candidate to jump ship.
Could a current player do what Simms did and step into a top broadcast
booth soon after retirement? If there's one player who has the name
recognition, network favorability, and potential as an analyst to call
a Super Bowl in three years it would be Peyton Manning. Manning would
be perfect for CBS since he's played in the AFC his entire career and
fits the prototype for what a network looks for in a top analyst,
specifically a famous former quarterback. He's already shown a knack
for television on many platforms and could even slide into a three man
booth with Nantz and Simms to break him in to the business.
My money's on Simms joining Jim Nantz again in three years' time, but
I'd much rather see any of these individuals working the big game,
with Esiason and Mayock leading the wish list.
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