Super Bowl XLVII Provides Bizarre Moments; CBS Tries to Step Up; Phil Simms Missing

[TMC]

http://networkedblogs.com/HTTcj

by Ken, under CBS Sports, Greg Gumbel, James Brown, Jim Nantz, NFL,
Super Bowl

On Sunday, the Super Bowl was played in New Orleans for the tenth
time, tying with Miami as the most times a city has hosted the Big
Game. And in a city that is known for voodoo and the macabre, the
tenth time in the Crescent City turned out to the most bizarre of any
Super Bowl. Having to deal with a 35 minute blackout that was caused
by a power surge, CBS had to scramble to cover the incident without
its main voices, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as electricity to the
broadcast booth was cut.

For a network that normally doesn’t utilize sideline reporters, CBS
had to rely on Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots to carry the broadcast
until the studio crew of James Brown, Bill Cowher, Dan Marino and
Shannon Sharpe was ready to fill. Up until the power outage, CBS was
having a decent broadcast.

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.

On a fake field goal attempt by the Baltimore Ravens, Simms did not
give an opinion on whether the failure would hurt the team at the end
of the game nor if he felt it was warranted.

Also, Simms did not offer an opinion on a controversial non-call
whether a 4th and goal attempt by the San Francisco 49ers at the end
of the game was a penalty until three or four replays were aired.

Normally, an analyst who is on top of trends and a very good first
guesser, Simms was behind on plays and seemed to be aloof. I hope this
is a one-time thing for Simms. I normally like him, but I was
wondering what happened to him on Super Bowl XLVII.

Back to the power outage, CBS had to fill 35 minutes. Highlights were
used a couple of times, however, viewers were subjected to Cowher,
Marino and Sharpe talking over each other. Boomer Esiason, normally a
part of the CBS studio crew, was on the Dial Global Radio broadcast
and thus, was not part of this portion of the telecast. And during
this segment, we got our one and only glimpse of Tracy Wolfson during
the game as she reported on the power outage. Why wasn’t she utilized
more?

In addition, a big fail to the NFL for not providing a spokesman to
CBS to provide comments and updates as to when the game would resume.
Producers in the truck fed information to James Brown and he informed
viewers on the resumption of the Super Bowl.

CBS set a standard for sports opens with a fantastic production
utilizing past Super Bowl MVP’s such as Joe Namath and Lynn Swann, set
to a remixed “We Will Rock You” and NFL on CBS theme.

When the game resumed, CBS’ production which was at a B grade
continued at that level.

For the Super Bowl Today pregame, CBS provided the usual client
strokes to Ritz Crackers in a painful segment featuring butcher Rachel
Ray and to Pizza Hut. The show did offer a frank discussion on
concussions following a feature on player safety. Also Esiason offered
strong opinions in the last 35 minutes of the four hour pregame on Ray
Lewis doubting his denials in a 2000 double stabbing in Atlanta.

Its best features were on the Ravens’ OJ Brigance who has ALS and on
49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis. Another strong feature was on
Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch pointed out that CBS did not rely
on silly celebrity red carpet interviews that had plagued Fox’s and
NBC’s pregames over the last two years. Let us hope that Fox won’t
bring them back in 2014 when Super Bowl XLVIII is played in New
Jersey.

Greg Gumbel was a welcome addition to the Super Bowl Today hosting one
panel at CBS’ Super Bowl headquarters in New Orleans with James Brown
at the Superdome. Guest analysts Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona
Cardinals, Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers and Russell Wilson
of the Seattle Seahawks all showed promise if they choose to go to
television after their playing careers are over.

CBS receives a B minus for the pregame.

For the postgame, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh refused
to an interview, the second consecutive game in which he refused to
speak to the networks. The NFL’s TV partners pay a lot of money for
access and I’m sure he’ll be “advised” by the league to do his part
should he be in the same position next season. Shannon Sharpe who
criticized Bill Belichick after the AFC Championship for not providing
an interview to CBS, did not have time on the main network to do the
same to Harbaugh and I’m not sure if he criticized him on the extended
postgame on CBS Sports Network.

So it’s another NFL season in the books. We do know that NBC will
cover the 2013 season opener in Baltimore in September. We’ll be ready
to cover the TV networks then.

[Ian J. Ball]

Where was Boomer Esiason?...

--
"Surf-crazed aliens... Of course." - Amber, "Alien Surf Girls",
Episode #1.1, "Wipeout".
Wait a minute... "Of course"?! "*Of course*"?!! Did I miss a step here??!!

[Remysun]

On Feb 4, 2:14 am, TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com> wrote:

> For the Super Bowl Today pregame, CBS provided the usual client
> strokes to Ritz Crackers in a painful segment featuring butcher Rachel
> Ray and to Pizza Hut.

What does that mean? Is Rachel Ray cutting meat or looking more
lesbian than usual?

[skep...@aol.com]

The Butchery was done by the refs, the league has lost major
reputation on the biased referring which will be talked about for a
long time. Also the Empire lost reputation because during their Roman
spectacle the infurstructure is so poor the USA can't even keep the
lights going.