1. When several high-profile NFL broadcasters landed monster contracts last season (following Tony Romo getting an additional monster contract in 2020), a debate arose about the importance and value of game announcers.
CBS’s Greg Gumbel made headlines in March when he appeared with me on the SI Media Podcast and said, “What excites my thought process is that in all my life I’ve never felt like there’s an announcer who can bring someone to TV to watch a game that viewer hadn’t seen before.” And I believe the only thing a broadcaster can do is drive people away.”
Gumbel later added: “People have said to me, ‘Oh, Al [Michaels] and Cris [Collinsworth] did great on Sunday night.’ Yes, they always do a great job. However, they are playing the best game of the week.”
Well, Al, who worked with Kirk Herbstreit, certainly didn’t have the best game of the week on Thursday night when the Colts and Broncos couldn’t find the end zone and gave us a 12-9 snoozefest. And Al beamed.
Part of why All can do these things in these situations is because he’s Al Michaels. He’s always been there, Amazon desperately wanted him in hopes of giving their broadcast credibility, and Al has reached the point in his career where he doesn’t care.
It was still a little surreal and absolutely awesome when Al, frustrated with the lack of action late in the second quarter, dropped this great line.
Quick sidebar here. We have to give a big kudos to Andrew Catalon of CBS, who has often called the fifth regional contest on CBS for recognizing Al’s line.
Though it didn’t stop there either. He held the reins throughout the match.
NFL broadcasts are not the place to go for honest ratings. That’s what made Al’s performance so great. He wasn’t about to tell viewers that this was a tough, defensive football battle. There was no action at all and Michaels embraced that reality.
That’s why I stayed with the game. If I hadn’t felt that Al would have fun with the grossness of the game and thought he would play it fairly, I would have put the game on my iPad without sound and watched something else on my TV.
But the commentary became so entertaining that I couldn’t turn away.
Micheals made every cent of his lucrative Amazon contract Thursday night.
And he’ll have earned it again next week when the Commanders take on the Bears and we’re treated to a match between Carson Wentz and Justin Fields.
2. One last thing about Al Michaels (I had to go to a separate item for this, because it’s that good). Because Al on the… SI Media Podcast several times, including last month…
… I have Al’s phone number. I never texted Michaels during a match. But last night I couldn’t help it because the game was so terrible. So at halftime I shot this quick message to Michaels: “The only thing that can make the second half watchable if you drop a farcical.”
If you follow me on Twitter or if you’re a regular Traina Thoughts reader, you’ll know that I think the Howard Stern/OJ Simpson/Al Michaels/Peter Jennings joke is the greatest moment in live TV history.
Michaels didn’t respond to my text during the match, but this happened.
3. Al Michaels wasn’t the only one having fun at the expense of the Colts and Broncos. Twitter was on fire, mocking the ineptitude of each team and the pain we suffered as viewers.
4. Good morning football‘s Kyle Brandt went all in for Russell Wilson on Friday’s show.
Speaking of Kyle, I was a guest on his new show on Thursday, Kyle Brandt’s Basement and had a great time chopping it up with him.
5. For the first time ever, Twitter is offering live look-ins for post-season games. bills including @MLB, @BleacherReport, @BRWalkoff, @ESPN and @MLBonFOX will provide livestream cut-ins during all four rounds.
6. Of this week SI Media Podcast includes an excellent conversation with martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani.
The longtime MMA reporter, who also covers professional wrestling and boxing, explained how he built a successful career in sports media after leaving ESPN, the challenges he faced while working at Fox and ESPN, why he left ESPN, his tumultuous relationship with Dana White, the art of interviewing WWE superstars, what he tries to get out of interviews and much more.
Following Helwani’s lead, Sal Licata of New York’s WFAN radio and SNY TV joins me for the “Traina Thoughts” weekly segment. This week Sal talks about going viral after stating that the Mets packed the NL East in June, I reveal my favorite story from the day and we give our weekly NFL best bet.
You can listen to or download the podcast below on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on Youtube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jim and Pam Halpert will celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary on Saturday, October 8. It doesn’t matter where you stand as a couple, every Office fan would have to agree that this was one of the best scenes from the wedding episode.
Make sure you catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
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