OT: Al Michaels done at NBC? Not part of their playoff coverage

[aluminum seats]

He was great, and I don't think he's terrible now but he sounds like what he is, which is an 80-year-old man who doesn't get that excited about football games anymore

Definitely one of the great ones, but also time to hang it up

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Michaels and Collingsworth **** all over Brady over the 'deflated footballs' on their show. I hate his freakin' guts and think the both of them are nothing but a huge POS.

 

[TheRainMaker]

It's probably for what he did against the Chargers vs Jags Wildcard game. He's been taking heat for many years and the nail in the coffin was him talking about something random during the Jags comeback winning kick. He seemed very disinterested.

 

[IcyPatriot]

 

[holyredeemer]

Michaels has been terrible. I’ve always been impressed with the complaining that has popped up over the years here. Never understood it. I’ve never disliked a guy enough to mute the t’v. or take some other measures some here have taken. However, either I’m getting old or he’s getting ****tier at his job. His performance during the TNF game last week was piss poor. Incredibly disinterested. It pissed me off thinking about the paycheck that bum was collecting to know less about the game than I do. See ya Al. Thanks for everything. Now don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

 

[maust]

Michaels may or may not be past it. If he isn't that would be even worse from where I sit, cause the alternative is he's mailing it in and straight up dgaf. I remember when Summerall lost his A game and Madden was propping him up, it was sad but we all understood that was Pat Damn Summerall we were hearing and we showed some respect. Not to mention, we all gave a huge tip of the cap to Madden for being the standup guy he was and carrying his friend to the finish line. Hell, in a way I felt honored to witness it. As if any of us needed another reason to love Madden. As I think back to how most of us felt about that it makes me almost hope it's Father Time with Michaels 'cause if he is just mailing it in to keep collecting the big bucks that's some low rent **** and I'm sorry for every good thing I ever said about him.

 

[borg]

He's bored
We're bored
After a half century, what'd you expect.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Has Al Michaels lost a few miles off his fastball? Absolutely. But he's a legend and he's been around seemingly forever.

 

[lancerman]

Has Al Michaels lost a few miles off his fastball? Absolutely. But he's a legend and he's been around seemingly forever.

Like everything in life "all good things end"

 

[Joey007]

So is the fact he won’t call an NBC game an assumption as well that his Amazon days are done after this season as well?

 

[XLIX]

So is the fact he won’t call an NBC game an assumption as well that his Amazon days are done after this season as well?

I don't see how those 2 things connect....

 

[jmt57]

Regardless of whether it is an announcer or analyst, in-game broadcaster or studio person, in my opinion networks tend to stick with the old familiar voice far too long.

For announcers, compare the younger versions of Howard Cosell, Brent Musberger, Pat O'Brien or Al Michaels to their last several years of broadcasting. It is an even more pronounced decline for anlaysts. John Madden is one from the past that comes to mind, but there are many current ones as well. Troy Aikman has become inconsistent and seems prone to occasionally doing almost zero preparation. Terry Bradshaw is a complete joke. Michael Irvin says lots of words without saying anything at all.

For those that are former players or coaches (as opposed to the professionally trained broadcasters), there seems to be a steady decline that correlates to how long it has been since they were part of a football team. When a person is just recently removed from the game, their insight is at its peak. Tony Romo is a great example; another was John Lynch in his brief television career. The longer they have been away, the less relevant their opinions become. Bradshaw is the poster child for that phenomenon, but to a lesser extent I would suggest the same is true for Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson.

 

[XLIX]

Michael Irvin says lots of words without saying anything at all.

You just summed up the entire sports talk industry there.

 

[Pape]

Regardless of whether it is an announcer or analyst, in-game broadcaster or studio person, in my opinion networks tend to stick with the old familiar voice far too long.

For announcers, compare the younger versions of Howard Cosell, Brent Musberger, Pat O'Brien or Al Michaels to their last several years of broadcasting. It is an even more pronounced decline for anlaysts. John Madden is one from the past that comes to mind, but there are many current ones as well. Troy Aikman has become inconsistent and seems prone to occasionally doing almost zero preparation. Terry Bradshaw is a complete joke. Michael Irvin says lots of words without saying anything at all.

For those that are former players or coaches (as opposed to the professionally trained broadcasters), there seems to be a steady decline that correlates to how long it has been since they were part of a football team. When a person is just recently removed from the game, their insight is at its peak. Tony Romo is a great example; another was John Lynch in his brief television career. The longer they have been away, the less relevant their opinions become. Bradshaw is the poster child for that phenomenon, but to a lesser extent I would suggest the same is true for Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson.

Hi jmt, good to see you back. Have missed your posts.

 

[bresna]

The guy is 79. Most 79 year old guys are able to kick back a bit. Maybe this is his decision, not theirs?

Mike Gorman is 76 and he's retiring after this Celtics season & he's stopped doing road games. It's gotta be tough doing that at their age.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

I still like him. When he's into it, you can tell. When he's not, you can tell, too.

He barely tolerates Herbstreit. Has no time for non-football parts of the job. His disdain for reading those promos for other shows cracks me up.

Last year, during a particularly bad run of low-scoring games, Herbstreit said something about the team getting a touchdown and Michaels deadpans, "Heaven forbid." Hilarious

 

[1960Pats]

Michaels and Collingsworth **** all over Brady over the 'deflated footballs' on their show. I hate his freakin' guts and think the both of them are nothing but a huge POS.

Michaels was good but age has caught up to him. I didn't know that he was up to that kind of sh!t though. So yeah, **** him.

CC is a loudmouth who managed to talk over some of the greatest plays in the history of the game.
And we can throw Jim Nants the tie guy in there too. What an obnoxious blowhard he is.

 

[amfootball]

"Seattle's bleeding the clock right down ... half a minute left, second and goal, Baldwin sets up on the left, clock is at 5 ... pass is ...intercepted at the goalline by Malcolm Butler! Unreal!"

My favorite Al call all time.

 

[Steve102]

Michael Irvin says lots of words without saying anything at all.

So he's unchanged since his playing days?

 

[Steve102]

"Seattle's bleeding the clock right down ... half a minute left, second and goal, Baldwin sets up on the left, clock is at 5 ... pass is ...intercepted at the goalline by Malcolm Butler! Unreal!"

My favorite Al call all time.

*The 1980 Olympic hockey team has entered the chat*