Painful announcing...

[DarrylS]

was not sure what to expect from the NFL network, but the combination of Shannon Sharpe and whoever was painful. During the first half I thought I was watching the 3-13 Patriots and the 3 time world champs Arizona Cardinals. Both of them kept yakking about Leinart, and how smart he was, unfreiking unbelievable how they minimized the Pats until about late in the 3rd quarter. They threw around terms that made no sense to an above average viewer, and for the most part minimized the Pats and their organization.

I did not know what to expect, but they sucked, fortunately I got home late and got to TIVO the whole thing and did not have to listen to all the crap from Marriucci and the rest of their crew.

 

[dalero]

was not sure what to expect from the NFL network, but the combination of Shannon Sharpe and whoever was painful. During the first half I thought I was watching the 3-13 Patriots and the 3 time world champs Arizona Cardinals. Both of them kept yakking about Leinart, and how smart he was, unfreiking unbelievable how they minimized the Pats until about late in the 3rd quarter. They threw around terms that made no sense to an above average viewer, and for the most part minimized the Pats and their organization.

I did not know what to expect, but they sucked, fortunately I got home late and got to TIVO the whole thing and did not have to listen to all the crap from Marriucci and the rest of their crew.

Actually it was Sterling Sharpe. He speaks a little better English than Shannon but still horrible none the less. I know a football game is 2/3 commercials, but the same four over and over again was tedious. Is that all the sponsors they have?

 

[pepper03]

I couldn't even watch the game.

I have extended basic cable from Cox here in RI and I don't get the NFL Network, and I have no intention of paying one cent more to Cox. Does this mean what exactly-no more preseason games, missing regular season games?

Help-I knew some regular season games light Thanksgiving night were exlusively NFL Network but didn't think they's not show home town games on regular cable.

 

[Sporin]

I didn't think Spiro Whatsizname was too bad, a bit inexperienced for sure but not awful. Sterling was fine except that he was clearly WAY to proud of his "Brady's favorite reciever is the open recieve" line because he used it over and over and over.

I have low expectations for annoucers anyway. If I had decent radio signal in my house I'd just mute the TV and listen to Gino & the other Radio guys. :rocker:

As for the Card getting a lot of props, that is really because of Leinhart and E. James. Those are big new players and they will naturally get a lot of chatter about them from the booth guys.

The Pat's, as always, have made great moves, but they are quieter. In all the hype about Reggie Bush, I'm perfectly happy to watch Lawrence Marohney SHREAD opposing D-lines. That kid is EXCITING and talented and it give me great hope for the future.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Oh my, did those two ever hit a new low for announcers of a NFL game. It was gruesome. Spiro, the play by play guy, was constantly missing the action, misidentifying players, or just not even bothering to say who was making a tackle, etc. And Sharpe just couldn't keep his mouth shut, every comment had to be ended with a pithy aphorism, including this gem on Troy Brown after he made a fairly routine catch - "That's not something you can teach, that is learned." I'm not kidding.

And in a very convoluted effort to explain an apparent change in AZ defensive tactics, Sharpe said (twice, just in case we didn't get it the first time), "The Cardinals are trying desperately not to rush the quarterback."

 

[drew4008]

I can handle anything now after the ESPN Sunday Night Crew the last few years. That was much better than that, and was better than Madden too. Doesn't come close to Buck/Aikman, Boomer, Simms, etc. though.

 

[dryheat44]

Huh. I thought that despite his use of the word "decisiveness" 498 times, Sharpe was excellent. He actually made many relevant points. Spero was a JAG, which was fine, but I thought Sharpe gave one of the best ex-Jock performances I've heard in a long time, and he should improve.

 

[PatsFan37]

Was it HD anywhere?

I apologize if this has been asked elsewhere and also to those folks who couldn't watch the game at all ...

the game for me was on channel 5 (aka 705) and was not in HD. I don't get, that is, haven't paid for NFL Network. Was it in HD on NFL Network?

 

[DarrylS]

Not sure if NFL network has HD capabilities, but here in RI on Cox cable it was not.

 

[Bad Company]

I couldn't believe that Sharpe said Koppen started at center and mention him on blocks a couple of times when he wasn't on the field. Did anyone see Koppen play?

 

[pepper03]

Re: Was it HD anywhere?

I apologize if this has been asked elsewhere and also to those folks who couldn't watch the game at all ...

the game for me was on channel 5 (aka 705) and was not in HD. I don't get, that is, haven't paid for NFL Network. Was it in HD on NFL Network?

Was the game on Boston's channel 5 over the air?

As I posted earlier I don't get the NFL Network because RI Cox cable doesn't carry it (I dont have digital cable).

 

[Jacky Roberts]

Even though Sterling is better than his brother Mushmouth, how these guys are announcing national games is an enigma.

 

[prov pat]

I could not believe how many times Sharp said the word "outstanding" - every play seemed to bring out this overused adjective. After about the 500th time he refered to some play or player as "outstanding" I had to turn the sound off - too damn annoying!

And the "Brady/Cassel favorite receiver is the open receiver" comment from him was almost as bad - in my opinon, he had nothing to say and no great understanding of the team so he just babbled incessantly spewing the same things over and over to fill the space.

 

[pats1]

Spero Dedes, the Lakers' radio announcer, was the play-by-play.

 

[JackBauer]

I couldn't believe that Sharpe said Koppen started at center and mention him on blocks a couple of times when he wasn't on the field. Did anyone see Koppen play?

No. Koppen didn't play.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I can handle anything now after the ESPN Sunday Night Crew the last few years. That was much better than that, and was better than Madden too. Doesn't come close to Buck/Aikman, Boomer, Simms, etc. though.

I too thought the announcers were much better than I have seen and heard elsewhere.

As for Pats fans irked by the boosting of the Cardinals, please remember that this was a Cardinals away game, and they had to cover it that way. Boston could have local TV coverage and announcers NFL network was the "away announcers" group.

 

[sdaniels7114]

Re: Was it HD anywhere?

Was the game on Boston's channel 5 over the air?

I don't know which channel it was on, but it was on. My favorite bar can only show one satelite channel at a time and last night the satelite was on the Little League WS. The Pats were on regular TV.

 

[PonyExpress]

I didn't mind the announcing at all. I thought they both did a decent job. Sterling Sharpe seemed to be sincere with his comments about Qbs, and although repetitive they didn't feel staged. What do people expect, great oratory or something? Remermber, arizona fans were watching too, so they had every right to discuss the positives about Arizona early on. At least it wasn't the awful Randy Cross or one of the other retro-Madden wannabes. The audience nowadays is too sophisticated for that meathead blather of twenty years ago.

 

[rabthepat]

I couldn't believe that Sharpe said Koppen started at center and mention him on blocks a couple of times when he wasn't on the field. Did anyone see Koppen play?

Good point...I thought the same thing. I didn't see Koppen play.

 

[jczxohn1]

I too thought the announcers were much better than I have seen and heard elsewhere.

As for Pats fans irked by the boosting of the Cardinals, please remember that this was a Cardinals away game, and they had to cover it that way. Boston could have local TV coverage and announcers NFL network was the "away announcers" group.

No, Boston didn't have local coverage. We got the NFL feed, and it did suck. Besides misidentifying Hoch as Koppen, they said Gorin was RT instead of O"Callahan. Really hoped to see how the b/u's were going to do, but you really couldn't tell who was on the field.Between plays, instead of doing something useful, like scanning the guys on the field, you either got a close-up of Seau on the sidelines or the QB. Before the game, the only live coverage was of the crowd going in.

BCN had radio coverage, but our satellite station doesn't pick up pre-season. As for commercials, the most obvious appeal I saw was the NFL's premium package and Comcast's "On Demand" pkg you had to have to get it. cost--painfully pricey. Not exactly pay-per-view, but considering you have to sign up for the year, it's nice to have patsfans.com to fall back on.