Place Your Bets...
If for no other reason than simply to satisfy my own curiosity (and to maybe make a mini-statement about ESPN football coverage in the process), during tonight's Eagles-Redskins game (8:30 ET, ESPN) I will be documenting exactly how many times the announcers mention the name of a certain Eagles wide receiver who's been in the news lately. Point: How many times will announcers refer to someone not even playing in the game? And how many people will this cause to hit the mute button on their remotes? (Sadly, I cannot document the answer to that one.)
Two things inspired me to do this. One is this morning's "Sunday NFL Countdown" on ESPN. The show is two hours long. Say 30 minutes of that are commercials (and that's being generous). So you have 90 minutes of football coverage. From 11:00 to 11:20, Chris Berman and company talked about nothing but T.O. Later in the hour, there was a five-minute "on the field" demonstration of how the Eagles offense would function without #81. Then at 12:00, another 15 minutes. So 40 out of the 90 minutes of content this morning was dedicated to one loudmouth. Terrific NFL coverage, really.
The other was last week's Sunday night game between the Patriots and Bills, when every other player on the field was ignored because Tedy Bruschi was playing again. Nothing against Bruschi - in fact, I'm thrilled to see him back - but if you were watching the game, the story from the announcers was Bruschi Bruschi Bruschi*, and - oh! - by the way, there's also a football game going on. I'm expecting the same tonight, so, as the title entreats, place your bets. Bonus betting line: Which announcer says his name the most? Rules: Coverage starts as soon as Berman hands off from "Primetime" and goes until Mike Patrick sends it away to SportsCenter. Pre-taped features and interviews don't count. Using his name while quoting someone else doesn't count. Using "cute" references, like "#81," count.
*Since this blog did not exist at the time of last week's game, no official record of Bruschi mentions exists, though the number is believed to be around 793.
Two things inspired me to do this. One is this morning's "Sunday NFL Countdown" on ESPN. The show is two hours long. Say 30 minutes of that are commercials (and that's being generous). So you have 90 minutes of football coverage. From 11:00 to 11:20, Chris Berman and company talked about nothing but T.O. Later in the hour, there was a five-minute "on the field" demonstration of how the Eagles offense would function without #81. Then at 12:00, another 15 minutes. So 40 out of the 90 minutes of content this morning was dedicated to one loudmouth. Terrific NFL coverage, really.
The other was last week's Sunday night game between the Patriots and Bills, when every other player on the field was ignored because Tedy Bruschi was playing again. Nothing against Bruschi - in fact, I'm thrilled to see him back - but if you were watching the game, the story from the announcers was Bruschi Bruschi Bruschi*, and - oh! - by the way, there's also a football game going on. I'm expecting the same tonight, so, as the title entreats, place your bets. Bonus betting line: Which announcer says his name the most? Rules: Coverage starts as soon as Berman hands off from "Primetime" and goes until Mike Patrick sends it away to SportsCenter. Pre-taped features and interviews don't count. Using his name while quoting someone else doesn't count. Using "cute" references, like "#81," count.
*Since this blog did not exist at the time of last week's game, no official record of Bruschi mentions exists, though the number is believed to be around 793.
posted by Binny at 6:28 PM
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