The Divide Between Analysis and Understanding

As America gets reacquainted with the NFL, there are plenty of people having live fantasy drafts over a few beers, rummaging stores for grills in order to tailgate and praying that their preachers speed up Sunday services for the next five months.

We already know what has made the NFL king of American entertainment over the last decade-plus; a few seasons of parity, a more passer-friendly style of play (though not exactly better) and the heavy dependence on the game for live viewing by partner TV networks. The latter, which provides the league revenue streams and advertising beyond comprehension, has been the bread and butter for the NFL since the 1960s under the stewardship of the late commissioner, Pete Rozelle.

With talk about the league pitching an additional eight-game Thursday night package to networks and some scheduling additions made by current league partners, there’s more to consume for the pigskin fan than ever before. 

However, one grossly overlooked aspect of this larger landscape for the NFL is that whether they care to admit so or not, there are still millions of fans that are not as savvy about every nuance of the game of football. [Honestly, the same goes for us media folks.]

Think of how many times Monday Night Football color commentators Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden give the breakdown of a play and the terminology they use will go over your head. Even for those who know that there are multiple names and variations of the same football plays, it’s not easy to keep up with what ‘Jaws’, ‘Chucky’ or any commentator that played or coached will spit out.

With the bandwidth for programming that networks like ESPN and even the league’s own network possess, there’s plenty of room for a show that can actually explain what in the hell these commentators and analysts are talking about. Who needs another hour of highlight reels or fantasy football uber-analysis when there can be a program or two that will demonstrate what a dig route is or why there’s a need to have different personnel for defensive schemes.



Courtesy of Fort Hayes State Univ.



For those who have known and loved football for years, a show like this can be a way of refining, if not outright testing, your knowledge of the game. Sure, you might have a Master’s in Madden Football and you probably like to debate at the water cooler, but there’s a good chance that you may have thought the Wildcat formation was invented four years ago (single-wing, anyone?). 

Fans who have been introduced to the game in recent years would get a better sense of what makes the superstars so respected and popular. Many came on board because they kept hearing about Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and numerous fantasy football references throughout pop culture. Yet, save for those hackneyed company lines about their greatness – they’re winners, what would their teams be like without them, etc. – there is a lack of understanding what it took for those players to become future first-ballot Hall of Famers. Why? Because explaining the craft is too long for advertising copy.

That guy looks MAD familiar!

Last year while live tweeting a Monday Night Football broadcast, I suggested that the league’s broadcasting partners should actually try teaching the game a bit. I received a few replies, stating that it wouldn’t be a good idea because it’s not the responsibility of said partners – ESPN, FOX, CBS and NBC – to explain anything, at least during the game.

Yet, this isn’t about the guys in the booth explaining each intricate detail as if this is “Football for Dummies”. While it’s not impossible, it would ignore the primary purpose to their jobs; to speak on the game as it happens to a rabid audience.

However, when you look through ESPNews’ programming slate and see nothing but “Highlight Express” or wonder if the over-the-air networks are really serving us with those ginormous pregame shows, it’s not unfathomable to see that there’s room to take a step back and educate people on the game with more than telestrators and corporate-sponsored studio ‘fields’.

The first day that we are 'Back to Football', we can use something new, can't we?

Maybe this program is a once-a-week in-season affair a la Showtime’s (formerly HBO's) Inside the NFL or those weekly fantasy sports shows on your local sports network. Throughout the season, the hosts – experienced television former NFL players and coaches – can use game and/or practice footage combined with live demonstrations from a local semi-pro or high school team to illustrate their points. How cool would it be to see the contrast between how an offensive line works for a pocket passer and a mobile quarterback? The hair-splitting differences between the brilliance of running backs Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson? The real reasons why some teams play a 3-4 defense and a 4-3?

It may sound like one of those instructional tapes that you might buy for middle school-aged kids playing Pop Warner football. Yet, every season, people ask this Scribe how can they best learn the game in order to keep up with television analysis that continually goes over their heads. If this kind of program is crafted properly, it can be more than ‘suggested reading’ from the syllabus. It can be a great hors d'oeuvre before the football feast us pigskin gluttons scarf down every weekend.

Say What?!?!: In writing this post, an old one came to mind. Though younger generations have only come to know John Madden as the guy whose name graces the popular video game, he was once upon a time a great coach and the forefather to the sport’s color commentary. Whether some like it or not, with his retirement from the booth after the 2008 season, his approach to explaining the game to fans (though seemingly ineffective as the years went on) is sorely lacking these days.

You Like to Read? Read These

It’s been a while since Scribe delved into business matters. So while being a bit tied down at the moment, here are three stories for you to chomp on.

Tebow's NFL moment: If you didn't catch it from the New York Times, Advertising Age delves into details of one of the ads that will appear in the upcoming Super Bowl. I want to hear your thoughts on this one in light of controversies in past years.

Remember how NBC's REALLY Bad Day Began?: It was news that the network stood to lose about $200 million on the upcoming Winter Games. The always-on-point Richard Sandomir discusses many of the issues the Peacock ran into as the economy decided to nose dive. So while the late night talk fiasco made NBC a punching bag, this is arguably of greater concern (especially since Comcast wants to use its soon-to-be property as a huge leveraging platform when bidding for sporting events in the future).

There are some things that... well...: I'll leave you to this one as well. As soon as I wrap my head around it, I'll say something more.

Later this afternoon on The Perpetual Post, Chris Pummer and I discuss the legacy of newly-retired Curtis Joseph. I know puckheads are waiting to rip my head off on that one. Leave happy, lavender-laced comments, please.

Funny Finance and Not-So-Funny Media

Well, we can’t say that 2010 will be a boring sports year.

We’ve started with more on The Golfer, Gilbert Arenas reprising Bishop from “Juice” on a teammate, Pacquiao/Mayweather taken of the table (for now!), coaches allegedly abusing players, those and other coaches getting fired/hired/passed over and Mark McGwire’s steroids admission.

Heck, Bret Hart returned to the WWE!

Yesterday provided some of the bigger “what in the world” moments so far and I want to mention two of them: an ultimatum for the Florida Marlins and a question of what should be dominating the news cycle right now.

In my first week with The Perpetual Post, Chris Pummer and I debated the legacy of Bud Selig. As said by both of us on live radio and online, he’s a very difficult person to defend because of the steroids/PED debacle among many other issues baseball has been shellacked with in his time. Something I left out, however, is what I think he can do to at least go out on a positive note.

The public wrist-slap given to the Florida Marlins & owner Jeffrey Loria regarding the team’s use of received revenue-sharing funds. As the venerable Maury Brown explains for Biz of Baseball, this can possibly set a new direction for teams that have received monies from the luxury taxes paid by teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Anaheim Angels and both New York franchises over the years.

Something that I do ask myself when reading this: is it possible that while many still cry for placing some sort of salary cap in MLB, is this the beginning of creating a salary floor just as the National Hockey League? If it’s true – this Scribe believes it to be so – that some of these teams such as the Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates have essentially pocketed the money instead of spent it on payroll and player development, then what will be the next steps? How can and will owners keep tabs on each other? What role will the Player’s union take? How much of this will be left on the next Commissioner’s lap in 2012?

The second thought is related to the three major news stories in the media yesterday. A friend on Facebook wondered why it seems that more people care about the “problems” of two fairly rich white men compared to the problems of a nation struck by an earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

When Conan O’Brien released his letter regarding NBC’s horrendous handling of its late-night quandary, he found a flood of supporters to his plight – including myself, admittedly – and every major media outlet had something to say. Jay Leno, Jeff Zucker (the programming boss at NBC) and the network itself have taken a tremendous and deserved public relations flogging for years of terrible decisions that have come to a head in the last week.

For the Peacock, millions of dollars have been lost and trust from their affiliates has been shattered (but can be rebuilt). Many TV writers and producers will speak to the lost jobs because of The Jay Leno Show. Rival networks, bloggers and other internet pundits and the print world are having an absolute ball.

Why is this more important than the devastation in Haiti?

From Knoxville to Los Angeles to Seattle, Lane Kiffin and Pete Carroll have essentially taken the sports world hostage –McGwire’s admission is more punching bag than lightning rod, isn’t it? – due to their new jobs. As you know, Carroll’s nine years at the University of South Carolina were highly successful, but the NCAA is threatening to take a proverbial magic eraser to it all because of a multi-sport investigation. Though no one can change what happened on the field, the NCAA’s sanctions can harm USC’s program over the next couple of years. The shocking firing of Jim Mora (Jr) led to the hiring of Carroll and a domino effect in the college world.

Kiffin shocked the country by bolting to take over for Carroll and it appears that USC is trying to bring most of the band back together (notably a possible return of Norm Chow as offensive coordinator). Once a sympathetic figure in Oakland going against Al Davis, he’s become persona non-grata after one season in Tennessee and multiple secondary violations in his short time there. Another rich college coach bolting to a school for more riches, more control and more ego-stroking has stoked the flames in sports media. Literal flames burned in Knoxville as idiot students decided it would be a good time to riot to show their anger at Kiffin’s departure.

Why is this more important that the devastation in Haiti?

The truth is that neither situation is. At times, however, we think certain stories are a bigger deal because of who we are surrounded by at a given moment.

Working in the media world or anything connected to it means that while there are more tragic stories that should take greater precedent, we've developed an ϋber-analytic perspective of anything involving such characters as Leno or O’Brien, Kiffin or Carroll. It helps prop up these "problems". It gives more hits and page views. It kicks up ratings for a moment because we’re more interested in people that aren’t us than people that are.

As for everyone else outside of those realms, just listen to what's talked about at the water coolers, the corner, the classroom, etc. The priorities of a media outlet differ from those of individual consumers FAR more often than perceived. And as much as it’s easy for many of you to believe, there are people in media who actually care about what’s happening in Port-au-Prince.

The even more bitter and harsh truth according to many people is that the earthquake in Haiti is a sad event, but not of utter importance to them as being unemployed and on the brink of homelessness themselves. You don’t need any more reminders of the Great Recession except that donations won’t be as plentiful today as they would have been when we were swimming in Monopoly money.

Sports networks aren’t going to discuss Haiti unless the aftermath touches a game significant outside of Haitian interest. Broadcast networks, already in flux, will discuss Haiti for a certain period, then jump back into the late night tussle. Yet, that’s why we have so many sources for information; we can decide what stories matter depending on which outlets we choose and the time we use for them.

Say What?!?!: Some of us want to help, some of us don’t. Some of us can lend a hand, some of us can’t. Yet, if you are considering donating to relief efforts to Haiti, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE examine who you are giving money to. There are a lot of predatory people who exploit tragedy and goodwill in their scams. I implore you to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give carefully.

Picture courtesy of the New York Times

Disappointment

We know that will be a new Super Bowl champion on the evening of February 1st.

For those in the NYC vicinity, here's a preview of the post-mortem article of the New York Giants' season that will appear in the New York Beacon tomorrow morning:

What the Giants can take from this season is they found an identity as a team without having some of the more outspoken or at least colorful personalities that they have had in years. Michael Strahan’s retirement and the trade of Jeremy Shockey prior to their Super Bowl defense may have left a void of publicly vocal players. Add the loss of Osi Umeyiora during the preseason along with the Burress saga, and the team had every reason to collapse under the weight of having to defend their crown.

However, considering that this team wasn’t expected to make the playoffs before the season began, they exhibited a tunnel vision that few Giants teams have had in recent seasons. That’s not easy in any city, but doing such here as the defending league champions is as daunting of a challenge as any in American sports. “I told the players I’m very proud of them individually and collectively,” Coughlin added. “We’ve had good solid leadership, we accomplished a lot in the regular season, but it doesn’t carry a whole lot of over into the postseason.”

While the G-men won't carry on, here are a few things that will (especially for the crowd that only watches the Super Bowl for the commercials):

• Here's the Advertising Age section solely devoted to the content around the big game. In all honesty, can someone help me understand the reinvigorated interest in 3D viewing? I'm not knocking it, but it feels a little... hokey? Desperate, maybe?
• Eli Manning is about to get PAIIIIIIIIIIIID... and New York has a conniption. Please, Giants fans, take two of these... or these.
• If you haven't caught it yet (and thanks to SPJ for forwarding this Freedom of Expression in my direction), here are the newest members of Mensa. I can understand Justin Tuck or Fred Robbins taking the loss kind of hard, but... nevermind.
• MediaPost had a few interesting sports media and business related stories yesterday that weren't posted because... well, just because. Nielsen continues to try and help clients determine the value of their sports sponsorships, the Nets (who will have another writer chasing them down starting next week) like burritos and the idea of not dying broke, Audi and NFL Films want it Fast and Furious and Honda tells the people that it's okay to fail.
• Finally, returning to the NFL... well, you decide if this was cool or not.

Staggering

New poll: this one’s focuses on the first über-hyped game of the college football season, but it’ll be up until next Thursday.

Meanwhile, we’re just in Week One of the NFL season and there’s already significant Super Bowl news.

NBC will take its turn on the broadcasting wheel this year for the NFL’s championship game in Tampa, Florida. Earlier today, the Peacock proudly announced that not only have they already sold 80% of their advertising inventory for the game, but they have “a dozen or so advertisers” who purchased 30-second spots for $3 million.

Three. Million. Dollars.

$100,000 per second.

That’s about a month’s rent in Beacon Hill or Daly City, right?

In all seriousness, it’s an absolutely staggering figure that hopefully receives its own in-depth analysis within the advertising and marketing trade media. The asking price has grown each year for a milieu of reasons, yet there is no denying how $3 million became the latest threshold.

Last year, the writer’s strike put broadcast networks at a standstill. Reruns and reality television were not desired avenues for companies to promote their goods and services. Though viewers gravitated towards cable programming in droves, those paid channels do not command the audiences that broadcast networks can offer.

Just as real estate in your nearby up-and-coming neighborhood, there were few prime spots in a weakened economy. Those few bastions of advertising potential turned out to be live sports. Live sports are considered DVR-proof as viewers are less likely to fast-forward through ads or record games for later viewing. In the States, the television events with the biggest audiences are typically sporting events; notably baseball and basketball games featuring the highest-profiled teams, players and/or markets and NFL games because of a short season with dedicated days for action.

The Super Bowl XLII broadcaster, FOX, knew that any event with a huge national audience had to make up for the lack of scripted fare. The network decided to increase the price of a 30-second ad to upwards of $2.7 million, a 15% increase from the year before.

If you know a competitor was able to pry $2.7 million from a vendor for essentially the same service, wouldn’t you consider boosting the price?

Though this is less about the pigskin – after all, no one has even played two regular season games in September yet – you wonder if the reason behind NBC’s eagerness to boast about its Super Bowl buys has to do with their success in broadcasting the Beijing Olympics a couple of weeks ago.

Overdrive

Remember back in February when we were wondering when the television writer's strike would end? Broadcast networks were praying that something... anything could give them the kinds of numbers and buzz that their halted programs generated for them before the studio scribes went on their extended breaks. Well, if you recall, FOX decided to couple their coverage of the national primaries with their NFL coverage on Super Bowl Sunday, creating a tremendous ratings windfall for the Rupert Murdoch network.

It was a day of politics and pigskin. Americana at its finest, right?

Now just imagine the next two months.

It's not to say that suddenly ESPN will have a midscreen ticker counting down to Election Day (though ESPN.com has linked to ABCNews.com for election coverage since the Democratic primaries began). Yet, considering the historic nominations of Barack Obama (first African-American nominee), John McCain (oldest nominee in American history, don't forget) and Sarah Palin (first woman Vice President nominee for the Republicans), it would not be much of a stretch to believe that at least one of the NFL's broadcasting partners would try to bring the two national passions together once again.

Leading into last fall, the public (not the media which covers and hypes these events) didn't really believe that the primaries would have received so much attention and for as long as they did. November 2007 changed much of the television landscape as not only was the strike gaining steam, but the scrapping between Obama and New York (State) Senator Hillary Clinton began to take center stage. There must have been 76,000 Super Tuesdays, it seemed, which made for an interesting way to end 2007 and begin 2008.

FOX's decision to promote the continued political battles along with the battle between the Patriots and Giants was a bold and successful one, but because of both the primaries and the Super Bowl are unique events, it seemed to have been a relatively easy fusion.They would be the leading candidate to try it again, though you have to wonder if it'll be a wise move. Despite the fact that we're talking about the President of the United States, we're also talking about half of the season of NFL action compared to one special Sunday. It could become overkill for many of the demographics they seek, causing some dwindling ratings and a firestorm among many of its fans who find a voice online.

NBC could, but it would be one of the biggest failures in network history. Nothing - save for a major news story, tragic, absurd or both - beats the NFL on television. They would have to go against ongoing games on other networks. Throwing political specials and the like before their already-crowded pre-game show, Football Night in America would be asking interested viewers to listen to a hundred voices for seven hours before their Sunday Night Football broadcast. If you haven't heard, Keith Olbermann isn't a well-liked fellow in some circles. Also considering their approach to the Beijing Olympics - where some felt that they didn't say enough about the fallacies of the Chinese government - the Peacock will get raked through the coals for anything broaching the concept of promoting politics and football together.

CBS? Never. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. For all of the flack that The Tiffany Network gets for its older viewership and tendancy to cancel shows too soon, they are about as no-frills with their game coverage as it gets. Even with the horrendous blend of MTV and CBS during Super Bowl XXXVIII (which lead to... this), there was essentially no mention of the halftime performances other than their introduction and reminder promos leading to the game's break. Other networks would have probably asked Ed Hochuli to not start the game clock for the second half until someone had an on-field interview with the bare-breasted Janet Jackson before the story 'got stale'. It's hard to imagine that CBS would make an attempt to cross anything with its sports properties ever again.

Then again, all of this could be (and will likely be) 100% wrong. Yet, as all of our politicians will tell us, this is a significant and historic time in our country.

It's also football season... even in Washington, D.C.

Say What?!?!: And can we all give a warm welcome back to Mr. Hochuli. The only man on Earth that can instill fear in a 6-foot-7, 350 pound defensive tackle without wearing a helmet.
Also, as this was being edited, Chris Chase for Yahoo Sports!'s Shudown Corner blog delves into the first test of the two passions.

Muscle

While tonight was going to be the continuation of Forward, it's been a bit difficult to finish (halfway there) with a lunatic Steelers fan/Army man/brother-in-law jumping at every whistle. Plus, my niece is just too cute to ignore. And this Jacksonville/Pittsburgh game is too good to turn from.

I was wondering something, though.

American Gladiators makes a comeback tomorrow night on NBC. Along with the two-hour 'backdoor' pilot, Knight Rider (with a Ford Mustang, mind you) in February, it seems as if the Peacock wants us all to break out some Hammer-pants and Members' Only jackets for their trip down Memory Lane. Besides a personal dislike for most things related to the 1980s, one curiousity I have about the revamped AG is regarding the Gladiators themselves.

Nitro, Ice, Gemini and Turbo didn't look like you and me. In fact, they didn't look much like the professional athletes we would watch throughout the week (at least we thought). Their physiques were more like the WWF/E wrestlers you saw minutes before on their Superstars show; chisled, oiled up, extremely buff and eerily perfect. As rumors about baseball players using steroids came to light, you just knew that there was more to their workouts than lifting weights. Of course, we didn't think of the Gladiators or the wrestlers as athletes because they weren't playing the sports we knew and loved.

Fast forward to nearly twenty years after the debut of the original series and there is a completely different tone regarding athletic achievement now. Fair or not, there has been obvious witchhunting, speculation and legislative action, making performance enhancers the subject du jour in sports. I'm curious to know from you if you think that the reincarnation of Gladiators will do well in the current landscape. There is the desperation of network television to consider, but can we really watch the show without wondering?

Forward (II)

One of the most annoying sports clichés is “the game the way it was meant to be played.” It the believers of that phrase meant the raw and unadulterated way, then they may have found something special on New Year's Day. It wasn't a bowl game created for television or a redundant marathon of old-school boxing matches featuring Muhammad Ali. It was hockey... yes, Scribe is talking about that game on the ice with the pucks, sticks and Canadians.

NHL: Can we make them care? They’ve heard the slights for well over a decade now about the death of a league. The strike following the 2003-04 season relegated the league to minor-league status in the minds of anyone with a microphone, blog and newspaper column. Even worse are the snark-laden comments from people who go out of their way to slam the sport instead of reading the stories around it. Yet, though the fan base is the smallest of the major professional leagues, its core fans are equally as passionate about their sport as those for others.

The National Hockey League is well aware of the monumental challenges presented over the past decade-plus; the loss of Canadian teams because of poor economic decisions, the criticized additions of American teams (also for similar reasons), the lack of crossover appeal, a borderline-discriminatory backlash against the influx of European players, lack of racial diversity/interest and debates regarding fighting. Most of these issues can be attributed to any other league, yet because the NHL was never a behemoth across the United States, its struggles become punch lines instead of headlines.

The league opened the New Year with the Winter Classic, its second-ever outdoor game and the first in the U.S. The location couldn’t have been better, choosing hockey-happy Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium. Drifting snows, dropping temperatures and a plethora of college football bowl games couldn’t stop the crowd of just over 71,000 from enjoying the event. The fact that thousands more had been turned away is a testament to how deep passions run in hockey fans. Even better for the NHL were the once-mysterious television ratings. The game garnered a 2.6 rating (which calculates to just three million households) and a 5 share (meaning five percent of all homes with TVs in use at the time tuned to the game). This was a huge success for a sport which became accustomed to a fifth of the audience for nationally-televised games in the States. This was a huge success, even against the aforementioned bowl games that obviously trump everything in their sights. The game itself was no disappointment as the Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins went to a shootout. Unlike other sports where their superstars are seemingly set up for drama, somehow the shootout, Ryan Miller and Sidney Crosby wove naturally for the shining moment.

Of course, the question people have now: what’s next?

The answer: it’s up to you.

The Classic succeeded where other attempts of popularizing hockey failed because the NHL was willing to truly celebrate the roots of their game. So many of these athletes and fans played the game on some frozen pond or lake when they were kids. Not a knock on any other sport, but you’re not going to see a pro or college game at Rucker Park or a Field of Dreams in Iowa. Despite the loss, even the Sabres were ecstatic to have been a part of a special game instead of a gimmick. In a sports world that openly complains about the lack of fundamentals and innocence in the games, potential new fans were introduced to a game in a nearly-pure form. Outside of the frequently necessary clearing of snow on the ice, there had been few icing penalties, few penalties and no fights. For novice fans, they could become more intrigued to watching a traditional game indoors without FoxTrax to tick off the purists and constant clutches to turn casuals away.

The NHL adopted flex scheduling, borrowed from the NFL tactic that gives NBC the ‘premium matchups’ of the games with playoff and/or historical implications. Being a national broadcaster that begs for the best potential ratings, you shouldn’t be surprised to see the New York Rangers every Saturday if you live in suburban Minneapolis. However, considering that the Rangers, Penguins and many other teams across North America have pools of talent, flex scheduling maximizes exposure for stars around the league such as Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, Rick Nash of Columbus and the young Chicago Blackhawks. Since all of the Original Six teams are playing competitively at once for the first time in years, it benefits NBC’s ratings push into the late spring.

For a league that is criticized for being handcuffed by the purists, the NHL has not been completely assailed for opening the game to attract new crowds. In fact, no one is stopping them from doing so. Again, this is due to the fact that ESPN and its most ardent fans have told the sport to essentially ‘come back when you’re bigger’. Yet, there has been success in bringing back fans lost during the lockout. Now, they can focus on solving its other problems. One step at a time.