I never have been to any of Joe Theismann’s three restaurants in Virginia, but I would imagine a visit goes something like this: After you park your car, Theismann greets you and comments on the abundant parking. After you check your coat, Theismann talks about the coat-check area. After you are …
Be It a Single Wing or a Chicken Wing, Theismann Says a Mouthful Read More »
“I don’t think we’ll see pay-per-view, at least while I’m the commissioner, unless I stay 30 years like Pete Rozelle, which I don’t think I’ll do.” — Paul Tagliabue on ABC Monday night. Sooner or later—maybe even while Paul Tagliabue is commissioner—the NFL will embrace pay-per-view. It will be …
Gerald Riggs fumbled a bit past 4:15 EDT Sunday. Through the magic of television, he fumbled again on CBS at 4:17, twice at 4:18 and at 4:19. Later that evening, he kept fumbling, nearly two dozen times on Channels 4, 5, 7 and 9. He fumbled on all of the Baltimore news stations, …
What does it take to join the new NBC Sports? Its NFL coverage now includes O.J. Simpson (the running back of the ‘70s), Bobby Beathard (the executive of the ‘80s) and Bill Walsh (the coach of the ‘80s). Not exactly broadcast journalists by trade, but Executive Producer Terry O’Neil figures they’re the fresh …
NBC Practices ABCs: Analysis and Banal Commentary Read More »
When Roone Arledge seized the day—or, to be more precise, seized the night—in 1970, Mondays were transformed forever in America. More than just a successful television series, “Monday Night Football” shifted a nation’s habits, altered its cultural landscape and cemented the burgeoning National Football League as the sport of preference from Washington, D.C., …
Bobby Beathard is happy in self-exile from pro football management at the moment. From his home in San Diego, the Redskins’ former general manager said yesterday he will honor his one-year contract with NBC Sports regardless of interest in him among NFL clubs and “wait to the end of the season” to determine …
Beathard Places NFL Work on Hold, Will Hold On to Job With Network Read More »
In the National Football League, the TV apple cart is about to be turned over. Whoever picks up the apples—and they are quite expensive—could determine how viewers get the NFL for years to come. In an increasingly complex and dizzying sports television universe, the NFL has been an oasis of stability …
Thanks to Cable, Window of Opportunity Is Open Wide for the NF Read More »
For the past generation, Cosell has shadowed, sometimes overshadowed, the American sports scene for ABC. As a broadcast journalist, he has had no equal in sports. While most easily linked to Muhammad Ali, boxing and “Monday Night Football,” Cosell’s indelible mark on the sports landscape has been established by his singular pursuit of …
Howard Cosell: He Still Is the One Telling It Like It Is Read More »
When Jim Lampley preceded a live interview with NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle by telling us about the recent charity work award Rozelle received, you knew we were in trouble. And when a camera zoomed in for a closeup of the silver medallion President Reagan had just flipped can you imagine the …
In Super Bowl Broadcast, Sound Signified Nothing Read More »
