Wednesday, December 23, 2009

NBC and Favre: Too cozy?

Hello, everyone:

I'm actually off for most of this week but can't stand not checking in with the wonderful "Scott Says" readers at least once before Christmas. First, I want to wish you all Happy Holidays -- I appreciate so much the fact that you make "Scott Says" one of the most-read blogs on CharlotteObserver.com, week after week (with the best comments, too).

Secondly, I wanted to follow up on something I posted last week, asking if any reader would be willing to make a list of what NBC announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth (2 of the best in the business) said about Brett Favre and if it struck you as over-the-top praise, etc.

Joseph K. of Florence, S.C., did exactly that and sent it to me. Below, I'm running Joseph's e-mail to me in full (with his permission).

One interesting note first: NBC really missed the fact that Favre and Minnesota coach Brad Childress verbally fought on the sidelines about whether Favre should stay in the game once it was out of reach and Carolina's victory was assured. (Favre revealed this postgame, igniting a firestorm in Minnesota).

Now, to Joseph's e-mail:

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Scott:

Last Friday you asked readers to keep a count for you on Sunday of the different positive adjectives NBC's announcers used to describe Favre. I didn't hear many, so I tracked the good, the bad, and the ugly. (Some are descriptive phrases, rather than lone adjectives - sorry, I hate to conform.) All in all, I felt the announcers were pretty objective. Here's what I heard, in the order I heard it:

1. "Okay"
2. "National joke" (referring to his return from retirement)
3. "Not so good tonight"
4. "Ageless"
5. "Living legend"
6. "Older"
7. "Nimble as he ever was"
8. "Almost perfect"
9. "Amazing"
10. "No stranger to 4th Quarter comebacks"
11. "Not the same when it is not play-action"
12. "Wants someone to block Julius Peppers"
13. "Very lucky"
14. "Poor decision"
15. "Sometimes Brett can lock onto a receiver"

And my personal favorite,

16. "Prefers not to see Julius Peppers any time soon"


You do a great job, Scott - I look forward to your comment on the Panthers each week. Hope you and yours have a safe and Merry Christmas,

- Joseph K.
Florence, South Carolina

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Thanks again, Joseph. And Merry Christmas to you as well. If anyone else has comments about NBC's coverage of the Panthers game Sunday, feel free to leave them below. Otherwise, I'll be back on this blog before too long with my prediction of the Panthers-Giants outcome Sunday.

14 comments:

Ben said...

I noticed that the announcers didn't gush over Favre as usual. I attribute that to your article. Those guys must have read it and took it to heart. Madden wasn't here and Collinsworth isn't as in love with 4 as Madden is.

Curtis Watkins said...

Ben, you nailed it man...I was thinking the same thing. No Madden = Less of a Man Crush of Favre.

I still think the biggest Bromance in sports today has to be Verne Lundquist for Tim Tebow. I actually heard Verne say in one game "If you haven't met Tim yet, you need to as your life will be dramatically improved." Seriously Verne? Seriously?

Matt Privett said...

Madden wasn't there. Period.

Also, ESPN (as a network, not individual announcers so much) is much more in love with Favre than NBC.

Nick said...

Did you catch the 15 or so minutes of pregame commentary? I wish I had quotes ... but I swear the two announcers were ready to marry Favre and the whole Viking team. Of course, I wasn't giving the Panthers a chance in my head either of winning the game, or even competing well, but the announcers were mercilessly one-sided before the game.

MrBernz said...

Someone should go back & watch the pre game show & count all the things said about Moore & Favre, then compare them to during & after the game, that would be more interesting.

Anonymous said...

The announcers are always one sided about whoever is playing the Panthers. But don't forget about the love fest between Theismann and Vick back in the day.

Matt Privett said...

Remember that ridiculous Vick song that ESPN was playing nonstop when the Panthers and Falcons played in '03? Forgot all about ESPN's love affair with Vick.

Anonymous said...

Farve is a living legend and is one of a very select few who deserves gushing over and how he has incredibly come back and still rocking the NFL at age 40 after spending 15 yrs with the legendary Packers setting records galore with his brash toughness and then moving on to the Jets and now Viks.

The Viks were 11-2 before the giveaway game that the Panthers seem to cocky to acknowledge. How many QBs at age 40 can take an NFL team to an 11-2 record?

You cant give the Vikings enough credit for their foresight to sign him in 2009.

Farve was from some unknown small southern college Southern Miss drafted thirty third by the Falcons and then traded to the Pack where he became MVP consecutive yrs 95,96,97 and made 2 Super Bowl shows winning XXX.

He is a 10 time Pro Bowler and holds the NFL record for most career passes, most passing yards, most pass attempts, total yards for a QB, most complettions, most consecutive starts, and most consecutive wins as a starting QB.

Most dont know Farve was almost killed in an auto accident just before his senior yr in college flipping times losing 2.5 feet of intestines but recovered to have a stellar yr.

His wife also has breast cancer since 1994 and he has been a worldwide advocate for cancer cures for women.

As of Week 14 of the 2009 regular season, Favre owned or shared most of the well-known NFL career records, including:

Consecutive starts as a quarterback: 282 (304 including playoffs)[6][97]
Consecutive starts as a position player: 282 [98]
Career regular-season victories by a starting quarterback: 180 (Regular-season record: 180-102)[6]
Career passing touchdowns: 491[99][100]
Career passing yards: 68,468[99]
Career pass completions: 6,015[6][101]
Career pass attempts: 9,713[5][6][102]
Career interceptions thrown: 316[99][103]
Career games with at least three touchdown passes: 70[50]
Career games with at least four touchdown passes: 22[104]
Seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes: 8
Consecutive seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes: 5
Seasons with at least 3,000 passing yards: 18
Consecutive seasons with at least 3,000 passing yards: 18
Seasons with at least 300 completions: 18
Consecutive seasons with at least 300 completions: 18
AP NFL MVP awards: 3 (1995, 1996, 1997)[105] (tied with Peyton Manning)
Career playoff interceptions thrown: 28 (tied with Jim Kelly)[103]
Career playoff losses as starting QB: 10 (tied with Dan Marino)
Favre is the only quarterback to have led a team to victory over all thirty-two teams in the league since the NFL first expanded to 32 franchises in 2002.[49][106]

Favre is one of four quarterbacks to lead the league in touchdown passes four times. The others are Johnny Unitas, Len Dawson and Steve Young.[107] In addition, Favre owns a number of team records, having printed his name into almost every passing category in the annals of Green Bay Packers history. Most recently, he set the team record for consecutive completions with 20 on November 22, 2007, against the Detroit Lions.[108]

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @ December 23, 2009 4:29 PM ?????? Are you gonna give him a hummer or what?

Anonymous said...

well gee, so much for the snarky comments, I feel like such a heel now. Thanks a lot.

Jennifer said...

Well then....

Anon @ 4:29 commendable effort on sharing that.....

BUT.....I'm sure if you KNOW all this, then you should at least know how to spell the living legends name?

It's FAVRE....Just saying....

Happy Holidays to all the regulars on here and to all the anons that just come to visit every now and again...

Stay Safe...and xoxox to Smokey :-)

Bill N. said...

Anonymous 4:29, I only take issue with this: "Farve was from some unknown small southern college Southern Miss..."

Favre came from the University of Southern Mississippi. This is not a small college, it has 15,000 + students and has been a university since 1962.

It is "unknown" to few. It is ranked in the top 40% of doctoral institutions for a holistic assessment of an institution's value.

The Golden Eagles baseball team was 1 of 8 teams in the nation to be at the College World Series this past summer. They are ranked 21 in preseason rankings for the upcoming season.

The football team has played in a bowl game 7 of the last 8 years and has sent many notable players to the pros besides Favre.

I heard a lot about this university before Favre attended and played.

Anonymous said...

Favre is actually phoetically pronounced "Farve".

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