My intention was to write this piece about the Super Bowl.
And I’ll get to that.
But first, it’s worth noting that we should all hope Fox-TV doesn’t get the rights to this game again anytime soon.
Its telecast of the NFL’s marquee event was nothing short of disgraceful.
Full disclosure, normally my before-the-game Super Bowl viewing is limited to the final hour before kickoff. But yesterday, it started at 4 p.m. and I was treated to the worst of the network pregame shows, unchallenged.
Every season, excepting host Curt Menefee, Fox’s version is a laughing stock, thanks to the quartet of Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson, who come off as a gaggle of unprepared buffoons.
You’d expect better on Super Bowl Sunday, but no such luck.
As usual they violated the most basic broadcast rule by talking over each other, while trying to convince themselves how funny they are, all while providing precious little insight. It was so ragged, the show came off as almost totally unscripted.
Does Rupert Murdoch, who pays these clowns, not watch what he’s putting on the air?
Then, again, his studio crew was hardly the only embarrassment.
Fox’s broadcast of the game was a glitch-filled mess and it had nothing to do with the announcers.
The most glaring gaffe came in the second quarter.
On a third down play, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts dropped the ball as he faded to pass and Chiefs safety Nick Bolton picked it up and raced in for a 36-yard score that tied the game at 14. But if you missed it live, you weren’t going to see it again. Fox never showed a single replay of one of the biggest plays of the game, leaving one to wonder if it even had one.
Contrast that to the third third quarter when Hurts connected with running back Miles Sanders, who was blasted as soon as he caught the ball and fumbled. Bolton was there again and into the end zone, this time from 24 yards out, seemingly giving Kansas City the lead.
However, when the play was reviewed, it was ruled an incomplete pass and multiple replays showed us why.
Meanwhile, Fox endured game-long technical gaffes.
At one point during the game there was a shot of the living members of the latest class of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, but there were no close-ups nor and identification of the pictured players.
On a number of occasions the sound faded, then came back. Some too-quick camera cuts deprived us of significant replays and sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi was deserted in the midst of trying to give us information about the Eagles.
For such an important broadcast, Fox’s effort was almost amateurish.
Play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt was solid as was color analyst Greg Olsen, the former tight end, who seemingly is looking at a bright career. However, I disagreed with him that the defensive holding call against the Eagles in the late going, which set Kansas City up for the winning field, should have been ignored. But he admitted there would be division among viewers and knew the officials’ credo that a foul is a foul whether it’s the first quarter of a preseason game or crunch time at the Super Bowl.
On the sideline, Erin Andrews is the best in the NFL and Rinaldi is solid if Fox had only let him finish his report.
AS FOR the game, it was the toss-up everyone expected.
I was one of 216 members of the Pro Football Writers’ Association to submit a pick and 109 chose the Eagles while 107 of us took the Chiefs.
The one area of disagreement for me was that despite the age-old bromide that football games are “won in the trenches,” it’s not always true.
In my mind, with the NFL’s 1-2 finishers for league MVP, this game would be decided by the quarterbacks.
Hurts had the better numbers, a Super Bowl record three rushing touchdowns plus a TD pass. The Chiefs Patrick Mahomes had a trio of scoring throws. But Hurts’ fumble also gave Kansas City a touchdown … seven points in a game decided by a field goal.
That’s why Mahomes was the game’s MVP.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
