In last week's Sports Business Journal, John Ourand handicapped the likely destination for the NFL's new Thursday night package of games. Up for bid will be the first half season of Thursday Night games as the NFL will extend from a half season to a full season of games before the weekend. 

Ourand, who dominates the niche of sports media negotiations, pegged Versus/NBC Sports Network as the favorite with 2-1 odds. Turner came in second with 3-1 odds and way off in the distance were ESPN, Fox, and NFL Network, all of which were double digit odds. 

Essentially you have a two horse race and the smart money is on NBC Sports Network. Ourand explains:

"It’s clear that NBC wants the NFL and already has programmed several NFL-themed shows for its NBC Sports Network. My guess is that NBC and the NFL work out a deal that would give the league an ownership stake in NBC Sports Network. For the league, an ownership stake in one of NBC’s cable channels would be an easy way to bolster its media portfolio. For Comcast, it presents a way to get the league’s package without committing $700 million a year up front."

The buzz is that we'll probably know the winner of the package sometime before Halloween. I've been vocal that NBC Sports Network will win out but I think that given equity of the channel is now potentially in play, there is a long shot scenario for NBC to feed two birds with one hand (isn't that better than killing birds with stones....plus it sounds easier to do).

Currently Versus/NBC Sports Network has two issues on the programming side. 

- Limited live sports (NHL, second tier college football, MLS, Rodeo, Indy, etc)

- Very sparse offerings in terms of original programming.

Believed by many to be the only possible true competitor to ESPN, the expectations to achieve such status quickly have been unrealistic. It will take a decade and progress will be slow and steady but ultimately I think we'll see the day where NBC, NBC Sports Network, NBCsports.com, and the Comcast regional become closer to Pepsi competing with ESPN's Coke opposed to their current status which is closer to RC Cola.

Adding live sports will not be the tricky part. Submitting winning bids for television packages will be competitive but ultimately if they shell out what they need to, there will be a nice natural flow of additional live sports to the network. College football, college basketball, MLB, and the NBA are all on the short list of possible targets.  Almost everything is in play as exhibited by their favorite position with the NFL package.

But original programming is where the struggle will be. It's a symbiotic relationship. Live programming helps lead into original programming, where the bulk of advertising profits is harvested. Original programming helps promote your live programming. ESPN's advantage is that both sides of the fence are stacked and because of this, sports fans, bars, restaurants, seem to naturally gravitate to the channel and stay there rather than flipping around for something better.

NBC Sports Network aims to get to that natural gravitation of an audience and original programming may be the biggest hurdle. Most original shows fail. Not just sports shows, but look at all the crap that debuts and gets cancelled within weeks and months. Frankly, it's a tough industry and one I call a "hits driven" business. Only 10%-20% of shows really ever truly "make it". Just like a move studio or record label, it's your hits that pay the bills and grow the bottom line. 

PTI is a hit. SportsCenter is a massive hit. Baseball Tonight, NFL Live, and College Game Day are all hits as well and for everyone of them there are more than a dozen of shows you probably don't even remember fizzling out...

Ron Jaworski -- not Jon Gruden, okay? -- really thinks Chad Henne HAS to get rid of this ball a little bit quicker. 

"Shit, you have to get rid of this ball just a split second quicker." 

Immediately after Jaws slipped up on-air, the internet exploded, everyone tweet-snickerin' like school children. If we're lucky, this will be the gateway cuss to a "this f**kin' guy" from Gruden.

Jaworski apologized (to Tirico?) after 99-percent of his audience flipped over to ESPN2 for the Broncos/Raiders game: 

"Hey Mike a little earlier in the show when Chad Henne was making a throw I said an inappropriate word so I want to apologize and I hope I didn't offend anybody with that word."

 

"WE'RE LOSING RECIPES!!!!" might just be my favorite phrase ever said emphatically by a sports analyst and I fully intend on making it part of my lexicon.

Anyways, Michael Irvin was delivering a rant like only he can about his feelings on the Colts signing Kerry Collins to be the starting QB a mere weeks before opening day. Near the end of his rant, he decided to switch gears completely and put moms and young ladies on notice on the decline of the home cooked meal before seamlessly continuing his rant on the Colts. The volume is a bit low, here's the highlight of the video written out that starts 1:10 in.

"I should be running slants with the guy that sits in back of Peyton Manning and learns from Peyton Manning. Oh my god, this is what's wrong with today, the young ladies today, they're not learning from mom, how to cook. WE'RE LOSING RECIPES! And now we are going to lose Peyton Manning's knowledge!"

Also, definitely take note of Warren Sapp staring intently at Irvin during that passage and the head nod in agreement afterwards. Good stuff.

I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not ordering food out tonight.

(H/T Tim Burke for the higher quality video)

Can Pam Ward stay atop the standings as we approach the vote for Week 2 of the Pammies?  (Hint: she has a decent chance.  Also, her broadcast partner Dan Hawkins may be her top challenger this year.)  It was a great week of exciting games all over the place, especially the insane Notre Dame-Michigan finish that showed us crappy defenses can be a lot of fun.  As a reminder as to how this works, each week we'll nominate 15-20 quotes for you to pick the best 10.  The winning quote of the week will earn that person 10 points all the way down to 1 point for 10th.  Remember, you can vote for your favorite five quotes.  Here are your Week 2 nominees...

1) "Is there any place better to play and coach than Illinois?" - Kevin Kugler (via Benjamin Bordeau)

2) "Danny Travathan. Let's make that a synonym for a great play." - Pam Ward (via sctvman)

3) "If you take away a bad Oregon State punt and Russell Wilson this game is 0-0." -Chris Spielman (via Schwizzy)

4) "That might be a game-saving stop." - Dan Hawkins (via sctvman) with the game 13-6 CMU with 4:15 in the second quarter.

5) "He's been so cold I think he was out getting a hot dog" - Dan Hawkins with two analogies that make no sense when put together. (via CK29)

6) "Michigan couldn't beat Notre Dame even if Lee Corso played for Notre Dame"- Lou Holtz (via The Subway Domer)

7) "That was a very long one yard gain." - John Thornton (via sctvman)

8) "It takes a special guy to hit that thing fast and hard everytime." - Andre Ware (via DCare24)

9) "... is from right here in Louisville" - Pam Ward (via TheBlightning) calling the CM-UK game from Lexington.

10) "Rutgers down by five, looking to get even." - Steve Martin (via minapier)

11) "Its hard to win when your groceries are ugly" - Liam McHugh (via jleimer)

12) "In another life, I'm coming back as UGA's mascot." - Matt Millen (via sctvman)

13) "Norfolk State has come out and shot all of their bullets."- John Thornton (via sctvman)

14) "He kicks left-footed, even though he throws right-footed" - Sean McDonough (via boystevie)

15) "Michigan wins it." - Brent Musburger (via brewfangrb) with over a minute left in the game and two lead changes yet to come.

16) "This Triple Option offense gives you a lot of options" - Warrick Dunn (via sctvman)

Vote For Your Week 2 Pammy Winners! (vote for up to five)

The winners will come Wednesday morning so make sure you vote early and often and check back for the full Week 3 announcing sked later this week!

 

I take a bit of pride in some of the more thoughtful, longer columns that have appeared on Awful Announcing in the past year.  Hopefully, it's given AA a different dimension and provided more depth and meaningful commentary to the site that you all knew and loved.

This is not one of those articles.  This is one where we find disturbing shots of announcers from the past weekend where they all look like characters in a zombie movie.  Take Ted Robinson from Versus for instance...



My word, I haven't seen a play by play man look that frightened since Dick Vitale first picked up a microphone.  Then there's Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who have evidently made a habit out of looking like they are hungry for brains.  In fact, Zombie Joe Buck has been riveting America with his monotone play by play stylings for fifteen years.  (Too easy?)

Jim Mora and Ron Pitts took this craze to a new level when they attempted to become the first broadcast pairing in NFL history to eat each other on live television during the Chargers/Vikings game.  Either that, or they were weirdly demonstrating some sort of football move.  Thank goodness Tony Siragusa wasn't around, or else they'd both be goners.



And finally, my personal favorite, ZOMBIE MARK MAY!!!



No, wait, that's how he always looks.  Sorry.  He would be no use to zombies anyways... I think that scene would play out a little something like this.  

Coming back from a commercial break after the Lions kicked a field goal to go up 3-0 in the first quarter against the Bucs on Sunday afternoon, Chris Myers must not have been aware that his mic was on. FOX audio picked up Myers saying something I thought I'd only ever hear Harry Doyle say in the booth (via Guyism): 

"Thank you ... it's bourbon on the rocks."

Did Tim Ryan ask Myers what he was drinking? Was Myers making a joke about whatever non-alcoholic drink he may have been sipping on? Should we really care? 

Well, maybe, especially if it's the booze that has been helping Myers come up with all his awesome analogies over the years. 

 

ESPN GamePlan Overpriced and Over Hyped Has Lost Its Luster To College Football Fans

Conceptually, ESPN GamePlan makes complete sense. More football games. Given displaced alumni all around the country, you would think that just like the NFL Sunday Ticket, a premium package of additional football games would be a great thing.

And for years I've paid the roughly $140 or so knowing that there are few people in the world who have more access to football than myself. 

But in terms of value, common sense, and actual usage of the package, it's one of the worst deals on cable and satellite, potentially even worse than renting "Something Borrowed," duped by female company. 

The most glaring issue is that the package does not come in HD. (Cue my yuppie jackass persona to bemoan stretched out standard definition games that actually are being shown elsewhere in HD.) 

A little known secret is that GamePlan games are usually available in HD by other means, but not through GamePlan. College football fans have been some of the fastest adopters of ESPN3.com, as seemingly the whole portfolio of ESPN network games are available there, and in HD. If you're actually savvy enough to hook it up on your television, you'll really find no difference between the regular broadcast and the Al Gore version.

Then, thanks to various complex relationships between the ACC and SEC having their own syndication networks with the help of ESPN and Raycom, you can almost always find a good chunk of the games advertised as being GamePlan exclusives on random channels you already have.

The general sports tier and even your local channels will very often opt in to showing a tier two or tier three game rather than running paid programming or reruns. 

Most of these aired on the sports tier or local channels. Which game here could you have lived without?

ESPN3 is not the only product diluting the "unique" value of GamePlan, though. Last year, ESPN unveiled ESPN Goal-line, their version of the Red Zone Channel, which bounces you around with look-ins to all of the games (in HD of course), giving you all the big plays across a wide spectrum of games. The channel is free for many and is usually found to fill time on ESPN News and in between games on ESPN and ESPN 2.

A lot of cable and satellite companies also have individual game pay-per-view options, meaning you can buy games A La Carte, just in case you're in a pinch and can't commit to the full season.

Given ESPN's broad amount of broadcasting deals with various conferences, there is currently an abundance of programming that can only be found via GamePlan. However, the reality is that soon enough that surplus will evaporate. FX and Fox have their foot in the door, Versus/NBC Sports Network is drooling to add additional college programming, the Pac Ten Network will launch next year, and other upstarts like LHN, BTN, and The Mountain will continue to hoard off a larger portion of their games. The bottom line is that ESPN's market share in broadcasting the vast majority of college games has peaked and will slowly leak out over the next decade or so.

This trend is already underway as GamePlan's weekly schedules over the years have continued to become less attractive to even the biggest diehards. 

I feel like a chump for renewing when I never really watch it. The one game I clicked over to watch during a timeout this weekend, I quickly found in HD on another channel. In the end, barring a scheduling anomaly, I've likely paid $140 for less than an hour of entertainment. Oversold and under delivered -- $140 down the drain for an hour of disappointment. At least I don't have to tip.

Going forward, ESPN needs to get real here as they can't keep trotting out a product that is eroding and at a high price point. ESPN Goalline, ESPN 3, and ESPN PPV all make the package irrelevant. Maybe the sports bars will keep paying, but other than that the package is worthless and needs to be either overhauled or re-priced.  While we're at it, can we do something about Mark May and Craig James, too?

This past January, Jim Cornelison sang the national anthem at Soldier Field before the Chicago Bears' NFC Divisional Round and NFC Championship playoff games. Cornelison gained a ton of fans for his amazing, powerful ability to sing the anthem. Chicago Blackhawks fans have known how awesome he is at singing the anthem for years, as he sings before all of their home games at the United Center. But, singing the anthem before the highly viewed Bears playoff games on Fox really got him the recognition he's long deserved.

Well today, on the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bears had Cornelison sing the anthem before their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons. It was an unbelievable scene, with the players from both teams coming out to help hold a massive American flag on the field while Cornelison sang. And Cornelison absolutely brought his A-game for this highly emotional moment.

Here's the must-watch video which is sure to give you goosebumps:

The first Sunday of the NFL season has brought us some interesting announcing moments already.  Fox's Chris Myers was overheard saying something about a "bourbon on the rocks" out of a commercial during the Lions/Bucs telecast.  Incidentally, viewers also have to be drunk to enjoy Myers' commentary.  Then, in St. Louis, Brian Billick described the Rams' ability in using the no huddle offense in an interesting way.  He noted that the Rams "have had some sex with the no huddle."  I think he was trying to say "success," but who knows?  Thank goodness we didn't catch him off-mic asking for a bagel.



H/T h0r0k for the video!

Hold your loved ones a little tighter today and never forget what happened on this day ten years ago.

"Since this nation was founded under God, more than 200 years ago,
We've been the bastion of freedom, the light which keeps the free world aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of others, we are blessed with the bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other nations...anything...anytime... Anywhere.

War is just not our nature...we won't start, but we will end the fight.
If we are involved we shall be resolved to protect what we know is right.
We've been challenged by a cowardly foe, who strikes and then hides from our view.
With one voice we say there's no choice today, there is only one thing to do.

Everyone is saying the same thing
And praying that we end these senseless moments we are living.
As our fathers did before,
We shall win this unwanted war.
And our children will enjoy the future, we'll be giving."