Thursday night football is a joke
November 11, 2008 by Nich Hall
Filed under NFL Football, Patriots
This whole Thursday Night Football idea is a complete joke. Thursday nights used to be about Conference USA football teams actually getting some exposure but suddenly it has become a coveted time slot for ESPN and unfortunately now the NFL. I get the college aspect, particularly where recruiting comes into play but for the NFL this game is essentially useless.
Here are four reasons why this broadcast and date are a joke.
1. Bad televsion
I understand that they are trying to focus national attention on one game and matchup just like MNF in the good ole days. But lets face it people even Monday Night Football, isn’t really MNF anymore. The pregame is terrific, with great anaylsis but the actual product is painful. Tony Kornheiser has shown us by himself why the press box is seperate from the broadcast booth. With his national TV audience this year he has made an incredibly racist remark towards the Mexican population and last night during what would have otherwise been an incredible finish, we listened to him lament about his incorrect statement, just minutes before that the game was over. (PS: As a Patriots blogger, and media student I was also shocked last season as the MNF crew allowed ‘72 Dolphins Coach Don Shula, to audibly cheer against the Patriots in a game that really had nothing to do with Shula.)
2. The announcers.
Is Jim Nantz busy on Thursday nights? This years crew was supposed to be an upgrade on last years announcing. I’d even take Madden grumbling away over the crew they have put together this year. The NFL has a tried and tested formula for success in broadcasting games, follow the damn formula. No matter what network it is on, it should have the look, feel, and sound like other NFL broadcasts.
3. No audience.
Maybe some of the cable networks would consider picking up your channel if the announcing wasn’t God awful. As it stands almost nowone outside of Canada which gets it on TSN, is seeing the game. And those that do see it in the States, I can assure you are overpaying for it.
4. Competitive balance.
Now I understand that the Jets and Patriots are in the same boat this week, they both have essentially just three days to prepare for each other. That’s fine with me, it’s the week after a Thursday night game that bothers me. For a team that plays on Thursday they essentially get a free half bye week. They can sit back, heal and scout their next opponent on a Sunday afternoon. Hell Belichick could go to Miami and tape the offensive signals himself. In a league in which the schedule is crafted specificially in the interest of competitive balance (doesn’t work anyway) this competitive edge for Thursday night teams some 10 days later is ridiculous.
That is all, Jets/Patriots preview tomorrow.
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November 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Nich,
There’s a lot of truth in what you’re saying, but the NFL owners make a killing on those NFL n/w games because distributors are forced to pay the league a monthly fee for every single one of the network’s subscribers.
If they weren’t carrying the Thursday and Saturday nighters, then we can safely assume that this network would be a bonafide bust for the league and God forbid the NFL would ever admit to doing anything wrong.
Agreed on Bryant Gumbel - he’s a snore of an announcer, but I think Cris Collinsworth is one of the better color guys in the league. He breaks the game down well and isn’t afraid to offer a constructive criticism.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
As long as it’s not Kornheiser, bring on any crew you can put together… By far and away, he’s the worst broadcaster on television…
Personally, I enjoy having a game to watch on Thursday. It affords me the opportunity to watch teams I may not have otherwise been able to watch (since I’ll always opt for Atlanta over anyone else)…
But, I understand your argument from a practical standpoint, and somewhat agree with just about everything you’ve said. Guess I’m just a little bit selfish in this regard…
November 11th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Nich, I like college football, but I love the NFL. If they want to give me an extra game night to watch during the week I’m all for it. I went to the Thursday Night game in Cleveland and it was the best game I’ve ever been to, and it was PrimeTime. I’d rather watch that then a Marshall VS UCF showdown anyday.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
How was Kornheiser’s remark incredibly racist? He meant to say he doesnt understand Spanish well. Even so, how is asking somebody to pick up your dry cleaning racist? It isnt.
I strongly disagree on Thursday football being a joke. Having so many Sunday at 1pm Eastern games is a joke. Considering how huge the NFL is and even Fantasy Football, they should be working on getting games at different times.
Why not put two Monday night games? An early game for East Coast teams, and throw West Coast teams starting at 10pm.
Putting Thursday games after having teams play Sunday is not a good idea. But they can leverage bye weeks and have teams play on a week night after a bye week, so they have at least normal rest between games.
There are 9 games at 1pm eastern this weekend. There are a few games that will only get coverage in the region of the home team. If they put this game by itself on a weeknight, then it would get higher ratings.
After baseball is over, Tuesday through Friday night is pretty dead sports wise on a nationally televised TV scale. Even if say, Detroit-Cincinnati were playing tonight, I would watch. A lot of people just like watching football. The NFL should do a better job letting people do that.