Nbc Bids Nfl Goodbye With Solid Broadcast
With a bizarre goodbye, a surprisingly exciting game and a typically solid broadcast, NBC said farewell to the NFL on Sunday after 33 years of broadcasting professional football.
Dick Enberg, probably announcing his final NFL game, said last week he wanted to go out with a memorable game. The Packers and Broncos obliged, providing one of the most exciting Super Bowls.
People usually say the sign of a good broadcast is one that can keep you interested even in a blowout. But a more telling sign of good announcing is commentary that does not overwhelm a compelling game.
That is what Enberg and partners Phil Simms and Paul Maguire achieved Sunday, using understated analysis and strong pictures to tell the story in the fourth quarter.
Producer Tom Roy used his 28 cameras well, providing telling replays on the key plays of Denver’s winning drive - the facemask penalty on Darius Holland and the block by Ed McCaffrey on Howard Griffith’s reception.
After Denver ensured itself of the AFC’s first Super Bowl win in 14 years, Roy provided compelling reaction shots from the Broncos’ bench and John Elway’s father.
When Enberg signed off, he gave a quiet goodbye for the network.
“The end of the 1997 NFL season and for NBC, Super Bowl 32 is the end of 33 years of covering AFL and NFL action,” he said. “NBC has been there from the start. From Joe Namath to John Elway, from Curt Gowdy to those of us honored to call tonight’s game.
“On behalf of our crew, I’d like to thank everyone who has helped bring you NFL games since 1960 and thank you for watching.”
That should have been it, however, NBC used an amateurish lead-in to “3rd Rock From the Sun” with star John Lithgow jumping on Greg Gumbel.
While the trio of Enberg, Simms and Maguire will be missed next season, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol’s refusal to put a continuous time/score box on the screen will not. His arrogant argument that viewers will turn away from a game if they know the score rings hollow, especially in the Super Bowl, where there is no real competition.
Simms and Maguire showed again why they should still have prominent roles next season even though NBC is out of the NFL. Both consistently provide insight and analysis without hitting the viewer over the head with it.
Early in the first half, Simms pointed out that Green Bay was running away from safety Steve Atwater and could not pick up Denver’s blitz, the cause of two first-half turnovers.
The turnovers do bring up one complaint. After Brett Favre’s first-quarter interception, it took well into the next quarter for NBC to let the viewer know that that was the NFC’s first turnover in 15 quarters at the Super Bowl. The timing of the graphic, however, turned out to be prophetic, as Favre fumbled on the next play.
xxxx LOOKING AHEAD Phill Simms and Paul Maguire showed again why they should still have prominent roles next season even though NBC is out of the NFL. Both consistently provide insight and analysis without hitting the viewer over the head with it.