Entries tagged as ‘Football’
Fans who spend their lives rooting for one team in one town and listening only to the hometown announcers don’t have much of a basis for comparison of the men and women behind the microphones. As a kid in Cleveland, after the Indians’ games I’d catch a few innings when atmospheric conditions were right from games on WJR in Detroit, WLW in Cincinnati, KDKA in Pittsburgh and KMOX in St. Louis. But I didn’t listen critically, and during football season I only listened to the Browns’ games. It was and remains harder to catch a distant football broadcast on radio, as most games are played during the day when AM signals are limited.
With the advent of satellite radio, fans have an opportunity to listen to broadcasts from other markets. I listened to enough broadcasts on XM Radio the past two baseball seasons to get a sense of the best, such as Bob Uecker on the Brewers network and the John “Yankees win” Sterling. (My opinion is certainly burnished by having lived in both markets, listening to each over several seasons.)
XM has also exposed the “homers” who are shills for their teams and those whose delivery leaves me cold or at least unmoved.
I don’t have access to the other teams’ NFL broadcasts, so my football impressions are based primarily on local broadcasts as I’ve moved around the country. I always catch the 49ers and often take in Raiders’ games – at least until I can no longer stand the pain. Which leads me to the point of this post: Gary Plummer (pictured at right from his days as a 49ers linebacker) must rate as one of the finest color men in professional sports.
In his smooth baritone voice, he consistently offers clear, honest, rational commentary. He praises each team on the field when they deserve it and, just as even-handedly, criticizes the failings of each. He brings his experience from his playing days to the booth, but it never overshadows what’s happening on the field.
I wish all football fans had a chance to hear him.
Categories: Baseball · Football
Tagged: Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baseball, New York Yankees, Football, National Football League, NFL, San Francisco 49ers, sports broadcasters, XM Radio, satellite radio, AM radio
Thanksgiving Day in America means turkey, cranberries and football, not necessarily in that order. The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have been featured on national TV for as long as I can remember, and both teams will be in action this year.
I’ll be paying more attention to the Cowboys’ game against the Oakland Raiders, who will start Bruce Gradkowski (at right) at quarterback for the second game in a row.
Living just outside the San Francisco Bay area, I’ve become a student of bad and underperforming football teams in recent years. The Raiders and San Francisco 49ers have introduced high-hype first-round draft picks at QB in that time, and the teams have sputtered. I’ve been drawn to their less-heralded backups, Gradkowski and Shaun Hill for the Niners. When they’re playing, their teams move the ball and, at least in Hill’s case, win more often than not. It’ll take a few more games before we see how the Silver & Black perform with Gradkowski leading the way.
Speaking of the Silver & Black, here’s an unadulterated plug for the Silver & Black blog written by a friend and colleague who’s followed the Raiders for years. He actually knows what he’s talking about when it comes to pro football, as he actually goes to the games. I can only give you the armchair perspective.
Categories: Football
Tagged: Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Football, NFL, Oakland Raiders, television, Thanksgiving, tradition, TV
September 28, 2009 · 1 Comment
It’s not easy being silver and black. The Oakland Raiders, one of the most intimidating and successful franchises in the history of professional football, are reeling. On so many Sundays the past few years, the Raiders have been outplayed and outclassed. Since 2002, when they last won an AFC title and appeared in the Super Bowl, they haven’t posted a winning record. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I checked the stats — the Raiders haven’t won more than five games in any season since.
With the way the team has played this season, six victories seems like a tall order. A colleague who has season tickets (and writes a fine Raiders blog) said the fans in the Black Hole at the Oakland Coliseum relentlessly booed quarterback JaMarcus Russell on Sunday as the Broncos embarrassed the Raiders 23-3.
This is pitiful football. My Raiders’ credentials are a bit tenuous, but I have enough of a connection to justify a few observations. Growing up in the snowbound Eastern time zone, I watched a lot of Raiders games from the West Coast after the Browns wrapped up. The Raiders in those days were Daryle Lamonica and Fred Biletnikoff, Ken Stabler and Cliff Branch, not to mention scores of outstanding defensive backs and linemen both sides of the ball.
When the team returned to Oakland from exile in Los Angeles, I lived in Alameda – where Al Davis & Co. set up their corporate home. My kids’ high school manned concession booths at home games as a fund-raiser. While I saw little action on the field, I poured plenty of beers for the fans. The early years in Oakland Phase Two were mediocre, but the team had passionate backers who knew better times lay ahead.
For maddening contrast, today’s Raiders fans need only look across San Francisco Bay to see how the 49ers are resurrecting their program. I wish I had a solution for the Raiders, who for so many years found a way to win. Right now, the fabled “Commitment to Excellence” has a hollow ring to it.
Categories: Football
Tagged: Cleveland Browns, Football, JaMarcus Russell, Los Angeles, National Football League, NFL, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers
The Thursday night game between the Redskins and Giants notwithstanding, today marks the real kickoff to the 2008 National Football League season. In celebration, I took my natty corduroy Cleveland Browns cap out into the warm California sun for a morning portrait.

Classic Cleveland Browns corduroy cap
I call this a classic Browns cap because it dates not from the present franchise but from the last years of the old Browns, the team that the sinsister Art Modell carted off to Baltimore to become the dead-to-me Ravens.
The original Browns started in the All American Football Conference that was folded into the NFL in the early 1950s. My early childhood centered on baseball, and football didn’t enter my consciousness until early grade school. In fact, my earliest pro football memory is of the day of the 1964 championship game in which the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts (another team that would ultimately and appallingly be wrenched from the hearts of its fans). The game was blacked out on television in Cleveland, so my dad sent me to the attic to move our antenna around so we could catch the game on a Toledo station.
The demise of the old Browns roughly coincided with my move to California, where I’ve since attached my primary allegiance to the San Francisco 49ers and, given a few beers and the right opponent, the Oakland Raiders. I have not bonded with the new Browns, but should they advance to the playoffs, I’ll be pulling for them hard. And yeah, I want them to crush the Dallas Cowboys today.
In the meantime, I reserve my Browns cap mainly for the winter months, always hoping for the delightful contrast of white snowflakes settling on its rich brown bill.
Categories: Football
Tagged: All American Football Conference, Baltimore Colts, Baltimore Ravens, childhood, Cleveland, Cleveland Browns, corduroy, Dallas Cowboys, Football, National Football League, New York Giants, NFL, pro football, snow, Washington Redskins, winter