Watch this video of Knowshon’s TD run against Auburn to get a feel for the right way to broadcast a college game:
Here’s a few pointers:
- Your play by play guy doesn’t have to sound like a robot.
- There’s nothing wrong with immediately showing a replay of a big play. And showing it more than once.
- Color commentary can be enhanced with replay.
- You don’t have to show endless shots of the bands to impart the flavor of a college game.
- Best of all, no mention of this: Jumpers 2.14.08.
And, no, it’s got nothing to do with the fact that this was such an exciting play – there were plenty of those in the Sugar Bowl, too. CBS just does a better job. I hope the SEC keeps this in mind when the broadcast contract comes up in a year’s time.
Get The Picture 
Wow-
When FOX’ lousy job covering the Sugar Bowl became an issue on the internets, this clip was the FIRST thing I thought of on how to do things right. Interesting.
Herein you have a perfect mix:
– Excitement. It was a heckuva run, and Verne gives it its due.
– Analysis. Gary’s sort of a spazz, but he’s still able to nail down how good of a run this was.
– Humor. “He’s looking for something…that he lost.” Classic.
– Camerawork. Show the play, show a quick shot of the crowd, show the Moreno/Brown celebration, show the extra point, then show a replay, another replay, and another replay, all from different angles…instead of showing half the play (because you’re too busy talking about the backstory of one of Auburn’s 3rd string O-linemen), then the Jumpers Extreme Replay Thingy from a play that happened a quarter ago, then a closeup of the trumpet line, then some graphics all over the place, then pining away at how sad you are that Auburn couldn’t tackle better.
LikeLike
Oh, also, don’t forget the CBS StatTrax thing that shows up whenever someone makes a big play. It’s very subtle, but still a cool way to follow someone’s numbers the entire game.
LikeLike
I never noticed that right after the TD Verne says, “Lingerie on the field!”
Uncler Verne and Blackledge always seemed to have some homoerotic relationship, and Gary’s pretty annoying, too. All told, though, I’ll take the CBS guys over Brenneman (sp?) and Charles Davis any day.
LikeLike
Hmm. I think Danielson’s one of the best college football analysts out there right now.
He had a stretch during the Florida-Tennessee game last year when his analysis of what was about to happen was so spot on I thought he was stealing signals.
Verne’s no Uncle Ron, but I’d take him over many out there. And I think his mancrush is Tim Tebow, not his broadcast partner. 😉
LikeLike
Verne plays both ways. If I weren’t a Georgia fan his Greene/Pollack love from a few years ago would probably grate.
I can only fault Danielson for his enthusiasm, really. The man just loves good football. Can’t say that about Thom “Georgia should stop trying hard” Brenneman at all.
LikeLike
And that my friends is how it’s done. Next to Munson I can’t think of many broadcasters I would rather listen too than Verne. The guy is emotional and rarely plays favorites, team wise that is.
However for those of you who didn’t get enough of Fox they are replaying the game tonight on FSN at 9pm.
LikeLike
D.N. hit it right on the head. Verne and Gary, whatever else you think about them, try their darndest to convey the excitement of a given game; Brennaman tries to dull it down until it’s every bit as antiseptic as a lot of people perceive the NFL to be (except Fox’s NFL coverage, on the whole, isn’t even as bad as what they did to the Sugar Bowl).
Somebody, maybe it was Blutarsky his ownself, made the point recently that it’s folly to hand over something as important as the BCS to a network that has no previous experience covering college football (except for the Cotton Bowl, I guess). The college dynamic is so much different from that of the NFL, and Fox hasn’t grasped that. Their multitudes of extraneous band shots only reinforce it; it’s almost as if they’re saying, “See, NFL teams don’t have marching bands, but college teams do! We totally get it, CFB fans!” But . . . no, Fox, you don’t get it. You don’t get it at all.
I’m wondering if we can’t start some kind of a letter-writing campaign to Mike Slive to ensure that Fox is not entrusted with the SEC contract next year.
LikeLike
I’m sure that Brenneman would have shrugged off that huge run Brown had in the 4th quarter, than chided the coaching staff for keeping pedal to metal on poor, poor Auburn.
LikeLike
God only knows what he would have had to say about the dancing on the sideline before the start of the fourth quarter.
LikeLike