1. I love Kevin Harlan.
If you’re a regular reader of this column or regular listener of the SI Media Podcast or a Twitter follower, you know this.
I lobbied for him to get Turner’s lead play-by-play role. I’ve had him on the pod a couple of times and I have celebrated his amazing work.
So I’m not happy to write what I’m about to write, but I always try to be honest with you guys. And the truth is, I was slightly disappointed in Harlan’s call of a fan running on the field during Monday’s Rams-Niners game.
Allow me to explain.
Did Harlan call the action better than 99% of other play-by-play broadcasters would have? Yes. But when you compare this call to past Harlan calls, it fell a tad flat. In addition to being a great broadcaster, Harlan is also known for over-the-top calls of outrageous events.
He once did play-by-play of a cat running around the field.
And, of course, he did the greatest play-by-play ever of a fan running onto the field back in 2016.
So when Joe Buck announced on the TV side Monday night that a fan had run onto the field, I immediately started to tingle with excitement over what the Harlan call would be. I knew that recent SI Media Podcast guest @Bubbaprog would tweet the audio and video in a timely fashion. My level of anticipation for the clip was high.
But that was the problem. I was anticipating a bit too much. Harlan has set the bar too high.
When Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner leveled the dope who ran on the field, I wanted an explosion from Harlan. Instead, he remained relatively calm.
Harlan started the call strong, talking about the activist running around with pink smoke, but when it came time for the money shot, Harlan kept it cool, saying, “Now a couple of Rams come over there and make the tackle, head first into the player who has taken the field, and he’s in a cloud of pink smoke so you can’t see him, and now on him are a couple of security guards.”
Everyone on Twitter instinctively heaped praise on Harlan’s call to get those likes and retweets, but Monday’s call can’t compare to his others. I’m sorry, I’m just trying to keep it real. I wanted more. I needed more.
I despise criticizing Harlan, even tongue-in-cheek, so let me offer a cleanser. His call of Deebo Samuel’s thrilling touchdown catch last night was vintage Harlan. Just spectacular.
Back to the fan running on the field. On the TV side, Buck and Troy Aikman had to do the standard, “We won’t show this, blah, blah, blah,” nonsense.
However, over on ESPN2, the Mannings wanted and demanded the video of the fan running on the field, and they got it.
Eli came through with hard-hitting analysis, saying, “Amateur-hour there. If you're gonna streak, you gotta go full-throttle and go nude, right? I mean, what is this?"
The best part about this quote? Omaha Productions, which produces the ManningCast, cut out Eli’s request for nudity from streakers in the video they tweeted for their official account.
Here is the full clip.
2. Here is this week's edition of the best recurring bit on all of sports television, Bad Beats.
Speaking of Bad Beats, ESPN announced that the segment will now also become a monthly show.
While it’s nice to see ESPN acknowledge the greatness of Bad Beats and Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve, it would be nice if they didn't air it on Sundays at 5 p.m., when the exact audience for the show is busy watching and betting on football. The show should air on Tuesday nights, when there is no college or pro football.
3. Another week of strong ratings for the NFL. CBS’s late window, which featured the Patriots at the Packers, averaged 24.6 million viewers, up 8% vs. last year’s comparable window.
The Chiefs ho-hum win over the Bucs drew 22.2 million viewers for NBC on Sunday night.
And the NFL Network got good ratings news for its 9:30 a.m. ET telecast of Saints-Vikings.
4. ESPN will have a different look for the upcoming NBA season, with a new score bug and a new theme song.
5. Turn away, Mets fans. The graphic, via Reddit, of the NL East race, will hurt.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a conversation with The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis, who joined me to talk about a truly wild week in sports media.
Topics covered include:
- Split-screen madness
- Ime Udoka coverage
- Brett Favre coverage
- What Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have done for Monday Night Football
- The most outlandish take of the week
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
