Baby Steps — The NFL Network Names Papa Lead Announcer
Posted: July 16, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
Football viewing just got a lot more enjoyable.
The NFL Network announced that long-time Giants play-by-play man Bob Papa will succeed Bryant Gumbel on the network’s broadcasts. I listen to a lot of games on Sirius radio and Papa stands out as one of the league’s better game callers. He has a pleasant voice and is all about the game.
He’s worlds better than the stuffy Gumbel, who is perhaps the only announcer whose narration could turn a porn film into a soporific. The man droned! What’s worse, Gumbel had this annoying habit of using baseball analogies and cliches to describe football situations. That’s like repeatedly discussing your last girlfriend in front of your new one. If you’re calling a football game, speak of it in footballese. Please.
First, ESPN dumped Joe Theismann. Now, the league shows Gumbel the door.
Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
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This is such great news. Those broadcasts were like some sick joke; Collinsworth is one of the best analysts and Gumbel was the worse thing to happen to football broadcasts since LT broke Theisman’s leg!
Actually, I think Gumbel was worse than Theisman.
(Because he went to the booth, not because he couldn’t play anymore.)
Switching subjects. Anyone want to hazzard a guess as to when our draft picks will start to get signed? We usually wait until a week before camp. Well, we’re about there now. Anyone want to guess when the first signing occurs?
ridgelake,
they’ll likely start in the back and work their way forward. Look for news tomorrow or friday.
Now, if only ESPN will do away with that ignoramus Kornhole…
That guy wouldn’t last 5 seconds on air in Australia. I mean, we’ve got a few bad commentators here too (one guy in particular springs to mind) but they (and he) are not in any way in the same paddock of filth that Kornhole lives in. How do you guys put up with him? There must be at least the illusion of support for him otherwise he’d be gone. So, speak up, let’s hear it, why Kornhole?
Kornhole = The lowest common denominator.
StopRoyce/Kameleon.
Thanks for the info on Eatman and Hamlin’s tackles.
I guess if he’s got info from the coaches who watch the film, that’s OK. But I assume the official NFL site is using the official stats.
I don’t know, 100 tackles for a free safety? That’s a lot. 6-7 a game, but if they’re counting assists it’s reasonable.
coaching staffs keep their own stats, they dont necessarily conform to league stats.
TREY-
You think Free Agancy has worked?
Well, that’s an opinion, so we can disagree on that. But, how old are you? Do you think the quality of football played the last 10 years matches what was played before that?
You like these playoffs recently, rather than having great teams face off as in the decades before the mid-90’s?
If so, OK-I know some people like having different teams every year, but I’ll stick by my point that it’s been a pool of mediocrity, and the quality of football since the Cap has declined, mostly due to teams not being able to keep guys together long enough to be cohesive units.
I don’t even see that as arguable.
As for your other point, yes, there are many FA’s on the team-but it’s changing. Those guys were signed in the past. It seems to me the movement is decreasing, and the amount of talent available each year is going down.
FA and the Cap taught GM’s (who should have already known) that it’s CB’s, OLinemen, and Left Tackles that won games as much as or more that the name, skill guys.
Forget our roster NOW-The point I made won’t have an effect for a few years-Let’s wait 5 years and see how many key players came through FA. Like you said, Dallas (and other teams) are now locking up good talent to long-term deals-and therfore those guys aren’t going to be coming on the market.
Unless they’ve got issues, ie Tank, Pacman, TO. Or are older, like Zach Thomas.
JC56
Call me sick, but I always considered that a blessing … I mean, it’s Joey T! The only thing better would have been if he broke his jaw so I wouldn’t have to listen to his drivel…
Well, saw the more exact figures on Hamlin’s contract-he did indeed take only a $650,000 salary this year, but jumps to a $5 Mill Cap hit next year, then more each year.
Whew, for a Free Safety.
Whatever happens with RW, I think Strong Safety is going to have to be a cheap position the next few years. Sooner or later space on the Cap will run out.
Let’s hope one of these young safeties can play
I guess it is a matter of how you define “working” Free agency works if you want to add a number of key pieces to a talented young team. It has been a key to winning in the NFL since they finished with plan B. You can argue that it is not good for the overall product on the field but you can’t say it is no longer critical to winning and to sustain good teams. The fact that the DH is an abomination in baseball does not mean you should make your pitchers bat if your an American league manger.
I agree that none of these teams have as much talent as the 70s Steelers, 80s 49ers, or 90s Cowboys, but that has very little to do with Free agency and much to do with a CAP. Unless some teams have a real money advantage then sustained greatness is almost impossible. In a league with 32 teams that actually have a real chance to complete without getting lucky means means parity and mediocrity will prevail most of the time.
The 70s Steelers were built with great drafting, good coaching and a bit of steriod cheating. The 49ers were built by one of the Greatest football minds of all time who just happened to get one of the best QB’s and the best WR of all time to go along with an otherwise talented roster. The 90s Cowboys were built upon some unreal talent evaluation made by Jimmy right after he came out of college ranks. It was sustained by Jerry spending as much money as the rules would allow to retain his talent and to aquire major free agents who were difference makers. No Haley, no Deion, no SB in 95, no shot in 96-97 and we would be talking about a two year run.
Drafting, if your good and lucky may get you the heart and soul of a championship team, it may even build a championship team but it will not fill enough holes to sustain anything. Look at the key pieces New England used in their run. As pointed out, half of the Cowboys current starters are free agents.
Teams with a very good talent base will keep more of their own so they can sustain what they got. Teams with holes and deep pockets are going to use free agency so they can take best advantage of draft picks by picking BPA over, I got to get a bla bla.
FYI: I am in my early 40s.
Trey,
You didn’t mention the sustained run of the Cowboys from the late 60’s throught the late 80’s. It was done with almost exclusively home grown (i.e., drafts, UFA’s). The opposite approach were the Raiders who had a similar overall record but did it with a lot of other teams problem children.
You can’t seperate the cap and FA, the 2 go together and always will. It probably cost the Cowboys 2 SB’s in the 90’s, lowered the level of play on the field and made it next to impossible to sustain greatness. That’s enough reasons for me to dislike it. The players have benefited greatly (which they should in a capitalistic economy) so it has at least 1 benefit.
I noticed no one has commented, but Scout’s Inc (Rafael’s favorite pundits
) just ranked our LB & DB corps as the best in the NFL.
Our DL didn’t get much love. I believe they may be the most underrated group in the NFL, and I wouldn’t trade them for any other unit.
Canty, Spears, Tank, Ratliff, and Hatcher have no weaknesses and produce a rotation that we haven’t seen since the 90’s team. A 3-4 group won’t rack up the sacks from the DL, but our guys ALL contributed mightily and are just entering their prime. This could be the best group in the league by year’s end.
Combined, this D will invoke memories of Doomsday, or at least the 90’s group (Did they ever get a nickname?).
If Defense wins championships, and they do, then clear the mantle for #6.
On FA vs. The Cap - There was no doubt that overpaying for talent was much more prevalent in the first decade (’94-’04).
Teams thought they could “buy” a championship team after years of drafting incompetance (see Redskins).
However, the past 3 or 4 years, the Cap went up so severely that teams began signing their own. They also realized the devil you know is far better than someone else’s saint, who more often than not, turned into the devil you didn’t know.
But Jerry has become the master at filling holes via FA and attracting potential superstars at bargain prices with promises of big money for performance. The fact that he’s fullfilled every promise and the lure of the best franchise in pro sports made it the “perfect” opportunity for every big-name free agent.
Which team will every bigtime WR want to go to next year? For all his faults as a GM (and they are many), as an Owner he has no peer.
Trey, StillHate kinda said what I would in response:
First, when I say FA I’m including the Cap, but you’re right, it’s specifically the Cap that forces the watering down of football.
Also, when I said it didn’t work, I wasn’t very clear, but yeah, what I meant was that it didn’t work for the fans in terms of putting a good product on the field. What you are saying is that it did “work” for some teams in terms of acquiring talent, and that’s true.
someone will point out, though, that although I think the product sucks compared to what it was in the past, here I am talking about, it’s more popular than ever, and the franchises are getting huge TV deals and are worth way more tha they were. So SOMEONE likes the product! Even me. I just compare it to the quality of the past and am disappointed.
My main point was that it seems the number of high-profile FA’s available each year is going down, and teams aren’t going to find it as easy to get the pieces they need anymore, because GM’s are getting smarter about locking up talent.
The guys coming available are miscontents (TO, Pac, Randy Moss) or older (Zach T., Shawn Alexander, etc.)
With all this young talent we have now, for instance, 7 years ago we’d be fretting about how to keep it, and about how we were going to lose a lot of these guys because of the Cap, so we’d better win now.
But it seems more and more that instead, the young guys (other teams’ too) get locked up to these long term deals, and will never be available to other teams, until they have a fair amount of wear and tear.
It’s all kind of a generalization-there were a few big names this year, like Asante Samuel. But it seems like a trend to me.
Fighter
I’d agree with all of that, except that when we get those ‘bargain prices’
there’s a reason.
Sooner or later filling their roster with guys with problems, Tank, Pacman, TO, will backfire on JJ and the Boys.
Everyone here talks about how great TO has been. I admit, after his rocky start he’s been a decent guy.
But let me say something-watch what happens if this team starts losing. With all our talent we don’t consider that. But a losing steak, missing the playoffs, say due to a string of injuries, and it wouldn’t be long before some of the old TO came out.
Every clubhouse has good ‘chemistry’ when the team’s winning.
The true test for Owens will be how he acts if the team goes 9-7.
StillHate,
The CAP and free agency came to the dance together, but they will not leave together. Free Agency is here to stay, there is no legal way they are getting that Genni back in the bottle. The CAP as we know it is on life support and will almost surely look different in the next CBA. It’s already functionally different from the CAP that tore up the Cowboys and the 49ers just because it is now managed by really smart guys who have CPAs and law degrees instead of guys who earned thier way through life understanding football.
If you think the CAP is applying the same kind of enforced game balance that it was 10 years agon then your not paying attention to the signings. The Cowboys just signed FIVE pro-bowl players to huge contracts and that is right on the heels of signing a pro-bowl QB, a pro-bowl TE, a pro-bowl center and over paying for Roy Williams and and injured TG and paying a record amount for an all-pro Guard. Not to mention not so minor signings along both lines.
After all this they are still 10 million dollars under the CAP and will be able to sign Cantry and lower their CAP number if they wanted to. They could fit another top free agent to suppliment thier 12 pro-bowl players without blinking or handy capping their future. In fact a number of the contracts are not maxed out and could be adjusted to create more CAP space as needed.
Realist Larry,
In TO’s first year….
the team went 9-7.
he responded to a first round playoff exit that year by supporting his QB as he wept in the locker room (the bobbled snap) and texting him frequently throughout the off season to see if he was OK.
TO is the least of our problems.
Larry,
Your right in that the roster volitity created by free agency has declined. This year the crop was really light, but part of the reason it was so light was teams like Dallas paid huge bank to their own free agents despite having an overloaded roster. Last year had a lot of big off season signings.
We are in the 3rd era of free agency and it is maturing and teams have a better understanding of impact on them and are making the needed adjustments. Even teams like Pittsburgh seem to be able to hold onto most of thier young talent while they were losing a pro-bowl guy every year for a while.
Once the new CBA comes together we will be in the fourth era of free agency and there is reason to expect that increased player freedom will have to be one of the consessions the league makes in order to get the players to agree to a smaller share of the revenue. I expect the results to increase the advantage that large market teams have in free agency.
Given the social and economic factors, free agency is a given in modern team sports. The question is how a given league should manage it. No one has done a better job then the NFL.
In what sport has free agency helped the product on the field. In baseball, it killed the golden goose. You and 10,000 of your closest friends can show up on game day and buy tickets at your typical Kansas City Royal baseball game. League TV rankings are not what they used to be either. Twice as many viewings with half as many viewers is not considered progress.
In Basketball you have teams giving up all star players to richer teams so they can improve thier balance sheet. At least in football, any given team can afford to become a winner even if only some can afford to sustain a championship roster.
Raf,
I am concern that when we have to go down to 53 man roster, we will have to part with some quality players, e.g. Amendola, Ogolsby, Ball, ect.
If we decide to sign them to practice squad, what is the procedure as far as other teams (BP’s miami) jumping on them and signing them? How do we protect them?
Trey, I wouldn’t disagree with any of that.
I think we’re saying the same thing.
I like the new direction in the NFL, because teams locking up these guys long-term should lead to improved quality of play.
This is a different topic, but kind of the same-it’s always repeated as truth, and it bugs me cause I think it’s plain wrong-
That before the cap there was no parity, and that only certain teams could win.
(I’m not saying you think this, Trey, just speaking generally)
That’s BS. the draft has always been arranged to help the worst teams. Teams always rose and fell, with the exception of the Boys-Packers, Steelers, Raiders, Vikings, Rams in the 60’s - 70’s, to the 49ers, Giants, Redskins in the 80’s (and Bears), and teams like the Bengals, Broncos, Patriots all making appearances in the SB.
If a team had good talent evaluation, they could all win.
What the Cap did was shorten the time a team could stay on top, at least during the first 10 years or so.
Toast-
What a nice concern to have!
wow,
listen to this s*$t,
Some guy named pete archer just blew me away at the DMN blog. In wondering how long it will take felix jones to get going this year he states the following:
“Julius Jones had about 12 touches per game in 2007. The Cowboys would want Felix Jones to have about 10 to 12 this season. ”
Huh?!??!?!?!
Im guessing he’ll get alot more touches than that.
correction,
pete aldrich.
OK,
the aldrich guy linked to another article, written by todd archer, that is where the above quote originated. Man, that HAS to be a typo by todd archer.
there is no way felix jones will be limited to about 10-12 touches in 08.
yeah i bet he meant 10-12 a game this season,jeesh,
AND SO IT BEGINS
5th round pick scandrick signs 4 year, 1.85 million dollar deal.
dont spend it all in one place kid.