I LOVE this ESPN crew!

[blindseyed]

It's great to see that they are talking about the game and not stupid, irrelovant crap. Guess the Dennis Miller/Tony Kornheiser type experiment is over.

Oh please God let be over forever!

I like Gruden, he was good from a coaches point AND he jabbed at Jaws a few times (Vick selling more jerseys was one and running more yards in one year than Jaws in 10 yrs..lol)

 

[Red Hawk]

Pleasantly surprised.

Articulate, knowledgable, no homering.

 

[Cardiac]

Oh please God let be over forever!

I like Gruden, he was good from a coaches point AND he jabbed at Jaws a few times (Vick selling more jerseys was one and running more yards in one year than Jaws in 10 yrs..lol)

That cracked me up and it was good natured locker room ribbing humor that fits much better then the Dennis Miller attempts.

I wonder how much info the announcers get on their own and how much is from the pregame interviews with the coaches and players?

The entire crew really played up the battle for the #2 QB spot far too much for my taste. At times I got the impression the Leinart is lucky to be in the league from all his terrible play they talked about. Matt has not set the world on fire but he has not crapped the bed either.

Which brings me back to my question of how much self research they do and how much is info from the coaches. As Conrad Dobler has posted he thinks Whiz is frustrated by Matt's work ethic or football desire or..... Does this come across in the interviews and then talked about by the announcers? I believe most of us on this board don't rate Matt as poorly as the announcers do.

 

[lauraw]

Gruden will be the cornerstone by the regular season..

 

[JerkFace]

Gruden was great during the broadcast and he was also great during this past years draft. On some level I really hope that he doesn't get a coaching job anytime soon.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Gruden was phenomenol.

He will likely be gone after this season however.

 

[cardsfan89]

Gruden likes football... I like when he said the new safety rules were stupid because football players SHOULD be out there hitting each other (something like that)

 

[JeffGollin]

The on-air guys were great, but the production format left me a bit frustrated.

I look forward to the second half of preseason games because you get to see a lot of the backups fighting for roster positions or promotions up the depth chart.

ESPN has a bit of Sports Illustrated in its DNA that causes it to spend more time in the second half interviewing people on the sidelines or reminiscing about the good old days than it does covering the play, letting you know who made the big hit or key block or who blew a coverage.

I understand why they do it, but I'd still rather have Wolf and Pasch calling the 2H. (Note - the NFL Network replay Saturday used the ESPN feed instead of the local telecast. Bummer). Maybe I'll listen to the archived audio replay today on nfl.com.

 

[Catfish]

I agree that Tirico, Jaws, and Gruden (individually), are (not) among the best that the network has to offer. That being said , however, together they have become what I believe to be the BEST broadcast TEAM, in football right now. Their individual styles compliment each other, are informative, are entertaining, and show a genuine affection for each other in the sense of furthering the content and delivery of the broadcast.

I find this (COMPLIMENTARY) crew VERY refreshing after being subjected to the constant (COMPETETIVE) banter of nearly ALL of the other (major) broadcasting crews in the business. This crew seems to bring out the BEST in each other to deliver a good work. This is a welcome change to the constant bickering, bashing, and (most of all), dwelling on the NEGATIVE, that has plagued the networks for the past 5-10 years.

 

[Chaz]

A cardboard cutout would be better than Kornheiser.

I was skeptical when they announced Gruden but I agree that he did a good job.

I understand why they do it, but I'd still rather have Wolf and Pasch calling the 2H. (Note - the NFL Network replay Saturday used the ESPN feed instead of the local telecast. Bummer). Maybe I'll listen to the archived audio replay today on nfl.com.

The only TV coverage was from ESPN as far as I know.

Local TV in Phoenix broadcast the ESPN feed.