A tribute to Pat Summerall: His few words said it all

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Could Pat Summerall have been given the assignment to call 16 Super Bowls, all those Masters and U.S. Opens in tennis in today’s landscape?

It is an interesting question. The networks likely wouldn’t have been jumping all over each other to sign a former kicker who really didn’t say much on the telecasts. It’s more about color and flash, and unfortunately, sometimes screaming and yelling in today’s game. Summerall hardly was a flamboyant personality.

Yet Summerall, who died yesterday at the age of 82, leaves behind one of the greatest legacies in TV sports history. All those Super Bowls; all those big NFL games; all those golf tournaments when Jack Nicklaus was in his prime; all those big U.S. Opens when John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, and Jimmy Connors made that event appointment TV.

Summerall did it because of two main assets: A wonderful deep voice that punctuated his wonderful sense of brevity. He didn’t overwhelm a telecast. Rather, he melted into it, providing the ideal sound track to accompany the hum of the venue and the pulse of the action taking place down below.

There was this quote from Summerall in the New York Times obit:

“I always remember a bit of great advice from a producer doing golf for CBS. He told me that TV is a visual medium, and you don’t have to tell people what they already can see. His last words were, ‘If I ever hear you say that he made the putt, you’re fired.’ ”

Summerall let the pictures tell the story, adding just the right words to bring those pictures to life.

If you have a minute, take a listen to the clip above. It is the final minutes of the Green Bay-49ers playoff game that culminated in the famous Terrell Owens catch for the winning touchdown.

“Three-man rush…Young stumbles…Pass over the middle…Pass is caught by Owens…Owens made the catch!”

And then Summerall fades, first letting the crowd and then John Madden add the accent points to the memorable play. Perfect.

In a fine piece at Sports on Earth, Chuck Culpepper wrote how all Summerall had to say was “Third and 10” to set up a big play.

I still hear Pat Summerall saying something spare — “Third and ten . . .” — and I know the light has been fading outdoors. I know just as sure as any clockwork that Daylight Saving Time might be on its way, or that Daylight Saving Time has crashed in and blackened 5:30 already. I do not need to move from this seat. I do not need to look through a window. I know.

Indeed, Summerall was the voice of several generations. He always was there, first with “Brookie” and then the whacky coach from the Raiders. He played the straight man, always bringing out the best in his partners.

What Summerall did really was an art. Would it work today with the volume turned up several levels in 2013? Who knows?

All we need to know is that it worked wonderfully back then. All those Sundays in our minds contain the voice of Summerall, perfect, clear and succinct.

“Montana….Rice….Touchdown!”

Really, was there a better call than that?

 

 

 

 

Chicago news: Illinois football and basketball games moving to WSCR

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Adjust your radio dials, Illinois fans. The Illini are moving to WSCR-AM 670.

WIND-AM 560 still will carry the football games in 2013. The switch then begins with basketball for the 2013-14 season and football in 2014.

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Here’s the official announcement:

University of Illinois Director of Athletics Mike Thomas announced today that Learfield Sports’ Fighting Illini Sports Properties has secured WSCR 670 The Score as the newest radio affiliate on the statewide Illini Sports Network.  Thomas appeared live on the Mully & Hanley Show this morning, sharing news of the announcement with co-hosts Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley.

Terms of the new relationship with CBS Radio-owned 670 AM call for the station to carry Illini basketball starting with the 2013-14 athletic season and football in 2014.  The multi-year agreement encompasses football and men’s basketball.  Additionally, WSCR 670 The Score will broadcast Illinois’ coaches’ shows for men’s basketball and football concurrent with the respective schedule.  While a new alignment has been formed with 670 AM, long-time radio affiliate WIND-AM 560 will continue to carry football games and coaches’ shows throughout 2013 to listeners in the Chicago market.

The Illini Sports Network is overseen by Fighting Illini Sports Properties, the multimedia rights holder for University of Illinois Athletics and a property of Learfield Sports.  The collegiate marketer negotiated the affiliate relationship with the 50,000-watt, all sports clear channel station on behalf of the university.

“This is very exciting news for Fighting Illini fans throughout the Midwest,” Thomas said. “The signal strength and coverage area of WSCR 670 The Score is tremendous, giving our fans the very best ability to listen to Fighting Illini football and basketball. WSCR 670 The Score has an outstanding reputation as an all-sports station in the Chicago market, which is a great asset in spreading the Fighting Illini brand through the region. We appreciate our relationship with WIND-AM 560 over the past several years, and through the upcoming football season. It’s been a great partnership. We look forward to working with WSCR 670 The Score in any way possible as our agreement begins with the 2013-14 men’s basketball season.”

Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio in Chicago added, “We’re extremely proud to carry the Fighting Illini in the coming years, and we look forward to delivering the game action and coaches’ shows to our listening audience in the Chicago area and beyond to help extend the brand over the airwaves.  We’re also pleased that we’re able to continue to clear DePaul Blue Demons’ games on WSCR when not conflicting with an Illini game.”

“WSCR has incredible reach not just in the Chicago market, but much of the U.S. and parts of Canada, and we’re pleased to be able to bring the Fighting Illini to its listening audience,” said Fighting Illini Sports Properties’ General Manager Chris Andrews.  “We wanted to tap into 670’s strong signal strength and reputation as an exceptional AM station to reach as many Illinois fans as possible.”

Madden: Pat Summerall is voice of football and always will be

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Tributes are coming in for Pat Summerall:

John Madden on his long-time partner at CBS and Fox: “Pat was my broadcasting partner for a long time, but more than that he was my friend for all of these years. We never had one argument, and that was because of Pat. He was a great broadcaster and a great man. He always had a joke. Pat never complained and we never had an unhappy moment. He was something very special. Pat Summerall is the voice of football and always will be.”

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CBS noted Summerall’s impact on its coverage of sports:

Pat Summerall worked for CBS Sports from 1962-94.  He called 13 Super Bowls, 26 Masters and 21 U.S. Open Tennis Championships for the Network.

“There is no one more closely associated with the great legacy and tradition of CBS Sports than Pat Summerall.  His voice was synonymous with big events whether it was NFL football and the Super Bowl, the Masters or U.S. Open Tennis.” – Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports

“Pat Summerall was a hero to me.  I treasured the gift of friendship that I had with him.  I was his understudy for 10 years.  He could not have been more generous or kind to a young broadcaster.  He was a giant and one of the iconic figures in the history of the CBS Television Network.” – CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz

“In 1976 I was a junior in college and Chuck Will put me in the 18th tower as a spotter for Pat Summerall.  He told me, ‘You’re not going to meet a finer man in this business than Pat Summerall.’ And to this day, I never have.  He was kind to everyone.  When you were around him you never knew that he was the number one broadcaster.  He taught me so much, not only about this business, but how to treat people.  I’m sad on this day, but also smiling because I know he will be with his good buddy Tom Brookshier.” – Lance Barrow, Coordinating Producer, CBS Sports, Golf and NFL

“Pat was a friend of nearly 40 years.  He was a master of restraint in his commentary, an example for all of us.  He was also one of the great storytellers who ever spoke into a microphone.” – CBS Sports’ Verne Lundquist

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Fox Sports noted Summerall and Madden gave their new sports enterprise instant credibility:

Pat was an icon in his profession, and was the voice that defined the NFL on television for generations of fans.  He and John Madden helped give FOX Sports and the NFL on FOX credibility when it launched almost 20 years ago, and for that we’ll be forever grateful.  Pat’s 50-year record as an NFL player and broadcaster is truly unique, and it will be very difficult for anyone to ever walk in his footsteps.  Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Pat’s wife Cheri and the Summerall family.

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Al Michaels told Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead what made Summerall so good:

Pat Summerall was just a classy, classy man. He had a very soothing style. Pat was what I would call a very comfortable listen. You could sit back and enjoy the game, and by design, he was more of a minimalist in how he approached things.

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Mike Tirico on ESPN:

Pat was the gold standard….When the moment got bigger, Pat had a way to find the right phrase, right word that set the tone, captured the moment, but never got in the way of the event.

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And there will be more.

 

 

Here you go, soccer fans: NBC Sports Group set to super-serve Premier League

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NBC revealed its plans for its coverage of the English Premier League, which begins with the 2013-2014 season. It looks to be quite a feast for soccer fans.

Here are the details from NBC.

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All 380 games of the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season will be presented live on NBC Sports Group’s television and digital properties as well as other NBCUniversal channels. NBC Sports Group’s schedule, which begins on Saturday, August 17, includes live matches on NBC, NBC Sports Network, Telemundo, Mun2, the Premier League Extra Time package of overflow television channels, the NBC Sports Live Extrawebsite and app, and other NBCUniversal channels including CNBC and USA.

As previously announced in October 2012, NBCUniversal, via the NBC Sports Group, acquired the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Premier League through a multi-year agreement that begins with the 2013-14 season. Per the agreement, NBCUniversal becomes the exclusive English- and Spanish-language media rights holder to all 380 Barclays Premier League matches across all media platforms and devices in the United States.

Details of the 2013-2014 NBC Sports Group Premier League programming include:

  • All 380 matches presented live on television with studio pre- and post-game coverage;
  • All 380 matches streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra;
  • Games not aired on a designated NBCUniversal channel will be made available to distributors via Premier League Extra Time, a package of overflow television channels available at no extra cost for each of their customers who receives NBC Sports Network;
  • Championship Sunday – May 11, 2014, when all 10 Premier League matches will be available live on a different NBCUniversal channel;
  • 76 Spanish-language telecasts, 10 on Telemundo, 66 on Mun2;
  • More than 600 hours of Premier League original programming.

NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA: Every Barclays Premier League match will be streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra, the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktop, mobile and tablets and, in most cases, on the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, telco and other video subscription services. The vast majority of Barclays Premier League matches will be streamed via “TV Everywhere,” available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of these services.

NBC Sports Live Extra provides a primary and second screen experience across mobile, tablet and desktop, delivering high quality video, match/player stats and video highlights while aggregating Premier League content from social media.

PREMIER LEAGUE EXTRA TIME: All games not aired on a designated NBCUniversal channel will be made available to distributors on Premier League Extra Time, a package of overflow television channels available at no extra cost for each of their customers who receives NBC Sports Network.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY: The biggest day on the Premier League schedule is the last day of the season when all 20 teams play at the same time. NBCUniversal will present each match of Championship Sunday live across a host of NBCU channels, including NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA, MSNBC, E! and more.

STUDIO AND ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING: NBC Sports Network will present more than 600 hours each year of studio and original programming surrounding Premier League. Shows include:

  • Premier League Countdown – A preview of the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season;
  • Premier League Download – With the help of a number of high-profile celebrity supporters, comedians and journalists, Premier League Download will explore what it is that’s so intensely loved – and loathed – about England’s topflight league. Long-time supporters will enjoy the lively commentary, while new fans will learn the language of the only league that matters;
  • Premier League 36 – NBC Sports Network’s acclaimed 36 series that follows athletes for the 36 hours leading up to a game/match/race comes to the Premier League;
  • Premier League Goal Zone – A 30-minute program airing after the matches on Sunday with highlights of all the goals scored on Saturday and Sunday;
  • Game Cut-Downs – On Monday nights, NBCSN will present a two-hour show featuring cut-down versions of the Manchester United and Manchester City matches. On Tuesdays, a two-hour program will feature the Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham matches;
  • Match of the Day – A two-hour show featuring extended highlights with the natural calls of every game on Saturday. This show is modeled after the highly-regarded BBC show of the same name. Match of the Day will re-air on Sunday mornings;
  • Match of the Day 2 – A 90-minute show featuring extended highlights with the natural calls of every game on Sunday. This show is modeled after the BBC show of the same name;
  • Match of the Week – On Sunday nights, NBCSN will re-air the best match of the weekend in its entirety;
  • Barclays Premier League World – A weekly magazine show produced by Premier League;
  • Barclays Premier League Preview – A weekly show produced by Premier League that previews the upcoming week’s matches;
  • Barclays Premier League Review – A weekly show produced by Premier League that recaps all the matches from the past week.
GAMES BY PLATFORM (Subject to Change)
NBC 20
NBCSN 154
Premier League Extra Time 184
Telemundo/Mun2 76
Other NBCU Channels 22
NBC Sports Live Extra 380

TYPICAL WEEKLY PROGRAMMING GRID (All games live; All times ET)

Saturday Sunday Monday/Midweek
7 a.m. – NBCSN 8 a.m. – NBCSN 2:30 p.m. – NBCSN
10 a.m. – NBCSN 11 a.m. – NBCSN/Telemundo
12:30 p.m. – NBC

ESPN’s Greenberg opts to focus show on tragedy: Did not feel like we could talk about sports

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On days like today, people turn to sports as a way to escape the harsh realities of life. Even if it only is a few brief moments, they want to hear about the Yankees, Kobe, Tiger…

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mike Greenberg said some listeners were upset with him and co-host Ryen Russillo (filling in for Mike Golic) for focusing much of the Mike & Mike Show on the Boston Marathon tragedy this morning.

After the sports update at 9 a.m. ET, Greenberg and Russillo explain why they went in that direction. Transcript courtesy of ESPN PR.

Mike Greenberg: I would say the reaction I’m getting is something in vicinity of 50/50 on Twitter and in our mailbox of people saying they appreciate the coverage we are doing versus others saying they wish we had spent this morning talking about sports. And I understand that, I fully do.

We spent probably an hour, an hour and a half on the phone last night – all of us on show staff and members of our management – trying to make up our mind on what the right thing to do is. Nine out of ten times when there have been significant news events in our country – including the day after a presidential election – Mike and I talk about sports because we just feel like if you’re coming to us, you’re going to be looking for that.

On a day like this, I’ll tell you the honest reason that we didn’t do it – I did not feel like we could. My heart would not have been into anything we would have been talking about this morning if it wasn’t this – this is all that’s on my mind. I feel like it’s all that’s on many people’s minds, and if you didn’t appreciate what we did today, I understand, we’ll be back, probably, to our normal stuff tomorrow and I look forward to that and I appreciate everybody’s feedback one way or the other

Ryen Russillo: I just hope people realize how much we struggled with the decision.

We sit here and say, are we doing the right thing? I know that in times past, I’ll look to sports, sports radio as an escape. But sometimes it just doesn’t feel right.

And by the way, if you were going to compare it to what other topics are out there right now, it doesn’t make any sense. And trust me, no one goes, Hey I want to go do this for four hours. I can’t wait to talk about this.

. . . It felt like the right thing to do and I heard other stations yesterday afternoon doing things not related to Boston and it just didn’t feel right to me.

This isn’t fun today.

 

Chicago Tribune sports editor explains unconventional front page saluting Boston

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I asked Mike Kellams, the Tribune’s associate managing editor for sports, to explain why his section went with this front page. His comments are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kellams: First, we knew the front page of the paper would lead with the marathon in the biggest way. In the Sports section, we had the news of the winners crossing the finish line before the bombs went off. The question then was what to do with our cover, how to acknowledge all of the news of the day, from the front of the Tribune to the back of Sports. This was our story but not our story.

The idea started as a Main Event contender for Page 2, which is our OpEd space in the section where our readers know we have sports commentary every day. But as I thought it through and talked the idea with editors working on the edition, I liked it better as a sort of special comment on our cover. I think the work we did last night late into the evening made it better with each change. Mike Kates, Jeff Bowen and Jonathon Berlin all improved the first idea.

It’s unconventional, no doubt. But it seems to have struck a chord.

Rooting for Boston — a town expecting to win titles in all sports so often — is a little hard to fathom from a sports point of view. But there’s no doubt we’re cheering for Boston to find these guys and make their world safe again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESPN’s Ford on covering bombing: Nothing made sense

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ESPN had the pros out yesterday to cover what now is the biggest sports story of the year. Unfortunately

Jeremy Schaap, Bob Ley, Karl Ravech, Steve Levy were among those navigating ESPN through the unthinkable tragedy in Boston. Journalists are journalists, whether it is covering who wins the race or the minutes after a senseless bombing. ESPN’s journalists stepped up yesterday.

Perhaps none more so than Bonnie Ford. My former teammate at the Chicago Tribune (her byline was Bonnie DeSimone back then) was wrapping up her stories about the race from the media center in the Fairmont Copley Hotel. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, Ford was on the air with Schaap, lending her perspective and talking about her frustration at not being allowed to go outside to cover what had just transpired outside of the hotel’s lobby.

Ford wrote about her experience in a column at ESPN.com.

She opened:

I could lie and say I heard and felt the explosions that will mark Boston and its famous road race and all of us who were here, or watching from elsewhere, forever. But I didn’t. I had my noise-canceling headphones on and I was focused on finishing a story about Shalane Flanagan, who was disappointed she hadn’t been able to deliver the race of her life for her hometown fans.

The writers closest to me said they felt a shiver and heard a sound that seemed, oddly, like thunder rumbling. That made no sense, because it was a sunny day.

In a few moments, nothing made sense.

Her encounter with Joan Benoit:

I sprinted into the lobby, and the first person I encountered was the great American champion Joan Benoit, who stood against a wall with her husband and two kids, sipping a hot beverage and looking gray-faced but composed. “I’d be a lot jumpier if I didn’t have my family with me,” she said. She didn’t want to say much else. “It’s a tragedy, and a shame they picked this event to exploit,” she said with quiet anger.

On conflicting feelings:

Part of me is relieved I wasn’t on the finish line to see the chaos and carnage Monday afternoon, and part of me wishes I had been, because I’m a reporter and my instinct is to convey the most powerful images and messages possible.

Wandering around the lobby again, I found Jason Hartmann, who had finished a game fourth in the men’s elite race for the second year in a row. He looked slightly dazed. Like me, he’d been unaware of what happened until he got a text asking whether he was safe. When he saw the first video footage, he turned to his girlfriend, Angelina Ramos, and said, “Our entire sport is going to change.”

It will in some ways. Public safety officials from the municipal to the federal — and international — level will caucus with race organizers and make adjustments, just as we always do after being attacked.

Ford concludes:

I am stricken by the reversal of that image here in Boston, the fact that people were running away from something terrible seconds after running toward something good. But I also know that will turn again.

Amateur marathoners push themselves for a whole host of reasons. To test their physical and psychological limits. To raise money for worthy causes. To compete. The next time this — or any — marathon is run anywhere in the world, they will run for yet another. To show that the power of communal achievement can be beaten on one day, but not on most days and never indefinitely. And that is what makes sense on a senseless day.

A powerful piece.

 

 

AP reporter recalls covering Jackie Robinson’s first game; ‘Day sent chills up my spine’

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Thanks to Marty Chase for passing this along.

John Rabe of Southern California Public Radio did a piece on Jim Becker, the last surviving member of the press who covered Jackie Robinson’s first game in Brooklyn in 1947. He covered the game for the Associated Press.

People will get one view of history with the movie 42. Here’s another from a reporter who was there 66 years ago today:

Although he was a cub reporter, the AP assigned him to accompany a beat writer to New York for the event because Becker was from LA and was familiar with Robinson from his college days.

Becker says he arrived at Ebbets Field about an hour and a half before the game started, and went down onto the field to watch batting practice. “The players were coming out of the Brooklyn dressing room one or two at a time,” he said. “I looked over and saw this very black man in those starched white uniforms they used to wear, and I looked him and I thought this magnificent athlete, this courageous man, is carrying the banner of decency and dignity and fair play … he’s carrying it for all of us.”

Becker recalled the New York press, especially Red Smith, was for the move. However, it hardly was universal with visiting reporters.

When the Reds came to town a couple weeks later, Cincinnati’s Tom Swope, reportedly a virulent racist, ‘looked around, and he said, “You’re a bunch of (N-word)-loving Jew Commie bastards,” and somebody knocked him down. And his glasses flew and he picked himself up and he picked up his glasses, and he walked back to his seat, and nobody said a thing.’

And finally from Becker:

“The day sent chills up my spine, and 66 years later it still does. I always said his failure would have been our failure, but the victory was his.”