Replacement refs cost ESPN viewers on Monday night

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Normally, ESPN would be celebrating over its rating for Monday night’s Denver-Atlanta game. The network did a 10 rating, with more than 15 million viewers tuning in. It marked the fourth highest audience on cable for 2012.

Yet it could have been better.

The inept replacement referees brought the game to a screeching halt in the first half. It took nearly an hour to play the first quarter. Nothing like watching confused officials trying to figure out what they’re doing.

The second half didn’t begin until nearly 11 p.m. ET. By that time, I’m guessing many fans, numbed by the inactivity, were ready for bed.

The end result had ESPN leaving money, as in ratings, at the table.

As I have written earlier, pace is of huge importance during a sports telecast. When things start to drag, viewers reach for their remotes.

I would imagine ESPN president John Skipper wasn’t pleased. Perhaps he even put in a call to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

I’m not blaming the replacement refs. They can’t be expected to do the same quality job as regular officials.

The NFL, though, has to do something to resolve this mess. Its partners, namely ESPN on Monday, are being impacted.

And so are weary viewers. Enough is enough.

 

 

 

 

My lunch with Steve Sabol: In search of art museums at a Super Bowl

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Like everyone else, I was a big fan of NFL Films.

So when I was approached during Super Bowl XXXV in 2000 about having lunch with Steve Sabol, I jumped at the opportunity. I looked forward to discussing football, the upcoming game between the Giants and Baltimore in Tampa, and film making, most definitely film making, with the famed president of NFL Films.

Now my memory is a bit foggy, but I’m fairly sure we initially started by talking about art museums. Yes, art museums.

Sabol loved going to art museums in towns he visited, and he was interested in what Tampa had to offer.

I’m not from Tampa and hardly an art expert. But thanks to my parents living in Sarasota, I was able to tell him about the Ringling Art Museum. I had been there once. All I knew is that Ringling (from the circus) was a notable collector and had some famous paintings from the 15th and 16th Centuries.

“Really?” he said, scribbling the name on a piece of paper. “That sounds terrific.”

I learned quickly that Sabol was a different breed. In fact, he had no interest in sports other than football.

“I have no idea who played in the World Series,” Sabol said. “Don’t care.”

Who knows? Sabol might not have had an interest in football if not for the chance to put the game on film.

Looking back, it really wasn’t a surprise that he was in search of a art museum during a Super Bowl. He truly was an artist with his vision for NFL Films.

My favorite was a series called Lost Treasures of NFL Films. It featured vintage old footage that had never been used before.

In a 1999 story for the Chicago Tribune, I wrote:

The programs are like opening a time capsule, tracing the roots of both the NFL and NFL Films, which first started shooting games in 1962. The shows go back to a period when everything was innocent, gritty and more passionate. Everything looked more genuine.

Included are vintage shots of Bears games at Wrigley Field, botched attempts to get audio from Vince Lombardi and the incomprehensible notion of players simply handing the ball to officials after scoring a touchdown.

“You think to yourself, `Boy, how have things changed?’ ” Sabol said. “There were no earrings or headsets. The feeling you get is like sitting around with a bunch of friends, saying, `I can remember what it was like.’ “

The original plan was to have actor Richard Kiley narrate the films. Unfortunately, the actor died two weeks before production.

Fortunately, it led to Sabol filling in. From the story:

Sabol doesn’t read from a script. Instead he talks over on the film, remembering things as he sees them again.

“It’s like sitting around with a proud father who has a bunch of old movies and is dying to talk about it,” Sabol said.

Sabol, the proud father, told those stories as only he could. In the clip above, he discusses working with John Facenda.

“The first words he said for us, ‘It starts with a whistle and ends with a gun,” Sabol said in this Lost Treasure. “We knew we were on to something. He read our scripts as if he was an after-dinner speaker for the Last Supper.”

Hence, Facenda’s nickname, “The Voice of God.”

Sabol, though, was the star of this series. He showed the evolution of the league and NFL Films. It was like an artist detailing every brush stroke.

And then there were stories. It seemed like every frame of film had a tale behind it, one better than the other.

“My dad has a great expression,” Sabol said when his father and NFL Films founder Ed was inducted into the Hall of Fame. ” ‘Tell me a fact, and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth, and I’ll believe. But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.'”

Thanks to his work at NFL Films, Sabol’s stories will live forever.

Thinking back at our lunch at Super Bowl XXXV, I wonder what art museum Sabol chose to visit. I’d like to think he took the hour drive down to Sarasota to see the Ringling Museum.

It would make me feel good to give something back to Sabol considering all that he gave to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Autumn Wind: The poetry of Steve Sabol in video and words

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If there is an iconic image of NFL Films, it has to be “The Autumn Wind.” The piece was the NFL Films’ version of Sandy Koufax pitching a perfect game.

Legendary talents all delivering peak performances.

The ode to the Oakland Raiders was written by Steve Sabol, who died today. I printed the words below. Read them to feel their power in another way.

The film was narrated by John Facenda, whose great voice and delivery enhanced the drama of Sabol’s poem. Sam Spence wrote the music that made you feel that “Autumn Wind.”

Keep in mind: The original film was made in 1974. The art was beyond cutting edge back then and it stands the test of time nearly 40 years later.

The Autumn wind is a pirate

Blustering in from sea

With a rollicking song he sweeps along

Swaggering boisterously.

His face is weatherbeaten

He wears a hooded sash

With a silver hat about his head

And a bristling black mustache.

He growls as he storms the country

A villain big and bold

And the trees all shake and quiver and quake

As he robs them of their gold.

The Autumn wind is a Raider Pillaging just for fun

He’ll knock you ’round and upside down

And laugh when he’s conquered and won.

Remembering Steve Sabol: An artist in a violent game

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A sad day for fans of NFL Films. Steve Sabol helped transform the way we watch football.

From Roger Goodell:

“Steve Sabol was the creative genius behind the remarkable work of NFL Films,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Steve’s passion for football was matched by his incredible talent and energy. Steve’s legacy will be part of the NFL forever. He was a major contributor to the success of the NFL, a man who changed the way we look at football and sports, and a great friend.”

From the NFL Network obituary:

 Few men in the League have ever had a longer run. None has ever had a better one. He was the game’s first quintuple threat. An Emmy-winning auteur who won statuettes for cinematography, editing, writing, directing and producing. The only man ever to be so honored.

But it wasn’t hardware that Steve loved, it was the game. And he saw it as no one ever had. Through the eyes of an artist. With an unerring eye for detail, and a pitch perfect ear, Steve quickly transformed NFL Films from simple chroniclers of the game, to epic myth makers. And he did it, as all great artists do, by taking chances.

Super slow motion, wireless mics on players, reverse angle replays, follies films, and custom composed musical scores. All that’s standard stuff today, but before NFL Films it was unheard of. But then, Steve never thought like a sports filmmaker, he thought like a Hollywood storyteller. Big, bold, honest, and, funny. Those were the hallmarks of Steve’s work. And Steve himself.

From the New York Times obit:

“I may have started it, but he has been the engineer behind it,” Ed Sabol said of his son in a 2008 interview. “He comes up with these great ideas and is a great student of the game.”

Of the sports Emmy Awards won by NFL Films – 107, including two this year — Steve Sabol was cited by name on more than a third.

The films have impressed Hollywood. The director Ron Howard said in an interview with The New York Times in 2000 that NFL Films highlight reels had had a real impact on how movies are made, “particularly montages.” The director Sam Peckinpah once told Steve Sabol that he got the idea for the classic slow-motion gunfight scene in the 1969 movie “The Wild Bunch” after watching a Super Bowl highlights film Mr. Sabol had made.

He used film, not tape, for greater clarity. He interspersed the smacks and whistles with the sounds of a 60-piece orchestra playing Tchaikovsky. He highlighted emotional themes like comebacks and underdogs. He persuaded players and coaches to wear microphones. He made some of the first funny films of players’ “bloopers.” And he wrote scripts, often rhyming ones.

In a film review of the Oakland Raiders 1974 season, he wrote: “The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun. He’ll knock you around and upside down and laugh when he’s conquered and won.”

And there is all sorts of reaction on Twitter:

Rich Eisen:

All of us here at @nflnetwork are crestfallen and mourn the loss of the genius and iconoclast Steve Sabol. May he rest in peace.

Peter King:

Steve Sabol always refused to name his favorite player of all time: “It’s like asking me to name my favorite noodle in a spaghetti dinner.”

Mike Tirico:

He did not play or coach or own a team but few have impacted the NFL like Steve Sabol. So sad to lose this legend.

Bonnie Bernstein:

When you think of the NFL, you think of NFL Films. When you think of NFL Films, you think of Steve Sabol.

Joe Theismann:

RIP my good friend Steve Sabol. U meant so much to so many.

Andrea Kremer:

My heart breaks w/ news of passing of my former boss & dear friend Steve Sabol. Profound impact personally & professionally to so many.

More to come.

 

 

 

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Mariotti reappears with Bears column on Chicago site

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If several Chicago-area athletes, coaches and owners woke up with a headache Monday (Jerry Reinsdorf probably had a migraine), here’s the reason: Jay Mariotti is back.

Well, sort of.

The former Chicago Sun-Times columnist reappeared in ChicagoSide, a relatively new site launched by Jonathan Eig. He weighed in from California on the Bears-Packers game.

It was typical Jay. He even professed to want to be positive, but that other Jay (Cutler) spoiled the mood.

Preparing for this article last week, I was hoping the Bears would beat the Packers and allow me to share in some rare warm-and-fuzzy glow. But in my 17 years as a Sun-Times sports columnist, topicality and necessity forced me into the corners of harsh reality way too often. This column is no different. I’ll be accused of Mariotti negativity, and some people will complain just so they can have something to be mad about. But so what?

Besides, it may take the heat off another Jay.

As for how Mariotti wound up writing for ChicagoSide, Eig said, “It is simple.”

“I invited him to submit a story if he ever felt the urge,” said Eig in an email. “He submitted one and I liked it. I don’t know if he’ll write for us again, but if he produces additional stories as good as this one, I’d be pleased to have them.”

Mariotti is pictured in a relaxed pose, an empty beer glass in his hand with the Pacific in the distance.

Life is good, right?

Mariotti has been in relative obscurity ever since a domestic violence incident cost him high-profile jobs with AOL Fanhouse and on ESPN’s Around the Horn.

Here’s what his bio says on ChicagoSide:

He lives in Los Angeles where he works on media projects. His recent e-book about his life and media career, “The System: A Manual on Surviving Liars, Loons, Law, Life,” is available on Amazon.com.

Here’s a link to the book. The cover features a sunset, an odd choice considering the hard-hitting title.

Perhaps Mariotti has mellowed out and is enjoying the good life in LA, drinking beers by the ocean. It represents quite a lifestyle change from the columnist who would have written three columns per day if given the chance.

It’ll be interesting to see if Mariotti does more for ChicagoSide. It definitely won’t be for the money, because ChicagoSide doesn’t operate that way.

Rather, I expect Mariotti will do it so he can be heard again. He’s been silent for a long time.

 

 

 

 

John Clayton, YouTube star: A tweet from LeBron, his ponytail, and does he have legs?

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Part two of my Q/A:

John Clayton has to be the most unlikely person ever to be trending on YouTube. As of Tuesday morning, his ESPN SportsCenter commercial had nearly 2.4 million views and counting.

Then again, it’s always been about contrasts for Clayton. He is the bookish-looking ESPN analyst who seems more suited to talk about quantum physics than 3-4 defenses.

The new ad plays up those contrasts to the extreme. Off camera, Clayton lets down his ponytail, and is portrayed as hard rock loving 20-something who still lives with his mother. Brilliant.

Actually, Clayton is 58 and lives with his wife in Seattle. And James Brown, not Slayer, is his taste in music.

Clayton already was quite famous. However, the commercial has taken it to a new level. I asked him about it in Part 2 of my interview.

Does it all seem surreal?

Totally surreal. I’ve always have been low-key. I always have and always will be. A newspaper guy who has been fortunate enough to do TV. It’s just so different to have this kind of reaction. Just to see the reaction on all this stuff is amazing.

I mean more than 2 million hits on YouTube. Whoa. You’re looking on Twitter and you see LeBron James saying I’m hilarious in the commercial.

I mean, c’mon.

What did you think when you heard the idea for the commercial?

I had no problem with it. It seemed to be so fun, so funny and so different. The one thing about SportsCenter commercials is that you can laugh at yourself.

I only go to Bristol one time a year. So every time I’m seen (during his regular ESPN shots from his home), it is from the chest up. People see the same shot all the time. This is like pulling back the curtain.

Yes, people always have wondered if you have legs.

More than a year ago, a guy takes an alias on Twitter of ‘John Clayton’s Legs’. The guy is funny. He must be a writer.

Last year, we did a show at ESPN. A rapper I guess likes me and saw me in the studio. He tweets out to his 3 million followers. ‘Hey, Clayton’s here, you can actually see his legs.’

(Long-time center) Kevin Mawae came over to me several years ago when he was at Tennessee. He said, ‘You have the camera at your house, don’t you?’

Yea sure.

He says, ‘When you do your TV hits, what do you wear under the suit?’

Trying to be funny, I said, ‘Nothing.’

Kevin goes, ‘God dang, I’ve got to play a game today for three hours and I’ve got that visual in my head now.’

Do you really have a ponytail?

Dan Patrick started this thing that I have a ponytail. I don’t have a ponytail. I don’t have enough hair. Because of Internet, tweeting, it’s always this question, ‘John, do you have a ponytail?’

The ad incorporated that, which is funny. It seemed to address a bunch of stuff. I thought, ‘Whatever you think is fine. You just tell me what to do.’

What was it like doing the commercial?

We shot the commercial in some area underneath some bypasses in Los Angeles. I wondered where they were taking me. It looked like either there was going to be a crack deal out there or a shootout. I told my driver, ‘Am I here to shoot a commercial or to be shot?’

There were 65 people on the set. I’m the only one involved in this commercial and you have all these people here. It was surprising.

We did 22 takes. I think by 10 they were pretty comfortable. We tried a couple different styles. Do you want it loud? Do you want it snarly? The original script was pretty much the way it came out. The outtakes were from 10 through 22. They were trying to experiment to see if there was something else that worked better.

Describe your office. Are the walls covered with rock posters?

We just built a new house. Everything is brand new.

In the office, there’s the ESPN backdrop, which everyone sees. The camera is on a shelf. It is only 6-inches tall. They control it from Bristol.

You’d see a desk where I do my work. There’s a radio set-up (with an ISDN line for his many appearances during the week) and fax.

This is the first time I’ve been able to display the awards I’ve been lucky enough to win. There’s the plaque for the Dick McCann Award (awarded by the NFL Hall of Fame). The two sports Emmys ESPN was nice enough to give me. There’s a plaque from going into the Duquense Hall of Fame (where Clayton went to college in Pittsburgh).

Are you a big fan of Slayer?

Sure. Of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q/A with John Clayton: His 24/7 study (obsession) of football; That’s what I do

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First of two parts:

Here is what’s more amazing than John Clayton becoming a YouTube sensation (more than 2 million views) with his new ESPN SportCenter ad: The fact that he even took a day off to shoot the ad.

Clayton rarely takes days off. Maybe 10, 15 tops, all year, he says.

The truth is, a day off separates him for doing what he truly loves: Studying football.

Study, not cover, is exactly what he does for ESPN. Hence, his nickname, “The Professor.”

I always have been fascinated by Clayton. In Chicago, he does a weekly report on Wednesday at 4 p.m. on WMVP-AM 1000, the ESPN-owned sports talk station. I am continually astounded at his knowledge and his ability to name players buried deep on a team’s depth chart

How does Clayton do that?

I now know how after talking to Clayton late last week. His schedule is insane. For instance, after covering the Atlanta-Kansas City game during week 1, Clayton woke at 3 a.m. the next morning so he can begin watching replays of the other games prior to going to the airport.

Note: Our interview was interrupted twice because he had to takes call from NFL front office people. No doubt, calling him for information.

Here it is:

Who is the third string running back on the Bears?

They just made the change. Remember, they had Kahlil Bell, and they cut him. They made the adjustment with Armando Allen, who they brought up.

How do you keep track of all that? You’re talking about a guy who barely gets on the field. Do you have photographic memory?

Oh, well. Any free moment I have, I study it.That’s what I try to do. I’m even doing more things this year than I ever have before. I find it so essential to do.

I want to know everything I can about a roster. Everything.

I keep track of every contract in the league. I have every roster in the league. I make sure my rosters are updated every day.

I have these databases. One data base has every salary of every player, every age of every player, every height and weight of every player, every year of experience, every entry level.

What I do with the salaries I build a program, takes the salaries and add them up. I have the proration of their signing bonuses, and the money they are likely to earn. I mix that all together so I can put together a salary cap number of every team in the league.

Second data base: How they were built. I’ll have the name of the player; what year he came into the league and position he plays. I can keep track of whether the team is too old, how many new players they have.

I keep track of the inactives on Sunday…

Why do you need to know all this?

Because that’s what I do.

Not everybody does this.

OK, do I follow the salary of a player because I care about what he makes? No. A decision is made for that guy to make that salary. What does it mean that you have a back up who is making $2 million? Well, before the start of the season, they’re going to come to him and ask for a pay cut. You know going in, certain guys are going to go.

If you’re above the cap, you know Kyle Vanden Bosch is going to redo his contract to give (the Lions) cap room.

I also need to know who is the third receiver. When I talk about fantasy receivers, how do they use those guys? People want to know.

You live in Seattle. Nothing is close to you besides the Seahawks. Why do you feel you have to be at a game every Sunday as opposed to watching all of them on DirecTV?

To me, it’s the best way to get a feel for football and finding the changes and finding the trends. The game changes to a certain degree every 3 or 4 weeks. I’m at the game and I’m watching every game. I’ve got the iPad.

When you’re at the game, you get a full view of what’s going on and the immediacy of going down to the lockerroom and answering those questions. You don’t have the ability to ask those questions if you’re sitting at home.

I go to Atlanta-KC. I see what I see. Then I have the ability to go over to Matt Ryan and talk about what he’s doing with his offense; get a feel for the Chiefs.

I’d go to 32 training camps if they let me. When you’re watching practice, I’m pretty intense about following everything. You watching and saying, ‘this guy is in good shape, this guy has lost some speed…’ You’re putting that all in perspective and you have the immediacy of asking somebody.

Do you watch every game eventually?

Before I’d tape every game I could. Now thanks to NFL.com, they have the digital version of every game in 30 minutes. So literally in KC, I got up at 3 on Monday morning. I watched four games at the hotel. Went to the airport and watched three more. I had seven games done by the time I flew back home. When I got home, I watched the rest.

Does anyone do what you do?

The teams are. If teams are doing it, and if I can get in the heads of the teams, it might help me out a little bit.

You go, ‘All of the sudden. Wait a second. If the fourth round pick is ahead of the third round pick, then you start to realize maybe the third-round pick is being phased out.’

Do you have GMs hitting you up for information?

Yeah.

How do the players treat you? I imagine it is different than when you were covering the NFL as a newspaper reporter.

In 2000, ESPN did a Clayton Across America. I went to 31 teams in 28 days. The top players would be nice enough to come over to you, particularly on teams 23 and 24. They were following me. They would come over and say, ‘Hey John, I know you must be really tired. Do you need me for anything?’

I always do the Inside the Huddle notebook, because I’m trying to stay on top of trends. Once I started doing that segment, the top players on the teams were so cooperative. They would tell the little things they were doing differently. What trends they spotted.

If you’re a negative, ripping person, they’ll like you or hate you. I am what I am. I try to find the trends and do the most honest job I can. For whatever reason, that’s gone over well. Most of the top players are good to me when I see them or need them.

So what’s your daily routine?

I get up every day at 4,5,6. I try to go as long as I can before I get fatigued.

How much writing do you do?

Today, I did 3,500 words. Tomorrow, I’ll do about 1,400 words.

Do you ever see your wife?

Every Friday night is date night. As soon as I get done with my last segment, I take her out.

Do you ever take any days off?

Year round, maybe take 10-15 days off. It’s a seven-day-a-week job.

Do you feel if you did anything less, you’d be slacking off?

I would, yeah. What it all comes down to is that even though I’ve been doing this for a long period of time, I’m trying to always reinvent myself. I’m trying to get better. You can only get better when there’s so much new information out there.

You really love this, don’t you?

My only goal in life was to be an NFL beat writer for a team. Now instead of doing it for one team, I get to do it for 32 teams.

It’s phenomenal how much fun it can be. There’s so much information out there. I would like to do more with the numbers from a sabemetrics perspective. Sort of like what they do for baseball. Could I find a wins against replacement number for a QB, WR, Offensive tackle? I can see things visually, but I’d like to translate them into numbers.

It’s a fantastic job, and it’s only getting better.

Tuesday: Clayton on the making of the commercial, the reaction, and what’s really in his office.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday books: The incredible story of Chester Marcol; survived despite years of drug, alcohol abuse

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I recently ran into an old friend, Gary D’Amato of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. In catching up, he told me about a book he did last fall with Chester Marcol.

Marcol was a former Green Bay Packers kicker. He was excellent in his prime, but his career ended abruptly at the age of 31. Turns out there was a reason: Marcol abused drugs and alcohol.

In fact, reading Alive and Kicking: My Journey through Football, Addiction and Life, you wonder how Marcol managed to survive to help write the book. It truly is a harrowing tale about his struggle to overcome his addiction.

Powerful stuff.

Here’s a link that features an interview with Marcol.

 

ESPN SportsCenter at 50,000 shows: Meet the guy who composed Da-Da-Da, Da-Da-Da theme

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If you can’t get the ESPN SportsCenter theme out of your head, blame John Colby.

Here’s the write-up on ESPN’s Front Row:

You may not know his name, or recognize his face, but millions of people are familiar with his work. What’s more, most of those millions have hummed at least a few bars of one song in particular. Thousands more use it as their ringtone.

For the last 20 years, John Colby, a Grammy and Emmy-winning composer, producer, music director and keyboardist, has created theme and background music for virtually every televised sporting event, including two Super Bowls.

As ESPN’s music director (1984-1992), Colby helped shape the sound of ESPN in those early years, composing and producing music for hundreds of ESPN sporting events and television programs.

All that said, Colby, 63, is perhaps best known for six simple musical notes he composed in 1989 . . . six notes of an iconic melody heard every day by sports fans around the world — DaDaDa DaDaDa — part of the theme song to SportsCenter.

(It’s important to note here that Spinal Tap did NOT compose the theme despite what this “This is SportsCenter” ad claimed!)

“Everybody knows SportsCenter, everybody watches it, it’s absolutely a universal thing,” Colby said. “It is a tremendously gratifying thing for an artist. . . to be a part of it, whatever the small part is.”

Colby continues to serve as the music director/band leader for the ESPYS, a role he’s held since the show’s inception in 1993. Colby said he composed the theme as “work for hire” and does receive foreign royalties.

Not limited to sports, Colby received a Grammy for the soundtrack of Ken Burns’ Civil War.

He composed and produced the music for two Academy Award documentary film nominees: Ken Burns The Brooklyn Bridge and Florentine Films’ The Garden of Eden.

When he’s not busy writing award-winning TV theme music, Colby is writing, recording and performing blues and old-school soul songs alongside his wife, singer Bev Rohlehr with their band “The Colbys.”

He has performed with such artists as Ray Charles, Clarence Clemons, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, Delbert McClinton, Duane Eddy, Grand Master Flash, Ben E. King, Dionne Warwick and many others.

Learn more about Colby and the iconic song in the video above.

John Colby Quick facts: Age: 63 Resides: Avon, CT

• He has composed other ESPN songs for: College football, basketball and baseball, the NFL, auto racing/NASCAR/Speedworld, Outside The Lines, ESPN News, boxing, bowling, tennis, skiing, ESPYS, golf, The Sports Reporters, ESPN Radio, NBA and more.

• Other clients include NBC, FOX and Comedy Central.

• The theme was played live on set by the Red Sox organist in 2011.

• Colby’s band played at the wedding of SportsCenter anchor, Chris McKendry in 1998