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US Football Announcers (again) haven't a clue OT

Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Saturday, 4 December 2010, at 5:48 p.m.

In Response To: a craw in your Stick (Stick)

Yeh, I just saw the end myself, but I wasn't in a bar. (Doesn't mean I wasn't enjoying a glass of rouge.)

I turn on the TV. Less than or about 2 minutes remaining (BTW, no "2-minute-warning" timeout in college ball, for those who don't follow it) and Miami faces 4th and long (20-ish) at about their own 35. QB scrambles and throws up a prayer. N-ILL defender goes high (with both hands, if I recall) and ends up tipping the ball downfield another few yards where it's caught by Miami receiver. He gains another 5 or so yards before being tackled at about N-ILL 25 for a first down. (They score on the very next play due to bungled defensive coverage, which may have led to your comment, but that's another post.)

Here's the ESPN highlight but unfortunately the frame frequency is so degraded it's very difficult if not impossible to see the tipped pass under discussion:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?categoryId=2564308&id=5881707

Here's my gripe. One of the announcers (I'm pretty sure the so-called 'expert' commentator) goes on and on and on... (the rest of the game) about how big of an error the defender made by trying to catch the pass instead of simply knocking it down.

1) Are you sure he was trying to catch it?

2) Does trying to knock it down guarantee it won't be grabbed by a defender?

3) If he actually does catch it, that pretty much ensures the defender doesn't catch it.

I don't know which ploy would have been best here, but I'm pretty sure the 'expert' doesn't know either -- he just thinks he does. It is true that you often see brain-dead decisions made on the field and it leaves you scratching your head thinking "didn't this player think through the possibilities before the play began?" But the case in question here is not one of those clearcut mental errors. And, of course, if the Miami player isn't in just the right place we unlikely don't hear a word about it (there or here :).

Messages In This Thread

• a craw in your Stick
  Chuck Bower -- Saturday, 4 December 2010, at 3:16 a.m.
  • a craw in your Stick
    Stick -- Saturday, 4 December 2010, at 4:19 a.m.
    • a craw in your Stick
      Matt Cohn-Geier -- Saturday, 4 December 2010, at 12:17 p.m.
    • US Football Announcers (again) haven't a clue OT
      Chuck Bower -- Saturday, 4 December 2010, at 5:48 p.m.