RaminExile
Hall of Fame
But there aren't a whole lot of color commentators who are as good as these guys were. They were so good they have a right in my book to say how they'd do it better and what we should be doing differently.
Was anyone else irritated by Faulk & Holt last night?
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But there aren't a whole lot of color commentators who are as good as these guys were. They were so good they have a right in my book to say how they'd do it better and what we should be doing differently.
The thing I found most interesting is how they ripped Britt for not planting that foot & putting his shoulder down to get that first down... All we hear from the Rams now -- indeed the entire NFL establishment -- is preseason is meaningless, the main thing is not to get hurt, nobody should care, it's all vanilla anyway, nobody is trying, etc...
But these two were in the booth treating it almost like they were playing the Super Bowl. Obviously they didn't get the company memo of "don't try in preseason" or they would have been like any (sane?) broadcaster and rationalized that play with, "Britt had to cut the route short to adjust to the throw, and a good 'business decision' to hop out of bounds in preseason. Why risk getting hurt on a play to get a meaningless first down in a game nobody will ever remember?"
Maybe Faulk & Holt are just two guys b.s.'ing in the booth and they would have done the same damn thing Britt did, but for an old guy like me it was an interesting contrast of old and new, so I started wondering about how past coaches treated preseason, if players of years past were able to flip on/off their competition switch as easily as guys seem to be able to today, how the game's changed, etc., and dig around memory lane--
Martz days (2004): http://www.clanram.com/forums/f11/bernie-meaningless-game-prompts-few-first-impressions-4323/
Some real old school stuff (1987): http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-13/sports/sp-1223_1_exhibition-game
Maybe Faulk & Holt were the last generation of the transition where it went from "wins and losses don't matter in preseason" to "not only do wins and losses not matter, but now performance or even looking respectable doesn't matter in preseason either" -- except for the few poor rookies trying to crack the last couple spots of the roster, of course.
But these two were in the booth treating it almost like they were playing the Super Bowl. Obviously they didn't get the company memo of "don't try in preseason" or they would have been like any (sane?) broadcaster and rationalized that play with, "Britt had to cut the route short to adjust to the throw, and a good 'business decision' to hop out of bounds in preseason. Why risk getting hurt on a play to get a meaningless first down in a game nobody will ever remember?"
Maybe Faulk & Holt are just two guys b.s.'ing in the booth and they would have done the same damn thing Britt did, but for an old guy like me it was an interesting contrast of old and new, so I started wondering about how past coaches treated preseason, if players of years past were able to flip on/off their competition switch as easily as guys seem to be able to today, how the game's changed, etc., and dig around memory lane--
Martz days (2004): http://www.clanram.com/forums/f11/bernie-meaningless-game-prompts-few-first-impressions-4323/
-Funny the state of the OL seems totally familar.
-Most important, Bernie still had a sense of humor back then.
-Most important, Bernie still had a sense of humor back then.
Some real old school stuff (1987): http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-13/sports/sp-1223_1_exhibition-game
-"Carl Ekern, now in his 11th year as a Ram linebacker, said he uses the exhibition season as a refresher course. '(It's) to get my mind back thinking and reacting in football terms. Dealing strictly on theory, by the time that last preseason game rolls around, I should be fully in shape, my timing should be down. In the fourth preseason game, I would expect to see a precise, well tuned team, ready to perform at top level.'"
-"Vermeil said he cared little if his teams lost an exhibition game. He was concerned more with performance ..."
- Said Vermeil, "You wanted to look respectable during preseason."
-Most important, newspaper articles were longer than the attention span of a 140 character twit.
-"Vermeil said he cared little if his teams lost an exhibition game. He was concerned more with performance ..."
- Said Vermeil, "You wanted to look respectable during preseason."
-Most important, newspaper articles were longer than the attention span of a 140 character twit.
Maybe Faulk & Holt were the last generation of the transition where it went from "wins and losses don't matter in preseason" to "not only do wins and losses not matter, but now performance or even looking respectable doesn't matter in preseason either" -- except for the few poor rookies trying to crack the last couple spots of the roster, of course.
I thought Siciliano and Faulk were great.
I'd never heard Faulk in the booth before, I was very impressed. I didnt feel like he was digging on the Rams. I felt like he was giving us great information.
But thinking back....now that its mentioned, I could see how it could lean to negative for many people, esp ecially with Faulk making his observations and Holt piling on with his own 2 cents.
I'd never heard Faulk in the booth before, I was very impressed. I didnt feel like he was digging on the Rams. I felt like he was giving us great information.
But thinking back....now that its mentioned, I could see how it could lean to negative for many people, esp ecially with Faulk making his observations and Holt piling on with his own 2 cents.
I really like Faulk. Great insight. He knew Pead missed picking up a block and new he was responsible for picking up that specific blitz. I think they just told it like it is and seen things most announcers wouldn't know what to look for.
HometownBoy
Hall of Fame
Yeah. Holt especially. The most egregious was him lambasting Britt for "not doing enough." To get a first down when there was little else for Kenny to do. He caught it and then he headed straight for the marker, just got pushed out, but if you asked Torry he was running away from the marker to cower.
Torry has gotten a little better. Marshall knows is stuff.
Got to agree with much of what they said. Britt not getting the first down....Joyner stopped moving in zone coverage just over his reach.That let up a big play....WR not running threw the ball etc.....
Were they wrong?
Got to agree with much of what they said. Britt not getting the first down....Joyner stopped moving in zone coverage just over his reach.That let up a big play....WR not running threw the ball etc.....
Were they wrong?
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No, they weren't wrong, and I said as much.
I just found it a little off-putting. Like they were more interested in pointing out mistakes than anything else.
And then kinda patting each other on the back with their collective giggles about it.
Not a big deal. I was just watching the game on my laptop and it started to be a bit much. That's all.
I love the honest insight and commentary. I'm glad these guys don't hold back. And no one can critique either of them for not knowing what it takes or how to be a professional at this level. So, for me, it was refreshing.
I didn't get to see it , but I'm pretty Tory and the Marshall get a free pass from annoying me for life. It's all about the ring...
I didn't pay much attention to it. One thing I did notice was the higher production value out of St. Louis than our previous 2 preseason games. On NFL2Go I get the home team broadcasts only. Oakland and Tennessee didn't have much in the way of replays on penalties and the like, but St. Louis played the replays for the TV audience. I appreciate stuff like that.
Will akso say that MF was Superman, who made KW look good, who combined wth Martz, made Bruce look great which benefitted Holt, who though obviously a great receiver, benefitted a lot from the aforementioned, and could be off-putting at times.