As thousands of New Englanders settled in to watch the Patriots playoff game against the Titans two Saturday nights ago, most of us were comfortable either inside our homes, restaurants or bars. However 68,000 brave souls ventured out to Foxborough Stadium to watch the game. In one of the coldest days in the past half-century - with the windshield below 0 degrees -- people at the CBS broadcasting station believed that it made more sense to play this game at night. This decision was based on one sole reason: money. Thousands of people had to be in pain while rooting for the Pats so that CBS could get more lucrative commercial sponsors. If this game were to be played at, say, 12 o'clock, fans could have focused more on elements of the game such as Tom Brady and Steve McNair as opposed to the bitter cold temperatures and its implications on catching the ball, kickoffs, etc.
On the CBS broadcast itself we were able to see the game, but there were a couple of annoyances. There were several interruptions including blackouts during certain key parts of the game. We also tolerated Phil Simms' analysis which suggested at times that he had serious money on the Titans. Although both Simms and co-producer Greg Gumbel did provide sound coverage, there were many times that they shared irrelevant and uninteresting stories by saying, "And last night we talked to so and so, and he told us the key to victory was..." This statement is almost as redundant as the frequently asked media question which Tom Brady faced Sunday after his victory against the Colts, "And so who would you rather play in the Super Bowl, Carolina or Philadelphia?" What's he supposed to say? "Well I'd rather play Philadelphia because their defense does not hit as hard." The point is that many of these comments and questions made by the media are old and offer very little insight into the actual situation.
I have to admit I enjoy watching the pre-game shows such as the NFL Today and ESPN
Countdown, and although the analysts on these shows such as Jim Nance and Tom Jackson respectively are knowledgeable about football, they still say some very obvious statements such as, "the team with the least turnovers will win the game" or "if they can effectively rush Peyton Manning he won't be nearly as sharp." In predicting games, there is basically the same chance that the so-called experts on these shows will be just as correct as you and me in making predictions. While I respect then experience and knowledge that many of these former football players possess, I feel that the shows could benefit from being condensed and perhaps include a different format.
Another issue of the media lies in the fact that the Super Bowl is played two weeks after the Conference Championship games. While fans wait patiently for the big game, there are many distractions that not only take away from the players' focus on the game, but also even get the players in trouble. I feel the main reason for the two week hiatus between the Super Bowl and the conference title games is so the game can be hyped up, and therefore the anticipation will lead to higher ratings on Super Bowl Sunday.
In conclusion I, like many people, really enjoy football and the National Football League, and I'm not saying that the media attention and involvement in the sport seriously hinders my enjoyment. However I feel as though the NFL, its fans and even its players would benefit if the media would take a back seat to the actual action on the field. Although CBS may have made more money by holding the game at night, nearly 70,000 loyal football fans had to pay a steep price for this to happen. Without the thousands of these fans, CBS would be making hardly any money regardless if the game is at afternoon, night or morning.