None of the games we watch come more deep-fried in fast-changing circumstances and in more need of recognizing context than football.
Yet, none of the games we watch — played, spoken or examined — is more short on — bereft of — circumstance and context than football.
Forget what you see and sense, football must be presented as baseball — pitcher vs. batter vs. fielder.
Those 22 players in simultaneous motion? Forget that; think of most as fielders, hands on knees, stationary, prepared to catch the ball. QBs are given ERAs, won-loss records. Yards-per-carry becomes your batting average. TDs, sacks, interceptions and fumble recoveries are individual accomplishments, like hitting home runs.
Everything stands alone — yet nothing happens by itself.
Sunday, mid-fourth quarter, Giants down 38-16 at the Denver 46, fourth-and-10. Eli Manning throws a what-the-heck pass into the end zone. Intercepted by Rahim Moore. Touchback. Denver ball at its own 20.
But wait a second. Why, on fourth down, would Moore catch that ball instead of easily and simply knocking it down? Why would he choose to cost his team 26 yards?
Was he stat-selfish, as in all interceptions are good? Or ignorant of the circumstances? Both?
Regardless, after he cost his team 26 yards, he went into an extended how-great-I-art, end-zone routine, one CBS made sure to capture.
Neither Jim Nantz nor Phil Simms said a discouraging word, not about Moore’s empty-headed interception nor his fool’s dance that followed.
And before and during this Monday night’s Raiders-Broncos on ESPN, we’re far more likely to hear that Moore made “a big, fourth-quarter interception against the Giants, last week” than that he made a foolish one.
Incidentally, once again Eli Manning’s receivers dropped good passes. And once again his quarterback passer rating — his ERA — will not reflect that. Because, once again, a game so saturated in rapidly changing circumstances and contexts will be presented by experts as having neither.
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‘Classy’ Francesa berates another caller
Last week, in a long and soulful on-air self-defense, Mike “Let’s Be Honest” Francesa reminded us that he has been a career humanitarian.
“I’ve always done a classy show,” soon followed by, “There’s a way people should be treated and that’s incredibly important to me.”
This week, he took a call from “Kevin from New Canaan,” who sounded as if he had some credible thoughts on why the Yankees should not re-sign Robinson Cano, a position opposed to Francesa’s, and one that might have been worth hearing.
Fat chance. Francesa quickly cut him off, hollering over him, not allowing him to complete his point or a full sentence. Then he hollered that Kevin had made a pile of “dumb statements,” though, Francesa never let him complete one.
Then, though it was clear Francesa had dumped Kevin from New Canaan, he continued to holler at him, demanding answers to questions that he wouldn’t have allowed Kevin to answer, even had he still been on the line.
Yep, he has “always done a classy show,” and “There’s a way people should be treated, and that’s incredibly important to me.”
Incidentally, Sept. 28 is the seventh anniversary of Francesa and Chris “from New Canaan” Russo’s attack on Mets starter Pedro Martinez as a dog, a gutless quitter. The night earlier, Martinez was pulled after 2²/₃ innings , having allowed seven runs.
Three days later, Martinez had shoulder surgery. But in the Land of Lost Tapes, generosity counts, thus Francesa and Russo gave themselves a pass.
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‘Bottom line’: ESPN’s self serving
IF only ESPN came with a laugh track. Sunday night on ESPN, the Yankees took a 1-0 first-inning lead against the Red Sox.
ESPN’s self-serving, nonsense-stocked “Bottom Line” then provided a “SCORE ALERT: Yankees 1, Red Sox 0.”
Thus, below a graphic that gave the score as 1-0, Yankees, ESPN provided the breaking news that the Yankees led, 1-0.
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Readers were upset that Sunday’s PSL Stadium Broncos-Giants halftime ceremony saluting Bill Parcells wasn’t shown by CBS. Brothers and sisters, CBS’s halftime show has a title sponsor; follow the money!
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Go Big Red! continued: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will wear their Phil Knight Nike blacks, Saturday against Arkansas. RU is urging Scarlet Knights fans to wear black. That means Arkansas likely will wear its traditional red and white, and not its new Nike dark greys.
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Wednesday on ESPN’s “NFL Live,” host Trey Wingo: “More games are lost than won in the NFL, and Tampa Bay is proof of that.” Well said! The Buccaneers lost Week 1 to the Jets on a field goal after a late-hit, Week 2 to the Saints on another late FG. This past Sunday, the Bucs were called for three illegal hit personal fouls.
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Tuesday in Toronto, John Sterling claimed the Blue Jays’ Colby Rasmus had hit a “cheap home run.” Odd, he never sees any cheapies in Yankee Stadium, not even to right field, where all Yankees hit them “high!” “far!” and “gone!” — even if they’re line drives off the wall.
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Lyman Bostock, career (four seasons) .311 hitter, was with the Angels during a series in Chicago, when he visited his nearby hometown, Gary, Ind. It was there he was gunned down, 35 years ago, this Monday. Bob Costas, Sunday at 10 p.m., narrates MLB Network’s documentary about that murder.
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CBS has swapped Greg Anthony for Clark Kellogg. Anthony will be the lead, in-game college basketball analyst, Kellogg will replace him in the studio.
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Saturday’s 22nd Columbia-Fordham game, 1 p.m. (WFUV 90.7 FM), is for the Liberty Cup, introduced by the schools after the 9/11 attacks to memorialize the nearly 3,000 murdered. In 2001, after some debate, Columbia-Fordham, scheduled for Sept. 15, was postponed.
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Reader Chris Dellecese: “Funny, how a bad pass, when thrown incomplete behind the receiver, is described as ‘thrown behind him.’ But when it’s caught, it’s a ‘back-shoulder throw.’ ”
Several readers have asked that we praise Tennessee’s defense for quickly “getting off the field” in UT’s 59-14 loss, Saturday, at Oregon.