Sports

New stadiums give bad view to broadcasters

Marv Albert didn’t call Westwood Radio’s Giants at Redskins, Monday night, Dec. 21, because his deal allows him to miss some broadcasts, and he chooses to skip Skins’ home games because club owner Dan Snyder put the visiting radio booths near the end zone, making accurate calls impossible. Snyder made luxury box seats out of the former radio booths.

Before games in D.C., Giants’ radio man Bob Papa has apologized to his audience for uncertain calls that are coming. “Our position is now low, end zone,” Papa said, Friday. “It went from bad, to worse, to ridiculous.”

“The Redskins aren’t alone,” Albert said. Papa said the new Cardinals’ and Cowboys’ stadiums are similarly bad.

* Matt Winer, a reliable, dues-paid ESPN/ABC studio man, has moved to TBS/TNT. . . . David Cone, who last week became an ex-YES analyst, last year had improved to provide too many good moments — especially as a forthright, topical storyteller — not to be missed. . . .

Dick Syriac, Lenox, Mass., is getting the hang of ESPN’s graphics. When he saw, “N. Florida-N. Orleans, 7 p.m.,” he knew ESPN was tracking the New Florida-North Orleans game.

* Mike Francesa, last week, delivered a serious, Mikey-knows-all, breakdown of the TCU-Boise St. Fiesta Bowl. Then, he sagely declared it no contest. TCU, the 8-point favorite, easily. You know the rest. Boise St. 17, TCU 10.

Brent misses point — again

Given ESPN’s weak grasp of sports and strong re gard for hype, it stood to reason that Thursday’s national title game would be assigned to Brent Musburger.

As usual, Musburger, with a double major (drama and drum), right away became a strain on the better senses. Early first quarter, 0-0, a freshman having replaced injured star QB Colt McCoy, Texas had fourth and goal from the 2.

“Fourth and goal. And now what does [UT coach] Mack Brown do?” Musburger said on ABC, as if narrating a murder mystery, as if there were any doubt. UT kicked a field goal to take the lead.

Late in the first half, Musburger and analyst Kirk Herbstreit surely were the last to know that Alabama defensive lineman Marcel Dareus intercepted a shovel pass then ran for a touchdown. First they declared it incomplete, then a fumble.

And then Musburger The Phony explained it as if we — and not he — had been confused: “If he’s got it in the air, that’s an interception and a touchdown! That was a shovel pass, remember.” Thanks, Brent, for clearing that up for us.

With Texas down, 24-21, 3:21 left and the clock stopped after an incomplete pass, Musburger and Herbstreit didn’t even wonder why Texas called a timeout. It made no apparent sense. Ten minutes later, Herbstreit dropped a hint about Texas having earlier “burned” a timeout, something that should have been addressed much earlier.

And Musburger the Panderer didn’t even question why, ‘Bama, up 10, second down and 47 seconds left, tried to score — and did — instead of just kneeing the clock.

He missed a big game. Again. But he’s a good fit for ESPN.

Colleges also to blame for rogue players

Why must the NFL and NBA alone absorb the hits provided by their gun-toting, women-beating, car-crashing professionals? Shouldn’t the venerable colleges to which they were recruited be made to answer for their role in the socialization process of such pre-draft student-athletes?

Why should the NBA and the Wizards take a bigger hit for Gilbert Arenas than the University of Arizona, where he spent two years? Not only does Arenas have profound gun issues, he seems to have literacy issues. When do we make our colleges accountable?

* Gouge ‘Em Cowboys! The first playoff game in Jerry Jones‘ new PSL Stadium, last night against the Eagles, gave the Cowboys’ owner his first opportunity to take his patrons to the cleaners. And he waxed the saps, but good.

The $239 regular-season tickets were priced at $500. But for $35 one could buy standing room tickets, no guarantee, though, of seeing the field. Bloomberg News reported that the Cowboys raised the price of parking to $50 and $75. Nevertheless, bottled water held steady at $5.

Remember the words of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: PSLs are “good investments.”

* Analysis of the Week: Last Sunday, Fox’s Moose Johnston gauged how long Brett Favre, against the Giants, held the ball before throwing it. Over a replay, he counted: “One one thousand, two one thousand . . .” He reached “six one thousand” before Favre threw.

He then concluded that Favre was on the move for, wow, “Six seconds!”

Johnston, however, had counted over a tape shown in slow motion.

By the way, is there no live game production that can deviate from formula to instead lead with good value judgments?

The first play from scrimmage in that game led to Favre being dumped, and hard. It would have been nice to see what happened, how it happened and who made it happen. But Fox was wedded to its starting lineups graphics, thus we got zilch.