12/18/04

12/18/04—Washington Redskins Vs. San Francisco 49ers, Fox

Somehow, each successive commentary team I experience is more underwhelming than the previous. I thought I was experiencing the B team on ESPN; turns out I got the C or maybe D team for Skins at Niners. Two losing teams playing on a Saturday night, the perfect storm for low ratings.

Kenny Albert did the play by play, while Brian Baldinger added color and Chris Myers gave us the sideline dish. Albert is nepotism in the broadcast booth, getting a huge jump on most other yakkers because his dad Marv has been a sports announcer since before Kenny was a gleam. Kenny has better hair. Baldinger is a seasoned observer who noted that San Francisco isn't turtleneck country even though Niner head coach Erickson was wearing one. Perhaps a subtle jibe at how Erickson fits in?

One of the talking points for the game was that ‘Niner QB Dorsey was fragile, standing on “spindly legs” and throwing funny. Granted, the guy isn’t mammoth, but he is 6’5”, 220 and anyone at that height should be able to throw hard and take a hit. The other was that the Redskin defense was the second best in the league, and was hoping to become the best.

Neither prediction worked out. Natch. Dorsey broke a finger and continued to play. The Skins let Dorsey threw and gave up substantial yardage, though they did intercept several passes.

Amazingly, no one talked about a “hard hitting” game, even though there were several sacks. Maybe the X factor of hard hits has been filed away because the teams are also-rans.

Once the game seemed to be decided, commentary the team loosened up, running a video bit of them painting the “virtual yellow line” on the field, something that Fox claims to have innovated. If that’s the case, they’ve been twiddling their thumbs for years. Their competition has already jumped ahead.