NBC on the AFL: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Tim Ball
Wednesday March 19, 2003
Enough is enough. Mentioning players in other leagues is OK but should be minor at best. Wasting time arguing or reliving the past just wastes time. The AFL season is at the halfway point and the new fans know nothing about Arena Football. And, by default, know nothing of the legitimate stars in this league.
Al Trautwig, Glenn Parker and that ex-Dallas guy, uh, what’s-his-name, um, oh yeah, “the playmaker-I got rings and you don’t,” Michael Irvin, are calling the shots on NBC for the Sunday broadcast.
The pre-game and halftime show has some good, some bad and some ugly aspects that need changing. Now is the time.
The good
NBC may have put these three together but Trautwig gets the nod for being the best. Like his counterpart in the famous spaghetti western, Al’s maneuvering during the shoot-outs between Parker and fancy-pants Irvin keep him the winner in each exchange.
NBC has a great product and the games are covered well but are missing out on making the future bright for all involved. Last I checked, Steve Papin has a break in his playing career and would be perfect as a fourth on the set. Papin would bring the much-needed insight into a league of legitimate greatness.
Trautwig needs to step up and be the hero when things get off track. His delivery is smoother and carries a natural authenticity. Like Eastwood, he never panics. But Trautwig is failing the plot when he doesn’t sell the AFL he represents.
This is the Arena Football League. You can’t legitimize this league by spending more time on the outdoor league. This is the “inaugural season,” for educating people why it’s been around for SIXTEEN YEARS.
There’s no second chance to make a first impression. Oh yeah, and cliches exist for a reason.
The Bad
Someone in the peacock network has given the centerpiece position to Glenn Parker. That’s because he’s bad. Not bad as in sucks, but “bad,” as in he knows his stuff. When exchanging arguments with the guy on his left, Parker’s knowledge of stats on the players shows two things: he cares about doing his job but needs to do his job better. Much better. He needs to start legitimizing the players in those stats.
Parker doesn’t need to defend himself. We all know that football is a team sport and no player has ever won anything or any game by himself. Parker is impressive in his responses with what he knows of the AFL players.
But Parker needs to do the job he’s shown he’s capable of. This is the Arena Football League and it seems that Parker knows the difference from other leagues. There are only nine games left in the regular season. It’s time to identify the stars in the AFL (which Parker does better than Trautwig and Irvin) and make them the focus of each show.
Parker needs to relax, get rid of the tie and get this league to the level he knows it can go. It would be better to see him kickin’ back, talking his stuff then sitting their looking stuffy...talking.
Too much time has been wasted. Parker needs to smell the coffee and realize it’s burnt and make another cup. If NBC executives think he can shine in the middle of the set, what is he waiting for? Like a good movie at matinee price, the Arena Football League only needs people to get in the seats and they’ll enjoy themselves.
The Ugly
A school in summer has no class.
Willie Mays doesn’t even have to speak and people know why the Giants play at 24 Willie Mays Lane.
John Madden is not paid millions because he is an “ex-champion” or has a SuperBowl ring. He is valuable for what he does now. Madden is a sports announcer. He may have used his past accomplishments to get his current job, but he does that job without always mentioning his past accomplishments.
Michael Irvin is a sports announcer. There should be as much training in that profession as in football. Weekly preparation would keep Irvin from fumbling on the set. The only problem is that those of us who are suffering can’t send him to the bench. It’s time for the playmaker to highlight others making the plays.
Irvin’s excitement and energy is wasted trying to keep the light shining on himself.
When Irvin speaks he has some Madden-like qualities and rivets the listener to their seat waiting for something cool and relevant to Arena Football. But, as soon as he relates to the AFL players, the game or fans, he repels them away one sentence later by his egotism.
When a person has worth he finds the value in others and creates success. People want that representation. That’s probably why some announcers make millions of dollars while others make fools of themselves. All Irvin needs to do is say his name and the rest follows without need of mentioning it.
ABC swallowed their pride and gave the future to the best “announcer” in the game. It is too bad Irvin is wasting his chance to make the future bright for others who richly deserve it. If he makes the AFL a success he proves how much more valuable he is in the process.
The End
In that old spaghetti western the guy most remembered wasn’t a star, yet. No it was a guy who provided his audience with a good story. Quality and performance though lacking the big stage at first, always ends up on one.
NBC, Trautwig, Parker and especially Irvin need to deliver a better performance. They have the tools, they have the set and they have the storyline.
The Arena Football League is legitimate. It needs sports announcers to be focused on the AFL. It has supplied a quality product and has players that can be heroes in their own rights. At the same time, providing those announcers involved the chance to make a name for themselves as legitimate announcers.
It is the people who watch who hold the key to the future. The numbers are there, the loyalty is there. The organization is sound and is not selling hype with smoke and mirrors. It is selling what people are looking for.
Trautwig, Parker and Irvin have a chance of a lifetime with the AFL/NBC partnership because it is based for the first time in history on fairness and equity. If one succeeds so does the other. Many fans of Arena Football don’t know or care about the past of any of the announcers. They are only looking towards the future.
The Arena Football League is in its seventeenth season. It is time to bring fairness and equity to the games and the players who deserve it. It’s not unfair to mention players in other leagues but that should be as an afterthought.
The AFL on NBC should be about the AFL on NBC.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
