Weekend Tube Review: NFL Network vs. ESPN
It was no contest: The NFL Network dominated ESPN on day one of the NFL Draft. They scooped ESPN on just about every pick and trade, and while ESPN was busy going to commercials, the NFL-N had every single pick live.
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↵Adam Schefter was the star of this Draft, as he correctly predicted pick after pick while ESPN’s talking heads were not even talking about the right position. Mike Mayock is arguably one of the smartest people in all of football, and came off so much better than the bickering duo of Kiper and McShay. Even the two people I usually can’t stand, Rich Eisen and Charles Davis, added to an already great broadcast.↵↵As for ESPN, what can I say? They missed picks, talked over picks and each other, had 40 people trying to chime in, got into fights with each other, and had more commercials on-air than the Draft itself. Matt Spiegel on SN radio summed it up best Saturday night: “I was begging for more Mike Tirico.” Chris Berman was so lost the entire broadcast that he would have to occasionally pause and rethink his own cheesy nicknames before blurting them out. I’m no Rich Eisen fan, but in this capacity he is head and shoulders above the “has been” Berman.↵
↵↵Jaws, Chris Mortensen, and Cris Carter really added nothing and while Mel Kiper’s player knowledge is unprecedented, the staged on-air feuds with Todd McShay were unbearable. ESPN needs to pick either one or the other and be done with it. With that said, I thought day two’s coverage was light years better, mostly because there was no Berman. Trey Wingo should replace him as host day one host as well. Things magically get better when you stop all of the nonsense and just talk football. Who knew?↵
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- ↵↵⇥↵⇥“Bill Parcells is trying to build a 53-man roster.”- Chris Mortensen not realizing all teams have 53 man rosters
- ↵⇥“They were picking right above New England and New England coveted this linebacker as well. You’ve got your first cat and mouse game.”- Keyshawn Johnson on non-Linebacker Vernon Gholston
- ↵⇥“Tom Brady makes magic for me.”- Charles Davis
- ↵⇥“Do you know what Pats opponents will get 15 yards for next year? Holding the Mayo.”- Chris Berman making a horrible joke and not realizing holding gets you 10 yards.
- ↵⇥“Rex Grossman is a late bloomer, I mean a REALLY late bloomer.”- Steve Young
- ↵⇥“Break out the ABBA records because Limas Sweed is off the board”- Chris Berman
- ↵⇥“If anyone gets hurt in that game, they can take some deux, deux, deux as anyone would know who has watched You Tube in the last few months”.- Chris Berman talking about drug smuggling on-air
↵↵Video of the Weekend:
↵Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have a “discussion” about the Draft. Loud noises!:
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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