FINDING THE RIGHT NETWORK (CBS) IS IMPORTANT
By STEVE KING
I watched the NFL Network just after the Browns’ 12-9 win in overtime over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
I so wish I hadn’t.
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I also watched CBS just after the game.
I’m so glad I did.
You see, the analysts on the NFL Network – the network that is supposed to provide viewers with a big-picture, unbiased and balanced view of the league and its teams – were clueless about the significance of Cleveland’s victory. They rambled on about this, that and the other, none of which mattered, especially the trajectory of Greg Joseph’s 37-yard knuckle ball of a game-winning field goal, but failed to mention – or at least hint to – the fact that this was, without a doubt, a foundational win for the Browns, one on which they can continue to build. This is indeed a win the Browns can hang their hats on.
If the Browns, who are now 2-2-1 and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for third place in the bunched-up AFC North behind the first-place – and surprising – Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) and the Ravens (3-2), go on and do some big things from here – and they certainly could – then everybody – everybody, even the yucks at NFL Network – will point to Sunday’s win as the seminal moment when the seed for it was planted, watered and fertilized.
Now, I’m not going to mention the names of those yucks/analysts. They don’t deserve to be singled out – for their benefit and for yours. I’m better than that. You’re better than that. We’re better than that. But they aren’t. We’ll leave it at that.
But the guys at CBS got it. They really, truly got it – and then some.
It started with Greg Gumbel, who was doing the play-by-play on the network’s telecast of the game between the Oakland Raiders, whom the Browns lost to last Sunday, and the host Los Angeles Chargers, who visit FirstEnergy Stadium to play the Browns next Sunday, made a comment after the camera found some wild-looking Raiders fans in the stands. He meant to say they were from “The Black Hole” in Oakland but instead said they were from the Dawg Pound in Cleveland.
Realizing his error, Gumbel chuckled and said, “Guess I’m just so (jazzed up) about the big win by the Cleveland Browns today.”
Not long thereafter, when the game reached the end of the second quarter and the network went to its studio halftime show, the program opened by showcasing the Cleveland-Baltimore game.
Host James Browns began by saying, “Coach is really excited about the Browns’ big win.”
“Coach” is, of course, Bill Cowher, a former Browns special teamer and then special teams coach and finally secondary coach from 1980-82 and 1985-88. Cowher has always talked about the fact that his three daughters were all born in Cleveland. He has always had a fondness for the city and for the Browns, with whom he started his coaching career, even though, of course, he went on to become head coach of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. So, then, he gets the Browns. He understands the Browns. He knows all about the Browns.
And in having been a coach for so long, he fully comprehends the significance of the new Browns’ win over the former Browns franchise.
Cowher went on and on about quarterback Baker Mayfield and how he led the Browns on the game-winning drive. He said the Browns, with the victory, “are right in thick of the AFC North race.”
Thank you, Coach. I should have known that I – and the others who follow the Browns – could count on you to get it right.
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