Host: Curt Menefee
Co host: Terry Bradshaw
Co host: Howie Long
Co host: Jimmy Johnson
The sports TV landscape on Sundays is loaded with NFL pre-game shows. The selection covers everything from fantasy football strategy to the Brian Billick show. Last week I decided to check out the Fox Sports pre-game show hosted by Curt Menefee. Menefee is teamed with former players Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long as well as former coach Jimmy Johnson.
Most shows of this type hit the top stories from the previous week and Fox was no different as they led off with the Steelers 75 anniversary celebration on Monday Night Football. I was just glad it didn’t turn into a Ravens bashing forum. Other headlines discussed were Don Shula’s comments regarding a perfect season by the Patriots having an asterisk and how Donovan McNabb had been whining again about how much blame he should burden for the Eagles record.
When topics are tossed out on this show it’s like watching dogs begging for food because Bradshaw, Long and Johnson all really like to talk…a lot. They fight to get their comments in first and Menefee does a fine job of keeping things in line.
After a brief review of the Vikings – Packers game, Howie Long did a feature on running back Adrian Peterson that compared his ability to Bo Jackson. I have one piece of advice for Fox and any show like this when you compare players; use graphics. If the medium is television it means we can see what you are talking about. The feature on Peterson would have been far better with some stats comparing his season to rookie seasons of former running backs…like Bo Jackson.
The opening segment ended with a BCS update and a recap of the Illinois- Ohio State game. I thought this seemed out of place on this show. Besides, I had already gotten my college football update on ESPN earlier that morning.
This show started losing points when it featured a weather update with Jillian Reynolds after the first break. Her banter with the studio crew was sophomoric and let’s just call her for what she is – a bimbo. I was expecting the words “This is our T&A segment†to be flashing on the screen as she gave the expected game time conditions. And to top it off this show scrolls the weather conditions the entire time on the lower third graphics bar. Instead of injury updates and fantasy advice we get the same scroll for 60 minutes…HELLO!
The third segment had Bradshaw moderating some questions on college football between Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson. Two words…who cares? I wanted to see game previews and NFL news; not Switzer and Johnson rank their top 5 BCS teams.
After a preview of the Cowboys – Giants game, Pam Oliver did a feature on coach Tom Coughlin that was as deep as a Steve McNair pass these days.
The best part of this show is when Jay Glazer pops in with player updates. He provides news and injury reports, but for some reason only covers a few games.
One major glitch occurred when game analyst Brian Baldinger was not ready for his live shot and the whole segment went south…it was comical.
The hosts gave their game picks after a painful vignette by Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy, you rocked on “The Man Showâ€, but please stay away from my football time.
As you’ve likely guessed by now, this show did not do much for me. It didn’t provide the news depth of ESPN or the fantasy updates of CBS.
Grade: C-
By The Numbers – In case you were wondering about just how bad the Ravens offense has been since Brian Billick got here check out this stat. As of the loss to the Bengals Billick has coached 143 games with the Ravens and in 81 games (57%), the team has scored 20 points or less.
The Ultimate Sports Babe update – Erin Andrews of ESPN is leading the voting so far, but I am still waiting on more feedback before I post the final results.
