Oh Fox… your broadcast of the Ravens/Rams game had me eager with anticipation coming into this game with the Seahawks (from a broadcast standpoint – from a football standpoint I was practicing throws to tryout for QB next week).
My enthusiasm was short-lived, however, as we get stuck with an extreme NFC-bias from Fox’s bottom barrel pairing of Charles Davis & Thom Brennaman.
Oh, and Goose popped in sporadically, starting with a proclamation that the Seahawks success hinged on ‘Russell Williams.’
Man if Russell Wilson can throw 5 TD’s against the Ravens D, imagine what this Russell Williams cat can do…
Goose also chimed in to let us know that he was ‘expecting a big fight out of this Ravens team,’ at which point I knew he was just blowing smoke to appease Ravens fans at home (same with the bling).
So about that game on Sunday… it was more or less the equivalent of a preseason game. You know, when you hit that grey area where Team A has already pulled their starters? But Team B refuses to do the same? Which in turn causes Team A’s coach to glare across the sidelines and throw his hands up like ‘seriously?’ but he knows all along there’s literally nothing he can do?
Yea this game was that. Preseason Game #5 in December.
Everybody and their brother knew it was going to be a debacle coming into the game (and if you thought otherwise, at 4-9 you should really consider dropping the purple shades momentarily).
What we didn’t know is that the Fox broadcast team was actually wearing “12th Man” shirts under their suits. Hell, even Thom Brennaman admitted as much at the very end of the game.
“Now we shift gears fellas over to the Ravens. We’ve talked a lot about the Seahawks, and rightfully so.”
Really? With 5 minutes left in the game you want to talk about Baltimore?
Thanks for the D-Squad Fox…
Wilson Lovefest
Look, I get it. Russell Wilson is a very good QB. And he’s been on fire as of late. But he’s not the only player on the field when the Seahawks offense is out there, despite what Brennaman and Davis want you to believe. Every single snap for the Seahawks offense was about Wilson. Every throw was phenomenal. Every completion was the perfect spot. Every incomplete pass was on the receiver, not Wilson. Oh Wilson is not on the field because the Ravens have the ball? Let’s talk more about Wilson anyway!
It became nauseating.
Also I’d like to correct the Wilson fanboy club of Davis and Brennaman: in the 2nd quarter they had mentioned Russell Wilson being drafted by the Orioles, only to retract their comment later in the game because he was drafted by the Rockies.
Which is WRONG. Sort of.
Wilson was in fact drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 41st round of the 2007 MLB draft, back when he was but a young lad in high school. Obviously he declined, tried out this football thing in college at NC State/Wisconsin, THEN he was drafted by the Rockies in the 4th round of the 2010 draft (then traded to the Rangers in 2013).
In 2012, Wilson was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks and Cheat Pete Carroll, decided to stick with the football route instead of baseball, won a Super Bowl or something, then cried about the DJ’s music selection at The Link because the artist was his girlfriend’s baby daddy.
Penalties? What penalties?
As Ravens fans we’re used to dealing with a broadcast team that pulls for a specific QB that we’re facing (speaking of which, what’s the over/under on boxes of Kleenex that Colinsworth went through after Andy Dalton went down?), but what’s inexcusable is seeing blatant calls and simply ignoring them or acting as if they never happened.
The PERFECT example came in the 2nd quarter, when Wilson dropped back on a 1st and 10. C.J. Mosley came bursting into the backfield, was blatantly held by J.R. Sweezy, and they just kept on talking about Wilson and his ability to move in the pocket.
Well… yea… I mean of course he’s able to move around there when Mosley is wrapped and held while the officials turn a blind eye!
They also managed to ‘conveniently’ miss the hold on Kamar Aiken later in the 3rd quarter, and they didn’t have any qualms early in the 1st quarter when Aiken had his helmet ripped clean off his head on an incomplete pass.
I’m sorry Davis, pops off? No no no… that’s called RIPPED OFF. Kam Chancellor, with his hand in the facemask CLEARLY pulls the helmet clean off Aiken’s noggin.
But what more could I expect from 2 members of the Seahawks bandwagon…
Quotables
“Tony (Siragusa) you walk around this place and it’s like you’re the mayor!”– Thom Brennaman.
“Charles Davis, you had time to throw that TD!” – Thom Brennaman, Senior VP of the Russell Wilson Fan Club
“Guys with accents, you gotta fear those guys!” – Goose on UFC’s Conor McGregor
Image of the Game
With time winding down in a stadium so quiet you could heard each individual seat squeak as the fans got up and walked out, Goose popped back in to tell us a little about the Boys & Girls Club of America, a great cause sponsored by great people. And while Thom Brennaman didn’t realize who was sandwiched between Goose and Adam Jones in the above image, Charles Davis surely picked up on it.
For those who don’t know, here’s a hint. A big one.
Which of course, prompted this little shimmy out of Goose.
AÂ great dance move by Siragusa, thanks in large part to…
