By Denny McLain
My God what is going on with our announcers?
I had just turned on the radio today and heard a recap of the Lions game, and I could not believe what I was hearing.
It actually sounded like the Lions had won! “How could that be”, I asked myself? I know that I didn’t listen to the last minute of the game but I swear that I saw the final score on the TV?
The announcers were acting like it was a win, then they put Coach Schwartz on the air. The line of questioning by our radio announcer was one of “Hurrah, we played better.”
In the coach's defense he immediately acted like a real man and said “Yes, but…", and went on to talk about how lucky they were that the game was so close.
He also went on to say the bottom line fact was, "They lost" and that it was totally unacceptable! In fact the coach even went as far as to say that "You're not going to win a game playing the way we played, especially in the first half".
Then after the commercial break the announcers went off on this tangent that made it sound like they were pleased with the game and the way it finished?
Come on announcers! Let’s get real.
They even played sound bites of their play by play excitement, come on guys, be a little objective!
Finally, when the flagship station went live to another bar for the post game, that broadcaster was at least honest and objective with his comments, Hurrah! One for the broadcasters
I know that the home announcers have to act like they are kissing each and every body part of the Lions, but please stop this phony baloney cheer acting and at least be a little objective.
Has anyone ever listened to Ernie Harwell? Yes he was a fan but at least very objective in each and every game that I heard; guys get some tapes and listen to objectivity.
It’s getting almost impossible to hear the game with the play by play guy screaming and yelling when the Lions gain five yards. And, the screaming and hollering seems at a minimum to be contrived and fake, I guess they’re looking for anything to practice their signature call as in, “YANKEES WIN, YANKEES WIN, THE YANKEES WIN!”
Anyone who has ever heard a Yankee game announcer knows exactly what I am talking about. And our announcers should not be mimicking the Yankee’s guy.
First of all the Yankees win a lot of games, secondly…our announcers don’t believe what they’re yelling themselves about anyway!
Then they (as well as every caller on radio) lamb baste Culpepper at how inept he is and can’t do the job anymore.
Schwartz immediately made his point on this matter quite clear at the Lions post game press conference, "Daunte didn't drop punts, Daunte didn't drop passes, Daunte didn't jump offside,"
Schwartz goes on to say, "A quarterback is judged by points and we weren't getting that done."
Folks, Culpepper probably has done more to help our new $60 million dollar QB than anyone else in the organization by teaching him the game, and, all of the rest of the sophistication that is required by a real NFL QB.
Culpepper was a great one and will be in the Hall Of Fame one day. But, Stafford is the future of our Lions if he doesn’t get decapitated when he returns. He will be thankful to Culpepper one day, and we will all hear what a good guy Culpepper was by sharing his experience with our future starter.
Now we’re all pulling for Stanton right? But let’s not fool ourselves.
The post game show started taking calls about Stanton, our MSU 2nd round pick and what a good job he did. Come on now folks, he wasn’t any good either and we are all pulling for our Michigan kid. Hell, what a great story that would be, our Michigan boy comes home and wins a game at QB.
He did score his first NFL rushing touchdown and that had to be a great thrill for the kid, but let’s be serious, he is no NFL QB, at least at this point.
He will never get the proper opportunity here as long as Stafford is in Motown. He should pray to go to a team that will tutor him and he can learn the game properly.
Folks, Stanton completed 10 of 19 passes for 72 yards, yes 72 yards, Hardly Bobby Layne, Terry Bradshaw, Chuck Long or even Culpepper who only hit 6 of 12 for 64 yards. Folks, between the two quarterbacks they only threw for 136 yards.
One thing that Stanton did do though was bring some “Hip, Hip Hoorah” to the game! The crowd at least got a little energized when the change was made, it started to sound like a football stadium again.
Keep two things in mind, 14 of the Lions points came on an interception run-back and two back to back pass interference calls that allowed them to score. Maybe the refs were trying to control the spread, could that be? Hmm?
Kurt Warner for Arizona had 233 yards in passing and would rather have lost to any other NFL team with the exception of the Lions I believe.
The problems continue on with the Lions, they just plain and simple give up too many points to the other teams, make too many mistakes, Offense, Defense, Kicking and Coverage.
The Defense gave up 31 points again, the Lions just don’t have talent to stop the other team, the Lions don’t have any kind of a running game that is consistent and lastly, the offensive line.
Unless the front office goes out and gets some bruisers on that line, they may get QB killed out there…like Stafford. And if they don’t fix that offensive line, why the hell did they draft the $60 million dollar kid anyway, cause if you’re not going to protect him, it is just a matter of time before an inevitable disaster occurs and you can take that to the bank.
Next week the Lions and San Francisco…at San Francisco, oh my! Can anything improve or get better? Does a win over the 49ers mean anything at all?
We can all just listen to the announcers and the post game broadcasters again and find out, don’t believe what you see on TV.
CLICK ON COVER!
