Madden takes a week off from football

Agree completely.

 

I just hope he doesn't turn out as unlistenable as Summerall was for the Cotton Bowl telecast. That was sad.

 

honestly, he's been unlistenable for years to my ears. madden, that is.

 

A while back, I thought Madden was unlistenable. For some reason, in the last couple years, it has improved to where I enjoy him again. Don't know if immunity set in, but I don't seem to notice as much of the "Wam, Bam, Pow!" schtick that made my ears bleed.

If you want unlistenable, watch the team of Dick Stockton-Randy Cross-Dan Fouts do a game. Holy crap is it bad. Stockton is way ahead of Madden on the list of old-timers who should be put out of their misery. I can't remember thinking that Cross has ever brought good analysis to a game, and Fouts, well, he's just not good.

 

seahawk, you're thinking of enberg, not stockton. but the sentiment is accurate.

 

I am full of fail.

 

Yep. It will remind me that I'm aging too.

 

Stockton is also past his prime and the mistakes are starting to pile up.

 

Agree. Watched a game Stockton did last week, or maybe the week before.

He was awful.

 

I'll actually notice a play-by-play team only now and then (usually not for good reasons). Fox now has Chris Rose doing play-by-play. It wouldn't be so bad, but the voice screams "Best Damn" which is kind of like trying to take Gilbert Gottfried reading the news.
Half the teams are bland beyond recognition, those that aren't I can't figure out why we're supposed to appreciate the expertise of the analyst. (What team did he play for? What position did he play?) I actually think that most college announcing teams are much better and more experienced and do a better job of getting the fan "into" the game than most pro announcing crews.
Madden was an original, he saw and explained things that just weren't done before on TV. I think the game has changed a lot since he was a coach, but until someone comes along who will call players out who quit on plays and coaches with no sense of a gameplan or adjustments, I'm not eager to see Madden retire.

 

Not to mention that Cross is an epic egomaniac.