Sports property/Telecaster partnerships you miss (or don't)

[ixnay]

The thread title is pretty much self explanatory.

I'll start with two I miss:

NFC on CBS, AFC on NBC (because I grew up with them)

and one I don't:

MLB on CBS 1990-1993 (because of its irregular Saturday afternoon ET scheduling - it'd be on for 2 weeks, then off for 4 weeks, etc.), although I'm open to reminiscings about Dizzy Dean calling MLB on CBS during the '50s and early '60s.

OK, your turn.

ixnay

 

[Davros2006]

I think a lot of Boston Bruins fans will fondly remember the games that were broadcast on WSBK (TV38) for many many years, and especially when many of those games were called by the legendary Fred Cusick (who died last week at the age of 90).

 

[RicoGregg]

The MLB on CBS occurred during the dreadful watch of Neil Pilson, then head of CBS Sports who overpaid baseball for the right to show a measley 12 games a year, something like a billion dollars for four seasons. While the ink was drying on the contract, just about everyone was agreeing that this deal was a huge mistake.

Pilson was such a buffoon, he eventually lost the NFL rights to Fox after they had been on CBS for something like 43 years. He had tried to hog every major sporting attraction for CBS. To paraphrase Edward Bennett Williams, late president of the Washington Redskins, Pilson had a blank check, and he overspent.

Losing the NFL was Pilson's downfall and last straw. CBS dumped him, and he's now a consultant. Figures.

 

[onairb]

The late-'80s-vintage 'NBC Game of the Week', with Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola, Bob Costas, Tony Kubek, and the occasional doubleheaders featuring the likes of Jon Miller, Ted Robinson, Jay Randolph, and, yes, Joe Morgan...all preceded by Marv Albert on the pre-game show.

The CBS era coincided with baseball shifting primarily to cable, both nationally on ESPN, and locally, as nearly every team that didn't already have a superstation contract started to air some games on regional all-sports channels(some, such as the Yankees, had been doing this on pay-TV as far back as the late '70s).

Some say that CBS 'ruined' baseball by televising fewer games, and that NBC would have retained its traditional 26-week package if they'd kept the rights in the early '90s. I've never been able to find out for certain, but, in hindsight, NBC probably would have been willing to show fewer games. It was CBS's overspending, not the reduced number of telecasts, that ruined the deal.

 

[stdjsb25]

Miss: NBA on NBC, Monday Night Football on ABC, Olympics on ABC, Pat Summerall and John Madden calling football games on CBS/FOX. and of course, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford on Monday Night Football.

Don't Miss: Olympics on CBS.

 

[KeithE4]

Bring 'Em Back!
MLB Game of the Week on NBC - I miss Curt Gowdy. Of course he's gone, but NBC would probably still do a better job with baseball than Fox.

AFL/AFC games on NBC - Again, I miss Gowdy.

TheNBAonNBC - I think it was one word. :-D

NBA on ABC (1960s) - Keith Jackson did a good job in the league's early days.

Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone!
The Baseball Network - that horrid NBC/ABC/MLB partnership.

MLB on CBS - Why did they even bother?

The Yankee Game of the Week on CBS - they owned the team in the mid '60s. Dizzy Dean was getting old and tiresome by then. Of course, so were the Yankees. :-D

NHL and the glowing puck on Fox - Good idea, bad execution.

The NFL Today on CBS - Burnt Hamburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross, & Jimmy the Greek. 'Nuff said.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone!
The NFL Today on CBS - Burnt Hamburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross, & Jimmy the Greek. 'Nuff said.

But where else could you hear "You are looking LIVE at sold out RFK Stadium..." <grin>

 

[Bob1370]

Miss; Yankees on WPIX/11 with Phil Rizzuto, in full raconteur mode (sometimes what he said had little to do with the game but it was always entertaining and often hilarious); Mets on WOR/9 with Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner

 

[easttxtv]

The MLB on CBS occurred during the dreadful watch of Neil Pilson, then head of CBS Sports who overpaid baseball for the right to show a measley 12 games a year, something like a billion dollars for four seasons.

Pilson was such a buffoon,

Losing the NFL was Pilson's downfall and last straw. CBS dumped him, and he's now a consultant. Figures.

How on earth do you carry a sport with a somewhat long season like baseball, and only show 12 games a year? That's not much of a commitment. I heard the deal was bad, but I didn't know it was THAT bad. Pilson must not have known how wide the true popularity of NFL games were (or could be)...that kind of programming should have been at the VERY TOP of the 'must keep' list, instead of whatever Pilson thought it was.

Meanwhile, oh yes, the topic. Miss ABC doing Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford, don't miss a bit of Dan Dierdorf--VERY opinionated!! Miss Ken Venturi doing CBS Golf, he had so much life-experience type of commentary when it came to certain golf situations. Nice that at least Pat Summerall's voice was back at the Masters in the past year, even if he wasn't there in person.

BTW, a what-if-miss would be if CBS were ever to lose the Masters.

Don't Miss: Olympics on CBS.

They didn't do all that bad on the Winter Olympics, although somehow I don't think CBS would have done as well with the Summer Olympics as with the Winter ones.

What I wouldn't miss in this coverage would be NBC's overoveroverhyping and effusiveness, plus interrupting openings/closings for marathon you-are-there interviews. They've had HOW LONG(??) to air interviews with athletes during the games....NBC has almost ruined the Olympics for me.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Meanwhile, oh yes, the topic. Miss ABC doing Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford, don't miss a bit of Dan Dierdorf--VERY opinionated!!

I was never sure why Dierdorf came across as such a pompous windbag on Monday Night Football. In his time on CBS, both before and after MNF, he wasn't like that as much. Maybe the producers wanted that.

Regarding the Olympics on NBC...Gag! They've turned the whole thing into a 2 week long chick flick that only cares about swimming and gymnastics, with some basketball thrown in. ABC showed so many other things, like boxing (when we had some future great pros, of course), and even a lot of stuff like rowing, kayaking, weightlifting, and closed track bicycling. But who's to say ABC wouldn't have gone down the same road as NBC has?

Someone mentioned the Mets on WOR. I wish I could have seen some of those games as a kid just to hear if Ralph Kiner was as unintentionally hilarious as people say he was.

 

[radioman148]

>>Pat Summerall and John Madden calling football games on CBS/FOX.>>

Miss those guys alot. You always knew you were watching "the big game" when those guys were calling it.

 

[RALfan]

I'm surprised no one has said a word about the NBA on CBS. Sure, the NBC era was great, but CBS during the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird era was also rather exceptional with Dick Stockton doing play-by-play alongside Bill Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, Billy Cunningham, and Hubie Brown.

 

[bpatrick]

The MLB on CBS occurred during the dreadful watch of Neil Pilson, then head of CBS Sports who overpaid baseball for the right to show a measley 12 games a year, something like a billion dollars for four seasons.

Pilson was such a buffoon,

Losing the NFL was Pilson's downfall and last straw. CBS dumped him, and he's now a consultant. Figures.

How on earth do you carry a sport with a somewhat long season like baseball, and only show 12 games a year? That's not much of a commitment. I heard the deal was bad, but I didn't know it was THAT bad. Pilson must not have known how wide the true popularity of NFL games were (or could be)...that kind of programming should have been at the VERY TOP of the 'must keep' list, instead of whatever Pilson thought it was.

Meanwhile, oh yes, the topic. Miss ABC doing Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford, don't miss a bit of Dan Dierdorf--VERY opinionated!! Miss Ken Venturi doing CBS Golf, he had so much life-experience type of commentary when it came to certain golf situations. Nice that at least Pat Summerall's voice was back at the Masters in the past year, even if he wasn't there in person.

BTW, a what-if-miss would be if CBS were ever to lose the Masters.

Don't Miss: Olympics on CBS.

They didn't do all that bad on the Winter Olympics, although somehow I don't think CBS would have done as well with the Summer Olympics as with the Winter ones.

What I wouldn't miss in this coverage would be NBC's overoveroverhyping and effusiveness, plus interrupting openings/closings for marathon you-are-there interviews. They've had HOW LONG(??) to air interviews with athletes during the games....NBC has almost ruined the Olympics for me.

Totally agree on Summerall-Venturi on golf. Wonder if Summerall would shill for Tiger the way Nantz does?

Also, Keith Jackson and anybody on ABC's college football.

As for the Olympics, I wish I could get the CBC: fewer "up close and personal" features, and more events that don't necessarily appeal to women, like boxing.

 

[The King Bee]

How about: The AFL on NBC with Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis; NHL on CBS (and KMOX, St. Louis) with Dan Kelly, Sr. and Gus Kyle; anything (particularly AFL football) with Charlie Jones; Al Michaels and later Marty Brenneman with Joe Nuxhall on the Reds/WLW Network; and Lloyd Petit on the Chicago Blackhawks/WMAQ network (A shot...AND A GOAL!).

 

[bpatrick]

When I was in high school in Birmingham, AL, I
had a friend whose cousin lived in St. Louis and
made a Blues fan out of her. In turn, she got me
interested in the Blues, and I used to turn on KMOX
at night to listen to them. Dan Kelly was the greatest;
I remember him on the CBS NHL Game Of The Week
as well.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Miss the NHL on NBC in it's original incarnation in the 70's. Tim Ryan play-by-play with the
legendary Ted Lindsay doing color. And the affable Brian McFarlane filling the intermissions
with standings, scores, and Peter Puck cartoons.

Today's incarnation of NHL on NBC is pretty good too.

Don't miss NHL on Fox with the glowing pucks and annoying robot animations whenever a goal was scored.

Also don't miss cut-rate productions of College Football Bowl Games on regional networks like
Mizlou and Jefferson Pilot.

 

[Davros2006]

I'm not a big fan of the present-day NHL ON NBC.

Any thoughts here about ABC's NHL coverage over the years?

Incidentally, CTV has the Canadian rights to the next few Olympics, and I have no personal viewing experience (as I've watched the more recent ones on CBC).

 

[Tim L]

Not to say I miss it, because it was so long ago..a different era..

But I liked the NBA on ABC in the late 60's-1973..Keith Jackson, Jack Twyman
and Chris Schenkel did the games..These games, along with listening to Cincinnati Royals Radio games on WLW-AM 700, made me a fan of the NBA. At first "The NBA on CBS" didnt sound right to me, I was that used to ABC doing the games at that time..

Also, the ABC/Pro Bowlers tour was a great match..Though they are on ESPN now (Technically ABC property)..It just isnt the same..

 

[hubcity]

Regarding the Olympics on NBC...Gag! They've turned the whole thing into a 2 week long chick flick that only cares about swimming and gymnastics, with some basketball thrown in. ABC showed so many other things, like boxing (when we had some future great pros, of course), and even a lot of stuff like rowing, kayaking, weightlifting, and closed track bicycling. But who's to say ABC wouldn't have gone down the same road as NBC has?

Agreed, with two exceptions:

- Including Jim McKay in their coverage of the Salt Lake City Winter Games. The opening shot aped ABC's "over the nearby mountains and into the host city" aerial shot, and I thought "now's about the time Jim McKay would render a poetic introduction"...and he did!

- The "Olympic Ice" show on USA during the Torino games. Everything you needed to know about the ice events, with an extremely cynical bent (especially relative to NBC's over-the-top dramatism of the prime-time broadcasts.) Featuring Sale & Pelletier with an interpretive piece honoring the Zamboni.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Marty Brenneman with Joe Nuxhall on the Reds/WLW Network;

Ahhhh, The Old Lefthander and the Poofy Haired Fancy Boy...Marty's turned into such an old crankypants that it's hard to listen. Jeff Brantley's gotten better, but it still ain't Marty and Joe.