Post by TheShadow on Aug 4, 2006 7:49:07 GMT -5
www.boston.com
By Susan Bickelhaupt, Globe Staff
John Madden has a busy weekend lined up. First, the former Oakland Raiders coach will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, tomorrow. The next evening, he'll don his headset and take his place in the broadcast booth with Al Michaels as they team up for NBC's debut of ``Sunday Night Football," with the Raiders facing the Philadelphia Eagles.
To hear Madden tell it, it might as well be Christmas morning.
``I get really excited this time every year, but this time I think it's kicked up about five notches," Madden said this week. He is not only the most honored NFL broadcaster of all time with 15 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Analyst/Personality, but he is equally renown for his coaching. Madden led the Raiders to one AFL West crown and six AFC Western Division titles. He also won Super Bowl XI, and his .759 regular-season winning percentage is the best in history.
Madden was a finalist for the Hall of Fame 27 years ago but did not make the final cut, and his theory is the committee wanted to make sure he wouldn't come out of retirement.
``So it took 27 years for the next opportunity to be a finalist again and eventually get it," he said. ``But a lot of good things have happened in the past 27 years. I really think that because sometimes you have to wait, you appreciate it more. And because I had to wait so long, this thing could not be appreciated any more."
When ESPN announced it was taking over ``Monday Night Football" from ABC (both networks are owned by Disney), NBC took over the Sunday night game, which was formerly aired on ESPN. Madden and Michaels jumped nights and networks. The Sunday night lineup is subject to the league's new ``flex scheduling," meaning the NFL can move a more attractive game from the afternoon to the evening slot.
NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol believes Madden and Michaels ``were on their way to having their best year [last season on ``Monday Night Football"], then suddenly their last four games of the season, they didn't have a single game that matched up teams with winning records. That has something to do with it, and the other thing is when you have John and Al, you have the absolute best. And I think people respond to that. You know, every network has a definite lead team, but these two guys define what the best is."
Michaels said he thinks the game will benefit from having the day's games to reflect on.
``With all the games being played before ours, this will be the first time we'll be in a situation where we can fold in a lot of what has happened during the day," he said.
Madden has worked as an analyst for almost three decades, and Michaels is the only play-by-play announcer to call the championship games in four sports -- the Super Bowl six times, the World Series eight times, the Stanley Cup finals three times, and the NBA Finals twice.
Real interesting
Frank Deford will go one-on-one with Ebersol Aug. 15 on HBO's ``Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" at 10 p.m. Ebersol, 58, talks about his professional achievements (he has been head of NBC Sports since 1989) as well as his personal life -- he lost a son in a plane crash in 2004 . . . In addition to working as studio analysts for the Sunday night football game on NBC, Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth will return to HBO's ``Inside the NFL" Sept. 13 at 10 p.m. . . . ESPN and the NFL Network will cover the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies beginning tomorrow at 1 p.m. (in addition to Madden, Warren Moon, Troy Aikman, Rayfield Wright, Reggie White, and Harry Carson are being inducted). The NFL Network also will air pre- and postgame shows around the Hall of Fame game Sunday night . . . The National Pro Fastpitch softball game between the New England Riptide and Connecticut Brakettes will be shown tomorrow at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports Net New England. The game was taped July 27 at Martin Field in Lowell . . . CBS (Channel 4) is gearing up for its coverage of the PGA Championship next weekend with an hour special Sunday, ``The Road to the PGA Championship" at 2 p.m. Bill Macatee narrates the show that followed the 30 touring professionals who gained berths in the season's final major. CBS will air the third and fourth rounds of the tournament Aug. 18 and 19 (TNT has Rounds 1 and 2).