Plankton
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 12,258
- Reaction score
- 18,650
https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/09/10/media-circus-nfl-opening-weekend-32-thoughts
1. Networks will always downplay the impact of social media—especially if the sentiment is negative about their broadcaster—and CBS Sports execs have said repeatedly that they advised new analyst Tony Romo not to overweight what he read on Facebook and Twitter because they expected it to be negative early. Network officials were monitoring Twitter on Sunday during Romo’s broadcasting debut and could not have been more pleased by the overwhelmingly positive reaction for Romo’s work during the Raiders-Titans game. CBS Sports execs were particularly surprised (and very happy) to see employees of competing NFL rights-holders praising Romo’s work. “Was I pleased today that I read some positive things? Yes, I was,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “But as I’ve said before: There will be a plethora of critics because there always are and I don’t think you should look too closely at social media. If you are the QB of the Dallas Cowboys, you already have a lot of people who don’t like you to start with. We all know how critical people are on Twitter. I said to Tony: “Don’t pay attention to the negative, mean-spirited stuff on Twitter. Pay attention to the intelligent, well thought out and well-meaning stuff that comes from people in the business.”
2. I wanted to get a reader to evaluate Romo’s performance because I thought that could be insightful for you compared to the 50th person in the sports media to have a take. When I asked for volunteers on Twitter, I heard quickly from Mark Lauderdale from Gallatin, Tennessee, which is approximately 30 miles north of Nashville. Mark is a longtime Titans fan and retired after 42-plus years as a manager for RR Donnelley, the world's largest commercial printer. He said his company closed their plant operations in March, so he took his retirement. Mark tweeted that he thought Romo did a decent job in the first half, with some issues of talking too fast and talking over partner Jim Nantz. He sent me his review at the end of the game:
As for Tony's performance, my earlier comments about his first half performance stand. However, after what appears to me to have been simply butterflies along with a bit of constructive feedback, his second half was far stronger. His game analysis was spot on, I felt. His timing with Jim Nantz got much better. While he didn't criticize either of the QB's harshly, I didn't detect any hesitancy in doing so.
The comparisons to Phil Simms are inevitable. However, Phil's game calls had gotten stale and it showed to any average fan. Tony was certainly enthusiastic about the game today. He got better as the game went on, calling what he was seeing much as he would have as a quarterback. It was a breath of fresh air from Mr. Simms.
Overall, I give Tony a solid B for his performance. I really think he will settle in and do very well. There's certainly room for improvement, thus no A today. I trust you find this critique helpful. I'm very experienced with giving performance reviews. There's no reason to give gushing reviews for a first-time performance. He definitely prepared and it showed.
Thanks, Mark. Thoughtful review. Mark recently lost his wife, Rita, of 40 years. Give him a follow here if you want to have some football conversations.
3. Romo got big laughs last month during the annual seminar for CBS’s NFL personnel when he explained to a roomful of new colleagues that he wanted to reach out to Phil Simms—the analyst who Romo replaced—but missed Simms couple of times by phone. When Romo finally reached Simms, here is what Simms told him.
“So Phil picks up the phone,” Romo explained, “and says, “Tony Romo, you son of a ***** ... ”
Simms explained what happened next.
“I really couldn’t even be serious because I started laughing as I was saying it,” Simms said. “I knew it was him because he had called and I saw the number. There was not going to be any tension between us. He asked me some things and I offered no advice. I told him he will have 80,000 people telling you what to do but in the end, it is about how you see the game.”
1. Networks will always downplay the impact of social media—especially if the sentiment is negative about their broadcaster—and CBS Sports execs have said repeatedly that they advised new analyst Tony Romo not to overweight what he read on Facebook and Twitter because they expected it to be negative early. Network officials were monitoring Twitter on Sunday during Romo’s broadcasting debut and could not have been more pleased by the overwhelmingly positive reaction for Romo’s work during the Raiders-Titans game. CBS Sports execs were particularly surprised (and very happy) to see employees of competing NFL rights-holders praising Romo’s work. “Was I pleased today that I read some positive things? Yes, I was,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “But as I’ve said before: There will be a plethora of critics because there always are and I don’t think you should look too closely at social media. If you are the QB of the Dallas Cowboys, you already have a lot of people who don’t like you to start with. We all know how critical people are on Twitter. I said to Tony: “Don’t pay attention to the negative, mean-spirited stuff on Twitter. Pay attention to the intelligent, well thought out and well-meaning stuff that comes from people in the business.”
2. I wanted to get a reader to evaluate Romo’s performance because I thought that could be insightful for you compared to the 50th person in the sports media to have a take. When I asked for volunteers on Twitter, I heard quickly from Mark Lauderdale from Gallatin, Tennessee, which is approximately 30 miles north of Nashville. Mark is a longtime Titans fan and retired after 42-plus years as a manager for RR Donnelley, the world's largest commercial printer. He said his company closed their plant operations in March, so he took his retirement. Mark tweeted that he thought Romo did a decent job in the first half, with some issues of talking too fast and talking over partner Jim Nantz. He sent me his review at the end of the game:
As for Tony's performance, my earlier comments about his first half performance stand. However, after what appears to me to have been simply butterflies along with a bit of constructive feedback, his second half was far stronger. His game analysis was spot on, I felt. His timing with Jim Nantz got much better. While he didn't criticize either of the QB's harshly, I didn't detect any hesitancy in doing so.
The comparisons to Phil Simms are inevitable. However, Phil's game calls had gotten stale and it showed to any average fan. Tony was certainly enthusiastic about the game today. He got better as the game went on, calling what he was seeing much as he would have as a quarterback. It was a breath of fresh air from Mr. Simms.
Overall, I give Tony a solid B for his performance. I really think he will settle in and do very well. There's certainly room for improvement, thus no A today. I trust you find this critique helpful. I'm very experienced with giving performance reviews. There's no reason to give gushing reviews for a first-time performance. He definitely prepared and it showed.
Thanks, Mark. Thoughtful review. Mark recently lost his wife, Rita, of 40 years. Give him a follow here if you want to have some football conversations.
3. Romo got big laughs last month during the annual seminar for CBS’s NFL personnel when he explained to a roomful of new colleagues that he wanted to reach out to Phil Simms—the analyst who Romo replaced—but missed Simms couple of times by phone. When Romo finally reached Simms, here is what Simms told him.
“So Phil picks up the phone,” Romo explained, “and says, “Tony Romo, you son of a ***** ... ”
Simms explained what happened next.
“I really couldn’t even be serious because I started laughing as I was saying it,” Simms said. “I knew it was him because he had called and I saw the number. There was not going to be any tension between us. He asked me some things and I offered no advice. I told him he will have 80,000 people telling you what to do but in the end, it is about how you see the game.”