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| Photo: ESPN |
"Joe Buck sucks and he is so biased against the Eagles".
No he doesn't suck, and no he isn't biased.
"It's so obvious Collinsworth hates us".
Really? Did you hear him gush about Saquon? Did you hear him praise pretty much every aspect of the Eagles?
For some fans, the answer to that is no. Some fans hear what they want to hear, or they hear selectively. Not just in Philly. It happens everywhere. I remember vividly at the end of the NFC Championship game, Fox's Kevin Burkhardt complimented Washington's season and said they would be back. One family member of mine griped that Burkhardt was giving the Commanders credit and not the Eagles. But he and Tom Brady had spent literally the entire game talking about how potent the Eagles are, and that talk obviously increased in the second half as the game became a rout. Did you hear any of that?
Even Tom Brady was heaping praise on the Eagles. And he complimented Nick Foles too, the QB that beat him in Super Bowl LII. I have not been the biggest fan of Brady's broadcast work. I think we found something Bill Belichick is better than Brady at...broadcasting. Belichick spent this season as a part of The CW's "Inside The NFL" and I thought he was very good. But I digress.
This notion that national announcers hate us is, in my opinion, ridiculous. Joe Buck couldn't care less if the Eagles win or lose the Super Bowl. To me, he and Troy Aikman are the best NFL TV duo working today. Buck is an amazingly talented broadcaster, and he and Aikman have great chemistry from so many years working together at Fox, and now ESPN/ABC. Buck gets heat from people saying he got this far because his Dad was Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck. Joe Buck will freely admit that having that last name did open doors for him. But in broadcasting, even if outside circumstances opened the door, talent and hard work keeps the door from closing. Joe Buck calls a great football game, and I miss hearing him on baseball.
Joe Buck can call a game, and have fans from both cities say he is biased against them. That should tell you something. He is calling the game right down the middle. And how many Eagles fans were furious with Cris Collinsworth after Super Bowl LII? "It's clear he wants New England to win". No...it wasn't. Go back and watch it. He and Al Michaels were terrific. Just watch video of "The Philly Special" on YouTube. Those guys gave the Birds and Doug Pederson very high praise.
Here's the problem. We're used to our hometown guys. Merrill Reese going nuts after an Eagles touchdown. We remember the late, great Harry Kalas and his epic home run calls. These days, we get to enjoy the fantastic Scott Franzke..."Bedlam at the Bank". But the national guys have to get excited when the other team does well too. We don't like that. They have to point out when a missed penalty benefitted us, or when a flag against the other team was bogus. It's not bias. It's being fair and factual.
The national guys just want a good game. The only times they may favor a team, is in a best of five or best of seven series. The hope from the networks is for those to go as long as they can. So if a team jumps out to a 3-0 series lead, of course they will hope the team that's trailing wins to extend the series. Beyond that, they have no dog in the race.
So on Super Bowl Sunday, when Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady are calling the game for Fox, I hope I don't see complaints on social media, like "It's so obvious they want Kansas City". They don't. They just want a good game, no matter the result. And hey if nothing I said convinces you, you can always turn down the sound and turn up Merrill and Mike.