TheFletch for week of 11/12-11/17

Sorry this is a few days late, but we had a CBB preview to run! Enjoy

First there was Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Dandy Don Meredith in a three-man football broadcast booth. Later Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf set the standard of a three-man booth. Michael then experimented with Dan Fouts and Dennis Miller before that crew was broken up in favor of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser. Now Tirico and Jaws are joined by Jon Gruden in what might be the second-best current three-man booth in football broadcasting. The best? None other than Georgia Public Broadcasting’s new broadcast Cerberus Bob Houghton, Fletcher Proctor and Dave Hunter. Houghton has called play-by-play for much of the season and has a nice pace when describing the game. Hunter, the former Brookwood coach who led the Broncos to a state championship and now has the complex at Brookwood named after him, understandably breaks down the X’s and O’s while Proctor describes the big picture, involves recruiting aspects and adds a bit of spice to the broadcast with a touch of relevant levity. The crew broke out the three-man booth for the first time last week as Clarke Central defeated Flowery Branch and now the group should be cooking with the playoffs upon us. Be sure to log in this Friday night starting at 7 p.m. for the pregame show, hosted by Fletcher Proctor with Dave Hunter, then those two return to the booth where they analyze the tilt. The best post-game show on the web follows the game as Houghton, Hunter and Proctor break down the game and take a look at the other games across the state. One interesting wrinkle that the broadcast is now incorporating is a live look-in on the chat as it happens. Folks watching the game on-line now have the ability to chat about the game as well as other various topics, led by Score Atlanta. The broadcast of the game will now go to the chat every now and then for interesting comments or questions. Get interactive this Friday on GPB’s Game of the Week Broadcast.

I guess this is exactly what 680 The Fan wanted when it got legendary Georgia QB and former Viking Fran Tarkenton to appear weekly on a segment called “Frankly Fran.” He holds ZERO punches when discussing college football and the Georgia Bulldogs in particular. He spent his segment last week railing on Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt for not coaching up the talent he had to beat Florida. He noted that if Gator coach Urban Meyer had had Richt’s talent, that squad would have easily won. Tarkenton then took the bat to them again preemptively by saying that the team has just as much talent, if not more, than Auburn. He alluded to the fact that Georgia should win against Auburn, perhaps in a Pat Dye-ish “Not Man Enough,” way.

The curious part here is that Tarkenton’s rant seemed to fall under the definition of what 680’s Buck and Kincade call “the lunatic fringe,” of folks that call up to both 680 and Sports Radio 790 The Zone and call for the coach’s head after the team failed to convert all of its third down conversions in the third quarter against Idaho State. The lunatic fringe, that the duo refers to, is always wanting some sort of blood after any loss, be it a quarterback, running back, safety, coordinator or sometimes a head coach. If I had not known that the voice I was listening to was Tarkenton, I would have just assumed it was Bill from Duluth calling to say it was time for Richt to go. Personally I don’t like the folks that call up with zero solutions, simply wanting action. And if they are wild and crazy in calling for action, that just makes my eyes roll even more. BUT I will say that if a caller DOES come with a solution, perhaps the host shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss said-caller as part of the lunatic fringe with fake laughter. If his solution actually makes sense, why not let the caller make his/her point and respond to that point?

Hometeam is back on the airwaves! It is good to hear “Home Team” Brandon Leak back on the air, hosting the Atlanta Hawks pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage for 680 The Fan and 99X. The Fletch caught up with Home Team this past March and learned that he was still keeping his hand in the Atlanta sports media pool, working with the Hawks and the Falcons, but Home Team returned to the airwaves back in his seat with the Hawks once the Atlanta NBA franchise switched flagships from 790 to 680 and 99X. Home Team’s familiar cadence seems to just vibe with the Hawks and he is certainly a Hawks insider from his years with the team. Couple Home Team with 3-D Dennis Scott on the Hawks broadcasts and it feels like 2007 all over again.

Finally, I thought it was interesting that folks locally are still riding the Georgia Tech bandwagon, despite the loss to Virginia Tech and the loss of starting QB Joshua Nesbitt to a broken right forearm. The AJC’s Mark Bradley blogged recently that “Nah” he doesn’t think the Yellow Jackets season is over. The Yellow Jackets certainly gave Virginia Tech a run for the money despite the loss of Nesbitt as Tevin Washington performed well in place of the senior QB. That is a credit to head coach Paul Johnson, who might just win another coach of the year if his squad can win out with a back-up QB in the game.

On Score Atlanta’s Scoreboard Show last week on Sports Radio 790 The Zone, co-host Paul Mac had one thing to say about Nesbitt’s injury: it was your fault. Mac blamed the QB for not simply getting out of the way, since he didn’t know the proper tackling technique. I don’t know that I’d tell my QB not to even try to make a tackle. The QB messed up; he should try and atone for his mistake. However, I would say to the QB, instead of trying to stop the runback for a score after your mistake, don’t make the mistake at all. Either eat the football or throw it away. You could not afford to turn the ball over where you did and you cost your team AT LEAST three points from where you were. Be smarter with the football.

Can you believe he said that?
“(Todd) Grantham, Georgia’s first-year defensive coordinator, did something in the Georgia-Florida game that is so far over the line that it can’t even be debated. He gave a student-athlete from another school…the choke sign.”
That was 790 The Zone and the AJC’s Tony Barnhart after Grantham gave Chas Henry the choke sign that was only found after a Florida television station found the clip on super-slo-mo. I guess I just don’t see the outrage with this. He was in the moment. He didn’t pull a Woody here. Let’s move on. Maybe I’m not old school, or maybe I’m TOO old school. The only reason this is being talked about is because you aren’t allowed to hurt anyone’s feelings these days.