Soooo right about that 60 Minutes ticking. It usually meant doom of procrastinated homework, or — worse — game already over despite the rush home from some afternoon church event.
Joe, the difference in th4e picture watching the NBC and CBS broadcasts was NOT your imagination. I'm almost exactly two years younger than you (01/11/1969), so I grew up watching my Air Coryell Chargers while you were watching Sipe throw to Logan and Newsome. The NBC AFC broadcasts were in vivid, bold colors, as opposed to the subdued tones of the NFC games, which always seemed to be played in overcast tones.
I vividly remember the same sense of dread on Sunday afternoons with school looming. On NBC it was the promos for the wonderful world of Disney. But until Joe mentioned it, I didn’t fully notice the difference in colors. But thinking back (cue Troy Aikman), that’s exactly right. One other thought- the late NBC games seemed sunnier to me. Maybe because they were usually San Diego, Oakland or Denver? Probably just thought the tint was different on NBC on our old tv. This makes me miss watching football with my dad … but in a good way
Thank you for noting what a tremendous teacher Madden was. He had three qualities that great teachers have: deep knowledge, the ability to explain things clearly, and enthusiasm. I can remember one of my own teachers - also a great one - once complaining about Madden’s use of the word “thirdiary” - as in primary receivers, secondary receivers, and “thirdiary” receivers. My teacher was right of course (and from that moment I learned the word “tertiary”), but it was beside the point; Madden using “thirdiary” made us laugh, and in laughing we listened, and in listening we learned.
The only announcer I can think of who came close was Al McGuire. Also a great teacher.
You did Madden justice, Joe, and I can tell you that the escape Madden offered you existed for me, too. I really had thought that was my own thing, football before the looming Monday at school.
Overlooked about Madden is that he was honest. It's hard to explain, but the excitement he spoke with and the honesty went hand and hand. He had things he wanted to tell you. He believed what he was saying, and he wanted you to believe it, too. The upshot was that America trusted him.
Dynamite reference to the great Calvin & Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson. I truly love the breadth of your knowledge. It always makes me happy the way you drop in those dimes throughout all of your writing, Joe. Simply the best.
He’s not Madden (nobody ever will be) but I really enjoy listening to Romo, who has that same childlike excitement.
In basketball, I love Bill Raftery for many of the same reasons (“send it IN, Jerome!)* and Vitale, who I know rubs a lot of people the wrong way but his absolute love of the game and his excitement about telling you about it is infectious.
I get you about Raftery and Vitale, but the biggest difference? Madden knew when to stop - make the point and let it sink in. Those guys do not. On and on and onandonandon... dude, we got it.
I occasionally think, "If I ever meet Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, I'd ask them, 'How does it feel to be the greatest living person in your field on earth?'" I could ask you the same question, Joe. Thanks for sharing.
I still savor Sunday afternoons with looming darkness and a game on TV, one I usually don't care for but yet a satisfied feeling as the weekend winds down
exactly, joe. pat was truly great, too. at the end, it was less about the madden schtick than about how he taught you something you might not know, showed you something you hadn't seen.
I can’t remember who did games on Sundays before Madden and Summerall. I know I watched (I’m a bit older than Joe), I just can’t name the announcers (I can do MNF of course)
Great remembrance, but I want to talk about the CBS/NBC thing. My whole childhood, into young adulthood, I felt that I had an intuitive sense of which teams were AFC vs NFC. It wasn't memorization, it wasn't history—it was the colors. The AFC was brighter, the NFC duller. And now I wonder if it was the networks all along. Because it was never exactly about team colors: the Bills and Giants are/were both red & blue with white, but in my mind's eye, the Bills uniforms popped in a way the Giants (my own favorite team) didn't.
I should add that, on some level, I never thought that the Browns & Steelers (my mom's & sister's team) fit in with the AFC (probably more about style of play than colors, to be honest). When I found out, relatively late, that they had switched, the world suddenly made more sense.
And it wasn't just the colors—it was also the sound. Unless my memory is wrong (which, after all these years, it very well may be), AFC games on NBC had louder crowd noise; CBS had more subdued crowd noise in the NFC games. I never noticed the colors, but to me, the difference in sound made AFC games feel more exciting to me than NFC games. It was like I was in the crowd, instead of watching from afar.
Soooo right about that 60 Minutes ticking. It usually meant doom of procrastinated homework, or — worse — game already over despite the rush home from some afternoon church event.
Joe, the difference in th4e picture watching the NBC and CBS broadcasts was NOT your imagination. I'm almost exactly two years younger than you (01/11/1969), so I grew up watching my Air Coryell Chargers while you were watching Sipe throw to Logan and Newsome. The NBC AFC broadcasts were in vivid, bold colors, as opposed to the subdued tones of the NFC games, which always seemed to be played in overcast tones.
I vividly remember the same sense of dread on Sunday afternoons with school looming. On NBC it was the promos for the wonderful world of Disney. But until Joe mentioned it, I didn’t fully notice the difference in colors. But thinking back (cue Troy Aikman), that’s exactly right. One other thought- the late NBC games seemed sunnier to me. Maybe because they were usually San Diego, Oakland or Denver? Probably just thought the tint was different on NBC on our old tv. This makes me miss watching football with my dad … but in a good way
Thank you for noting what a tremendous teacher Madden was. He had three qualities that great teachers have: deep knowledge, the ability to explain things clearly, and enthusiasm. I can remember one of my own teachers - also a great one - once complaining about Madden’s use of the word “thirdiary” - as in primary receivers, secondary receivers, and “thirdiary” receivers. My teacher was right of course (and from that moment I learned the word “tertiary”), but it was beside the point; Madden using “thirdiary” made us laugh, and in laughing we listened, and in listening we learned.
The only announcer I can think of who came close was Al McGuire. Also a great teacher.
You did Madden justice, Joe, and I can tell you that the escape Madden offered you existed for me, too. I really had thought that was my own thing, football before the looming Monday at school.
Overlooked about Madden is that he was honest. It's hard to explain, but the excitement he spoke with and the honesty went hand and hand. He had things he wanted to tell you. He believed what he was saying, and he wanted you to believe it, too. The upshot was that America trusted him.
Dynamite reference to the great Calvin & Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson. I truly love the breadth of your knowledge. It always makes me happy the way you drop in those dimes throughout all of your writing, Joe. Simply the best.
He’s not Madden (nobody ever will be) but I really enjoy listening to Romo, who has that same childlike excitement.
In basketball, I love Bill Raftery for many of the same reasons (“send it IN, Jerome!)* and Vitale, who I know rubs a lot of people the wrong way but his absolute love of the game and his excitement about telling you about it is infectious.
* https://youtu.be/JNqiiMWt3Qc
Ugh, Romo is far and away the worst of all the NFL announcers! I don't hear childlike enthusiasm when he talks I hear a condescending know it all.
Tony Romo: ‘Oh my gosh, I am the worst announcer ever'
I guess he agrees with you.
I get you about Raftery and Vitale, but the biggest difference? Madden knew when to stop - make the point and let it sink in. Those guys do not. On and on and onandonandon... dude, we got it.
I occasionally think, "If I ever meet Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, I'd ask them, 'How does it feel to be the greatest living person in your field on earth?'" I could ask you the same question, Joe. Thanks for sharing.
Well, Ringo might ask, "What about Paul?"
I still savor Sunday afternoons with looming darkness and a game on TV, one I usually don't care for but yet a satisfied feeling as the weekend winds down
exactly, joe. pat was truly great, too. at the end, it was less about the madden schtick than about how he taught you something you might not know, showed you something you hadn't seen.
I can’t remember who did games on Sundays before Madden and Summerall. I know I watched (I’m a bit older than Joe), I just can’t name the announcers (I can do MNF of course)
Summerall teamed with Tom Brookshier from 1974 until switching to Madden in 1981. In my recollection, Summerall always got the big games even then.
Great remembrance, but I want to talk about the CBS/NBC thing. My whole childhood, into young adulthood, I felt that I had an intuitive sense of which teams were AFC vs NFC. It wasn't memorization, it wasn't history—it was the colors. The AFC was brighter, the NFC duller. And now I wonder if it was the networks all along. Because it was never exactly about team colors: the Bills and Giants are/were both red & blue with white, but in my mind's eye, the Bills uniforms popped in a way the Giants (my own favorite team) didn't.
I should add that, on some level, I never thought that the Browns & Steelers (my mom's & sister's team) fit in with the AFC (probably more about style of play than colors, to be honest). When I found out, relatively late, that they had switched, the world suddenly made more sense.
Totally agree. Joe definitely wasn't imagining things with the color difference
And it wasn't just the colors—it was also the sound. Unless my memory is wrong (which, after all these years, it very well may be), AFC games on NBC had louder crowd noise; CBS had more subdued crowd noise in the NFC games. I never noticed the colors, but to me, the difference in sound made AFC games feel more exciting to me than NFC games. It was like I was in the crowd, instead of watching from afar.
You had COLOR? 😁