ESPN's Tirico says he likes Seahawks' chances to make another Super Bowl run

Sports Media: ESPN's Tirico says he likes Seahawks' chances to make another Super Bowl run
By GARY WASHBURN
P-I REPORTER

AFTER THREE HOURS of watching the Matt Hasselbeck-less Seahawks push the San Diego Chargers to the brink Monday, Mike Tirico is not so convinced the Seahawks' window of opportunity for reaching the Super Bowl is closing.

The ESPN "Monday Night Football" play-by-play man is entering his third season as the network's No. 1 football announcer and second year with the team of Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski. Tirico has become ESPN's most stabilizing voice, possessing the uncanny ability to branch out to other sports without an obvious decline in expertise.

Tirico doesn't attempt to make highlight reels with a boisterous call; instead, he lets the moment speak for itself, and then offers his description.

Monday's telecast featured a midgame phone interview with Hasselbeck, who called out his brother Tim, now an NFL analyst for ESPN, for warning viewers not to draft Matt too high in fantasy leagues.

It was an entertaining moment, a must for preseason telecasts. Tirico was able to sift through the second- and third-stringers and make his assessment on the Seahawks, who have retooled their backfield to make another title run.

"I can look at a team that made the Super Bowl two years ago and won a playoff game in each of the last two years and say, 'They got rid of a running back who is no longer productive (Shaun Alexander) and got three who were productive,' " Tirico said this week. "I think it's premature to say the window is closing. I look around at that team and I say, 'OK, there's not really an area (where I say) man, they are really weak.' Are there teams that are more talented than Seattle in the NFC? Not many."

Tirico said his biggest issue with the Seahawks is how they match up with the physical NFC East and its massive offensive lines and punishing running games against Seattle's size-challenged defense.

"We know what Green Bay did to Seattle last year," he said. "That would be the one area to me that would be a concern."

The popularity of MNF has not waned much since its departure from ABC. Tirico said he was approached before an interview with Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who reminded the crew that the Seahawks do not make an appearance on Monday night this season, despite being an NFC power in recent seasons.

The Seahawks do make three national television appearances -- Oct. 19 at Tampa Bay, Nov. 27 at Dallas and Dec. 7 vs. New England. But a Sunday night NBC appearance still doesn't compare to Monday's showcase, which will include a few adjustments from last season. Gone are the weekly celebrity guests in the booth, which was awkward at times. And there will be more technology and "more focus on the game," Tirico said.

"The reality is, if it's a good game, the person at home doesn't really remember who broadcast the game," he said. "I challenge people to tell me who was broadcasting a lot of the Olympic events. I'm honestly excited how we were going about it this year, with more emphasis on the game."

There is no pressure to bring back the classic Cosell-Gifford-Meredith telecasts of the 1970s, Tirico said.

That was the golden era of sports TV, pre-cable, reality shows and 24-hour networks. The new goal is to provide a crisp and entertaining telecast, and ESPN has succeeded so far.

"I am driven by 'Let's go out and do the most complete broadcast we can for the person at home,' " Tirico said. "And hopefully they enjoy it and like it and learn something about the teams they didn't know. That's what drives me. People who set out to create a legacy end up falling on their face."

CASHING IN: A major pet peeve during the Beijing Olympics coverage was NBC's decision to call certain events from its New York studios. Talk about inauthentic. A major allure of Olympics coverage is announcers on site, thousands of miles away, bringing action home -- not sitting home calling the action.

NBC stashed its announcers in New York in booths next to each other, calling different sports. One of those stashees was Storm forward Swin Cash, an emerging color analyst who did NBA work with ESPN this past season. Cash called women's basketball for NBC and was astounded at the authenticity. The announcers consistently stated they were in New York and watched the games on screens.

It was almost as if you forgot they weren't courtside -- almost.

"It's tough because you are watching it on a screen and they (producers) are not telling you in your ear what play is going to come up," she said. "You have to be on your P's and Q's and that's why it kept me so sharp because even when I was talking, I had to look at what was happening and adjust."

According to Cash, NBC dismantled the "Saturday Night Live" set and created separate booths for each announcing team. Fourteen events were called from New York, including tennis, softball, soccer and baseball. It is uncertain whether NBC will duplicate that for the 2012 Games in London.

COMMERCIAL BREAKS: Former UW quarterback Brock Huard will make his ESPN debut Saturday on the Mississippi State-Louisiana Tech game at 3:45 p.m. on ESPN2. ... ESPN has made minor changes in its college football coverage, moving Jesse Palmer from the studio to Thursday night telecasts and former NFL quarterback Shaun King from "NFL Live" to college games. Former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione will join ESPN's radio network. ... KJR-AM/950 will fill Labor Day weekend with plenty of football, including Louisville-Kentucky on Sunday and Tennessee-UCLA joined in progress after the Tyrone Willingham show at 5:30 Monday. ... FSN kicks off its coverage Saturday with Washington State-Oklahoma State at 12:30 p.m., with Brian Davis and former NFL and USC lineman Tony Boselli, followed by Washington at Oregon at 7 p.m.. And yes, we are burdened again with the shallow analysis of former USC fullback Petros Papadakis, along with the ageless Barry Tompkins, who is still solid at 68. ... Former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser will replace Huard on the FSN Northwest in-studio show with Angie Mentink.





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