Jason Whitlock wrote an interesting column at Fox Sports last week about the NBC Football Night in America show, claiming that the studio was already too crowded and that it would only get more crowded with the addition of Dan Patrick. Whitlock wrote:I thought Whitlock's column made some interesting points and intended to write about it, but I never got around to it. Fortunately, today Patrick brought the column back to my attention.What in the hell is NBC doing adding another person to its NFL studio show who doesn't really care or know anything about the NFL?
The last thing "Football Night in America" needed was Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann trying to out-cute each other while highlights play in the back-back-background. The return of The Big Show is going to look, sound and feel like The Big Show-offs, another overdone football distraction.
On his radio show, Patrick said this (via Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk) in reference to Whitlock:
The last part of Patrick's comment suggests that Patrick thinks Whitlock needs to see the show or interview its cast before he can express an opinion about the talent NBC has assembled for Football Night in America. I disagree with that."Don't tell me I don't know how to do highlights," Patrick said. "I don't break down game footage. . . . You have roles on the show. ...
"My job is not to break down the game," Patrick said. "If i don't know, I'll ask. If Jason doesn't know, he didn't ask. He just wrote it."
When a team signs a free agent, does Patrick always wait until that player has played for the team before he expresses an opinion on the wisdom of the signing? Of course not. Whitlock is entitled to opine on how he thinks the NBC lineup will play out based on what he already knows about the panelists.
But I also think Patrick's presence on the NBC studio show will be a good thing. Last year a big part of Olbermann's job on NBC was to make some commentaries about the state of the NFL, and those never really worked. If Patrick helps to focus Olbermann on what they both do best, Football Night in America is going to be must-see TV.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-14-2008 @ 12:54PM
Murph said...
I think Whitlock hit it right on the head! The man is one of the finest writers in the business. Oberman and Patrick are sides shows more to the tune of comedy centrals the daily show or the Colbert Report rather than real journalists, and I would consider Whitlock to be the 60 minutes of sports journalism. Both have their place in the world but you can’t take one as seriously as the other
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7-14-2008 @ 2:12PM
soulcitysigma1914 said...
this may be more of the tiresome Fox vs. NBC banter more than anything else. All of the Olbermann vs. O'Reilly and Abrams vs. Van Susteren and New York Post vs MSNBC and it goes on and on. Now it's spilling over into sports and i'm wondering when these two media giants will focus on real world news, real nation news and real sports news instead of dedicating on air time and precious print inches to immature shots at each other
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7-14-2008 @ 3:51PM
Mr.G said...
I can't stand Keith Olberman and am not a big Dan Patrick fan either,but I would guess that ,if Patrick were of the Black Race,Whitlock would be fine with it.It seems Jason Whitlock graduated from the Al Sharpton School of Journalism.He is,far and away,the most racist sports reporter I have ever read.
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7-14-2008 @ 4:32PM
michael.white1@wachovia.com said...
I disagree. Whitlock crushes Al Sharpton whenever possible, and with regards to NBC's Sunday night football-- Whitlock had plenty of criticism for Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis... read the whole article.
7-14-2008 @ 6:49PM
Rick Vogt said...
I'm still trying to figure out why anyone gives a crap what Jason Whitlock thinks. I sure don't but that shouldn't prevent Whitlock from making a living if someone is willing to pay him to voice his opinions. The same goes for Patrick. Jason Whitlock has never written or said anything which informed or enriched my NFL experience. Ripping your peers in the media only serves to make you look jealous Jason. Chill out and enjoy another piece of cake.
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7-14-2008 @ 6:53PM
Eddie said...
Whitlock is a pretentious a-hole who can race-bait with the worst of them. It's a mystery to me why Jim Rome lends this moron a national audience whenever he takes time off. Him criticizing DP for not being "true enough to the game" is like me criticizing Whitlock for spending three hours talking about blacks and education rather than talking about something that all of us can relate to, which is... uh.... SPORTS??? He's a wannabe "real" journalist who gets his minutes in on the sports talk circuit, but will never have the chops or the attitude to make it in a real capacity. How about this for a topic, JW: Why do blacks insist on TALKING about race relations instead of DOING something about it? Oh yeah, because it's the kind of stuff that keeps you employed. Get a job you hack.
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7-15-2008 @ 6:15AM
al coholic said...
Even a pro like Costas can't salvage NBC's Sunday Night from Olberman's caustic, out of touch, unfunny comments. With Keith spouting off like a jerk It's the worst NFL show by a mile.
Who knows, maybe NBC will dump Olberman and up it's credibility several notches. I have no problem with Patrick.
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7-16-2008 @ 12:03PM
Dave said...
As far as I can see, Whitlock didn't bring up race once in that column. So why are all you blowhards bringing up race now? Just because Whitlock's said some things about race that you disagree with in the past? Your concerns about his views on race have nothing at all to do with this column about Dan Patrick and Football Night in America. Eddie criticized him for talking about race when he should be talking about sports... but Eddie, you've just injected race into a discussion that was about Whitlock's non-racial, sports-oriented column. God, what a bunch of dumb crackers.
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7-21-2008 @ 8:01AM
Pat said...
I only whatch ESPN for their funny commercials. They have no clue when it comes to sports though.
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7-22-2008 @ 12:45AM
George B Vieto said...
NBC Sunday Night Football Football Night In America has become The Rogues Gallery with the addition of Dan Patrick. The mute button will get a workout this fall.
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