Don Meredith; 1938-2010

Just taking a minute to remember "Dandy" Don Meredith, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and member of the classic Monday Night Football broadcast team for 12 seasons, along with Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell. Keith Jackson was MNF's play by play man during it's first season.

Don Meredith was 72.


"Turn off the lights.....the party's over".




Update 12/7/10 This morning I read a great column by Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger with some comments on Meredith and Monday Night Football's impact on American culture and media back in the day. Included in the column were some classic "Dandy Don-isms".

There was the time that Spiro Agnew, then the country’s vice president, visited the Monday Night booth. “I didn’t vote for you,” Meredith told him, “but you do have a nice suit on.”

or.....

....the time when, discussing what it was like to play for Dallas legend Tom Landry, he said, “He’s such a perfectionist that if he were married to Dolly Parton, he’d expect her to cook.”

and

....his assessment of teammate Walt Garrison: “If you needed 4 yards, you’d give the ball to Garrison and he’d get you 4 yards. If you needed 20 yards, you’d give the ball to Garrison and he’d get you 4 yards.”

He was one of a kind. MNF has been trying replicate the magic of Gifford, Meredith, and Cosell for a quarter of a century now. Tirico, Chuckie and Jaws are good, so were Michaels and Madden, and Michaels, Gifford and Dierdorf.

But the MNF crew of the 1970's and early 1980's was the gold standard, as iconic in sports broadcasting in their way as ALL IN THE FAMILY and HAPPY DAYS were to TV comedy in that era.

As Howard Cosell might have said it...."Rest in peace, Dan-DAH Roooo."

 

New Jersey To Host Super Bowl XLVIII In 2014!

The Super Bowl is coming to a cold weather city in 2014.

And that cold weather city is.....East Rutherford, New Jersey!

That's right. It's not "The City That Never Sleeps". But it is the city that will host Super Bowl XLVIII (when will it be OK to can the stupid Roman numerals? Didn't they go out of fashion in 476AD, or is the NFL waiting for the Empire to strike back?).

Officially the bid went to New York/New Jersey (doesn't "J" come before "N") over Tampa Bay and the announcement was made today by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. And almost immediately the New York electronic media went gonzo...wasn't it great that the game was coming to New Yawwwwk!

Mmmm...am I missing something? Was part of the deal that the game should be played in Buffalo, because that's the only professional football franchise within the sovereign state of New York. There are two NFL teams that have "New York" in their name and on their uniforms, and they've been in violation of truth in advertising for decades....both teams play their home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey. When you go to the New Meadowlands Stadium and and park your car, New Jersey gets a piece of that. You buy a hot dog and a Bud, NJ gets the sales tax on that as well. Apparel sold in the stadium, New Jersey gets some of that in sales tax.

Got the picture?

You can see Manhattan in the distance from the stadium; the Empire State Building is 8 miles away (according to GOOGLE MAPS)....or a "15 minute drive"- yeah, what the hell are they smokin'? The only way to cover that in 15 minutes is if your name is Obama and the cops leading your motorcade are clearing the way.

The weather in February? I've seen it 60 degrees in that month....but this past year February was the snowiest month in recorded history for the region....EVER!

But what the heck....we'll watch the participating teams play on the Frozen Tundra as the Ghost of John Facenda looks down and smiles on them...and starts to cheer if one team is the Philadelphia Eagles.

I wonder who will play the halftime show, The Boss or Bon Jovi? Can Richie Sambora still play lead guitar while wearing mittens?

And how are all of the stars of the TV shows being hawked by the network broadcasting the game going to be recognized when they are bundled up like Dr. Zhivago escaping from Siberia?

But most importantly....will the geographically challenged talking heads covering the game actually be able to tell you what state they are actually in without consulting their GPS?

On that note....check out the ESPN video below.






Wait!

I just thought of something.....according to the Mayan calendar the world will end in 2012.

Too bad, East Rutherford.

So this is much ado about nothing. Kindly disregard everything I said in this entry, and enjoy yourself while you still have time.