After Dave Portnoy and a gaggle of other members of the pizza-loving social influencer class piled on announcer Al Michaels over the weekend for not sounding excited enough during NBC's broadcast of the Jacksonville Jaguars' stunning 31-30 comeback win over the L.A. Chargers, the veteran play-by-play man is reportedly contrite, held up in a bunker in Long Island, caught up in a moment of shame mixed with deep introspection.
He's also reported to be praying right now to a shrine of pioneering Fox Sports producer David Hill, the Aussie Rupert Murdoch buddy who's talked for decades about making live sports feel more like a video game.
Not so much.
Michaels told the New York Post that the criticism amounts to nothing more than "internet compost." And he said he isn't seeking to create a lot of "over-the-top YouTube hits" when he calls games.
"A lot of folks who understand this industry are annoyed with the over-the-top yelling that makes a game sound like an offshoot of talk radio. I’m in that corner," Michaels added.
Portnoy and others on Twitter threw shade at Michaels and his booth mate, Tony Dungy, specifically for their subdued tone as the Jaguars culminated a 27-point comeback with a game-winning field goal as time expired.
"That's the f***ing call you morons! Wake up!" Portnoy screams in a Twitter rant.
Of course, traditional broadcast ethos might suggest the explosion of the Jacksonville home crowd as the kick flew through the uprights told viewers everything they needed to know, and Michaels and Dungy were just doing their jobs by getting out of the way.
But social teaches that down is up.
Conversely, ESPN's Mike Tirico received effusive praise from Portnoy and others calling Sunday's AFC Wildcard showdown between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens -- specifically the game-turning 99-yard scoop-and-score fumble recovery by linebacker Logan Wilson, during which Tirico reached decibel levels that might make even Chris Berman hoarse.
Not surprisingly, the influencer class likes it LOUD! But Michaels, 78, seems out of f-words for this, and other kinds, of baloney.
Notably, last week, he described his first season as play-by-play man for Amazon's "Thursday Night Football" package as like "trying to sell used cars," as he worked through a downer game schedule that included fully six matchups of teams that didn't make the playoffs. ■
