Listen ... Yes, They're Talking About the Pro Bowl

Some current and former players might not like the NFL's move to reschedule the Pro Bowl to this Sunday -- a week before the Super Bowl at the same site of the game as opposed to its recent regular home in Hawaii the week after the Super Bowl -- but the move has certainly generated abundant buzz about the league's sometimes overlooked all-star game.

Radio and TV talkers have debated the move of the game throughout the week. With more media members in South Florida than could make the trip to Hawaii, the players have noticed more attention on the game.

And, it seems current and former players are almost evenly split on the rescheduled game. For every guy who complains about not being able to make a trip to Hawaii, another chimes in about the ease of travel to Miami and being part of the week leading up to the Super Bowl.

The game moves back to Hawaii after the Super Bowl the next two years, but after that it could eventually end up as part of the Super Bowl buildup if things go well this week. For NFL officials, who often listen and respond with their wallets, the anticipated stadium full of fans also might help sway an eventual decision.

Once the Pro Bowl begins Sunday night (7:20 p.m., ESPN), fans at home should be able to listen, too. With 14 microphones on players and coaches, ESPN hopes to capitalize on its access and provide a different feel from a regular NFL game.

"It’s an opportunity for us to do a lot of things we’re not able to do during the regular season. The big thing for us is access in this game. We’ll be pretty aggressive at mikes on players, including all the quarterbacks and other players," said senior coordinating producer Jay Rothman, who lead's the "Monday Night Football" crew that will work the Pro Bowl with announcers Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and John Gruden.

"We will have cameras in locker rooms, pregame, halftime, postgame and huddles," Rothman added. “We’ll have a ton of production elements, video packages and special graphics that we bring into the game because another thing is celebrating these athletes who made it into the Pro Bowl and celebrating their season. We have 25 cameras for this game, but it’s a little different plan for us. It’s more about maximizing all the audio we have versus the game coverage.”

X Games Brings Energy, Technology to TV

Thirty-some years ago, made-to-TV sports programming (eventually referred to as "trashsports" by some) was rather mundane -- most notably a bunch of pro athletes competing outside their element against each other on ABC's "Superstars."

It was simple, schlocky and, at the time, appealing.

Although each of the then-big three networks trotted out their own version of that type of show, the "Superstars" was always the best, eventually including individual and team vs. team shows -- until the concept ran its course and athletes started earning enough money that they did not need to risk injury in such events. (Recent revivals of the show have been mostly an over-hyped disappointment.)

These days, though, made-for-TV sports bring energy, entertainment and, more importantly, technology to the screen. It's also appealing.

X Games 14 -- owned and operated by ESPN -- runs from Thursday to Sunday in Aspen, Colo. Last year the annual showcase of skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling averaged 942,000 homes for eight telecasts.

With ESPN in charge, even sports fans not interested in the X Games will find highlights on "SportsCenter" and across all of ESPN's platforms. While highlights might be more than enough for some viewers, the X Games do make for good TV.

Also, because of the energy and technology ESPN invests in the X Games, the annual action in the snow eventually benefits all sports fans. That's because all-access approaches and emerging technologies, such as small cameras or shots from cranes, that begin as experiments in venues such as the X Games often end up being implemented with coverage of the NFL, college football, Major League Baseball, the NBA and more.

This week, ESPN has nine production trucks and 63 cameras on site in Colorado. Notable gadgets include the "Huck Tower," a 30-foot high LED tower that will display the height of each jump in real time during events, and virtual graphics that track the flight of snowmobiles.

For the tower to work, competitors have small RF devices, about the size of a credit card, sewn into the bib they were during competition. It's not a stretch to imagine something similar having a use in other sports. Likewise, the virtual graphics are an technological cousin, of sorts, to familiar "First and 10" line that shows up on most football games.

Old (Favre) and New (Tebow) Merit Coverage

Weekend NFL action set the two teams for the Super Bowl, but the two quarterbacks most radio and TV types were talking about early this week were not Drew Brees of the Saints and Peyton Manning of the Colts.

Instead, the annual retirement of Brett Favre and the fledgling professional career of Tim Tebow were -- appropriately -- the most prominent stories.

As usual at this time of year, several outlets reported that Favre, 41, was unlikely to return next season. While nobody expects a firm decision from Favre before the NFL Draft or (even more likely) August, his story remains a story.

Favre has entered the homes of football fans on TV for more than two decades, and his effort Sunday, getting up from hit after hit and playing hard again and again was nothing short of typical. That hard-nosed approach has earned Farve abundant attention and respect through the years. Of course, in trying too hard, the game ended as other Favre efforts have -- with an interception.

At the same time, ESPN, the NFL Network and others followed every snap for Tebow, 22, at the Senior Bowl as he tried to define himself as a legitimate prospect at quarterback who could play on Sundays.

Many seem to agree that Tebow ranks as a project at the professional level. With limited experience taking snaps from center and a supposedly clumsy, slow throwing motion, few see him as a high-round draft pick. That does not mean he could not make an impact in the NFL, though, and that certainly does not mean people are not interested in his story.

An added nuance to his story emerged early this week when information about his Super Bowl commercial became public. He will appear, along with his mother, in a pro-life commercial during the big game -- something that already has prompted vocal reaction from pro-choice advocates.

All that, and of course all of Tebow's accomplishments make him a story, too.

While some might complain about Favre and Tebow as "media darlings," they're just the kinds of stories we should get in sports. Perhaps not every day (although it seems that way with Favre) but certainly on occasion.

Ratings up for Many Sports, Not Just NFL

Record ratings for the NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Saints -- the game was the most-watched show on TV since 1998 (excluding Super Bowl games) -- appropriately prompted abundant reaction.

Anytime an average audience of 57.9 million viewers tune in for anything, it's news.

The rating reflects the power of the NFL, the never-ending interest in Brett Favre and the wonderful New Orleans storyline. It also reflects a trend for many sporting events over the weekend.

Whether it's the economy, ticket prices, the weather or a variety of other factors, viewers certainly found an interest in sports this past weekend.

Specifically, the first PBA Tour event won by a female posted a 100 percent ratings increase over similar coverage in 2009 on ESPN. On CBS, college basketball with top-ranked Texas at UConn was up 38 percent from Arizona-UCLA last year.

Pre-Olympic news was good for NBC as well. Its coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships increased 33 percent over last year.

Super Bowl Buildup a Terrific Two Weeks

We're in the midst of the two best weeks of the NFL season -- the buildup to the Super Bowl.

Some fans might lament the time between games, but they would be wrong.

For TV storytellers, two weeks provides a good timeline to focus on the Xs and Ox as well as the Willies and Joes, providing a nice mix of technical and human interest stories. For all the things that surround the game (commercials, concerts, marketing), making it an annual holiday, two weeks provides just the right amount of time to stoke casual interest.

Honestly, this two-week buildup and sudden-death overtime might be two of the things the NFL does best.

Yes, overtime works. While some talk-show types and others who should have better things to analyze and rail against (especially Dick Vitale) spent a good part of Monday complaining about the NFL's overtime format, their bluster should be ignored.

The NFL has issues to address -- notably, as always, replay -- but overtime is not among them. Through the years the NFL has done a decent job of responding to fan complaints and not taking a knee-jerk approach when reacting to other problems.

Despite some complaints in the hours after the Saints victory, the league should do the same in regard to overtime. After all, that record viewership peaked during overtime, so people were clearly getting what they wanted.

And for so many reasons, from player safety to TV windows (the time available for games to air), sudden-death overtime works. It makes great TV, and it keeps football meaningful with an emphasis on special teams and defense.

Worried that the Vikings did not get the ball in OT? Well, maybe if their kick coverage had not allowed such a long return things would've been different. Or, maybe if their defense would've made a stop things would've been different.

Most important, maybe if a pass interference penalty had not been called, or if Brett Favre had not thrown an interception at the end of regulation ... all the ifs could go on forever. What should remain unchanged, though, should be the rule on overtime. It works, and it especially works on TV.

Sharing Henderson's Call a Good Gift

Thanks to ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" for sharing with a national audience Monday the the heartfelt emotion and solid summary provided in one simple end-of-the-game call by WWL's Jim Henderson during the NFC Championship Game.

Henderson, considered one of the best play-by-play men in the NFL, called the Saints game on radio—as he has for nearly 30 years. So, he's witnessed a lot of football, and suffered right along with the team's fans.

His call when the victory was certain after the game-winning field goal was perfect: "Pigs have flown. Hell has frozen over. The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl." Better still, his unbridled emotion, his sheer happiness, made good radio.

As the local team's guy, Henderson and people like him should be homers. They should enjoy the victories and endure the losses. That's what makes them different from national types on TV. And Henderson's hardly untalented. He's respected nationally and has been honored 13 times as Sportscaster of the Year in the state of Louisiana.

Changing the Game Plan for Playoffs?

Many teams work hard to preserve game plans and routines once they reach the playoffs.

Incorporate a third-team receiver into a more prominent role in the offense for the biggest game of the season? Experiement with six defensive backs if you've never done it during the regular season?

Probably not likely scenarios for any of the four remaining teams battling for a Super Bowl berth.

Broadcast networks usually follow a similar approach -- they stick with what they know works.

Not CBS Sports. Not for Sunday's Jets-Colts matchup in the AFC Championship Game.

While the play-by-play and color commentary duties of Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms were enough during the regualr season, CBS plans to add sideline reporters Sunday. And that's reporters plural, one for each team.

Both Steve Taker and Solomon Wilcots will join the broadcast for the game. During the regular season, they work in the booth with two-man teams but on Sunday they get some of the toughest, most underappreciated duties in all of sports.

One one hand, the approach could give CBS more access to information in one of the most important NFL games of the season. On the other, Gumbel and Simms and the strong production crew thew work with each week have done just fine throughout the season. So change now seems like change just for change sake.

As CBS prepares for the Super Bowl, it will no doubt pull out some bells and whisltes but Gumbel and Simms can stand alone. Changing that approach just seems unnecessary.

In terms of hardward for the game, CBS plans 40 cameras to cover the action. For most regular-season NFL games, networks usually utilize about 20 cameras.