I've got to say that I love analysis as it relates to football matches (both American and the variety that the rest of the world plays). Typically in the English or Italian TV coverage there is a detailed analysis of both teams playing styles before, at half time, and after the match. (In the Italian case, the analysis can last longer than the actual game.)
Here in America, we've got NFL Matchup with Jaws (former Eagle quarterback Ron Jaworski) and Merrill Hoge (former Bear running back) at midnight Fridays on ESPN. If you have watched football for a while you probably saw both of these guys play. I certainly did. They were both excellent in their respective positions but in spite of their success in the NFL I think they've found their niche on Matchup.
Hoge manages to illuminate the critical elements of each game, both in his pre- and post-game analysis. I find his analysis more comprehensible than Jaworski but it is a real pleasure to learn something from their dialogue every time I watch the show. As much as I think I know about football (doesn't every American guy over 15?) I learn just how little I really know in watching this show. They help to de-mystify a lot of the game and let me know what to look for in tomorrow's Championship games.
Merrill seems to have grown into the role over the last couple of years and now he is assertive, analytical, and insightful. There is now a good balance between Jaworski and Hoge and both are convincing in their roles as analysts.
I think I'm in the minority hoping for a Colts-Panthers Superbowl. I still maintain that the Eagles are over-rated. But I wouldn't feel bad if the Patriots made it again.
Now if the coach of my beloved 49ers would just watch the show perhaps we would have a season next year.
Posted by artandscience at January 17, 2004 09:20 AMMerrill Hoge has absolutsly no idea what teams will do well in the NFL. Ask him about thr New England Patriots.
Posted by: at February 1, 2004 08:55 PMI don't know what his pre-season or even post-season opinion of the Patriots were. But I can say that I watched Friday's broadcast on the Superbowl and his (and Jaworski's) analysis was dead-on.
Brady is deadly with his passing between the hash marks and they identified this area as something that the Panthers must control if they wanted to win the game.
They didn't control the area, Brady made the critical passes, and the Patriots won the game. No shame on the Panthers though. It was a hell of a game and I think most would agree it wasn't so much that the Panthers were beaten but rather that they simply ran out of time.
The Patriots deserve the Superbowl.
Posted by: stefan fielding-isaacs at February 1, 2004 11:49 PM