“Here Comes Foster!” There Goes Al Michaels

by Kevin Burton

   I love me some Al Michaels. Our sportscaster-sports consumer relationship goes back more than 50 years.

   How much do I love Al Michaels?  Well, I watched the entire unwatchable Raiders-Chargers game Thursday because he was calling it. I didn’t even have any fantasy players involved.

  And I’ve been watching the Thursday games for the past two years, even the brutal ones, even when Jeannette and I have been on the road.

   The first time one of my teams made the championship round of its sport – 1972 Reds to the World Series – it was Michaels who gave me the news.

   First with a ninth-inning, game-tying home run, “One and two. The wind, and the pitch to Bench, change hit in the air to deep right field, back goes Clemente, at the fence, she’s gone!”  

    Then later in the inning, with the winning run on third base and two outs, “And the 1-1 pitch to McRae, in the dirt, it’s a wild pitch, here comes Foster, the Reds win the pennant!”

   The Reds didn’t win that series and Michaels didn’t stay with the team too long. But that’s a moment I can never forget. I checked out the You Tube video of that 1972 national League Championship game to make sure I quoted Michaels correctly. But it turns out I didn’t have to. All these years later I remembered it word for word.

   So it hurt to read Tuesday that Michaels has been removed from NBC’s NFL playoff coverage. His removal was news the Hall-of -fame broadcaster apparently learned from media asking for comment.  According to published reports, nobody at NBC had the decency to call the man.

   But the move doesn’t surprise me.

   Michaels simply isn’t as sharp as he used to be. I’ve found myself cringing at mistakes he has made, feeling bad for the man.

   I don’t care though; I’m going to watch. I want to hear his voice because he won’t be around forever. He has one more year left on his contract to do the Thursday Night games for Amazon Prime.  I hope he gets to work that last year, but I don’t think that is guaranteed.  I will definitely be watching the last two Thursday games this year.

   Michaels is 79. He’s been at it a long time.  He is rated by some as the best television play-by=play man ever.  He’s certainly on a very short list of the best ever.

   Michaels and partner Tony Dungy were criticized last year for a lack of energy on the playoff game they did last season for NBC, a big comeback win for Jacksonville over the Chargers. I told you, I love Michaels, but that criticism was justified.

   It doesn’t help that Michaels no longer works with color analyst Cris Collinsworth. Michaels and Collinsworth worked well together because they both covered the games as a sporting event but they also let you know how the game and the spectacle of it all fits into life in general. 

   Michaels now works with Kirk Herbstreit, who is a good Ohio State man who I don’t want to dis, but who really sticks to Xs and Os. The two have no particular rapport on the air and it shows.  At this stage of his career, Michaels could use a little more help from his on-air partner. 

   Michaels has followed athletes in multiple sports from college to rookie pro status, to burgeoning stars, to sage veterans. to over the hill. He knows how this works.

   Broadcasters are not subject to the short careers of professional athletes. But even for sportscasters it does not last forever.

   The Kansas City Royals have Denny Matthews as their lead announcer. He has been with the team since its inception in 1969.  He is 81 now. He is beloved by Royals Nation and permitted to only do the home games, but still stay involved. His delivery is slower, much slower, than it was in his heyday.

   But the Royals are so terrible – they lost 106 games last year – that we can’t wait for the games to get out of hand, so Denny can talk about the glory years of the 70s and 80s. We treasure those times, because Matthews won’t be around forever.

   But Michaels is calling national games, for mostly younger fans who don’t have my personal investment in and appreciation for him.

   I noticed there wasn’t any fan groundswell to put Michaels back into NBC’s playoff announcing team.

   I plan to watch the playoffs. Whoever takes Michaels’ place will maybe, technically, do a better job than he would have. I personally will enjoy the game less, because in this weird sports way, Michaels is a friend. A good friend.