Comcast to continue sponsorship of SB Nation Football sites

by David Fucillo on Mar 23, 2010 10:44 AM PDT in Comcast Sponsorship

This past season, regular readers of this site probably noticed our weekly post sponsored by Comcast the NFL's Red Zone Channel. Too many sponsored posts can water down a site, but obviously sponsorships like this are great for the credibility of the site. After all, when a media giant like Comcast wants to do business with you, you've clearly reached a certain level of respectability.

Once the season ended, the powers that be here at SB Nation were able to work out an extension of the Comcast deal through the rest of the calendar year, and potentially beyond. Although cable companies can sometimes be difficult to deal with, Comcast has managed to work out some of its problems with the NFL and develop some solid content. In the 2010 NFL season, we'll see the return of the Red Zone Channel, which is the equivalent of football porn. Additionally, NFL Network On Demand will provide some helpful re-airings. Apparently NFL Network On Demand will allow us to re-watch every NFL game as soon as 24 hours after its original airing. Even more interesting is that this On Demand channel will be leading up to the draft next month with profiles on the top 100 prospects in the NFL draft. I'm going to have check that out and compare it to Drew K's 100 in 100 posts.

Given all that, we'll continue having sponsored posts from Comcast. One option would just be to pick a random post and paste the sponsor name on it. However, I thought it'd be more fun to have a weekly feature that relates to Comcast in some sense.

Since Comcast is a media giant and we're talking about the NFL on tv, I thought we'd use this weekly sponsored post to discuss aspects of the media. I don't have any specifics nailed down yet, but I was thinking we could discuss everything from broadcasters and color commentators on tv, to beat writers, to biases in the media's coverage of the NFL and the 49ers. I'm going to sit down and come up with some specific plans, but for now that's the general idea.

In terms of a general discussion point at this time, we've all got announcers we dislike to a certain degree (some might call it blind hatred). Rather than just bash announcers though, I wanted to open this up for announcers who have grown on you. Is there an announcer you disliked that you now don't find quite so distasteful?

I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this now, but I actually think Jim Nantz has grown on me. And actually, it's more because of his outside-the-booth work. Something about his tone of voice used to bug me. However, over the past few months, he's appeared in several great commercials, and also made an amazing cameo appearance on How I Met Your Mother. I realize this doesn't his football play-calling, but if I can be entertained by him in other ways, I can live with that.

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Comments

Definitely Collinsworth

Until just a few years ago I could never get over the fact that he seemed bitter toward the Niners, presumably because his fingers did not hold any gigantic rings. But whether or not that was ever the case (or just erroneous perception on my part) these days I appreciate that he knows the league as well as anyone, and is always perfectly prepared for every game in terms of knowing players and gameplans.

(All that said, seeing him preside over some of the sappiest possible Olympic coverage last month really knocked him back down a few notches)

by Stoned Slacker on Mar 23, 2010 11:02 AM PDT reply actions

I like Collinsworth too

but I think his understanding of the rules is a bit off—he always seems to make a mistake about those. I like his coverage though and I think he does a good job breaking schemes down for people.

Member of the legendary David Carr thread, 6 March 2010

by smileyman on Mar 23, 2010 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions

The 100 in 100 posts;

I didn’t really do them as the “top 100” prospects, although in hindsight maybe I should have. I more or less just picked some of the more interesting prospects in my view. In fact, one of the players toward the end (Stafon Johnson) may not even get drafted but has an interesting story. Myron Rolle is another who may not be considered a “top 100” but has an interesting story. Maybe next season I will do it that way and in order but counting backwards leading up to the “1 overall” of my opinion.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 23, 2010 12:58 PM PDT reply actions

100 in 100

That’s true. I should have clarified that it wasn’t meant to imply you were doing the top 100, but rather what you said.

by David Fucillo on Mar 23, 2010 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions

I like it that way

I’d say choose the, maybe top 85-90 prospects and use the other slots for those interesting characters

by foosball4949 on Mar 23, 2010 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions

NFL Broadcasters

I like Collinsworth (too) and Mike Patrick;
Al Michaels used to be good, but has gotten too comfortable and let his performance sag;
I cannot stand Dick Stockton; he is so bad and unprepared that I don’t understand how he holds a job; if he’s the announcer I simply turn on “mute”.

by 49erFanSince1950 on Mar 23, 2010 4:43 PM PDT reply actions

They need to bring back Madden and Summerall.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 23, 2010 7:01 PM PDT up reply actions

Madden's my all-time favorite

even if he says really stupid things sometimes. I always felt like he was just one of the guys talking football.

Member of the legendary David Carr thread, 6 March 2010

by smileyman on Mar 23, 2010 9:39 PM PDT up reply actions

"When your arm gets hit, the ball is not going to go where you want it to."

"Hey, the offensive linemen are the biggest guys on the field, they’re bigger than everybody else, and that’s what makes them the biggest guys on the field."

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

by SportsChicken on Mar 23, 2010 10:42 PM PDT up reply actions