sports

Dan Patrick vs Colin Cowherd

matthewtoffolo broadcasters , , , , ,

Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd host competing sports radio talk shows. Cowherd, on ESPN’s mothership station from 10am-1pm EST, and Patrick on DirecTV Sports from 9am-12pm EST. A sports fan has a choice during the day to who to listen to, or who to listen to and WATCH as both shows are simulcast on their respective company’s TV stations.

These two are in a fight for ratings and in a fight for integrity. It all started in 2012 when Dan Patrick called out Cowherd for stealing his work when Kurt Warner was on both shows on the same day. Warner and Patrick have a friendship outside of the broadcasting world, so when he was on the show he talked in full candor how he didn’t want his kids playing football because of fear of concussions. Warner’s comments immediately made headlines in the sports world.

Then an hour later, Warner was on Colin’s show and Cowherd began the interview like this:

    “You know Kurt yesterday on the tragic death of Junior Seau one of the first things I thought about was the effect it’s going to have on the game long term and mothers and fathers saying, you know what, I’m out. There’s no way I want my kids playing this game. You’ve got kids, where do you fall on that Kurt?”

There was no reference to Warner’s interview with Patrick earlier that same morning where he addressed this same topic.

Then Patrick commented the next day to Cowherd: “You were lazy yesterday and you know that.”

Every sports website and radio show (including ESPN) were crediting Patrick’s show for the Warner comment. Except Cowherds’.

That started off a twitter war that Patrick stopped a week in.

Then, almost 3 years later, this week Cowherd shot back, claiming that Patrick doesn’t have a work ethic and that he, Jim Rome, and Skip Bayless are the hardest working people in sports. And Patrick needs 25 producers to fill a segment.

    Patrick fired back in amazing fashion. Watch it here:

I admittingly listen to Patrick because I feel he’s the best interviewer in sports and really jumpstarts important conversations, like he did with the Kurt Warner interview. Colin Cowherd is brilliant as well because he bascially talks for 3 hours all by himself without a sidekick(s) like Patrick has.

For me, Cowherd is the Rush Limbaugh of sport radio, as Patrick is the Howard Stern. Colin looks for angles and controversial conversations that will create buzz. He has very strong opinions which works great for today’s social media platforms. Patrick is the master of being light and treating sports like they should be treated, but is not afraid to touch on topics that perhaps are needed to be talked about without worrying how many hits/views they will garner. His shows during the Penn State controversy a couple years back were brilliant, as Cowherd kind of avoided most of it.

In 2012, Cowherd stated that Patrick isn’t even on his radar in terms of ratings and who to worry about, but I guess that’s now changed. Patrick’s shows stand the test of time as he looks at topics from a big picture perspective. Cowherd just focusses on the topic of the day and his shows are never remembered two days later.

So in conclusion, I’m on team Patrick!

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Matthew Toffolo

Filmmaker of over 20 short films and TV episodes, Matthew Toffolo is the current CEO of the WILDsound Film and Writing Festival. He had worked for the organization since its inception in 2007 serving as the Short Film Festival’s moderator during the Audience Feedback sessions.

Go to http://www.wildsound.ca and submit your film, script, or story to the festival.

Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com and watch recent and past winning writing festival readings.

Review of Al Michaels Book: You Can’t Make This Up

matthewtoffolo Book review , , , , , ,

While on my vacation, I quickly ready through Al Michaels book on his nostalgic viewpoints on the landscape of Sports. He’s had a front row seat to tons of events, including some of the greatest Super Bowls every played (including the one on Sunday where he called an almost perfect broadcasting game), and of course his iconic call of “Do you believe in miracles” when the USA hockey team beat the Soviets in the greatest sports upset of all-time in 1980.

What I personally remember about Michaels as a kid was him calling baseball, mainly the post-season games he covered. The 1986 ALCS is something I’ll always remember as a 10 year old kid who was beginning to fall in love with the sport. Game #5 of that series was as shocking as they come. It was Thanksgiving in Canada and the male grownups in my family didn’t want to start dinner until the game was over in the 9th when the Angels were up against the Red Sox 5-2. Well craziness happened that inning as the Red Sox tied it up and they went to extra innings. My uncled moved the television to the dining room and we actually watched the rest of the game while eating our holiday dinner, much to the anger of my mother and grandmother. For me, I loved it, and it was the birth of me loving the game and the broadcasters calling it like Michaels did that day.

He talks about that game in detail and many other games and moments in his life, including his friendship with OJ Simpson that turned sour after a double murder occurred. It was a fun read and for Michaels, he got his story down so his legacy stays intact whenever he passes away.

I really wished Michaels digged deeper with this book and talked about more about his personal life and the parallels of it in relation to his job. I really wanted to know who he was and what made him tic. But he wasn’t going there and I really don’t blame him. There’s really no reason for him to. His broadcasting persona and his real life persona could be the same person and that’s what he’s trying to say. I didn’t buy it but I still enjoyed reading his perspective on all the great games he called.

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Matthew Toffolo

Filmmaker of over 20 short films and TV episodes, Matthew Toffolo is the current CEO of the WILDsound Film and Writing Festival. He had worked for the organization since its inception in 2007 serving as the Short Film Festival’s moderator during the Audience Feedback sessions.

Go to http://www.wildsound.ca and submit your film, script, or story to the festival.

Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com and watch recent and past winning writing festival readings.

Joe Madden is Great

matthewtoffolo Joe Madden is Great , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The new manager of the Chicago Cubs is Joe Madden, and this is very good for baseball, by far my favorite sport and I root for whatever is the best way to bring more popularity to this game. And having the Chicago Cubs winning is was is easily the best thing for this game. When the Cubs are in the playoffs, the ratings go up and people pay attention. That’s the bottom-line. And if they do ever win the World Series, something they haven’t done since 1908, the ratings will be so high and there will be so much attention paid to this game, that I think FOX TV chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman’s heads will explode!

The Cubs are probably the 2nd most famous franchise in the league. The Yankees are first and the Red Sox and Cardinals are a close 3rd and 4th. What makes them interesting is that you can’t help but root for them. They are like when the Red Sox faced the Yankees in the 2003/04 ALCS, New York City was rooting for the Yankees as the rest of the world was rooting for the Sox. The Cubs are everyone’s favorite team with the exception of White Sox and Cardinal fans. We are desperate for them to win because it’s a great story.

Joe Madden is a great manager. I witnessed him manage my Blue Jays 19 times a year and the things he pulled off were truly amazing. I saw how he managed a series. He’s always looking for pull off at least 2 out of 3 games. Sometimes he’ll blow a game in the series to set up the other 2 wins because that’s what he needs to be a winning baseball team for 162 games. He’s always thinking 10 steps ahead and you can tell his players love playing for him.

Like Belichick in the NFL, you don’t know what you’re going to see on a given game. Of course some will argue that baseball managers have the least amount of influence on a game, but watch Madden manage for 162 games. He’ll change the outcome on at least 10 games a year. Just watch the Cubs this year. And now Madden’s in the National League, the non-DH league. Exactly where he belongs.

As a Blue Jay fan, I am SOOO happy he’s out of our division. The guy is great. Just see the Cubs begin to shine in the next couple of years. And it will be good for baseball.

Football used to channel your aggression

matthewtoffolo Aggression in football might be a good thing , , , , , , , ,

At last night’s FEEDBACK Film Festival (http://www.wildsound.ca/torontofilmfestivals.html) we showcased a Musical/Documentary short film called Suburban Deathcore (http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/suburban_deathcore.html). A film about the underground Deathcore community in suburban areas in North America. The film was really about the community these kids have performed and how they kind of stay out of trouble.

Another film we showcased was a short film from Luxenberg called Serena (http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/serena.html). A film about a group of teenage kids who really have too much time on their hands and how violence occurs one night when their inner angst and insecurity finally reaches a boiling point.

Two films. One film about a group of kids who dress unconventionally, listen to violent music, and are practically outsiders to the rest of the community. But they stay out of trouble because they express their inner angsts with their music. The other film about a group of average, upper middle class white kids who seem to have every advantage in the world. They get into a very violent situation because they really don’t know what to do with their inner aggressions.

So what does this have to do with sports? Football. The secondary theme of the TV series Friday Night Lights. How young men need a place to channel their inner aggressions while also belonging to a community that has a forward direction.

In the beginning era where football is on the way out for future generations of boys because of the sudden medical breakthroughs on concussions, perhaps there is still a purpose for this sport. Even though I played the game and got a lot out of it, I still won’t let my kids play it. But for other kids in other neighborhoods, perhaps football still has a life and there is positive aspect to it.

Male kids need to express their feelings in some organizational fashion. Football did that for me like the Deathcore music scene does for the kids in the documentary.