John Madden hangs it up...

[Left Seater]

Chris Collinsworth to take over....


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... -nbc_N.htm

[Moby Dick]

He will die in two years or less.

fucker has inhaled too much of the tenactin he's been slingin'.


agree with mvscal here.

[Sirfindafold]

He will die in two years or less.

bullshit.

As we type he's begging Mr. Davis for a front office job. He wants to be a part of the Raiders' resurgence.

fucking gravytrainer.

[Cuda]

He will die in two years or less.

We can only hope Collinsworth dies in two months or less- then maybe Madden will unretire.

[BSmack]

Wow. I met him briefly years ago, he was a larger than life figure, seemed to be a very happy man who laughed a lot. Rack him.

Larger than life? Maybe. But he was definitely beginning to get larger than most TV screens. His ticker has got to be buried under at least 350 lbs of blubber.

[smackaholic]

Dibs in the '10 DP.

I think mvscal is right on this one. Just hope the old boy can hang on 'til january.

Rack the best color commentator in the history of the NFL.

[Sirfindafold]

Hall of Fame coach/broadcaster/video game king John Madden announced his retirement today from the television booth, ending a career that was as successful with a mic as it was a Raiders' head coach.

So, with his Sundays freed up for the first time in forever, will Madden make a Raiders comeback?

Not as a head coach, most certainly not at age 73. Raiders owner Al Davis once said Madden retired far too soon, but that ship has sailed.

Rather, Davis dropped Madden's name a few years back when asked who would help run the team when his time had passed. The franchise itself will be passed onto his son Mark and wife Carol.

But Davis also said he'd like to see Madden come back and offer some form of help on the football side of things, possibly as a de facto general manager on director of football operations.

Some would argue Davis needs that help immediately, but that's a debate for another day. Madden has been engulfed in football since Davis made him one of the youngest head coaches in NFL history. Perhaps he'll find it too hard to stay away from football altogether and would like a way to be involved without being too involved -- because no matter what his role under Davis' watch, it's still Davis' show.

Madden absolutely would re-infuse instant credibility to the franchise. With a 112-39-7 record over 10 years with no losing seasons, he represents everything great about the Raiders when they were still great. If nothing else, he would -- Boom! -- energize an organization grown weary with six straight seasons of 11 or more losses.

Who knows? Maybe Davis knew Madden was retiring all along (they remain very close) and this was that "mystery hire" he alluded to last September when asked about the personnel department.

[PSUFAN]

I enjoyed watching a MNF game with my son and my father, so three generations could shake their heads in unison at Madden's struggles with the English language.

I won't miss Madden as a broadcaster, but the poor Tinactin folks are going to feel this loss keenly

[jiminphilly]

Madden is the same age as the recently departed Harry Kalas. I really have no idea if Madden smokes or drinks but he doesn't appear to have ever missed a meal in his life. His boyfriend, Farve also is finally retired so I'm guessing the prospect of dropping dead in a booth or in the bus after calling a Farve-less NFL game wasn't the way he'd prefer to go.

Unrack NBC for replacing him with Collinsworthless.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Thank god.

Madden seems like a great guy, but I couldn't listen to him do a game. Repeating himself constantly, explaining things like the audience knew nothing at all.

Did I mention repeating himself CONSTANTLY?

I can turn the sound back up now.

I'm old enough to remember Madden as a coach, so certainly I remember when he first broke into broadcasting. At the time, Madden was a breath of fresh air. Most broadcasters back then were talking about the game as though it was something of a religious experience. Then comes Madden, talking about sweaty smelly linemen with mud all over their uniforms. Hilarious stuff, at the time.

Fast-forward 30 years later, more or less, and he was still talking like that. As someone once said, it was like Steve Martin still wearing the arrow through his head and singing, "King Tut."

Here's wishing him well in any event. And I'll second the unracking of NBC for replacing him with Collinsworth.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Thank god.

Madden seems like a great guy, but I couldn't listen to him do a game. Repeating himself constantly, explaining things like the audience knew nothing at all.

Did I mention repeating himself CONSTANTLY?

I can turn the sound back up now.

Add to that his creepy, not-so-cryptic homo-eroticisms...


~~~shudder~~~


He gave off this vibe like his mind was half on the game, half on picking up more lime to dissolve the bodies of teenage boys buried under his crawlspace.

[BSmack]

Dibs in the '10 DP. I think mvscal is right on this one. Just hope the old boy can hang on 'til january.

Rack the best color commentator in the history of the NFL.

You're forgetting Howard Cosell.

Madden was excellent his first 15 years or so. After that he's been an absolute abortion. In particular, his last 3 Super Bowl gigs have been utterly abysmal. Now his legacy will be the dumbing down of football commentary to the point where a 70 year old housewife felt like she "understood" what was going on at the expense of giving truly insightful commentary worthy of real die hard fans. Oh, and all those stupid gags like saying "Boom!" during every replay, stuffing his face in a pile of Turducken and talking about things with no relevance to the game whatsoever.

[ChargerMike]

Thank god.

Madden seems like a great guy, but I couldn't listen to him do a game. Repeating himself constantly, explaining things like the audience knew nothing at all.

Did I mention repeating himself CONSTANTLY?

I can turn the sound back up now.

Add to that his creepy, not-so-cryptic homo-eroticisms...


~~~shudder~~~


He gave off this vibe like his mind was half on the game, half on picking up more lime to dissolve the bodies of teenage boys buried under his crawlspace.

...I'm assuming you're not trolling for once in your life Marty, so I call bullshi! on this one. Having been a coach at various levels for many years, you get attached to your players. Nothing better than watching a young protege' advance up through the ranks. You get a real feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment along with a bonding to certain players. Madden is a coach first and foremost. His accolades and kudos for certain players comes from an appreciation of hard work and effort. His vibes come from his knowledge of the game and insight of what players do on the field of play.

...Coming from a communist living in Canaduh where the only sport they have is filled with geaux's your comments ring even shallower.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

You get a real feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment along with a bonding to certain players.

Yeah, uhhh...that's not what I'm talking about.

I mean, more like:

"Mmmm...the sweat dripping down that guys ass....mmmmm...now that's football!"


When an 8 year old boy does the old "No Girls Allowed" routine, it can be kinda funny.
When a grown man does it, you might wanna check the trunk of his car for a clown costume and balloon animals...

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

...but I never picked up on any Gacy tendencies!

Nobody ever does...until they're asked to provide dental records to the coroner's office.

[ChargerMike]

You get a real feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment along with a bonding to certain players.

Yeah, uhhh...that's not what I'm talking about.

I mean, more like:

"Mmmm...the sweat dripping down that guys ass....mmmmm...now that's football!"


When an 8 year old boy does the old "No Girls Allowed" routine, it can be kinda funny.
When a grown man does it, you might wanna check the trunk of his car for a clown costume and balloon animals...

...bwa, I kinda dug those analogies, I'm gonna miss it.

[LTS TRN 2]

Dibs in the '10 DP. I think mvscal is right on this one. Just hope the old boy can hang on 'til january.

Rack the best color commentator in the history of the NFL.

You're forgetting Howard Cosell.

Madden was excellent his first 15 years or so. After that he's been an absolute abortion. In particular, his last 3 Super Bowl gigs have been utterly abysmal. Now his legacy will be the dumbing down of football commentary to the point where a 70 year old housewife felt like she "understood" what was going on at the expense of giving truly insightful commentary worthy of real die hard fans. Oh, and all those stupid gags like saying "Boom!" during every replay, stuffing his face in a pile of Turducken and talking about things with no relevance to the game whatsoever.

Huh? Are suggesting that Cosell was a good commentator? He was the worst in the history of televised sports. The only reason he was popular was to hate him. Remember when redneck bars would have a quick raffle to see who could shoot a (designated) television the moment he first appeared? His insufferable dronings were torture for any real sports fan, and the fact that he knew nothing of football, baseball, boxing, or archery, for that matter, only seemed to spur him on in his self-absorbed toxic ego trip. A lot like Geraldo, really.

Madden chose wisely, his act was already tired several years ago, but at least he's a genuinely likable guy. Six months is actually the statistical average for a retiree's lifespan, but I'll give him a couple years.

Avi wants nothing so much as to fly on Air Force One? Really? So....he can blow Rahm Emanuel?

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

Six months is actually the statistical average for a retiree's lifespan.

Link? That is the stupidest thing I've ever read here.... think about that for a moment.

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

but that retirement figure seems a bit off.

A bit, eh? I'd guestimate approximately 15 years "off the mark" without doing any research on the topic.

[smackaholic]

Sam, you're not 73 with a body fat percentage close to your age. And you prolly didn't have a heart attack during the carter administration.

John ranks #3 on my "how the fukk is this dude still breathing?" list. Numbers 1 and 2 are Keith Richards and BB King.

[BSmack]

Huh? Are suggesting that Cosell was a good commentator?

He was a damn good color commentator, especially within the constructs of the original Monday Night Football crew. Of course he was and even better boxing commentator.

[Van]

Cosell was boxing. His call of a fight gave it an event feel that's been missing ever since the Larry Holmes-Tex Cobb fight.

His pre ESPN halftime highlights bit with the NFL Films background music was the best thing MNF ever had...

[RadioFan]

Six months is actually the statistical average for a retiree's lifespan.

Link? That is the stupidest thing I've ever read here.... think about that for a moment.

Par for the course for Nicky.

[smackaholic]

John ranks #3 on my "how the fukk is this dude still breathing?" list. Numbers 1 and 2 are Keith Richards and BB King.

Keef's been dead for 30 years.

Artistically speaking, he has indeed been dead for 30 years or damn close to it, however, that fukker is still breathing between drags on his smoke.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Huh? Are suggesting that Cosell was a good commentator?

He was a damn good color commentator, especially within the constructs of the original Monday Night Football crew.

I'll agree with this, especially with the part underlined. He and Don Meredith were the perfect foils for one another. And Cosell was sort of a "love to hate" figure.

In fairness, though, it's worth noting that MNF (and more recently, SNF) always was a slightly different species than Sunday afternoon football. The prime time broadcasts always drew a more eclectic audience than the afternoon games, and that was even more prevalent in Cosell's day, when network TV was the only option for so many people. Cosell probably wouldn't work today, though -- the Dennis Miller experiment out front should tell you so.

[Terry in Crapchester]

I'll miss Madden, even if he had gotten a bit redundant in his old age. 112-39-7 record over 10 years is some SERIOUS fucking shit in the NFL. Didn't realize it was that good.

I could be mistaken about this, but I believe Madden was the youngest coach ever to get to 100 career wins. And all but the last year or two of Madden's career was in the era of the 14-game schedule.

For all the shit Raiduh fan catches on this board (most of it justified, btw), the Raiduhs were pretty damn dominant back in that particular day. They did have the "can't win the Big One" tag on them until Super Bowl XI, though.

[poptart]

Madden was a brilliant coach.

It was his misfortune to have to go up against one of THE greatest dynasties in NFL history in the 70's, or else he could easily have notched another Super Bowl win or two.

As a broadcaster, he was a terrific talent.
In later years, he became a caricature of himself, however.

Much speculation that he may be headed to a spot on the Raider payroll to assist Al ... in some capacity.

We'll see.


RACK big John!

[Moving Sale]

Chris Collinsworth to take over....


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... -nbc_N.htm

It's "announcer Earl" you Bigoted fuck.

[XXXL]

Madden coached at Allan Hancock Junior College which is near my neck of the woods...Way before my time ;)