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Saunders: FSN's prep coverage shines

Published November 27, 2006 at midnight

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The Saturday TV football game of the day - or night - was supposed to be Notre Dame at Southern Cal.

But for football drama, Mullen's 41-38 overtime win against Douglas County in the 5A semifinals won the evening. Granted, this FSN Rocky Mountain production was on tape delay from the afternoon, meaning a goodly share of high school football fans knew the outcome of the contest, edited into a three-hour time frame that ended at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

FSN Rocky Mountain didn't air the game live because of a Big 12 Conference commitment to the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State clash.

Since I was unaware of Mullen's win, I reveled in the up-and-down-the-field, late-night offensive show that, for part of the time, was commercial-free.

And while the game was edited, FSN engineers did a good job keeping the action in context.

FSN should take a bow for this season's 4A and 5A football playoff schedule of nine games, most live, which culminates Saturday with a live, eight-hour stretch.

It begins at 11 a.m. with the 4A championship between Wheat Ridge and Loveland, followed by the 5A Columbine-Mullen battle.

The coverage, from Invesco Field at Mile High, will include all the bells and whistles that go with championship clashes at college and pro levels, including locker room interviews and presentations of trophies.

While CBS 4, Comcast and Altitude have televised local high school playoff football in the past, none has provided FSN's in-depth, professional coverage.

The move to the high school fields was brought about, to some degree, because the cable network was entering another season without the Nuggets and Avalanche.

Big 12 and Pacific-10 conference football contests are fine. But a thriving cable network needs local angles in the fall.

How many talking-head shows and poker games can a network provide before boredom really sets in?

MIKE AND JAKE SHOW: Speaking of tape delays, one produced Thursday night by the NFL Network told viewers all they needed to know about the relationship between Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Jake Plummer.

After the Broncos went three-and-out and were forced to punt late in the game, the cameras caught the start of heated sideline verbal action between the two at the start of the commercial break.

When on-the-field coverage resumed, viewers saw, on tape, more of the two jawing at one another.

NFL Network's debut, while competent, could have done without the Frantic Four (Deion Sanders, Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci and Marshall Faulk) laughing and pontificating from the sidelines.

Why do the networks believe an overload of "experts" adds something to the telecast?

BROADCASTING NAMES: I usually agree with Denver's Rick Reilly. But his prediction on ESPN Radio that Cris Collinsworth and Bryant Gumbel would constantly shill for the NFL Network on Thursday night didn't happen.

Sure, there were legitimate plugs for network coverage and the NFL in general. But at least the telecast was free of annoying promos for broadcast network entertainment programming that announcers are forced to spout.

• A round of applause for NBC's Al Michaels, the only network football man who mentions the Mountain time when promoting the networks prime-time entertainment shows.

• Was Brent Musburger a carnival barker in a previous life?

While he's always over-the-top in his game superlatives, his pregame hype before the USC-Notre Dame game was embarrassing.

For Musburger, it was this week's Game of the Century.

• Pat Summerall will return to the Fox football broadcasting booth Jan. 1, doing play-by-play of the Cotton Bowl - his first work in several years, following severe health problems.

GRIDIRON NIGHT OWLS: Despite the obvious slump, the Broncos will set a team television record this season.

NBC's flex-scheduling move of the Denver-Seattle game to Sunday marks the sixth time this season the team will play under the lights.

Will any other team have more night games this season?

QUOTABLE: "The Denver Broncos are playing like they're scared to death. We're seeing dropped passes and missed opportunities. Remember, this is a team that hasn't lost two games in a row in their last 30 games. You'd think this quality football team would wake up." - Collinsworth, after the Broncos' third unsuccessful drive in the first quarter against the Chiefs.