For a full listing of preliminary overnight Nielsen
ratings from the weekend's NFL playoff games, see (#31).
REVIEWS: In Toronto, Mike Ganter reviews ABC's coverage
of Saturday's Bills-Titans game and writes that analyst Joe
Theismann "stole the show" from fellow announcers Mike
Patrick and Paul Maguire. Ganter: "Wouldn't it make more
sense to get this guy on some high-profile games, say,
perhaps Monday Night Football? ... Theismann is not only
more opinionated than [current 'MNF' analyst Boomer] Esiason
he's right more often" (TORONTO SUN, 1/10). Also in
Toronto, Chris Zelkovich writes on Esiason's performance
during Saturday's Lions-Redskins game: "He's bland, far too
serious, loath to offer strong opinions and serves up few
insights beyond the most obvious" (TORONTO STAR, 1/10).
Meanwhile, in Seattle, Jim Moore writes that CBS announcers
Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms "were solid" during yesterday's
Dolphins-Seahawks game (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 1/10).
GOAL FOR CBC: In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich reports that
CBC "scored a coup Saturday by beating" ABC by ten minutes
in announcing the NHL 2000 All-Star team. Zelkovich, noting
ABC's Chris Berman ended his announcement by saying, "Join
us for the fun, eh?": "Isn't it time the trite McKenzie
brothers stereotype was put to rest?" (TORONTO STAR, 1/10).
