Tag Archives: Phil Simms

Super Bowl 47: CBS handles power outage

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BY STEVEN KUBITZA

Media coverage of the Super Bowl took an odd twist when the power went out inside the stadium Sunday night.

After the outage, the game cut to commercial and returned to a report from Steve Tasker, who was a sideline reporter for the game. He explained the situation and kept viewers updated on what was occurring inside of the stadium.

To fill the time, CBS basically extended its halftime commentary by talking with the pregame show crew. The delay lasted 34 minutes and CBS did well keeping viewers’ interest.

While commentators, for the most part, kept off-the-field situations out of their broadcast, Ray Lewis’ past was discussed at the end.

Announcers Phil Simms and Jim Nantz should also be commended for their explanation of a tricky scenario at the end of the game:

The Ravens were setting up to punt the ball from their own end zone with only a few seconds left in the game, and had two options. They could either punt it away or take a safety, which would make their lead three points.

The commentators explained the situations and covered the pros and cons of each option.

Breaking down first-half Super Bowl coverage

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BY STEVEN KUBITZA

There were countless non-game related story lines heading into the game between the Ravens and 49ers, but the focus by the announcers was on the field during the Super Bowl’s first half.

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms did a great job of avoiding talk of off-the-field issues. The issues related to Ray Lewis, (possible PED use) were ignored. Those issues were a focus in the pre-game show, but not during the game.

The one story line addressed in the first-half commentary was the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other. CBS showed their family and side-by-side shots of their reactions to plays. However, it was not distracting.  The focus on the brothers was acceptable because another set of brothers may never meet up in a Super Bowl, again.

Great plays were highlighted, as they well should be, and the broadcast team was fair in giving praise to certain players during the first half. They focused on quarterbacks for both teams and despite the fact that Joe Flacco outplayed Colin Kaepernick in the first half, the commentators were not overly critical.

Madden ’13 commentary tops 2012

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 BY MATTHEW OSTROW

The commentary team for the video game “Madden 2013” is the same duo on CBS on Sundays in Phil Simms and Jim Nance.  The duo makes the video game experience feel very similar to watching a Sunday NFL broadcast.  Even the introduction changes according to the venue. When I play with the Vikings at the Metrodome, Nance said, “Be prepared to see a lot of purple today.” He also talked about the stadium’s history.

The analysis from Simms is, for the most part, very accurate and not repetitive.  If you choose a running play and don’t go for the correct gap, Simms lets you know the poor play was a result of the running back’s decision.  Simms also will quickly comment on the way you try to make adjustments at the line with an audible or shift your defense with comments like, “Look at the defense, this has to be a blitz,” or “The quarterback doesn’t like what he sees and is making a change.”

Nance does a good job setting up Simms and the commentary flows pretty well for a video game. In the past, commentary sounded robotic. Now, Nance talks, in detail, about the star players when they come onto the field.  When Robert Griffin III came onto the field, Nance said: “RG3 the 2nd overall pick out of the University of Baylor.”  Then, Simms goes on to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of Griffin as a quarterback.

My only problem with the commentary team of Simms and Nance is that they show very little emotion.  While playing a game down four points in the 4th quarter, my player, Jerome Simpson, made a great one-handed catch. With no conviction, Nance said “Good catch, that will be a first down.”  I would like to have the announcer show more excitement for an amazing play in such a big moment of the game.However, in comparison to last year’s broadcast team of Gus Johnson and Chris Collinsworth, Nance and Simms are a great overall improvement.  They make the Madden experience better with their analysis and class.