‘Football decision’ sounds a little fishy
Finally, reality TV is part of the sport of football. At least for the Miami Dolphins’ Joe Philbin, who in his first year as a head coach will be trailed in training camp by a 24-person NFL Films crew for HBO’s five-part series Hard Knocks, which premieres Aug. 7.
But don’t think the team, 6-10 last season and 28th in NFL attendance, just wants the understandable publicity. No, Philbin said Tuesday that it was “a football decision” — without really explaining how he figured that — and that team owner Stephen Ross “in no way, shape or form forced us to make this decision.” He added Ross “wanted to stay out of it.”
Say what? Philbin, the Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator before joining the Dolphins, will be the first first-year coach on Hard Knocks as he tries to settle on a starting quarterback this summer. Three of the six teams that were on Hard Knocks didn’t make the playoffs in the seasons after the show. The others had arguably disappointing postseasons.
CBS analyst Bill Cowher on Tuesday said Hard Knocks could help the Dolphins build their fan base. But Cowher said training camp TV was a bad idea: “Training camp is when you’re building a foundation, coming together. Those are sacred moments. Tough decisions are being made — things that don’t need to be made public.”
Sideline stars:
Pam Ward, who in 2000 became the first female football play-by-play announcer on national TV, says the vast majority of aspiring female sportscasters don’t want to follow her: “Nineteen out of 20 women I talk to want to be sideline reporters, to be like Erin Andrews with a high profile and national commercials. That’s become the glamor position.”
Ward learned last week that she would no longer work ESPN’s college football. Ward didn’t go into specifics Tuesday about why she was dropped, leaving ESPN’s Beth Mowins as the only female football play caller on national TV, but said, “I think it’s a long shot I will ever do it again at ESPN. I’d be open to it under the right circumstances. But I’m not holding my breath.”