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It’s time to strike up the marching band
By Mike Pound My friend Dave Bevins called me the other day and left a message on my phone. Dave, who is a big music fan, wanted to know why they don’t show the marching bands during halftime on televised college football games anymore. “Instead, they send you to three (people) who spend 15 minutes telling you what you just saw,” Dave said. "" I’m old enough to remember when they did show the marching bands during halftime, and I always liked watching them. I definitely liked watching them a lot more than I like listening to three (people) tell me what I just spent an hour watching. Dave also mentioned that he recently read a USA Today poll that found that 54 percent of folks who watch football turn the sound down and read the information on the screen to keep up with the game. I like that. Look, I’m no Knute Rockne, but I think I know enough about football that I don’t need to have some moron tell me that third-and-12 is “an obvious passing down.” I’m also getting sick and tired of some moron saying during a review of a contested call on the field: “Remember, there has to be conclusive evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.” My wife never watches football on TV, and even she knows there has to be conclusive evidence to overturn a ruling on the field. And really, do we need sideline reporters? “It looks like it’s raining. Let’s go down to Andrea on the field. What’s it like down there, Andrea?” “It’s raining, Boomer.” “Thanks for that fine report, Andrea.” As long as I’m on the subject, how come when a player gets injured and is lying on the turf being treated by medical people, some moron announcer always says, “You never want to speculate about an injury like this ... ” AND THEN PROCEEDS TO SPECULATE? “You never want to speculate, Boomer, but it looks like the medical staff has had to remove his head.” “That’s his helmet.” “Oh ... never mind. (Pause.) OK, it’s third-and-12, Boomer. An obvious passing down.” See what you did, Dave? You got me all riled up. I need to calm down. Where’s a good marching band when you need one? Mike Pound writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe. He can be reached at mpound@joplinglobe.com. CNHI News Service distributes his column.
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