By Shane from Centerpoint
Webster’s dictionary defines credible as deserving confidence. Using that definition as a standard it is difficult to acknowledge that the opinions of “talking heads†like ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and CBS’s Gary Danielson really mean anything more than the average Joe sitting in his lounge chair at home playing analyst.
I realize that most college football fans have limited knowledge of the game, but sometimes the media treats them like they are clueless and gullible.
Truthfully, if they were held accountable for everything they said, some of the pundits would look foolish.
One thing is for sure – they all tend to stick together. When one analyst makes an observation that seems to be correct, the rest of the media quickly jumps on board and suddenly the idea becomes fact.
Not so fast, my friends. Very few of these guys who opine in print, speak on the radio, or appear on the sports channels were successful in their own football-related careers, and some never played the game at all. In fact that is usually why they are involved in the broadcast or writing field.
Some commentators have the ability to remain unbiased and efficiently communicate what they see on the field. However, those types are few and far between. ESPN’s Bob Davie and Todd Blackledge are excellent examples of fair and accurate analysis. Both men appear to have the ability to leave their egos at home and deliver a solid assessment to the viewers.
It is more than evident that Herbstreit and Danielson are in love with their own voices. They also constantly allow their Big 10 bias to control what they say. If you listen closely you can detect that those biases control the information they deliver to the public. (Talking about biases – it was evident during the entire broadcast of the LSU-Alabama game that Danielson was biased against Alabama. Why? Both are Southern teams. Maybe it was jealousy of Saban’s quick success in making Alabama a national power again?)
Do they have a conditioned tendency to look down on Southern football? Of course! Big 10 people have always had an inflated opinion of their football prowess. With that said, it is amazing that Davie and Blackledge are fair and balanced.
One would think that after the SEC totally destroyed Ohio State back-to-back in the last two BCS national title face-offs that the mouthpieces would admit that the South plays a better brand of football than the rest of the country.
Something else concerns me about the media. I don’t understand why there are very few, if any, national color analysts who cut their teeth in the Southeastern Conference. Are they intentionally left out of the mix?
One thing for sure, the SEC realizes that defense wins championships. Yet, no defensive-oriented expert exists within the media system. Many of the “talking-head†types refuse to acknowledge the ability of a great defense to play a major role in the outcome of a gridiron contest.
According to most of ESPN’s crew, offense is the only facet of the game that matters. Somebody needs to step up and clarify that there are three phases involved in a football contest and none is more important than the other.
I understand that something has to be said to create fan interest during the pre-season build-up, but the SEC’s defensive superiority doesn’t get enough respect. How many times does the truth have to hit them in the face before they admit that the SEC is a farm system for NFL defenders?
Every year the public is subjected to a barrage of data from pseudo experts that supports the theory that flashy offense will win it all. Herbstreit and Danielson are former quarterbacks and offense happens to be the only thing they know. Therefore, most of the information and predictions that come from them are offensively oriented.
Will things ever change? How many times does the SEC have to earn the top rank at year’s end before the pundits like Herbstreit acknowledge that conferences without a championship game have no right to have a shot to win the national championship?
These self-anointed soothsayers need to find a clue bag. They need to get over themselves and come to the realization that their credibility suffers every time they disrespect the SEC and its place atop college football.
34 thoughts on “Credibility”
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hmm… I agree Gary Danielson and Verne Lunquist(sp?) are pretty annoying to listen to, but Shane you took it to a level that is just goofy. If the national media was biased against teams from the south or teams without flashy offenses then why did espn buy the rights to all the lincoln financial/jefferson pilot sec games?
I actually kinda like Herbstreit.
First, I am a Bama fan. Went to my first game in 1974. I don’t believe Herbstreit or Danielson or biased against the Tide. People have selective hearing. I’m not a big Danielson or Herbstreit fan but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. I believe the Big 12 is the best conference this year. I believe Texas Tech should be ranked #1. I believe the USC defense is the best in football. Does that mean I’m biased aganinst Bama. This is a very good Alabama team. They can be beaten by any number of teams. They can also beat anyone.
Shane, I like your columns but this one is way off the mark.
I tend to agree about the selective hearing on the part of fans. I like Danielson because when a player sucks—he says it, but in a nice way.
Let’s be honest about the LSU game, if LSU would’ve had a decent QB they probably would have won the game.
I do think Verne wants to have Tebow’s babies though….
😀 As well as I do, Cap! lol
Shane’s real name is shame with a little s. what is a shane and what are his credentials? It was quite shamful for shame to attempt to correct and humiliate a professional broadcaster that actually knows what he is talking about. Frankly he sounds terribly ignorant on the radio but I am impressed that he used word pundit in his babblings. I assume he knows what it means but hopefully he doesn’t consider himself one. Pretty soon Shame will be using words like plethera and nomenclature to maybe impress folks that haven’t heard him on the radio. Shame knows as much about football as Finebaum knows about Rogaine. Shame must have something might shameful on Paulie to demand such air time and exposure. I guess the folks on the ESPN haven’t quite discovered the brilliance and expertise that Shame could bring to the table. I will admit he would be better than Oberman but so would that idiot that threatened to whip Paul’s butt. By the way my money is on the idiot!
Mike G., Auburn sucks. Just get over it and move on!
Cant argue quantum , Auburn is sucking it up. But…..
Yall remember in 04 when we got shut out ? What were yall sreaming ? It wouldnt happen to Bama !!!! Yall are onee of two relevent teams that are undefeated, and the heads are already trying to get yall out. Yall better kiss the BCSs arse if you run the table. Or else, youd be watching another team play for it all. Not slamming Bama guys, just saying (like Shane) they have a tendancy to look down there noses at the SEC. I really think its jeolousy more than anything.
Shane, you got your ass kicked by Danielson on Finebaum the other day. Give it a rest.
Where are the Barners this week?
Heavily Disappointed – Now that was a brilliant comment. ” Auburn sucks, just get over it and move on.” First of all I agree that Auburn has certainly taken a nose dive after stumpy arrrived in Tuscaloosa. Secondly, it only took 2 years to steal the momentum from the “plainsmen”… without a victory in 6 years that has apparantly already been claimed. The Aubs have gloated for the past 6 years and the elephants have been seething and waiting for little Nicky to restore damaged self esteem. This could be the year or maybe the 7 in a row T shirts will be selling in a few weeks. And thirdly, the crimson tide has not only already started celebrating a victory over Auburn, they have claimed the national championship forgetting about the buzz saw they will experience in Atlanta. The Gators have way too many playmakers and too much speed and experience… and you can hold your Gator slurs because I don’t cheer for Urban’s boys either.
Hey, I agree about the obvious bias against Alabama shown by Danielson in last Saturday’s broadcast. It’s not just my opinion, but most of the callers – when Danielson was a guest on Finebaum – complained about that very obvious fact. It seemed that he never gave Bama’s defense any credit when they created a turnover or made a tackle, or stopped a drive. It was always “a mistake made by an LSU offensive player” instead of a good play made by the Tide defense. If Bama made a big play on offense, Danielson would go on and on and on about why the play shouldn’t have happened – instead of WHY IT DID HAPPEN! Obvious lack of love or respect for the Crimson Tide – OR maybe jealousy of the job Saban has done this season. His whining attempts to refute those claims and bragging about his credentials on the Finebaum show were pathetic.
Listening to him on the game broadcast made me want to push the mute button and shut him up.
It’s idiotic to say that Danielson is biased against the SEC. Apparently, Shane isn’t aware that Danielson works for CBS, which paid several million dollars for primary broadcast rights of SEC games. Unlike ABC/ESPN, CBS doesn’t broadcast multiple conferences. If Danielson was doing anything on the air to portray the SEC as inferior to some conference that CBS doesn’t even broadcast, (thereby encouraging viewers to flip the channel to ABC to watch the Big 10 or Big 12), then the CBS brass would fire his a$$ in a minute. To put it in terms you can understand Shane, it would be like you going in to one of the Zippy Marts on your route and telling the manager how much better your competitor’s ice is. Are you truly so simple minded that you don’t understand that?? Obviously you are.
Mike G: It is funny to see all the Auburn fans like yourself all of the sudden become Florida fans. It is obvious in your comments that you are biased, and you are guilty of making predictions and such against Bama, while coming here to point out what Bama fans are doing is wrong. You are such a hypocrite. Bama has a reason to be optimistic at this point, being undefeated and all, and you have no explanation for the fall of your Tigahs. So I understand your infatuation with hoping for Bama to fall. It is all got got to cheer for this year. You better hope that those 7 fingers you want to hold up isn’t counting the number of losses you have this year.
Julio: I agree with your points. Good post. But Danielson is not very good commentator to me. He does know football, but he just doesn’t seem to be a very good SEC analyst. He criticizes every coaches decision. I find it hard to believe CBS could not find anyone better. Maybe he works cheap? But anyways I would rather listen to Eli than that guy, so I have missed hearing a lot of his game calling skills. I usually change to the radio after listening to the TV for a quarter or so because Danielson is so bad.
I don’t really care about Danielson’s personal biases. I just found him to be yackity and annoying. He says too much that has nothing to do with the action on the field.
It didn’t take me very long to turn the sound off on the TV and turn on the radio broadcast. I was afraid that it would be ahead of the TV broadcast, but it wasn’t. I can’t stand to hear what happened before I see it. The radio broadcast was actually slightly behind the TV. This may have been because I watched the game on satellite.
It was a much better experience to watch the game with that doofus silenced. The radio broadcast actually covered what happened on the field — and they knew the players’ actual names.
I am old enough to remember when there was a significant bias against Southern football. It doesn’t exist to nearly the extent that it once did. I don’t find Herbstreit to be particularly biased. I may not like it when he doesn’t say nice things about the Crimson Tide, but I consider him to be a pretty straight-up guy.
If anyone is biased, it is myself. But I’m proud of my own bias. Roll Tide Dammit! Win, lose or draw! I’m like the old Free Bird — I ain’t about to change!
As for Auburn: If you guys win this year it will be a helluva upset and I’ll be the first to congratulate you on your victory.
As for Florida: I understand that they have had some impressive performances lately. That said, each game starts with both teams tied at zero and I’m not losing sleep worrying about how good they might be. They can be beaten and Bama might very well be the ones to get that job done. They have to worry about SC this week — and we have to get past Miss State.
One game at a time. I’m just glad that Bama’s in a position to have a shot.
RTR!!!
Well, if any of you have ever watched a Bama game on CSS PPV…you will consider Danielson and Lundquist a blessing.
…at least the CBS announcers have emotions…those PPV guys announce the games like they are reading from a script.
Oh yea, great post by Julio.
HOW BOUT THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!!
HOW BOUT THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!!
HOW BOUT THEM GEOGGIA BULLDOGS!!!!
HOW BOUT THEM GEORIGA BULLDOGS!!!!
HOW BOUT THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!!
HOW BOUT THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!!
Has anybody found Tray Blackmon yet?
Shane, it’s amazing to me how you get these General Robert E. Lee County cockroaches out from under their rock’s.
Some of you with a remote amount of objectivity and intelligence might also remember that Danielson caught some flak back in 2006 for lobbying for Fla to play in the BCS title game ahead of Michigan (that’s a Big 10 team, Shane) at the end of the SEC Champ game. Here’s a little snippet that USA Today ran a few days later regarding Danielson’s remarks:
“CBS’ Gary Danielson, as what he called a ‘sloppy game’ wound down, lobbied ‘you voters out there’ for the Gators to be in the BCS title game: ‘Let’s face it, Michigan is a second-place team!’ ”
Yeah, that sounds like a guy who’s real biased in favor of the Big 10 over the SEC.
You little Aubie’s don’t want to talk about THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS or Tray Blackmon? I don’t blame you.
You little Aubie’s didn’t want to talk about THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS or Tray Blackmon on Tommy Tuberville’s “Tiger Talk Show” last night either.
You little Aubie’s just wanted to talk about how much you Love Tommy Tuberville and what a GREAT job he’s done for the past 10 years!(most were old women that talked). Now Thats The Spirit!!!!
Shane, it’s amazing to me how you get these General Robert E. Lee County cockroaches out from under their rock’s.
AH!!! You’re back!!! I have stopped reading junk comedy on the internet because nothing compares to this.
After reading this and recovering from LMAO I could recommend you purchase a hearing aid. But there are two inherent problems with that suggestion.
1) You couldn’t afford it.
2) Those devices are best used by people that can comprehend basic english.
It is fairly simple why you have exposure on Finebaum…It is pretty easy to see he is using your vast stupidity to get laughs from the audience, and from his guests. Finebaum, Danielson and Herby make in a day what you make in a year. They are PAID for their OPINIONS. They are highly paid for their opinions because unlike you they have EXPERIENCE in sports, and can speak without slobbering down their shirt. Your stupid rants on Finebaum is fodder for laughs over dinner and drinks for Pauly and his crew.
As I read and think about this article, it is inherently obvious after seeing you on TV, (wont be watching any more)you would have to have some serious help conjugating the sentences. So tell me how is you mom? Keep up the good work. We all enjoy it out here…
Oh yeah Roll Tide….
crimsonbrother….are you stupid or something? the subject of this article was Shane’s allegation of bias by Gary Danielson and Kirk Herbstreit. Neither Bama or Auburn fans were talking about Georgia in this thread. Kinda funny to hear you take shots at Auburn fans for commenting on a Bama website and then admitting that you’re listening to little old ladies calling in to Tuberville’s radio show, though. That’s kinda creepy.
julio,
You’re exactly right, shame on me. I need a Country Boy Azz Whopping for even thinking the little Aubie’s could handle more than one subject at a time!
It want happen again, I have learned my lesson.
Shane, it’s amazing to me how you get these General Robert E. Lee County cockroaches out from under their rock’s.
“And thirdly, the crimson tide has not only already started celebrating a victory over Auburn, they have claimed the national championship forgetting about the buzz saw they will experience in Atlanta.”
What on Earth, are you on crack, Barnie? I couldn’t thank you enough for shoving words in my mouth and forcing me to eat them.
You should back-track just a tad, and search through the CapstoneReport archive and you’ll find that YOUR PEOPLE were claiming number 7 BEFORE THE SEASON EVEN STARTED! Don’t single out the entire Alabama fan base because you hear one, 90 year old caller on the Finebaum network claim Alabama’s going to win it all, when 50 other callers say we won’t get past Florida, because we WON’T!
Don’t worry about the Barnies, Shane. If it were NASCAR Sam, they’d be fully supportive of his thoughts on Danielson.
Shane, if you said The Alabama PolyTECHnic Institute was a fantastic institute for higher learning, they’d turn on their beloved school, just because an Alabama fan complimented it.
Don’t take them too seriously, my friend!
“Webster’s dictionary defines credible as deserving confidence. Using that definition as a standard it is difficult to acknowledge that the opinions of “talking heads†like ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and CBS’s Gary Danielson really mean anything more than the average Joe sitting in his lounge chair at home playing analyst.
I realize that most college football fans have limited knowledge of the game, but sometimes the media treats them like they are clueless and gullible.”
I listened to you TRY to embarrass Gary Danielson by pretending that you knew more about football than he, but you embarrassed yourself more. Then you come on here and write about it like you proved your point. The only thing you proved is that you and the people that allow you to write blogs on their website are idiots. The fact is Paul Finebaum let you and some auburn clown write blogs on his site in hopes that you stirred the pot a little more to help with his ratings. Since then you think that you are Clark Kent ,IDIOT by day, journalist by night. Do you really think that you know more about football than the “average Joe”? Man, get a life. Sooner or later these people are gonna see you for what you really are, a goofy little man that has probably never even stepped foot on a football field, and stop posting your babble. Please, Please do us all a favor and keep your day job and stay off the computer.
Cmon people………Who didnt know that ESPN was full of it ?
Thats what I thought……….Youd have to be living under a rock not to know that.
guys stop picking on the barnies… ur gunna make um cry! If i didn’t have anything better to do then look at barner football id be on a bama site too!!!!
Just a side note. Don’t you guys find it hilarious that this time last year Bama was being made fun of because they were prob. going to Shreveport… and this year the cow college isn’t even going to make a bowl. LOLOLOLOL
Just thought id throw that in there. RTR
How much does anyone know about the game?
I think there are multiple fans that know as much about the game as any analyst. Knowledge should not be confused with biased opinions or predictions. It is almost impossible for anyone to look at a game objectively, because we are all fans of a team or a conference. I wish Alabama would win the national championship every year, and the barneys wish they could win just one national championship in their lifetime. Gary Danielson wants someone to beat Alabama. You do not need an unbiased or objective mind to understand his comments are sided against Alabama.
Shane did nothing more than try to make a stand for his beloved Crimson Tide, because Danielson is not a fan of Alabama or the SEC. Did any of you happen to catch his statement of his recruitment by Alabama? I have no knowledge and will not spend the time to look up Danielson’s college career, but this should shed some light for his distain for the Tide. He ran the wishbone, and chose not to play for Coach Bryant. Or was he recruited then overlooked for the hack of a player his record proves? Shane did not embarrass himself or his school. He had a public attempt to take a shot at Danielson, and he took it. Maybe he should have been more tactful, but how tactful has Danielson been? I thank Shane for the attempt.
As for anyone that thinks he posses the knowledge to prove Florida has the better team, please shed some light at how you would come to this conclusion. As a barney, you hope with all hope that BAMA loses to Mississippi State, uburn, and Florida. This will somehow make you feel the season was not a total bust. Why? Because the BAMA nation will not have renewed confidence in why we look down our noses at your ignorance. You will not learn, and this will futher prove our elite statue in college football history.
You should learn one thing from Shane in his latest outburst. He stands for something. He should be heralded as a hero for standing up against a much louder voice. Shane is a true fan, and his emotions and prejudices get in his way. The same as yours.
A prediction for you barneys. Florida wins, but will not cover the spread. You will lose again, and BAMA will win again. Since you know nothing about football, if BAMA loses before we play Florida, we will be sorely disappointed that we are not playing for another national championship. However, we will have built something that will not be stopped in the future. Another prediction for you who know nothing. The attitude of a team matters more than the record. At Tuscaloosa, they are the same. This is a recipe for a national championship. Watch cry and learn. Of course, learning would be something new.
Everyone on the blog: I am an ALABAMA fan. I graduated from there. I was in TTown last night and was stuck on 459 for HOURS!!!! The things written by the author of this blog are so stupid they beg to be ridiculed. These guys that call the games do not give a crap who wins!!!! All they want is perks, pay, and ratings. If we were talking MSNBC and their love affair with Obama, I would be the first in line to agree on bias. The difference is here is that the outcome of an election will have long term effect on millions. The long term significance of a win or loss in any sport will wind up as just a stat in some book, unless you are really stupid and shoot somebody over it!!! I would not however be guilty of saying that the Crimson Tide is insignificant, but I prefer to let things get settled on the field and let the numbers speak for themselves. No matter what the pundits say, it still won’t change the scoreboard. I do enjoy Shane’s idiotic rants though. We all need a good laugh every now and then, and Shane’s vast ignorance provides plenty of them. Seriously… Don’t you feel sorry for his parents, wife and kids? They have to be up close and personal with him!!!! To steal a phrase from Winston Groom and Forrest Gump…. “Stupid is as stupid does”. I wonder if Winston Groom knew Shane when he wrote the book??? While I agree in principle with TideArise’s comments above, I hope Shane continues to write his mindless blabber on this blog.. I NEED A GOOD LAUGH. I love to laugh at stupid people that have fooled themselves into thinking they are geniuses. The bonus here is that not only does Shane write stupid things, he looks stupid too!!!!
Shane: Thanks for the memories… keep up the good (stupid) work! But seriously keep your day job, because this fun won’t last forever..
ROLL TIDE!
P.S. Shane: I never click on your sponsors ads either…….
Heir Saban,
I find it hard to believe that you are actually a graduate of any University. You come across as a whiny little kid with an extreme jealousy complex regarding Shane.
Learn to write a post with paragraph breaks and maybe Cappy will let you have your own blog. Of course, then you would have to actually come up with something interesting to write.
YO, PEOPLE! Its ALWAYS A LOT OF FUN to check this site out! Anyway, CHANGE is something that everybody has to deal with, but its amazing how some things tend to stay the same. The National Media (as a whole) have NEVER been kind to the Crimson Tide. Our team has always had to prove ON THE FIELD that they are worthy of respect. There have been times when the Tide PROVED they were the best (1966) or were as good as anybody else (1977) and still there were those who said, “it ain’t good enough.” Nothing has changed in that circumstance. If we win it all, that will make it ALL THE MORE SWEETER! ROLL TIDE, GUYS! Auburn’s next on the list. Don’t giv’em the pleasure of ruining this season.
Hey Crimsonbrother Lets talk about THEM GEORGIA BULLDOGS…they need to first thank NICK SABAN becuase if he hadnt come to uat Auburn wouldnt be having a bad year and they might have beat uat in their game and then they can thank the REFS for some open handed bullshit calls and then thank POLYTECH becuase we found a way to give them the game sooooooooo STFU rookie and get some new material. CB are you the guy that calls PF’s show and like most uat boys LOVE to say his name it goes HEY PAUL WHATS UP PAUL I LOVE YOU PAUL WADDA YA THINK ABOUT MICK PAUL, you guys do love to call PAULS NAME its hard for some of you with a mouth full of his ass but you still try dont you…again STFU and most folks wont know your stupid as SHANE..
WPB!!!
Shane should be heralded as a hero. That’s classic.
Herbstreit has been quite complimentary of Alabama several times. I don’t see him having any bias there.