Bermanesque, indeed

By Tom Hoffarth on September 6, 2006 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) |

espy%20chris%20berman.jpg A press release issued today by ESPN about its upcoming NFL coverage decided to focus on Chris Berman.
It couldn't have been written any more complimentary of him unless he wrote it himself.
Did he?
You gotta wonder after stomaching this after just the first few sentences:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2006

ESPN’S BERMAN: NFL SUNDAYS NOW A TWO-DAY AFFAIR FOR DEAN OF NFL HOSTS

For 19 years, Chris Berman had his fall routine down pat. On Fridays, he taped “The Swami�? – the SportsCenter segment featuring his NFL prognosticating alter ego which dates back to 1979. Saturdays meant meetings, and phone calls to NFL insiders – players, coaches, GMs and owners. And Sundays were a marathon. He arrived at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., campus, not long after dawn and hosted Sunday NFL Countdown in the morning, NFL PrimeTime in the evening, and “The Fastest Three-Minutes in Television�? halftime highlights during Sunday Night Football. Then maybe some time on ESPN Radio and he didn’t get back home until around midnight.

Now, all that’s changed.

Changed for the better? You read on and decide ...

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON ESPN: A BRAVE NEW WORLD

Oh, the “Swami�? will return and Sunday NFL Countdown will be in its familiar 11 a.m. ET – 1 p.m. slot. For a 21st year, Berman will host the multi-Emmy Award-winning show, which is unique on television for getting fans ready for all the day’s games. He holds the record for longest stint as an NFL pregame host, previously 15 years by Brent Musburger. He will be joined by analysts Michael Irvin, Tom Jackson, Ron Jaworski and Mike Ditka and reporter Chris Mortensen.

But with Monday Night Football – the most-storied franchise in the history of sports television – moving to ESPN, the rest of Berman’s Sunday/Monday routine will be all new.

His Sunday night NFL highlights, made famous during 19 seasons on NFL PrimeTime and featuring Berman’s trademark rapid-fire staccato delivery punctuated by his signature catchphrases (“he could go all the way,�? “rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’�? and more) will move to NFL Blitz during the 11 p.m. SportsCenter where he will team with Jackson for a 20th year.

Then, rather than going home, he will head to the airport. A late-Sunday flight will take him to the site of ESPN’s Monday Night Football contest. As part of ESPN’s multi-media all-day immersive presentation of the sport’s weekly marquee matchup, Berman will host Monday Night Countdown. The 90-minute show will be aired live from the stadium at 7 p.m. with Irvin, Jackson, Steve Young and Mortensen, leading into the game telecast at 8:30 p.m. The show is coming off its best season, averaging the most viewers in its 13-year history. He then will host MNF’s halftime segment, a role he filled for ABC from 1996-99.

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HIGHLIGHTS REMAIN THE FOCUS ON MONDAY NIGHT HALFTIMES

Highlights have always been the focus on Monday Night Football, originally made popular by Howard Cosell’s unique stylings. On ESPN, the first segment of halftime will feature Berman’s “The Fastest Three-Minutes in Television,�? a tradition on Sunday Night Football the last 19 seasons. Stuart Scott will deliver a SportsCenter update in the second segment, with the latest in sports news and highlights. On ESPN’s opening Monday, September 11, the third segment will focus on the terror attacks exactly five years ago and how the NFL responded, suspending play for one week before returning to action.

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THE ROLE FITS, THE PASSION SHOWS

ESPN is approaching Monday Night Football as a Super Bowl every week, and that will be perfectly fine for Berman, a veteran of 24 Super Bowls and a three-time host of the game telecast on ABC. For two decades, he also has hosted ESPN’s NFL Draft telecast and has served as the emcee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony for close to 10 years.

The top assignments have been followed by his profession’s highest accolades. Six times named National Sportscaster of the Year by his peers (and in 1989 the first winner from a cable network), Berman and his shows have won nine Emmy Awards and 12 CableACEs.

For all he has done, it is the NFL – or as he would in say in his inimitable style, “the Na-tion-al Foot-ball League�? – where his presence has been most strongly felt, and enjoyed, by fans. Quite simply, ESPN’s Chris Berman is the face of the NFL for a generation of sports fans. He shares their passion for the game and freely expresses it through his work ethic, commitment and delivery. From his days of sitting in the upper deck at Shea Stadium with his dad and brother watching Joe Namath and the Jets in the old AFL days in the 1960s through his first taste of working NFL telecasts – as a freelance “runner�? for NBC’s Curt Gowdy and Jim Simpson at old Foxboro Stadium while an undergrad at nearby Brown University – to the sport’s summit, his genuine love for football, respect for its past and optimism for its future remain pure. The only change for the 2006 campaign is now there will be two days each NFL weekend to enjoy it.

-30-

Editor's note:
Tuesday, Berman was inducted into the inaugural Deadspin.com Hall of Fame for ... well, you gotta go to the site and check it out for yourself...
We'll just leave you with this plaque they've created for him.