NBC hired Mike Tirico away from ESPN to do Thursday Night Football. According to the NY Daily News, the NFL is insisting NBC's "A" team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth do the games, and that is exactly what will happen this fall.
Tirico is adequate. I always thought his voice was rather thin. I grew up with the deeper richer voices of Ray Scott, Pat Summerall, Jack Buck, Verne Lundquist, Curt Gowdy, Jim Simpson, Charlie Jones, etc.
Here's my point. It appears Michaels and Collinsworth didn't want the extra workload. Is calling two football games a week really "work?"
I know there's a lot of preparation and effort involved. Travel in this post 9/11 world isn't easy. But, for a few million a year, I'll work an extra day, even if it means going from one end of the country to the other, and I'm sure Michaels and Collinsworth aren't flying tourist class.
The bottom line is that you're sitting in a booth, at a stadium calling a GAME. You're not up there tarring the roof.
