COMMENTARY : Musburger Was Just on the Air Too Much

I don’t think this many people have been happy about a guy losing a job since Richard Nixon resigned.

This week’s news of CBS’ decision to end contract negotiations with Brent Musburger, making Monday’s National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball title game his final assignment for the network, didn’t seem to put the crimp in anyone’s day. In fact, judging by some of the smiles in this office, it made several people’s days.

What was it about Musburger that engendered such antipathy? He doesn’t project the noxious personality that Howard Cosell sometimes could. He doesn’t fill air time with the inanities of Gary Bender.

No, Musburger is a master in the studio setting, a highly efficient conduit of information. So what is there not to like about a conduit?

But he was more than that -- which is part of the problem. Musburger the play-by-play man is not nearly so masterful. Certainly competent, Musburger too easily gets carried away. Every game is not Armageddon. In fact, every game is not necessarily the day’s biggest game.

That may have been the biggest worry baseball fans had about the prospect of Musburger as major-league announcer -- that he would Brent his spleen too much on the air, disturbing the pastoral pastime.

The larger part of The Musburger Problem, however, was his constant presence. Week after week, game after game, there was Brent. Any of his faults thus became magnified.

Consider two other criticisms of Musburger: his image as a shrill shill and his overuse of the first person singular. A typical Musburger introduction, so the criticism goes, would be something like this:

“You are looking live, on CBS, at Anaheim Stadium, where, just moments from now, on CBS, the Los Angeles Rams, coming off a big win against the Atlanta Falcons, will meet Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears, on CBS. Mike told me a few minutes ago that his team is ready to go. I asked the Rams’ John Robinson about that, and he told me, ‘Brent, so is my team.’ I just got off the phone with God, and He told me that we should have great weather for today’s game, on CBS.”

Hyperbole aside, how unusual is it for a television announcer to promote his network’s offerings? And is Musburger the only man with a microphone ever to trumpet himself in reporting quotes?

It all goes back to being on the air so much. (Of course, for $1.75 million a year, he should have been on a lot.) As the song goes, little things mean a lot -- even when they shouldn’t. Last fall, after Musburger took to wearing glasses during “The NFL Today,” a CBS Sports publicist answered a call by saying she hoped I wasn’t calling about Brent’s glasses. Apparently, she had fielded more than a few calls from the press about the spectacles spectacle.

In the end, Musburger was let go because he apparently wanted to be before the camera more than CBS wanted. In essence, he lost his job because he wanted to work too much (try that one out on your boss). CBS wants to showcase Jim Nantz, Greg Gumbel and James Brown. Spread those assignments around. That way, nobody can get too annoyed about how Nantz combs his hair.

Where will Musburger end up? There are lots of rumors, the best of which may be the one that places him with Turner Broadcasting. Sure, it’s cable, but Turner has a good number of major-league properties -- the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Atlanta Braves, Goodwill Games.

There are a few other things going on at CBS, such at this weekend’s Masters golf tournament. Remember, this is the golf tournament with hardly any commercials.

If you like ESPN’s whip-around NCAA basketball tournament coverage, you’ll love the way it’s planning to cover baseball. The cable network’s 171-game, regular-season schedule really will involve about 300 games because of regional coverage.