06/17/2002

Question: If someone handed a red card to Jack Edwards this morning, what would ESPN's voice of soccer's World Cup do with it?

Best educated guess: Pull out a paint by the numbers set and add a patch of blue and white stripes and 50 stars.

Exhibit I: The U.S. team has won two games at the World Cup. After a 3-2 upset over Portugal, Edwards offered up this testimony at the final whistle:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory!"

Exhibit II: After the Americans' 2-0 upset of Mexico in the Sweet 16 that allows the U.S. Team to advance to a quarterfinal match against Germany, Edwards had this to say:

"The land of the free, the home of the brave is into the round of eight!"

I'm guessing Edwards was standing when he said it. Hopefully, his right hand was resting over his heart.

And this after the ESPN brass had warned its on-air World Cup talent to leave its red, white and blue pompoms at home while packing for Korea and Japan.

"This is the World Cup and U.S. Soccer is wrapped up in the flag," said Bill Graff, coordinating producer of World Cup coverage for the worldwide leader in sports programming. "This was a monumental victory for U.S. Soccer.

"But to say that Jack got a little emotional is fair." said Graff who spoke to Edwards in the wake of his "Battle Hymn" call.

It's not that Edwards got emotional that bothers me. It's not even that he has opted to ignore the good advice of his bosses in Bristol and to lay it on a little thick when it comes to the home team.

The problem with Edwards' game-ending calls is the same problem afflicting all sports broadcasters.

Every broadcaster is trying for a piece of Al Michaels' "Do you believe in miracles" American pie. They are all hoping for the perfect sound bite. A picture used to be worth 1,000 words. Today, pictures are just a means to too many broadcasters' search for immortality.

To make the perfect call of the memorable moment, a broadcaster has to choose the right words and say them with the proper vocal excitement. It's a delicate balance that's tough to achieve.

Let's face it: Going into the World Cup, most viewers couldn't pick Jack Edwards out of an ESPN lineup. This is his shot.

"I think everybody in broadcasting is looking for their niche," Graff said. "That includes announcers, producers and networks. Everyone is looking to put their mark on the landscape."

And so, the litter will continue to pile up.

It should come as no surprise that Sunday's final round of Tiger Woods' U.S. Open victory produced record ratings for NBC.

The 9.3 overnight rating from major markets across the country was the best for a U.S. Open since Nielsen started tracking overnights in 1975.

Woods' march to victory produced a 33 percent overnight improvement over last year's Open won by Retief Goosen (7.0). It was also 6 percent better than the Woods' 2000 Open victory at Pebble Beach (8.8), the old record holder.