NFL Week 16: Gus Johnson

This week's announcer in focus: Gus Johnson!

Boy, I think the NFL really needs to get Gus Johnson back into the fold. How do we convince FOX that Gus should be freed from NCAA duties and thrown back into doing the NFL for Fox full time? I mean, have you listened to Kenny Albert? I have...he's awful. Kenny can't even tell you the correct down or distance half the time. Gus is 10x better than that.

Anyway - some history on Gus; he grew up in Detroit as a three-star athlete for his high school; he ended up going to Howard University in DC with a political science degree - but then quickly went into broadcasting.

His first listed job was being the host for Black College Sports Today on ESPN in 1991 - and during the early 90s, he moved around a few times in the south before ending up on Channel 5 in Washington for the weekend sports anchor gig. In 94, he started doing some play by play for the Knicks on both radio and TV. CBS signed him in 1995.

The next year, in 1996, some absolutely genius at CBS heard Gus and said "you know what? You would be great to represent the passion and energy of the NCAA tournament. Why don't you become our play by play announcer for our #8 team?". And there started the legend of Gus Johnson.

His first session broadcasting the NCAA - I remember this so clearly - was the Friday session for the 1st and 2nd round games in Indianapolis. The last game of the day was defending champion UCLA against Princeton in a 4-13 game. Any fan of the tournament over 40 years old can recite the score of that game....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYd9Tqiy-z8

That was his first year! Wow. Where do you go from there? Well, only to be the voice of some of the most dramatic moments of the early rounds of the tournament. Nantz and Packer can have their stay in Charlotte for the Duke/UNC invitational every year in round 1 and 2; let's get real announcers to Dayton/Boise/Oklahoma City/Worcester for real action and drama.

Because I love to waste your time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFNFHsNo3w   (This will gave Mike A pains)

The Gonzaga run fueled by Gus, with Wiz's favorite Dan Bonner on the color:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8AgrNKtwQ
The slipper still fits!

This collapse, which Layup heard the screaming from the sportsbook in his room 7 floors up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICZv1wh53c
(start at the 3:30 mark if you want)

And then of course, this game....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4

Here's the best of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B08Km6sV3pk&t=5s

Ugh, where do I go from there? He was at CBS until 2011, where there was a contract dispute and as a result, he left CBS for FOX. At FOX, they tried to make him a soccer announcer. Does it work?  I will have to defer to the soccer fans that read this blog...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5e8xRkT1g

Yes, he does some NCAA football games and basketball on FS1, but it's just not the same. It's not.
Hey CBS - if you are able to get Raftery freed up from Fox to do NCAA tournament games, you can do the same for Gus. Cmon. We don't need Spero doing a 5-12 game in March. Can you imagine if Gus did the Purdue - Little Rock game last year?

So Gus has about 10-15 years of NFL games under his belt for CBS; surprisingly, there's little footage of him doing Browns game. The two memorable ones: First, a very important game in 2007 (the magical season) when the Browns were at home playing the Bills in a blizzard. All I can find are the local calls for this game, but this was a very important 8-0 win for the Browns to keep their hopes alive. Gus Johnson was on the national call that I watched with Layup in a bar in LA.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lV2ZzY_ph0&t=35s

But the main legacy of Gus for Cleveland was a 2001 game vs. Jacksonville. Do I have to go through the details here? Third year back for the Browns, we were 7-7, driving for the winning touchdown..... we complete a 4th down pass, then spike the ball on 1st down....and then Terry McAulay decides to review the 4th down pass.....pandemonium ensues.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-teMkx2vgA&list=PL393z5zOOKHQ1tw-o0LYKMAH6VwYfuCM-

I still hate McAulay.

On to the games this week:

Car 27, TB 13. Carolina is still motivated and the Bucs' Super Bowl was last week, Monday night at home. Can't see the effort from Tampa here, amid reports of issues in the locker room.

Det 31, Cin 24.  How can you trust the Bengals? I think both teams throw the playbook out and heave the ball downfield hoping for PI penalties.

KC 27, Mia 16. Not thinking that Cutler can keep this one that close on the road against a KC team that is slowly getting better.

NE 27, Buf 17. How hard do the Patriots want to play? Buffalo just doesn't have the weapons to keep up.

NO 30, Atl 17. The Saints are still pissed after losing that Thursday night game 2 weeks ago; they shot themselves in the foot, mostly. The Saints run game will have a field day.

LAC 23, NYJ 20. I think the Jets have one more full-effort game in them, against a team that I'm not convinced is well coached.

LAR 24, Ten 23. The Rams run D is average, at best, and the Titans will take advantage. However, the Titans pass D is horrific - and Goff should find all sorts of open receivers.

Was 23, Den 16. Let's stop crowing about the Broncos. They beat the Jets at home (without McCown) and the Colts. Was still has a good D.

Jax 23, SF 16. I don't think Jimmy G has seen a pass D like Jacksonville just yet. Let's calm down a bit before we anoint Garrapolo.

Az 27, NYG 17. Like TB above, the Giants had their Super Bowl for 2 weeks at home vs. Dallas and Philly. Now on the road? Against a good Arizona D? How do they score?

Dal 27, Sea 24. Seems obvious for the Cowboys here - but it's Dallas. You never lay points with the Cowboys.

Pit 24, Hou 23. Pit, on the road, against an inferior opponent. Haven't we seen this movie several times this year?

Phi 27, Oak 10. The Eagles still need to play hard to get Foles confidence - and the D needs to put on a good performance. And, again, the Raiders' Super Bowl was last week vs. Dallas.

Best bets this week: 15 of them. Last week: 10-3-2; overall: 115-87-6

Car -10
TB/Car under 46.5

Det -3

Det/Cin over 44.5

NO -5.5

Atl/NO under 52.5

NYJ +6.5

Ten +6

Was -3

Jax -4

Az -3

NYG/Az over 39

Hou +9

Phi -9

Oak/Phi under 47

Supercontest picks: Last week: 3-1-1; overall: 47-25-3

Car -10

NO -5.5

Az -3.5

Hou +9

Phi -8.5