The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 293

INY G1VEM SUMDAf EVERYBODY'S AU-AHEWCAIt Ltrq "SHl season of me ongjMl AR laarm Dongs to wtf LSIft SSI Trophy wmer i star me Af s-yed pa seasors ornat At NT Lf'S LOfcsrnworr SOI Xfr Rniilio tafMMari0 Rwjne Harrror 'tftg Barter sAftcd tot" a stjdra to a M--Com0rTtl nq vVjuO the Strmgtto QuStK)r mjni FOX What new: in its most sgnncant roster changes since acquiring trie NFL '994 Feu drooped analysts Brian Baidrngef Pearson and 'ony Boseii and replaced them wtth it Ovaries Davis Trent Green and John Lynch Play-by-play amours er Matt Vasgersian left January to join MLB Network Pregnant weathercaster Jan Reynolds will not appear or the pregame show this yea' Dot iti my ted back 2010 Announcing teams: joe Buck-Troy Aman Kenny Aioert-Oaryi Johnston-Tony Siragusa Dick Stockton-Davis Sam Rosen-Tim Ryan Ron P-rts -Lynch Thorn Brennaman-Bnan Billtck Chris Myers-Green Strengths: The studio show remains the ratings leade' because of Howie Long Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson Question mark: Wit) Fox's game-announoog depth which has never measured up to CBS' improve with the additions5 Davis earned a snot after strong performances on college bowl games Green highly articulate has strong potential CBS What's new: Dan Fouts replaces Randy Coss as Dick Enberg's partner on what essentially is the No 3 team Cross was demoted to the No 7 Fill OTOS RENEGADES: Top from left in front row owners Robert Howsam (Denver) Max Winter (Minnesota) Lamar Hunt (DallasKansas City) and Bud Adams (Houston) and from left in the back row Barron Hilton (San Diego) Ralph Wilson (Buffalo) and Harry Wismer (New York) formed the AFL in 1959 Above Bills coach Lou Saban left and his players celebrate winning the 1964 AFL title team where he will share analyst assignments Our sports broadcasting guru Barry Jackson has the scoop on what's going on this season Forme first time 31 years an NFl season will begin without John Madder shouting "Boom through your television set And for the first time in four years Tony Kornheiser won't be wise-cracking on Monday Night Football Rounding up the four rights-holders as we begin a season of transition on the broadcast front: OUT JOHN MADDEN AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY Throughout the season the NFL will celebrate the impact on pro football made by an upstart league that it waged war with in the 1960s with Steve Beuerlein Kevin HaIan and lan Eagle flip-flopped partners with Harlan getting Solomon Wilcots and Eagle now teamed with Rich Gannon Other announcing teams: Nantz-Phil SitWW: Greg Gumbel-Dan Dterdorf Gus Johnson-Steve Tasker Bill Macatee or Don Criqui with Cross or Beuerlem Strengths: Strong depth among game announcers led by Simms and Dierdorf Gannon fourth or fifth on CBS' depth chart is every bit as insightful as Fox's No 2 analyst Daryl Johnston The James Brown-anchored studio show has continued to improve with Bill Cowher displaying surprising candor at times Question mark: Will Fouts justify his elevation to the No 3 team7 He can be sleep-inducing at times but showed more of a personality in recent years Cross' demotion was mildly surprising ESPN tw What's new ruden replaces Kornheiser gt alongside Mike Tinco and Ron Jaworski in the mmitt Smith on pregame and postgame programming for the Monday night game Strengths: An already-strong stable of reporters was bolstered by the acquisition of Adam Schefter who left NFL Network Tirico and Jaworski should be long-term fixtures on MNF Question mark: Will Gruden who was extremely diplomatic and complementary of players on NFL Network's draft coverage be willing to criticize knowing he likely will return to coaching' NFL NETWORK OUT: BRIAN BALDINGER I II OUT: RANDY CROSS 41 What's new: Matt Millen replaces Cris Collinsworth on the eight-game Thursday night schedule NBC did not want Collinsworth to continue because he's now doing games for NBC )NY KORNHEISER 1 Strengths: Bob Papa was a major upgrade over Bryant Gumbel on play-by-play last season though that doesn't say much The analysts on the studio show especially Deion Sanders and Warren Sapp kept the postgame show lively Question mark: Will Millen lose credibility with viewers after his awful tenure running the Detroit Lions' front office? The view here: Millen was a very good analyst with Fox and the Detroit debacle shouldn't tarnish his ability to call games IN: MATT MILLEN OUT: CRIS COLLINSWORTH BY DAVID NEAL dneal a MiamiHer aid corn When the NFL kept refusing to give Lamar Hunt a franchise for Dallas Hunt did what any ridiculously rich 26-year-old son of a Hunt would do: Start his own league give himself a team and launch the modern era of professional sports Throughout this season the NFL will celebrate the 50th season of the eight original franchises of the American Football League which the NFL feuded with so furiously in the 1960s Here's a snapshot of why: Today there are regular Sunday night games and a Super Bowl with television cameras and microphones recording every word of the coin toss Among the captains who have their names on their jersey backs might be quarterbacks and middle linebackers who aren't white During the game one of the teams might use a two-point conversion Both teams might throw the ball more than run it Everyone will be able see the official time on the scoreboard And the Titans play the Texans twice a year That's the modern NFL That's the old AFL OK the AFL didn't have a Super Bowl but neither did the NFL The Super Bowl began as The AFL-NFL World Championship Game after team executives in each league negotiated an end to a costly financial war But the less cumbersome name came from the AFL Hunt saw his daughter playing with her Super Ball and the game had a better handle After four Super Bowls the count stood 2-2 between the leagues and you could debate which one was better But after 10 years of the AFL and some of the advancements it fostered no debate remained about pro football's No 1 status astride American sports And to think the owners of the eight original AFL franchises the Kansas City Chiefs (formerly Dallas Texans) Oakland Raiders Denver Broncos Buffalo Bills New York Jets (formerly Titans) the San Diego (once Los Angeles) Chargers once-Boston-now-New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans 1 (formerly Houston Oilers) called themselves "The Foolish Club" The AFL added the Dolphins in 1966 and the Bengals in 1968 It's appropriate that this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions opened with Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson a Foolish Club member And that the Hall of Fame Game featured Buffalo against Tennessee still owned by Foolish Club member Bud Adams Hunt who knew Adams as a fellow rich kid owned the Chiefs until his death in 2006 "It started 50 years ago Two of the original owners Bud Adams and Ralph Wilson are still living" said Al Michaels the play-by-play voice of NBC's Sunday Night Football "Denver was owned by Bob Howsam who went on to be the architect of The Big Red Machine in Cincinnati Barron Hilton the original owner of San Diego is now best known as Paris Hilton's grandfather" By the way Wilson wanted his AFL franchise to be in Miami where he had a winter home Hunt and Wilson even agreed on a Miami franchise "And we both went down to talk to the city fathers to see if we could lease the Orange Bowl" Wilson said at his induction "It was the only place to play football in those days The city fathers would not let a new league lease the Orange Bowl because they had a bad time with another league that came before us" That league was the All-America Football Conference of the 1940s Ironically Wilson's AFL franchise ended up in Buffalo and resurrected the name of the city's AAFC franchise Adams swiped 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon from under the NFL's nose Meanwhile the league negotiated a five-year deal with ABC to televise the AFL's regular-season and playoff games The NFL had a deal for its championship game but teams still had to go for themselves during the regular season The NFL had been smacked in the lips before the upstarts had played a game And when those games began the AFL created the impression of a more wide-open style of play "I went to all the Chargers games that year I960" Michaels said "You knew they weren't as good as the NFL but it was fun" Before 1978 brought the 16-game season and downfield-contact rules change AFL players owned all or part of the season records for receptions passing yards receiving yards touchdown passes and touchdown receptions The first player with AFL roots in the Hall of Fame was a wide receiver San Diego's Lance Alworth Over its 10-season life the AFL engendered tremendous loyalty from fans former players and coaches Davis still insists the AFL won the war with the NFL A website remembertheaflcom still toots the league's horn and links to articles on the AFL It's run by retired professor and US Army civil engineer Angelo Coniglio who keeps those on his large mailing list updated on AFL alumni John Madden whose pro football life began as an Oakland assistant head coach in 1967 always has said that when he saw Hunt he would say "Thank you" GEAR UP FOR THE BIG GAME WITH THE MIAMI HERALD! The Big Game is coming to South Florida on February 7 2010 Plan your strategy and score with our multi-media opportunities' he HIiami Herald £Tk For more information contact Miami Herald Event Marketing at 305-S76-2110 or em nl -r miimihpraldcom.