At some point in every broadcast of a Kansas City Chiefs home game — including yesterday’s AFC Championship vs. the Cincinnati Bengals — one of the announcers mentions that Arrowhead Stadium is the loudest venue in the league. Part of the explanation is the architecture of the stadium, but the bigger reason is 75,000 fans in attendance screaming loudly enough to raise the decibel level to over 140. That’s the equivalent of a jet engine on full power. But while none of those Chiefs fans would voluntarily stand next to a jet on the tarmac of any airport, they happily sit amid — and participate in creating — that deafening roar. Yet another reason I’m happy to watch from the relative quiet of my living room.
Which of these is greater: the number of times Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 song “Crazy Train” is played over the public address system of NFL stadiums over the course of a season or the number of times it’s played on terrestrial US radio stations in those six months?
The most used phrase by the guys in the booth during an NFL broadcast has to be, “I sure hope he’s okay.”
I’m a stickler for grammar, which is why I wish someone would explain to Fox’s Greg Olsen that the word is “versus,” not “verse.” Two syllables, Greg.
Lastly, when you watch as many NFL games as I do, it’s inevitable you’ll get sick of seeing the same commercials over and over again. But I always get a kick out of the Verizon spots with Cecily Strong and Paul Giamatti (as Albert Einstein). She was one of the most consistently funny members of the “Saturday Night Live” cast over the last decade, and while she hasn’t found success on the big screen yet, it’s only a matter of time until she finds the right script and director. Meanwhile, good for her for finding a new niche as a commercial spokeswoman.