My First Awards of 2007

So now that I’ve handed out my awards for 2006, let me hand out my first awards of 2007 for some of this weekend’s programming…

First, let me give the Bonehead Award to Andrea Kremer for almost ruining what should have been the crowning moment of NBC’s inaugural season of “Sunday Night Football.”

NBC passed on showing the Bengals-Steelers game so they could show what might possibly be Brett Favre’s final game. At the end of the game, John Madden said that if Favre was leaving, his eyes would be wet since he would be thinking about everything he was doing for the last time. Al Michaels promised us a closer look when Andrea Kremer interviewed Favre on the field. But when Kremer asked him about the game, there was no need for a close look, as Favre started crying. It was a stunning moment as everyone watching at home knew that this was it. After managing to put some words together, Favre turned to Kremer and said, “I wasn’t planning on doing this. Thanks for putting me on the spot.” To which Kremer replied, “What are your emotions right now?”

The guy was crying! What do you think his emotions were? Kremer has asked a lot of stupid questions throughout the season, but that was absolutely the stupidest. Kudos to Brett Favre for handling it with class by simply saying, “I think you can see”…

And at the risk of picking on NBC, I have to give them the “Why Bother?” Award for both their New Year’s Eve and Tournament of Roses Parade coverage. If you’re going to show a New Year’s Eve special on every one of your networks, shouldn’t it be something worth watching? Carson Daly was so stiff he looked like a smile would make his face crack. And Panic! At the Disco didn’t look like they wanted to be there either…

But the Tournament of Roses Parade was truly pathetic. If you’re going to bother showing the parade (for a football game that’s not even on your network), shouldn’t you make sure your cameras are in a good position and will transmit a quality picture? And Nancy O’Dell was clearly wishing she had stayed in bed. ABC, on the other hand, used the parade to promote their shows by having Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Ricardo Antonio Chavira (“Desperate Housewives”) co-host. Their banter was natural and friendly and the promotion didn’t come off as heavy-handed—even when they interviewed “DH” creator Marc Cherry aboard the Oklahoma float (It’s his home state.)…

And finally, allow me to bestow the Chemistry Award to Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson. I didn’t think that Danielson could get along with anyone as well as he did Brent Musburger, but his friendly chiding of Lundquist was the highlight of the Gator Bowl. However, I’m thinking they might want to tone down their mocking of the network promos. That’s the kind of thing that gets you in trouble…