Fox host defends Al Michaels, Bob Costas from criticism

Al Michaels and Bob Costas were calling sporting events Thursday night and according to Nick Wright, the youth of today was too ignorant to enjoy it.

Two legends, one night. It’s not the slogan for a concert tour, it’s Al Michaels and Bob Costas serving as the soundtrack for sports fans on a Thursday night. And Nick Wright can’t seem to fathom why young people aren’t lining up to watch.

“Last week I turned 40,” Wright ranted Thursday afternoon on First Things First . “And I did sense an immediate shift which is, young people started to irritate me more than they used to. So I am putting wannabe sports media critics under duress. Wannabe ombudsmen, young unseasoned ombudsmen.”

Specifically, those wannabe sports media critics and ombudsmen who were destined to spend their Thursday nights tweeting, posting, Xing, or whatever you kids call it, about how bad Michaels and Costas are at calling sporting events. Michaels was on the call for Thursday Night Football while Costas was simultaneously behind the mic for Game 4 of the ALDS. Five years ago, that would have almost universally been lauded as a luxury. But in recent years, Michaels and Costas have drawn the ire of social media.

“About five hours from now, you know what you’re going to see if you check Twitter…a bunch of 20-something-year-olds saying how much these guys stink!” Wright ranted. “Saying, ‘I don’t like this guy…I don’t like that guy…why doesn’t he call the game this way?’

“It’s Costas and Michaels YOU SPOILED BRATS! One of them called the Miracle on Ice! The other one called Michael Jordan’s final game with the Bulls! Between them they’ve called 25 Olympics! They’re in their 70s, they’re spending their Thursday nights calling a divisional game and a Thursday Night Football game. And all these kids are complaining…SHUT UP…Enjoy it! You’re watching legends at the end of their run. Or just delete your Twitter account.”

This is what sports fans do. They deem an athlete over the hill and seek to send them packing. The minute an MVP candidate is no longer capable of winning an MVP, fans start wondering why they haven’t retired yet. And once fans start to pile on that bandwagon, it’s hard to stop the snowball effect. Michaels and Costas aren’t getting the play-by-play reps that they did 25 years ago, it would be silly to think they’re in the primes of their careers. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for them to call sporting events on a Thursday night in October.

[ First Things First ]

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