(More like “And It Is Alllll Over!!!”)
You guys might have heard that longtime UFC announcer Mike Goldberg was recently given a shot at calling some plays for the NFL — specifically, the Lions-Vikings game last Sunday. You might also have heard that it did not go well. Following several flubs involving yardage gains, player’s names, and what teams those players were on, the online community lashed out at Goldberg, for they in their infinite wisdom know not what it is to err and treat those who do accordingly. The Lions fan website “Pride of Detroit” was even harsher in its criticism of Goldie:
FOX managed to outdo itself on Sunday with the worst broadcast of a football game I have ever witnessed in my life. The announcers, Mike Goldberg and Brendon Ayanbadejo, had no business calling an NFL game, as evidenced by their constant mistakes. They repeatedly misidentified coaches and players — no, Golden Tate and Sam Martin aren’t on the Vikings — and it felt like they did zero preparation for this game. Actually, it felt like they were reading from an error-filled script and had no prior knowledge of either team. It was painful to listen to them on Sunday.
Things only got worse for the man behind such infamous catchphrases as “The Progidy” and “Diaz smells the opening” from there, as he proceeded to lash out at several of his critics in a less than professional manner via Twitter (which is always a smart move if career longevity is your endgame). As such, NFL officials announced earlier today that Goldberg has been relieved of his scheduled play-by-play duties for this week’s Vikings-Bills game. A statement is expected to be released shortly.
This was pretty much a disaster all around for Goldberg, FOX, and the UFC — a one-and-done stint on par with Rolles Gracie, if you will — and honestly, I kind of feel bad for the guy. While he should never have responded to his critics in the way he did, let’s not act like he was being set up for success here. MMA fans have had it out for Goldberg for some time now and were going to pounce on his every mistake, which makes it all the bigger a shame that he provided so many opportunities for us to do so.
At least Goldberg will always have his regular UFC gig to fall back on, but in the meantime, can we all start rallying for FOX to give Joe Rogan a shot? The five minutes he would last before laying into Roger Goodell, Adrian Peterson, and Ray Rice with the fury of a thousand suns would be glorious I tells ya.