When Micah Richards doesn’t smile, you know you’re in trouble.
It was tough to watch as Jamie Carragher took digs at Kate Abdo, hurled verbal grenades and seemed to jokingly suggest she wasn’t committed to co-star Malik Scott.
If you were at CBS Sports Golazo’s coverage of Arsenal’s Champions League match against Porto, you’d immediately recall the awkward scene. You might have messed up your face, you might have covered your eyes, you might have put your T-shirt over your head, Fabrizio Ravanelli style.
Even if you don’t live in the United States or watch CBS’ Champions League coverage, there’s a chance that this clip is on your social media timeline – which is often the case with CBS’ jokey clips.
If you’re unfamiliar with CBS, host Abdo and guests Carragher, Richards and Thierry Henry helped revolutionize football coverage in the United States. Their combination of analysis and verbal jousting is excellent and well worth watching. Their chemistry is undeniable and infectious.
CBS took advantage of this, cutting out the funniest moments and posting them to social media. If you live in the UK and still harbor an addictive tendency to scroll through Twitter, you’ll probably be familiar with comedy rather than analysis, especially hilarious presentations that follow the formula of exaggerating Henry and Carragher’s achievements and then owning them. Ironically, Richards lacked trophies during his career (despite winning the Premier League title).
Henry would raise his eyebrows and purse his lips, Carragher would let out an overly loud exclamation, and Richards would yell something like “Kate went to find Big Mix”.
Regardless, it’s all in good fun.
On this particular occasion, however, Carragher’s full-throttle chatter was not tweeted by CBS. It didn’t even appear on YouTube TV’s “Our Best Stories” 10-minute YouTube compilation because it was embarrassing.
Carragher stood out from the crowd wearing an Arsenal top and suggested Henry and Abdo wear it next.
“I’m very loyal,” she said. “To whom?” Carragher asked. “Manchester United, thank you very much,” Abdo replied.
“Not for Malik,” Carragher said. Oh my God. Richards would always comment silently staring at his shoes. Henry turned and looked at Carragher. Abdo seemed shocked: “What…how could you say that?”
Carragher laughed nervously and growled that Malik’s name had not yet been mentioned in the program. It’s extremely cringe-worthy, only lacking Gary Neville’s groans of disapproval.
Jousting is nothing new, it’s a key part of the show, but is it okay? is it acceptable? Even if it’s a joke, is this what we want from broadcasters?
Or is this just a completely unavoidable moment of crossing the line when gifts and pundits seem to be encouraged to create “joke clips” that will go viral on social media?
“The format of our show is very relaxed,” Carragher previously said Competitor. “I was really determined to make good television. Kate can push, and some people want to be pushed.
“There are some people I can’t say certain things to them. That’s why we have this relationship, we feel like we can do anything with impunity. Everyone knows they’re fair game and if you keep yourself open, You just have to look forward to what’s coming.”
If they like to frame the show that way – providing locker room quips for a mainstream football audience – and people like to watch it, then what’s the problem?
Well, clearly a line was crossed in this case, and to be fair, Abdo & Co cleverly addressed the issue during the second night’s show.
another popular @ Kate_Abdo Introduction 🥲❤️ pic.twitter.com/SeyhgMfeGU
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 13, 2024
Abdo said she already has three brothers in the three-and-a-half years the group has worked together, calling Carragher a flippant and an annoying dick who would say anything to get attention. You may go too far, but you will always apologize. . well-done.
Competitor CBS has also been contacted for comment.
When football game lawmakers consider shortening football matches because people don’t have the attention span to watch 90 minutes, you can totally understand why broadcasters feel the need to produce shorter segments and light entertainment to attract viewers instead Over an hour of solid pre-match interviews and predictions.
It feels like we’re in the second era of football jokes. The first show largely ended in 2011, when Richard Keys’ prehistoric joke completely fell apart (“Keys” even had the temerity to shout Big on social media this week called, condemning Carragher and the show as “going too far”). Parli”).
Around this time, Neville joined Sky and heralded the era of smart, analytical thinking with Monday Night Football’s in-depth coverage, expected goals and everything that went with it.
There’s still room if But while everyone is looking at the new status quo of a post-key/grey world, it’s generally weak.
Charlie Nicholas tried it: “Well, maybe you should go too, Jeff, because you couldn’t see the drive home that night because you didn’t even wear your glasses on TV in case you got knocked out, so you Just go ahead and send it to Specsavers and I’ll make the game.” Exactly.
Now we enter Banter 2.0. Football coverage in the age of social media; a controversial comment or a witty quip can quickly be edited into 20 seconds and retweeted by thousands. This era has seen us see Roy Keane telling people to do their jobs, Alan Shearer not winning the FA Cup and big man Mikes popping up. Even Neville has embraced the soundbite era. He sang Chelsea songs before the League Cup final because he didn’t like Liverpool.
Social reflection in 2024? A good show with a bad moment? Or should we strive for better results from our football coverage?
As Abdo said in a clip responding to Carragher’s comments – which have been viewed more than 13.7 million times – “Here we go again, another day, another gig.” The banter continues.
(Above: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
