I have been doing this column for five-plus years, and no subject has generated more reaction than the continuing dissection of Hub Arkush.
Dan Bernstein labeled Arkush an “arrogant sycophant” last week on the “Everything Is Stupid Show” on WSCR-AM 670.
Much of that perception owes to Arkush’s often coddling of the coaches on the weekly shows, dating to Mike Ditka. But to be fair to Arkush, you could find plenty of examples of WSCR personalities blowing kisses to many of their interview subjects.
Many of the criticisms of Arkush, though, don’t take into account how he handles a game broadcast. So I decided to listen to what the “arrogant sycophant” had to say during Sunday’s game on WBBM-AM 780.
First, you notice that Tom Thayer has developed into an excellent analyst, providing a real education in football.
But this is about Arkush. Before the game, he noted the Bears made a big mistake by letting safety Tony Parrish go to San Francisco.
Once the game began, Arkush immediately questioned offensive coordinator John Shoop’s play selection. “Frankly, I don’t get the call,” he said.
Later, frustrated again, Arkush said: “This is not the way to beat the New England Patriots. Run on first down.”
Besides commenting on the game, Arkush’s other main purpose is to do those endless and annoying in-game commercials. WBBM obviously has to pay the bills to recoup a big rights fee, but it gets ridiculous. Such as when Chris Chandler was injured on the field, Arkush sneaked in an ad for pork.
Once freed from doing the ads, Arkush noted the disappointment of the Bears only being tied at halftime despite outplaying the Patriots. When the second half began, he talked of the struggles of Bears punter Brad Maynard.
When Tom Brady fumbled, Arkush yelled his trademark, “Ball, ball!” It wouldn’t be a Bears broadcast without it.
Later, when Dez White dropped an easy pass, Arkush said: “In his third season, there are no more excuses. He’s got to catch that ball.”
When the Patriots scored on a screen to Kevin Faulk, Arkush said it was “a questionable call” by defensive coordinator Greg Blache to go with the blitz. Then when sore-armed Jim Miller threw an interception, Arkush came down again, saying, “Why would you call the play?”
Again late in the fourth quarter, he got on Maynard for a “terrible punt” during crunch time. When Brady surged for a big first down, Arkush said, “How do you let them get a sneak from fourth-and-[3]?”
Both Arkush and Thayer ripped the officials for their questionable calls at the end. But ultimately, Arkush said: “I’m also very disappointed in the offense for failing to put the game away. . . . They failed to convert on the key first down.”
Do all those comments sound like a house man, as Arkush is often portrayed? He obviously is pulling for the Bears, but he wasn’t sugarcoating Sunday.
Now, it isn’t fashionable to defend Arkush these days.
Yes, Arkush didn’t do a good job of handling the “coward” remark that sparked all the controversy on coach Dick Jauron’s show. And he probably shouldn’t rephrase many of the questions, although some of them need to be whittled down to make them coherent.
Yet Arkush’s critics should listen closely to how he calls the game if they want the complete story. But then, some people aren’t interested in the complete story.
Anniversary: “Monday Night Football” reaches a milestone. Monday’s Oakland-Denver game will be the 500th in the series. To commemorate the occasion, Al Michaels and John Madden will wear ABC’s trademark yellow blazers.
ABC is highlighting the event by asking viewers to pick the best Monday night game of all time. Included in the list of five finalists is the Bears-Miami game in 1985.
That matchup should go down as the most anticipated Monday game, but it was far from the best. Miami blitzed the 12-0 Bears, running up a 31-10 lead before winning 38-24.
The most memorable ABC game didn’t even happen on Monday night. Rather, it was a Thursday night Bears-Minnesota game, also in 1985. With the Bears trailing 17-9, Jim McMahon came off the bench to rally them to a 33-24 victory.
