Rating the FOX announcers for Vikings-Cardinals
Joe Davis, Greg Olsen and sideline reporter Pam Oliver will have the call at noon Sunday on FOX.
Having covered the sports TV-radio beat for the Star Tribune for eight years, I found there was plenty of interest in that side of the business.
We tune into games to watch the action, but the viewing experience either can be enhanced or diminished by those describing what is going on.
Thus, each week I’m providing a brief analysis of who will be in the booth to call the Vikings’ game and whether the assignment is a good or bad one.
Network and broadcast team: Joe Davis and Greg Olsen will have the call at noon Sunday on FOX. Pam Oliver will be the sideline reporter.
Rating the duo: 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Why that rating? After getting CBS and FOX’s fifth NFL broadcast teams in back-to-back weeks, the Vikings will get a significant upgrade on Sunday against the Cardinals.
Joe Davis and Greg Olsen’s, who form FOX’s second team, will call a Vikings game for the first time this year. This is Olsen’s second game this season at U.S. Bank Stadium but he was paired with Adam Amin for Vikings-Lions on Oct. 20 because Davis was calling the MLB playoffs for FOX.
Olsen is one the best in the business and would still be on FOX’s top pairing with Kevin Burkhardt, if the network hadn’t broke the bank to get Tom Brady. Olsen reportedly took a $7 million cut from $10 million to $3 million when he was bumped by Brady.
Olsen, who played 14 seasons in the NFL at tight end, is fantastic at identifying and explaining strategy and nuances that many of us don’t see. The most important thing an analyst can do is make you feel like you’ve learned something and Olsen does that.
Davis, 36, is the lead television play-by-play man for the Dodgers, and also is excellent. Despite their success this season, the Vikings still have not drawn CBS’ top pairing of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo or FOX’s top team of Burkhardt and Brady.