NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer decided on the idea to boost what would otherwise have been weak ratings. To replace the announcers, the network used more on-screen graphics than usual and asked the public address announcer to impart more information than he typically did. Efforts to use more sensitive microphones and pick up more sound from the field, however, did not succeed. No network broadcasting any major U.S. professional team sport has ever tried it again, except through alternate feeds of games offered with announcers.
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NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer decided on the idea to boost what would otherwise have been weak ratings. To replace the announcers, the network used more on-screen graphics than usual and asked the public address announcer at Miami’s Orange Bowl to impart more information than he typically did. Efforts to use more sensitive microphones and pick up more sound from the field, however, did not succeed. While the experiment did increase the telecast’s ratings, it was widely regarded as a failure since it did not provide sufficient context for viewers. No network broadcasting any major U.S. professional team sport has ever tried it again, except through alternate feeds of games offered with announcers. The New York Jets won a 24–17 upset victory over the Miami Dolphins on December 20, 1980. The game started at 30 p.m. local time in Miami, with temperatures around 69°F and 12-mile-per-hour winds. The Dolphins, hosting the Jets at the Miami Orange Bowl, their home stadium at the time, had the better record at 8–7. The Jets were coming off an embarrassing loss at home to that year’s New Orleans Saints, the only team in the league with a worse record, who had come from behind late in the game for their only victory of the season. The Dolphins were also bringing a three-game winning streak into the contest; a victory would redeem their failure to reach the playoffs with a winning record for the season, but the Jets had long abandoned any hopes of a Super Bowl contender.
After the Jets scored the first touchdown on a short plunge into the end zone, David Duriel caught a 16-yard pass from quarterback David Harris. Uwe Schamann kicked a 21-yard field goal to put the game at 21-8 with 12:54 to go. A total of 41,854 people came to see the game in Miami at the Orange Bowl. It was the last game of that season for both teams as neither had qualified for the playoffs, and since the game was being broadcast nationally NBC executive DonOhlmeyer wanted to boost ratings. The team’s owners were reportedly divided as to whether to retain head coach Walt Michaels for another season. Reaction was mixed, ranging from \”good-natured humor to applause to some surprising anger,\” as Bryant Gumbel would later put it on air shortly before the tele broadcast started. What if this crazy idea really worked? Dolphins’ defensive end Bob Baumhower was also apprehensive about what viewers might overhear among players. He said: “There’s a lot of talking going out there that people don’t realize. I hope we’re going to be careful, all extra careful, on the extra talking out on the field on December 12: 12:12” After the game, the Jets’ Scott Dierking scored the game’s first touchdown with a short pass into the side end zone on a long pass from quarterbacks David Harris and Tom Landry.
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