Sounds of Silence

For reasons that escape me, I have the reputation for being difficult. Like last Sunday, I’m watching the 49ers-Cowboys’ playoff game with my son-in-law, who starts saying all these nice things about the recently departed John Madden. And I disagreed, citing what I think is Madden’s involvement in Darryl Stingley’s injury. I mean, who was Jack Tatum’s coach? I also happened to mention that I didn’t particularly like what I see as Madden’s broadcasting schtick, with the Telestrator and getting all worked up and the Thanksgiving Day turkey. To which my son-in-law replies, “But you don’t like broadcasters anyway.” I should note at this point in the story that the game was on mute, which did little to help my denying it. Then, I see in today’s paper the Sun-Times published their second annual ranking of the top "Chicago sports broadcast media" figures. Jason Benetti ranks number one, followed by nineteen other talking heads. Somebody explain to me how “mute” didn’t finish in the top twenty.