When Micah Richards isn’t laughing, you know you’re in trouble.
Jamie Carragher’s criticism of Kate Abdo, lobbing a verbal grenade that seemed to jokingly suggest she was not faithful to her partner Malik Scott, was difficult to watch.
If you watched CBS Sports Golazo during their coverage of Arsenal against Porto in the Champions League, you’ll instantly remember the embarrassment. You may have fucked up your face, you may have covered your eyes, you may have pulled your 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 the clip has appeared on your social media timeline, as is often the case with prank segments from CBS.
If you’re not familiar with CBS, host Abdo and guests Carragher, Richards and Thierry Henry have helped revolutionize soccer coverage in the United States. His mix of analysis and verbal fighting is very good and very watchable. Their chemistry is undeniable and contagious.
CBS takes advantage of that by cutting out the funniest moments and spreading them on social media. If you live in the UK and still harbor an addictive inclination to read Twitter, you’ll probably be more familiar with the comedy than the analysis, especially the intros that follow a formula of extolling the achievements of Henry and Carragher and then having a critique of the lack of titles that Richards won in his career (despite the Premier League title).
Henry will raise his eyebrows and purse his lips, Carragher will make an overly loud exclamatory noise, Richards will yell something like, “Kate’s gone for BIG MEEKS.”
Anyway, it’s all in good fun.
However, on this particular occasion, CBS did not tweet Carragher’s speech at full speed. He didn’t even appear on the station’s 10-minute “best of our coverage” YouTube compilation because, well, he was awkward.
Carragher, wearing an Arsenal shirt thrown into the crowd, suggests that Henry and Abdo wear it next.
“I’m loyal,” he says. “WHO?” —Carragher asks. “Manchester United, thank you very much,” Abdo responds.
“Not Malik,” says Carragher. Oh, geez. Richards, who rarely fails to make a comment, looks at his shoes in silence. Henry turns to look at Carragher. Abdo seems surprised: “What… how would you say that?”
Carragher laughs nervously and says Malik’s name hasn’t been mentioned on the show yet. He is extremely embarrassing and is only missing a disapproving moan from Gary Neville.
The jousting was nothing new, it’s a key part of the show, but is it okay? It is acceptable? Even if it were an inside joke, is this what we want from our broadcasters?
Or is this simply a completely inevitable line-crossing moment, when those present and pundits seem to be encouraged to produce “prank clips” that will go viral on social media?
“The format of our show is quite light-hearted,” Carragher said previously. The Athletic. “I’m really determined to make good television. Kate can push and some people want to be pushed.
“I couldn’t tell some people certain things. That’s why we have that relationship where we feel like everyone can get their own way. “Everyone knows they are easy prey and if you leave yourself open you have to wait for what is coming.”
If they like to format the show that way (locker room jokes for a conventional football audience) and people like to watch it, then what’s the problem?
Well, obviously a line was crossed in this case and, to be fair to Abdo & Co, it was expertly addressed at the top of the following night’s show.
another success @kate_abdo introduction 🥲❤️ pic.twitter.com/SeyhgMfeGU
— Great goal from CBS Sports ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 13, 2024
Abdo said that during the three and a half years the group worked together, he gained three siblings, and called Carragher the annoying middle child, capable of saying anything to get attention, who could go too far but always apologized. . Well done.
The Athletic He also contacted CBS for comment.
When the game’s lawmakers flirt with shortening football games because people don’t have the attention span to watch them for 90 minutes, you can totally understand why broadcasters feel the need to produce more streamlined programs, with shorter segments and entertaining light to engage the viewer, rather than more than an hour of solid interviews and pre-match predictions.
It seems we are in the second era of football pranks. The first was, well, very much of its time and ended in 2011 when Richard Keys’ prehistoric pranks fell apart (‘Keysy’ even had the temerity to intervene on social media this week to call out Carragher and the show for being ” too friendly”).
Around this time Neville joined Sky and heralded the intelligent and analytical era with his in-depth analysis of Monday Night Football and expected goals and everything that came with it.
There was still room for bantz but overall it was weak while everyone figured out what the new status quo was in a post-Keys/Gray world.
Charlie Nicholas tried: “Well, maybe you should go too, Jeff, because you couldn’t see driving home the other night because you don’t even wear your glasses on TV in case they criticize you, so just stay.” to Specsavers and I will play the game.” Exactly.
And now we come to Banter 2.0. Football coverage for the social media age; controversial statements or clever jokes that can be quickly clipped in 20 seconds and retweeted by the thousands. This era gives us Roy Keane telling people to do his job, Alan Shearer not winning the FA Cup and Big Meeks bursting onto the scene. Even Neville has embraced the era of sound bites. He sings Chelsea songs before the Carabao Cup final because he doesn’t like Liverpool.
A reflection of society in 2024? A good show that had a bad time? Or should we strive to improve our football coverage?
As Abdo said in the clip addressing Carragher’s comment, which has been viewed more than 13.7 million times, “Here we are, another day, another show.” The jokes continue.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
