A writer named Mark Bowden answers the headline question in a fantastic piece for The Atlantic. In it, he pulls back the curtain on the creativity and hard work that go into producing an NFL football game.

Told primarily from the perspective of CBS director Bob Fishman (”Fish”), the article goes into incredible detail about the strategic and creative decisions that frame every moment, every play, every game. It’s an outstanding piece of work.

But the cameras are all, of course, just tools. The goal is to tell stories with them. The game itself is the primary story, but within it are dozens of subplots.

I go insane for stories like this. Behind nearly everything we consume regularly there lies an expert, someone who understands and appreciates complexity in a way that an outsider just can’t. This article gave me a new — and welcome — appreciation of NFL broadcasts. I’m fairly certain I’ll never watch a game the same way again. Wouldn’t want to, actually.

Related: my latest piece for Examiner.com is about a documentary film by Gary Hustwit called Objectified, which takes a look at the somewhat esoteric world of product design.

In it, I used the line “The essence of any good documentary involves taking a subject that’s tough to access for a layperson and making clear why some folks treat it as an obsession.” I rewrote that line several times before getting it right, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

I’m more and more glad each day that he didn’t sign here:

Teixeira said that one of the reasons he signed with the Yankees was because of their willingness to spend money, including the additions of starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett earlier this offseason.

“It was huge. I’ve always wanted to be with an organization that doesn’t shy away from the big-money players, the free agents and doing whatever it takes to win,” Teixeira said when asked if the signings of Sabathia and Burnett played a role in him signing with the Yankees.

Anyone who doesn’t believe that’s a dig at the O’s and Nationals?

Then, finally:

“A lot of teams were a little more vocal, while (Yankees’ GM Brian) Cashman was little quieter about it,” Teixeira said. “We’ve had dialogue consistently for two months. It was a no-brainer for me.”

I feel bad for that kid’s parents.

Looks like the Brian Roberts for Gavin Floyd rumor is nothing more than that — rumor. And, apparently, a pretty stale one.

According to this Hot Stove digest at MLB.com:

A rumor that has spread like wildfire — Gavin Floyd for Brian Roberts — was doused by the Daily Herald, which reported that White Sox general manager Ken Williams hasn’t even spoken to anyone with the Orioles since November.

There’s some more info available at the Chicago Tribune — including an absolutely bizarre statement that “The Orioles also are looking for outfield help.”

Umm…what?

In other news, the O’s appear to remain in the running to land one (or both) of the Japanese starters on the market. No real good links for that, just a compilation of what I’ve been reading for the past couple of weeks. I’d put the chances at somewhere around 50-50. It’s an educated guess.

Beyond that, things are moving very slowly. Not just with the Orioles, but with baseball free agency in general. The ripple effect that was predicted after the Mark Teixeira domino fell simply hasn’t materialized. Even decent second-tier guys like Lowe and Dunn remain “in negotiations,” perhaps as a result of widespread hesitancy to meet their salary demands.

Andy MacPhail has roughly six weeks to dig up anywhere from 2-4 veteran arms. That’s plenty of time for sure, but it’s going to pass faster than any of us think. I have to confess that I’m starting to sweat this a little bit.

That’s right, it’s back. The Baltimore Sports Media Approval Ratings have returned for a “hey, have we really not done this since August?” edition.

This week’s candidate is Scott Garceau, freshly-minted afternoon drive radio guy, former voice of the Ravens, and former sportscaster for WMAR (channel 2).

Garceau is a longtime veteran of the Baltimore sports media scene who was on the air for a whopping 36 years at WMAR before ending his nightly sportscasts in July of last year.

These days he can be heard weekdays on 105.7 “The Fan”, where he helps reign in previous BSMAR poll candidate Anita Marks.

Garceau is a fascinating guy to me because he’s such a throwback. His style is dramatically different from what you’d expect for afternoon drive sports talk in 2009, given his propensity for reasoned analysis and a generally cool demeanor. You can probably guess how I’ll cast my vote, but does his style work for you?

Vote below and then please elaborate in the comments — everyone is encouraged to provide a reason for their choice. Poll stays open for a week, and the usual rules apply. Keep it clean and cool and don’t say anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying to Scott if you ran into him at a bar.

You can also check out the Sports Media Approval Ratings archives for past results and discussion.

Scott Garceau: Yea or Nay?

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It’s 2009 and the Ravens are still playing football.

The defense put on another amazing show in Miami as Ed Reed made his case for defensive player of the year on a national stage. Chad Pennington and the rest of the Miami offense couldn’t handle it and were chewed up.

Pennington was under pressure all day and was forced to make four awful throws that found their way into Ravens’ hands. The Dolphins had been playing mistake-free football, but in the end the Ravens’ defense was just too fired up. A lot of the Ravens’ success came from the fact that Miami rarely started with a short field thanks to the boot that is Sam Koch. How that guy was skipped over for the pro bowl, I’ll never understand.

Despite the success, Joe Flacco and crew did give me some cause for concern. Flacco went 9 for 23 and only passed for 14 yards in the second half after missing Mark Clayton deep a few times in the fourth. However he did face his share of pressure throughout the game and dealt with it well and didn’t toss any interceptions. The running game held its own and in the end, the best offense proved to be a good defense.

Next stop is Tennessee. To take on the number-one seed at home is going to be a difficult task. We came pretty close to beating the Titans back in October, so hopefully karma will come back for us this time around and the football gods will look on the Ravens kindly.

I think the Ravens are playing their best football of the year right now and the Titans have been on a slide lately. Either way, the Ravens’ mindset seems to be in the right place and they left Miami without any significant injuries. Let’s hope Tennessee is just one more stop on the way to a title. Until then …

Anybody who claims to know what’s going to happen in a playoff football game is either lying or a fool.

Nobody picked the Chargers over the Colts yesterday. Almost nobody picked the Cardinals to beat the Falcons. These were supposed to be no-brainers, right? The Colts game certainly was.

All the more reason to temper the optimism regarding today’s matchup down in Miami. I still think the Ravens will win, but it’s going to be tougher than everyone thinks. Rookie quarterbacks, rookie head coaches, and road teams are historically bad picks in the playoffs. Put all three together and there’s cause for concern.

The other thing to consider: who’s the AFC favorite now? Despite their fifth seed status I think everyone basically assumed that the Colts were the team to beat on the road to Tampa. The way it shakes down now is that the Ravens will go to Tennessee if they win, and the Dolphins will go to Pittsburgh if they win (sending the Chargers to Tennessee).

Feels wide open to me.

Courtesy of a comment from Joe the Guy, we have news of a terribly juicy new rumor: the possibility of Brian Roberts heading to the White Sox in exchange for the other hometown hero, pitcher Gavin Floyd.

There’s info and speculation available at both MLBTradeRumors and Roch Kubatko’s blog.

First impression: let’s get this done.

I’m with JtG in thinking that it might not be a great straight-up deal, but I’d do it anyway. As much as I love Brian Roberts, there’s always a chance he won’t re-sign. That and the fact that he’s fully in his prime, meaning (a) his value will never be higher, and (b) his next long-term contract will include declining years. On top of that, I think we’d all agree that he kind of deserves a chance to play for a contender.

To get in return a quality young pitcher like Floyd — who just happens to have a similar pedigree to one Mark Teixeira — would be a giant coup for MacPhail and would go a long way towards solidifying this team’s competitive potential in the coming years. Roberts would absolutely not be easily replaced, but finding a second baseman is (at least in theory) easier than finding a guy like Floyd.

There has to be a way to make this happen, yeah?

Is eight years enough to change a culture? Maybe so.

Over the past week I’ve noticed a ton of optimism about the Ravens and their chances on Sunday against the Dolphins. I don’t think I’ve heard or read a single person seriously doubting the victory, and in fact the dudes at WNST are already selling their bus trip to Tennessee next week. The victory, it seems, is being treated as a foregone conclusion. That’s a far cry from 2000, when the experience of simply being there was so intense that most folks wouldn’t allow themselves to believe.

It’s not exactly a “best practice” to assume an easy victory in the NFL, but it’s hard to make a case for the Dolphins. The Ravens have already won in Miami once this year, and Joe Flacco is ten games more battle tested than he was then.

It’s worth noting that in that first meeting the stats were closer than you might think. Baltimore had 357 total yards to Miami’s 359, and Pennington out-passed Flacco 288 to 217. The teams were nearly even on third down conversions, with Baltimore going 6-13 and the Dolphins 5-13. Each team turned the ball over one time, and Baltimore held the time of possession edge by only three and a half minutes (game stats and recap at ESPN).

The game was won, as is often the case, on the ground. Baltimore held Miami’s offense (including the “Wildcat”) to just 71 yards on the ground while Willis McGahee went off to the tune of 105 yards and a TD on 19 carries.

If I had to guess, I’d say the same scenario will play out this next time around. The team that runs and stops the run will come out ahead. In a sense that’s playoff football no matter who’s playing, but it’s particularly true here.

My hunch is that the Ravens will, in fact, find a way. I think it’s a close game and I think Miami has the lead at various points, but in the end…

Ravens 17, Dolphins 13

(photo via Flickr)