O’Donnell: ‘Mahomes fatigue’ a figment of imaginations
SOME SPORTS MEDIA MAGPIES may prattle on about a strain of viewer burnout regarding the ceaseless Super Bowl runs of Patrick Mahomes.
But most recent TV numbers indicate otherwise.
The Chiefs' slightly doctored 32-29 win over Josh Allen and Buffalo for the AFC championship Sunday drew an impressive average of 57.7M to CBS. The game peaked with 62M during the decisive closing minutes.
That audience size absolutely pulverized the comparatively puny 44.2M who hung around long enough in the early window to watch Jalen Hurts and the Eagles tattoo young Jayden Daniels and his turnover-prone Commanders 55-23.
DESPITE THE POOR LEAD-IN, KC-BUF drew the largest AFC title game viewership on record. Now it's Fox bosses who are hoping the dependable Mahomes momentum carries over to Super Bowl 59 on Sunday, Feb. 9.
Their target number is the all-time SB high of 123.4M. That was the average that watched Mahomes and the Chiefs come back from three late-game deficits to down favored (!) Brock Purdy and the Niners (-2 ½) 25-22 in OT last February.
The fact that Philadelphia is the nation's fourth-largest TV market won't hurt.
THE FOREMEN AT FOX and the global American football public also get one massive break in New Orleans two weeks hence:
No Tony Romo in the TV booth.
That welcome absence in itself should be worth an extra 10M watchers or so.
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A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL at the drop-in fundraiser for the Michael Spellman Scholarship Fund last Saturday at Durty Nellie's in Palatine.
Most gracious attendees were Ryan Aiello, the first-year president of St. Viator High School (the fund's beneficiary), and Jeff Ardito, his ace director of institutional advancement.
The event also morphed into an impromptu gathering of some classic names from the back pages of The Daily Herald including: Don Friske, Tom Prentiss, Kathleen Danes, Sheila Ahern-Galloro (and husband Vince), Colette Jordan, Renee Trappe, Jim Davis, Barry Rozner and Deb Pankey-Gabriel.
AUGMENTING BIG BROTHER NEAL SPELLMAN and the Cook County legal system were Richard and Sue Ringfelt.
The Spellman Fund is entering its second decade. Mike Spellman was an extremely well-liked Daily Herald sports writer who died far too young in January 2015.
STREET-BEATIN':
Matt Eberflus has taken the Matt Nagy Highway out of Bearsdom. Three years after Nagy returned to his high-profile offensive role with the Chiefs, Eberflus was hired Tuesday as fresh defensive coordinator in Dallas. If his key players can stay healthy next fall, Eberflus is sitting on a huge jump-up with the Cowboys. Plus, what a relief it has to be to have the toxic Hollow of Halas in the rearview mirror. …
The death of former Chicago prep star Efrem Winters in Aurora at age 61 advances as good an argument for NIL compensation as there is. A basketball prodigy, the 6-foot-9 Winters powered programs at King High and the University of Illinois before being a quick discard in the NBA. Today, he'd walk out of Champaign with millions. Instead, he lived an honorable workingman's life of “what if?” …
Chicago sports talk radio ratings continue to dog paddle, according to most recent Nielsen Audios out late Tuesday. WSCR-AM (670) wheezed home tied for No. 16 while chloroforming WMVP-AM (1000) remains too pinch-penny to be listed. At “The Score,” crusty chief Mitch Rosen is odds-on to try and sell hyper-niched “target demos” to more Charminesque members of local media copy grinders. …
Anything the Bulls do before next week's trade deadline only matters if it's a prelude to the departures of drain-trusters Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley. The organization's stagnation while the two muck up basketball ops diminishes so many other departments — including broadcasting and media relations — and greatly sustains “The Curse of the Breakup.” …
The reemergence of SoxFest last weekend at the renovated Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport — following the team's mockable 121-loss season — falls under the category “Only Jerry Reinsdorf.” Highlight was said to be good media parking. When Reinsdorf, 88, crosses the bridge, a key summary passage will be: “Shrewd, profit-driven tax attorney who consistently courted mainstream fan contempt.” …
Standing tall at SoxFest was 6-foot-7 George Wolkow of Downers Grove. The 19-year-old outfielder could be fast-tracking from Single-A Kannapolis on up toward the very needy parent club. He's been hitting almost every wintry day down at Bo Jackson's Elite Sports in Lockport. …
Reports on Doug Bruno are encouraging. The resolute DePaul women's coach — age 74 — suffered a stroke in September. The Chicago basketball icon remains determined to return to the Blue Demons' sidelines. He has long insisted that he'll never wind up in the Naismith Hall, which is a shame. …
And thoroughbred trainer Brian Williamson — long a resident of Palatine — has the morning-line favorite Miss Arlington in Saturday’s $100,000 Bobby Kelly Memorial at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Abandoned northwest suburban railbirds aren't sure if that's the name of a filly or a text message of lament.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.