Savran on Sports

Savran on Sports is a Pittsburgh football program, and its episode titles say so plainly: '11-16-17 Savran on Steelers', '11-27-17 Savran on Steelers', '12-4-17 Savran on Steelers'. The intro announces that 'the Godfather is talking Steelers', names Stan, and names ESPN Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation Radio. What follows sounds like local sports radio rather than a polished studio product, with pauses, corrections and overlapping voices. The football, though, is specific. Losing Chris Hubbard as a third tight end, in effect an extra tackle on short yardage, is treated as a depth problem because he was exceptional at run blocking. BJ Finney might do that job, the argument goes, while Gilbert is rated the better pass protector. Red-zone talk reaches back to remembered tight ends like Mark Bruner and Eric Green, big bodies who made space inside the five, and argues that the current offense is missing exactly that. Ben Roethlisberger gets a closer look as well. After two weeks of dome games, one voice says something is off in how the ball comes out and describes going to YouTube to check. The Patriots come up more than once. One argument holds that teams, the Steelers included, have been intimidated by a mystique built on Belichick, Brady and winning, and that the right message to a 9-2 team is that it is every bit as good. Elsewhere the two clubs are described as being on an inevitable collision course, with a December 17th meeting and home-field advantage in view. Game sound is woven in: replayed calls of Antonio Brown touchdowns, including a sideline catch with seconds left, postgame audio crediting cadence as a weapon and crowd noise as an asset, and a shrug about ugly wins after the Wizard of Boz hit from 53. The voices rotate. A Thanksgiving-week hour signs off with Guy Junker, Cordell is thanked after one exchange along with a plug for NFL No Huddle on the TuneIn app, and '11-9-17 Tunch & Wlf Hour 1' comes live from the Steelers practice facility on the south side with Tunch and Craig Wolfley. That locker-room hour runs looser, moving from questions about Ben's focus into banter over a torn bicep. Hockey gets a nod too, with a replayed save against Ovechkin and birthday wishes for the goalie known as the Flower. A good first listen is '12-4-17 Savran on Steelers' for the Patriots argument, or '11-22-17 Savran on Sports Hour 1' for the offensive line talk. The default tone is dry, turns warm with visitors, and is slow to oversell drama. It suits someone who cares as much about the reasons behind an ugly win as about the score.