Jim O'Donnell: On TV or on the field, the password at Soldier Field on Thursday will be 'struggle'
FOUR STRUGGLING TEAMS will hover around Soldier Field Thursday night.
On the Martian turf, it'll be the Bears vs. the listing Washington Commanders.
Behind the cameras, the up-streamers will be Amazon Prime Video and WFLD-Channel 32, which has metro over-the-air rights to the event (kickoff is at 7:15 p.m.).
The game itself is an OK centerpiece - better than another flat-com episode of Fox's "Welcome to Flatch," not quite the flaired boa-prone Harry Styles "in residency" at the United Center.
Vegas has it floating around a pick 'em.
That's gambler code's for, "Good luck, pallie."
The game within the game hinges on: a) Carson Wentz's shoulder and his proven capacity for ill-timed implosion; and, b) How deeply, if at all, the Bears will bury themselves in the first half.
(The Wee Irishman - first Donegal cousin to The Insouciant - says the Bears cash as long as there is no Impacting Pixie Intervention.)
THE TV AND STREAMING TRAVAILS are a different matter.
Amazon Prime Video is in the first season of its $1B deal as exclusive national carrier of "Thursday Night Football."
The core corporate concept is sound. The idea will one day undoubtedly be noted as a landmark happening in the move of more significant NFL content into subscription-only delivery.
But in terms of execution, APV isn't exactly shaking down the long-ago thunder of Howard Cosell and "Monday Night Football."
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit have been giving it the old college try for the past four Thursdays. And that's part of the problem.
The acknowledged power alley of "Herbie" is college football. He's trying far too hard on "TNF" to overcompensate while working both sides of Major Gridiron Boulevard.
AS FOR MICHAELS, he has had a marvelous career. But the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics are as far away a memory as Blondie's last hit. And an all-time great voluntarily exiting the mainstage is seldom an easy inner decision.
Michaels' current efforts are fine - if he were back calling Hawaii Islanders minor-league baseball games, as he was in the late 1960s.
As a prime-time NFL broadcast team, the Michaels and Herbstreit of 2022 are an opening act.
The most surprising thing is that Jeff Bezos and associates failed to think farther out of the box with such a premium live video initiative.
IN CHICAGO, Fox-32 gets the game, which is good news for fans requiring "free" TV and should be better news for the station's news and sports departments.
Historically, a market exclusive such as a Bear night game is a terrific opportunity for an outlet to showcase its local assets.
In the case of Fox-32 News and Sports, the problem is that there aren't many assets.
With Corey McPherrin as a straight-faced news reader and Lou Canellis - the Charlie Callas of Chicago sports media - out front, the message from station management is:
"We're just sitting here marking time."
Ed O'Bradovich bratwurst dipping up around New Buffalo would be more engaging.
So four stragglers will struggle at Solider Field Thursday night.
One might even win.
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JOHN STEINMILLER - the Mount Prospect native who went on to a remarkable 52-year career with the Milwaukee Bucks - died Tuesday. He was 73.
Steinmiller began in 1970 as a $5-an-hour part-time "administrative assistant" while a senior at Marquette. He was the team's Sr. VP / Business Operations for more than 30 years and was the key NBA adviser to U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin during Kohl's long run as owner of the Bucks.
Way, way back, "Steinie" was a student manager of St. Viator High's state runner-up 1965 varsity baseball team. The Lions, then coached by Len Sparacino, caught fire in the IHSA tournament on the golden young arms of sophomore pitchers Bob Stevens and Jerry Donahue.
The school was in its fourth year of existence.
Steinmiller's first full-time position with the Bucks was as "publicity director," a posting that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's final four seasons in Milwaukee. He was still affiliated with the team when Giannis Antetokounmpo and crew won the franchise's second NBA championship in 2021.
His son - John Henry Steinmiller - is currently the senior director of media relations for the Blackhawks.
He is also survived by wife Corinne - who managed The Honey Bears for Jim Finks and Ted Haracz - daughter Mary Kate and granddaughter Nola.
Visitation and a funeral Mass will be held at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Milwaukee Friday beginning at 1 p.m.
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.