This is all defensible, and consistent with some of what I’ve posted about Benetti as well. I get why he is so popular, and I do like him on balance, but he can be grating on me when he lets his cultural muse get the most of him, especially when Dirks is feeding it with his own.
That said, when Benetti stays on point, he is objectively one of the best in the business, especially from a local guy standpoint. I actually wouldn’t mind if Benetti stayed permanently—god knows we can and have done much worse than him, and almost certainly will after he goes—but I don’t think he’s going to be here for much longer, because it seems pretty obvious to me his goal is Al Michaels’ career, which is 100% national on major networks.