Brent Musberger blows a lot of these guys out of the water. They should give him a shot when the other three fail miserably. There, I fixed that for you. I'd rather have John Madden sit on my face than have Brent in the booth for football.
Hasn't MNF learned its lesson with "non-broadcasting" experiments? Miller was bad enough but this? Kornheiser is a very, very good writer, I used to love reading both his sports and non-sports columns in the Washington Post, but a spot in the MNF booth? Give me a break. There's a reason why some people go into print journalism and some go into TV. Kornheiser made the right choice the first time, he should've stuck with it. I can barely stand him on PTI, so I can't even imagine how bad this will be. And that's not even going into Theismann, who is pretty close to the worst ex-jock broadcaster on TV. MNF should have spent some money and stole Troy Aikman away, someone with less of an ego and a much better style of describing the action than Theismann. Aikman doesn't talk down to viewers, while at the same time he is able to explain even the most complicated football situations in a way that even non-football viewers can understand. And finally, Tirico? This is the best MNF can do? Man, I can hear the sound of the ratings, which were falling anyway, crashing through the floor and exploding in the basement. Monday nights used to be must-see, now they're must-avoid. For ESPN's sake, I hope the games are good, or it's gonna be a graveyard come the second half on the ratings chart.
I think Al Michaels has done a fabulous job all these years. And how can you not love John Madden's scribbling on the monitor explaining all the cuts and tackles and stuff most of these knuckle heads (Dennis) know shit about. Times are changing and I don't like where they're heading. I miss ABC's wide world of sports too. That was a cool program. I became intriqued about sports I never knew existed. Call me old fashion but I think ABC did it right for a lot of years, why change it?
I can't believe I'm the only one who enjoyed Mike Patrick, Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann doing Sunday night NFL games on ESPN. I liked their work better than any of the Monday night teams of the past five years, and the games themselves were presented for football fans, not the crossover crowd ABC tried to hit on Mondays. They didn't try too hard to entertain -- they just called the games. I can take or leave Maguire, but Patrick's a solid announcer, and Theismann's a lot better than he used to be. The only "recycled" announcer that I can think of as worthy, although I know some of you will disagree and he's on another network, is Aikman. Aikman's terrific. He does his homework, doesn't pull punches, and spends his time on actual in-game analysis -- not empty-headed "he came to play" garbage we usually get in Jacksonville from spares like Steve Tasker.
I must say, I really like Tirico, and enjoyed that game he did during the last week of the season- Oakland vs. New York (Giants). Maybe they could put him with Herbstriedt? Or, at least someone that is knowledgable, but calm. Definitely not a jackass like Theismann.
I agree with rcade, I believe thet Aikman is a good analyst, but I feel the Moose is a little better. Oh my God did I say that? I think they are going to kick me out of th 49er fan club.
Rcade, I'd agree about Patrick. I think he's pretty damned good, and Maguire I really enjoyed on occasion. But I find Theismann self-serving, grating and worst -- just plain wrong much of the time.
Terrible threesome. Forget football that night. Tirico made fun of a college band director a couple of years ago. He said "I bet his parents are proud of him with his antics" If I had been one of his parents, he would have gotten an earful. Who does he think he is? Did he ever lead a band? Does he know how much work is involved? He can bloviate though. Terrible choice.
One thing about Kornheiser that Miller could never touch is that he's got credibility. The jeers for Dennis Miller were constant from the day his hire was announced. I'm not saying he would have succeeded otherwise, but he was never given a shot. Kornheiser is a hell of a writer, and PTI is the only sports wrapup show I genuinely enjoy watching on a daily basis, so I'll give Tony the benefit of the doubt. He hasn't failed me yet. Tirico has done his time in the shit jobs of sports broadcasting. I think of him like I think of, say, Jim Lampley, who bounced around for decades doing mopup work for every dumb event known to humanity before finding his niche as a great boxing guy. Likewise, Tirico deserves his shot. I wish him well. Theismann... I understand they need at least one ex-jock in the booth, but they couldn't get Aikman, or better yet, Ron Jaworski? I could listen to Jaws dissect plays all day long.
I still think the best combo ever was Summerall and Madden. Madden would come up with the most absurd off topic comments that would just blow Summeralls mind...towards the end he would just stutter, and kind of agree in a frusterated tone, and the whole while madden was just oblivious to it, and already onto a new concept
and I have to pay for this channel?
better yet, Ron Jaworski Now you've got me wishing for that. However, given that Jaws never seems to do games, I'm guessing he either doesn't like to travel or needs some time to break down a play. Which is fine and maybe we expect a little too much from color commentators. It's also funny we're arguing over the best possible combination of 2 or 3 man booths when no one combo is universally beloved. The current booth setup exists simply because it's always been that way. Maybe it's completely flawed1 and totally new ways of doing it should be considered. 1. Which is not to say there aren't brilliant combinations, like Summerall and Madden, just that they are brilliant due to the people and not the setup. Vin Scully is amazing and he works alone when baseball always has 2 or 3 guys. He succeeds because he is Vin Scully.
MNF will be el stinko. Marv and Boomer would have been a better choice. At least Boomer could needle Marv about his kinky biting habits. I like Kornheiser, but as an analyst I don't think it was a good choice. I really think he'd rather be doing Entertainment Tonight than sports. I agree, NFL network will have all the games before long, on a pay per view basis, get used to the future, baby!!!
This Monday Night Football team enthusiastically embraces our vision for sports television's signature series. We will propel MNF into a 21st century, all-day, exclusive, multi-media event that will engage fans in entirely new ways. Just what we needed, all-day Super Bowl type coverage week in and week out...how will the networks top this?!?! God, I can't wait.......
What a trio. A dick, a prick, and some shtick. Perfect. Perhaps ESPN had better start researching HUA syndrome (head up ass), for they sure are displaying it.
"There, I fixed that for you."
Ha! Mr. Frazer, you are my hero. Thank you.
Just what we needed, all-day Super Bowl type coverage week in and week out Agreed. They can't gin up 6 hours of interesting stories for the Superbowl. Good luck doing it with a mid-season game. ESPN needs to forget the E and remember the S. Or The Alamo. Rent-a-Car Bowl.
Meh. Tirico is bland, Theismann is a blithering idiot, and Kornheiser is unproven in the booth (although I like him as a columnist and PTI guy). And for the record I liked Dennis Miller in the booth.
I think won of the biggest problems they have is that they are replacing John Madden and Al Michaels who are the best in my opinion (plus they have their own football game so who can argue?). However, you could always try watching MNF on mute and listen to the radio at the same time.
Hey Fraze, if Madden sat on your face, you wouldn't need the mute button on your remote.
Jeez, why whinin' Joe Theismann. Me thinks that MNF is desperate for announcers. Mike T is a good announcer, but whinin' Joe. Oh no!! Haven't seen much of Kornheiser except for a few times on ESPN with Michael Wilbon. I just remember he liked to argue. I think Mike T deserves better than this. Joe Theismann??!! Yuck!!
I think Theismann is a good announcer especially with his Super Bowl experience and Tirico is a well spoken guy with a lot of knowledge and Kornheiser is pretty good too so all in all it seems like a good team. Al and Madden were good but this will work. I love to watch the game itself so I don't mind who announces it.
Back in my navy days. Some friends and I had the chance to see a preseason football game at the big egg in tokyo. It was covered by ESPN. While trying to get into the stadium, we happened to cross paths with the great Joe Quarterback. The 3 of us are walking in a small crowd of 5 1/2 ft japenese people. All of us well over 6 foot tall so that we stood out like sore thumbs. In a sea of people who didnt even speak his language he still managed not to hear 3 sailors thousands of miles from home calling to him for at least a head nod or small wave, that was untill one of my buds told him LT should have ripped off his leg and shoved it up his pompus ass. He never looked in our direction but he did flip us off. What a fucking asshole. I hope he gets dumped week one.
It's stories like that one, AZdano, that makes me come back to visit SportsFilter every day.
