No, he's just a plagarist. Which is obviously better than being an "intellectual" from the Northeast corridor. For some reason.
Around the Horn isn't half the show PTI is. Reali is no Max Kellerman (who I actually really liked), Mariotti is a mouthy jackass, Woody Paige is a self-styled clown (although I do admit he's growing on me, verrry slowly), and the rest of the cast (Adande, Cowlishaw, McMullen et al) may be varying degrees of knowledgeable but they fluster awful easily, even after all this time. And the scoring thing is silly at best. Kornheiser and Wilbon may be a couple of crotchety old farts sitting in the balcony bitching about stuff they don't understand, but at least they complete sentences and thoughts, they blend extremely well together, and there are no other jokers to get in the way. As far as MNF goes, the article acknowledges it: unless they dig up Cosell and lure Dandy Don off his farm in Montana for one more go-round, some people are just going to hate whoever they put in the booth, and won't even give them a chance to do their thing.
Back when Kornheiser had his radio show, I used to sneak out of office or tell my editors I was cruising around for a story so I could listen to him on the radio. He was fun. Theismann, on the other hand, whenever he called a game, I muted the television. The guy is awful. On par with Boomer Esiason. But, he does seem to be genial and charming and that goes a long way. Tirico is nice enough, I guess. I think the new team will be fine. But I also think anything will be better than listening to Madden become more and more a caricature of himself on Monday nights.
Can't we just find another Keith Jackson-type broadcaster who calls a game with flare and lets the play on the field basically speak for itself? If I want entertainers, I'll buy tickets to a Broadway show.
And just who would this Keith Jackson broadcaster-type be? I can only think of one person. Keith Jackson. I guess your best bet would be to mute the TV and find the game on your local AM station.
Kornheiser's pretty good, just compare "Around the Horn" with "Pardon the Interruption," the same exact topics are discussed, and one show is awful and the other show in entertaining. I'm not sure if he is really an announcer type guy. "MNF" could be bad, it could be good, but I will say this: Nothing could be worse, I have to say, than the Joe Morgan/Chris Berman baseball combo. Nothing.
I guess your best bet would be to mute the TV and find the game on your local AM station. That's what I used to do during the Detriot Tigers games for years. No offense intended to George Kell and Al Kaline who broadcasted the TV games, but there never has been before or since (IMHO) any radio sports broadcaster on Ernie Harwell's level. Damn I miss his games! Sorry if it's a bit off-topic, but why aren't there any other broadcasters of any sport as good as the old ones? Just to many good old memories maybe?
Commander Cody, it's the dumbing down of America. Sports announcers these days are designed to be entertainers, to turn sports into a circus, where the focus is all about them, about sprucing things up with a sideshow. Once upon a time we had true announcers, who knew their jobs, knew how to call games and the limits to what they were able to do. Now, we have clueless ex-jocks (Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver), and no-talents clowns (Hawk Harrelson, Chris Berman), making a mockery of the art of broadcasting. I honestly don't think we're ever going to have another call like the Kirk Gibson home run call ever again. It's a shame.
My dad INSISTS... I mean the guy really really insists, that kids are more violent, and more prone to drop out of high school now than when he was in high school. He also tells me that if Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West had played at the same time Jordan did he would have been second rate at best... don't even get the guy started on Kobe or Lebron. He says that the game has diminished to a point where the players simply don't have fundamental skills. "79 Steelers (my dad's grad year) are the greatest team ever; no one runs the ball anymore, teams have forgotten how... Steelers would just run the ball all day long." Incidently my dad also agrees that all... I'm being relatively straightforward here, he believes that all announcers today are idiots. He'll tell you about it. The day Harry Carey died is the day my dad met his new best friend, the mute button. So... not to call out the oldtimers, but seriously: Once upon a time we had true announcers, who knew their jobs, knew how to call games and the limits to what they were able to do. WTF??????? Come on... Let's get ready for some football.
Gotta tell ya everett, except for the '79 Steelers being the best ever (that would be the '53 Lions), he's right on everything he's said.
See... that is what I'm talking about... It's obviously an irrational ideology, opinion, standpoint, or whatever you want to call it.
Yes, but I'm getting old, so I get to get away with it. lol
uglatto....well said.
uglatto - ftw. i shed some serious tears after we lost chick hearn in los angeles, i'll probably do the same when vin scully hangs it up for good. i may only be 23, but as a kid (and now semi-adult) who grew up without much tv or cable, these guys taught me the game on AM radio in ways that newer broadcasters seem to neglect. i won't be sorry to see joe morgan go either.
