04/18/24
May 29, 2006
New 'MNF' team buckles up: Producer Jay Rothman seemed thrilled: "It was scary good. Good enough to put on the air, right out of the box. We're ecstatic, to be honest."
I'm pretty sure this is little more than a press release, but I choose to be hopeful that the broadcasts will be at least partway entertaining. With any luck, Kornheiser and Theismann will grow to totally hate each other. That would rock.
posted by chicobangs at 09:08 AM on May 29, 2006
Kornheiser is "an egotistical jackass?" Funny, I'm a regular listener to PTI (through the podcast) and he strikes me as very self-deprecating - and hilarious. As far as I'm concerned, they could just throw Kornheiser and Wilbon in the MNF booth and I'd tune in just to listen to their banter. They could even put "Stat Boy" on the sidelines.
posted by Scott Carefoot at 09:49 AM on May 29, 2006
As far as I'm concerned, they could just throw Kornheiser and Wilbon in the MNF booth and I'd tune in just to listen to their banter. My advice would be to tune into "Around The Horn" a half-hour earlier, because those guys say the exact same thing, on the exact same topics, as Wilbon and Kornheiser. Have you ever seen the way Kornheiser acts when there is a substitute in for Wilbon? I've seen a few where Kornheiser acts like an idiot. Everyone's into all this funny "banter" with sportscasters and sports reporters. It all gets to be too much sometimes. If I want to get some laughs I'll tune into Letterman. Whether it's Wilbon and Kornheiser, or any of the Sportscenter crew (not to mention Dennis Miller), stop trying to get cheap laughs and tell the stories (or what's going on). I don't need to get my comedy fix from guys describing a football game.
posted by dyams at 10:01 AM on May 29, 2006
Good point Dyams. This will probably gt good ratings, mainly because its MNF. As much as I dislike Madden, I think that he's better than what ESPN is trying to put together.
posted by redsoxrgay at 10:30 AM on May 29, 2006
i don't care who's calling the games. i am already READY for some football!
posted by tommybiden at 10:46 AM on May 29, 2006
After listening for years to Madden commenting on how "that guy runs well because he keeps his legs moving," I'm ready for some kind of change. Better or worse.
posted by Thisguy at 11:05 AM on May 29, 2006
I hope kornholler gets a serious case of laryngitis, like all season long. NOT is he not conceeded, but his voice is like someone scraping thier finger nails on a blackboard.On top of that he sounds like JAmerican Princess.
posted by bruinboy at 11:07 AM on May 29, 2006
I like Kornheiser on his radio show. I like Tirico. What I don't like is the trend away from just focusing on the game. Is it really that necessary to have someone making jokes in the booth? I would just rather them talk about the game and minimize the distractions. Still, I hope it works out, or at the very least they leave all the pertinent info on the screen so that I can turn the sound down.
posted by bperk at 11:21 AM on May 29, 2006
ESPN, paying a record $1.1 billion annual rights fee, .... Eeek! For $1,100,000,000.00, I hope they're getting their money's worth.
posted by alumshubby at 11:30 AM on May 29, 2006
I couldn't believe when I heard Kornheiser was going to be on the team. I was so glad when he left ESPN Radio to make way for Colin Cowherd. He is whiny and annoying.
posted by mcfitzie at 02:21 PM on May 29, 2006
Cowherd isn't whiny and annoying?
posted by mjkredliner at 03:59 PM on May 29, 2006
No, he's just a plagarist. Which is obviously better than being an "intellectual" from the Northeast corridor. For some reason.
posted by yerfatma at 04:53 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by chicobangs at 06:30 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by forrestv at 07:53 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by dyams at 08:02 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by forrestv at 08:48 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by uglatto at 10:04 PM on May 29, 2006
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?
posted by commander cody at 10:09 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by uglatto at 10:47 PM on May 29, 2006
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.
posted by everett at 12:10 AM on May 30, 2006
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.
posted by commander cody at 12:36 AM on May 30, 2006
See... that is what I'm talking about... It's obviously an irrational ideology, opinion, standpoint, or whatever you want to call it.
posted by everett at 12:39 AM on May 30, 2006
Yes, but I'm getting old, so I get to get away with it. lol
posted by commander cody at 12:40 AM on May 30, 2006
uglatto....well said.
posted by dyams at 07:13 AM on May 30, 2006
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.
posted by ninjavshippo at 07:18 PM on May 30, 2006
Yeah, real thrilling team. For me, Tirico has always had an annoying voice (much in the same way Mary Hart is annoying on Entertainment Tonight), and Kornheiser is an egotistical jackass who will probably make people forget how much Joe Theismann bothers them. Monday Night Football still continues to struggle with the broadcast crew choices.