The new Monday Night Football debuted last night to great expectations. It’s still preseason and we got a match up of the Raiders vs. the Vikings but it was still a big deal because it was the debut for ESPN. Before ABC’s Monday Night Football used to be the main game of the week. Now NBC is touting its Sunday night game as that because it’s on network television while ESPN is only shown on cable. They can both battle it out on which one has more importance but to me it’s still football.
I was at work so I didn’t get a chance to listen to the new booth. The game was on but volume was low. Probably a better thing. I enjoy ESPN’s coverage because it’s still football on tv. But I never enjoyed the booth they assembled in the past seasons and probably not this season either. I already do not like Mr. Know-It-All Theismann and I’m fairly sure he didn’t follow the yellow brick road to get a new brain. Mike Tirico is okay with me. Suzy Kolber drank her Red Bulls and was as perky as ever. Tony Kornheiser is the new pawn in Monday Night Football. He’s a newbie in any announcing capacity. I wouldn’t say he has an enormous following of fans but he certainly will bring a huge following of critics analyzing his every word this season.
They got a guy who said he hasn’t stayed awake to see the end of the Monday night game in about 30 years. He can name maybe eight other players, besides quarterbacks, in the NFL. He dreads the flying and never played football. This is a guy who’s supposed to invigorate the ESPN booth? Sounds like he’d rather read a good book after taking a hot bath than watch football. Plus how can you cover all sports for a living and not reel off names of players in the most popular sport in the country?
So I can’t be a critic of Korenhesier’s first performance cause I couldn’t hear him but from the buzz on the message boards it seems the positives are in the minority.
But what I did see completely baffled me. My “WTF!” moment came when I saw the scoreboard graphic implanted directly in the middle of the bottom part of the screen. The sight became extremely annoying after the first time I saw it. What’s up with the shape of it? Where’s the traditional symmetrical box or rectangle? They’re trying to be modern and new wave when it’s not the right place for it. We’re used to having the scoreboard with flat edges in the corner where it’s out of the way but easily able to reference if we need. Never have we asked for it to be in the middle where there is dead space on both sides of the graphic. We’ve asked for Theismann to be fired but they don’t listen!
It’s still football but after paying so much money for the rights you would think a producer would think of a better place for the graphic. There are four corners to choose from which provides many options. It’s a nice comfortable spot. The graphic must have felt like he was on an episode of “Lost”. Get 10 football fans in a room and a case of beer and they’ll offer better advice.
Let’s hope we get some good games on Monday night because that’s all that will make us truly happy and forget about the flaws.
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You didn’t miss much. The action in the booth was second rate. Kornheiser looked old and tired. He did not seem as if he fit in the group. ESPN’s effort to showcase him appeared gimmicky, obvious and forced. Using the email segment to bring Kornheiser into the discussion seemed contrived. The debut fell flat. I think Theismann and Tirico, given the chance, could do better on their own.
Meh. Kornheiser is entertaining and funny, which is a heck of a lot more than I can say for Theismann.
Are there kinks that need to be worked out? Sure. But it was Kornheiser’s first ever game in the booth, which a lot of people seemed to forget when they immediately dismissed him.
And just because he’s self-depreciating doesn’t mean he really only knows 8 NFL players or anything like that. Sure, he doesn’t add much technically, but he still knows football and he’s fun to listen to.
Be glad you didn’t have the sound up. It was nonstop sound effects. I would expect more out of ESPN. And the email thing
they did for Tony (it’s like a horrible song that keeps repeating in your head and you want it to stop…and it doesn’t).
I don’t mind the email, actually kinda liked it. But the song has to go! Also, I agree with the score. Who in their right
mind would put the score right where the action is. But they did get one thing right. They made it readable. Just use common
sense instead of doing something for the sake of being different.
I like Tirico in the booth. He’s almost old school. Just gives you the game. Tony still needs to figure out it’s okay to talk
to the camera. He doesn’t have to worry about that on PTI. And for Theismann…anyone who actually changes their last name to
rhyme with Heisman has issues.
Was it my imagination, or at one point in the 2nd quarter did they display of score of 41-38 with no time left in the 4th quarter? I’m not sure if it was a hallucination (possibly brought on by that wretched “Tony, Tony, Tony” song they kept playing or a real technical glitch.
PUT IN THE PROFESSIONALS!
I would like to congratulate ESPN on the selection of the announcers for last nights San Diego – Oakland game. I can’t name them individually as I missed their names as they were introduced last night. It doesn’t really matter, as I would like to compliment them as a group. They worked together superbly with a rapid exchange of comments and insight without interrupting the play by play. They were funny and courteous to each other and you could tell that they enjoyed the game. Above and beyond that they exuded professionalism. You could tell they were not there for the first time. All in all it made the San Diego – Oakland game a real pleasure to watch.
Now why don’t you kick out that disgusting mess that you have announcing the Vikings – Charger game? Yes I mean Joe Theismand and Tony Kornheiser. Mike Tirico is OK but whoever thought that this bunch of “individuals” could make professional announcers? Fire the over-paid moron that came up with this one, swallow your pride and put in the professionals.
P.S. Just to get this off my chest…..if Joe Theisman were a woman, he would be a blond with big artificial boobs and a tight ass. “Her” laugh would be the loudest and most obnoxious in the room in an obvious effort to draw attention. She would have an opinion about everything and always be right regardless whether her argument made a lick of sense or not. Most of all, “she” would never know when to just shut up. In other words, Joe Theisman exemplifies every negative stereotype in men that I believe women find offensive in their gender. And put that little troll of a newspaperman back in his dark little office where he can sit up all night writing witty little columns about other people who live in the daylight.
Sorry, I just miss the professionalism of the “real” Monday Night Football.
I can get by with the other two but Tony Kornheiser is extremely annoying. I just want to watch the game, get a little insight from the announcers and that is it. I don’t need somebody to try to be an commentator, I agree with the last guy, get somebody who IS commentator. Lame jokes, lame commentating, and he doesn’t know when to talk. I’m probably going to watch it either way, but I may start hitting the fast forward button on my Tivo everytime he talks. I would rather watch the commercials.
MNF is like watching a local cable station televising a local high school game. These announcers are irritating, annoying and downright clueless. Or better yet, its like hearing 3 guys who cant play a note of music by themselves and now you put them together and its nothing but noise. I ask you WHY ESPN whould you do that to millions of viewers who have looked forward to MNF every week and made it into a “i rather hear my girfriend talk for 3 hours then these tone deaf did I mention clueless jokers”. What happened to the class, knowledge and personality like Cosell, Danday Don, Madden, Michaels? and you give me Kornheiser, Theisman and Turrico???? But I knew things were beginning to go down hill when they took out the intro with highlights of the teams that were playing in the beginning of the game with the MNF footballl theme that used to get me hyped..now its “are you ready for some football a monday night party??? It’s football, not a show people…men want to hear about the game, the rivalries, the issues…not Kornheiser telling people 30 times who he has in his fanatsy league or Theisman missing everything that goes on during the game cause he is combing that 80’s hair do. And Turricao ignores both of them….MNF bring back the days of seeing highlights on slow motion of the teams that are playing that night with that classic MNF theme…Remember seeing Tony Dorsett in slow mo and hearing Cosell narrate? That’s MNF…!!!
Tony is entertaining.
It’s just Theisman who doesn’t belong.
He never has any idea what he is talking about.
He contradicts himself at least 5 times per game.
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