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Cardinals Not The Worst Thing On MNF

By oddJoe ⋅ October 18, 2006 ⋅ Post a comment

The crew at Monday Night Football The Cardinals Collapse on Monday night was easily one of the more exciting prime time games of the season, not to mention the biggest choke job since the Yankees fell to the Red Sox in 2004. But now that the dust has settled and heads have rolled, I’m glad to see some out in Bloggersville are evaluating the other bad MNF performance (and no, I’m not talking about the Jay-Z video).

The Big Lead has posted a sampling of reviews of the ESPN crew of Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser, and concludes, “Sometimes, when it’s not working, you just have to blow it up and start over. We can’t imagine this MNF crew staying together after this season.” Another critique at AwfulAnnouncing says of Kornheiser, “He’s too old and his humor is old as well. On top of that (if that weren’t already enough) his ‘monologue’ at the beginning of every game seems like he’s just reading an old column he wrote in 2003.” Well played.

My own thoughts on the troika of talking heads on ESPN aren’t much kinder. I will say, though, that listening to Theismann and Korny has given me a new appreciation for the Sunday night lineup that terrorized us with Theismann and Paul Maguire. The old SNF crew was an abomination, yes, but at least I understood what their roles were: Theismann would say something stupid and Maguire would find a way to top it.

The one thing that did work on the old SNF, and there were few things that did, was that Theismann and Maguire seemed like two people who would be watching a game together. It was like being with the two guys from work who think they know everything and refuse to shut up even though they’re annoying the piss out of everyone. It wasn’t enjoyable but it was familiar territory for anyone who’s ever watched a game in a group setting.

With Theismann and Kornheiser, though, it’s hard to imagine them ever watching a game, or even being in the same room, together because they just don’t relate on any level. You’ve got on the one hand the dumb jock who probably rocks out to Hootie and the Blowfish and then on the other the sarcastic guy from your American Lit class who’s into the Pixies. (If that doesn’t date me, nothing will.) It’s just Dennis Miller Time all over again.

Watching this situation blow up over the course of the season might be kinda fun though; I’m hoping at some point Theismann decides he’s had enough of Tony and just throws down. “That’s it, Kornhole, I’m gonna squash you like a bug!” Now that would be some great TV.