More On Theismann vs. Jaworski
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I was thinking to myself last night that while Jaworski is great for TV Shows and on Radio.....he might not work out as well as everyone thinks he will.
I've watched Jaws twice on AFL coverage this year, and while it was entertaining....it didn't really blow me away. Now I don't know if it's just because the AFL game is so awkward and different, or if he just doesn't have the experience. I guess what it boils down to.....I think they fired the wrong person.
Yes...Joe Theismann is terrible as an announcer. He is the quintessential "Captain Obvious", but I have a question for you.....Was there one time last year when you said, "Wow. Tony Kornheiser is really adding something to this broadcast." I personally can say that number was about 2. And both times he was ragging on Theismann. (Click Read more the rest of the post)
I'm assuming that the reason they chose Ronnie was because he's a company man and he gets along with everyone. He's been on PTI a TON of times, and always volunteers his services for ESPN Radio. While he and Theismann both know the sport, Jaws seems to have a better world view of Sports and is in the know on most every transaction and story.
(I guess what I'm doing here is hashing out in my head if this is going to work, and I think the answer is no. ) You have Tirico who is great at times, but boring during others...he's just average really. You add Jaws who's really only called a handful of NFL games. And voila....you have a pretty average team all-around with some great upside.
So here's the rub.....you add Kornheiser and everything is awkward again. Like last year when he would ask ridiculous Football questions like, "Joe, what's a silent count?", and get a smarmy non-response.
Well this upcoming year he'll say, "Jaws, what's a silent count?", and get this...."Before an offense can snap the football on a football play, everyone on the line must first come to a set position. If at any time prior to the football being snapped an offensive player moves, a false start penalty may be called. For offensive linemen, who depend on the cadence from the quarterback to determine when they should go, being able to hear and concentrate keeps them from making false starts. The silent count can also play a huge role in slowing down a very aggressive defense. Sometimes, if a quarterback falls into a trend with his snap count, the defense may be able to get a jump on when the ball will be snapped. And for anyone who has played or knows anything about the offensive line, any type of advantage by a defensive player can result in busted play. So, in order to neutralize the aggressiveness on defense, the offense may go with a silent count. The part that makes the silent count effective is that it's hard for the defense to get a jump on the ball when they're waiting on the snap of the ball. But, having a silent count may also work against the offensive lineman. Most offensive linemen will tell you that knowing when the ball will be snapped allows for them to get a small advantage off the ball. But when the offense chooses to use a silent count, most times everyone will be watching for the movement of the football putting both the offense and the defensive line on an equal playing field."
Is that really better? For some yes....I'd love all that info. But most will just bash Jaworski for being too "in depth" for the lay person. Here's the reason they gave Theismann for the firing....“They gave me two reasons. One was, they wanted to make a change. The second was, in reviewing the tapes, when the conversation got back to me, I talked about football. I wasn’t given any indication that I was supposed to talk about anything else. I thought (football) is what we do. What disappoints me more than anything is if I wasn’t doing what they had hoped, I would have appreciated somebody (telling me)”
Maybe that was Joe's problem. He was too "Billy Packer" for Monday Night Football. He cared too much about the X's and O's to joke around and rib Tony K. With the direction MNF was/is heading in.....Dancing with the Stars and the "Entertainment" aspect.....Joe stuck out like a sore thumb.
It's not what I, or any other true Football fan wants, but when you gain more viewers than have ever watched MNF before.....you're not going to change the formula.
This is why I think they've set Jaworski up to fail.
“MNF” viewers “want to be engaged with issues and trends around the league, where their team is going,” and Jaworski “is the person to put in there for that”- Norby Williamson, Vice President of Studio & Remote Production
Theimann Photo (Six Pack Speak)
Ron Jaworski Is Amused By Your Complete Lack Of Football Knowledge (Talking NFL)
More Thoughts on MNF and Jaws (East Coast Bias)
Theismann Out (War Cry)
14 Comments:
The thing you haven't considered is they're using Jaws a PBP guy for those AFL games.
Anon- I did note that in a previous AFL post, but it's pretty much null and void because he's doing Color moreso than PbPer.
“MNF” viewers “want to be engaged with issues and trends around the league, where their team is going....”
Bullshit.
MNF viewers want last season's Bengals-Chargers game. Every goddamn week.
Two things. First, I don't put much stock in Joe's explanation that "they fired me because I talked about football." I doubt ESPN listed that as the reason, and even if they did, I would guess it was some sort of blow softener. I also doubt that the suckiness was based on Theismann being just too serious about football to banter with Kornheiser. He had no problem yukking it up with Patrick and McGuire on Sunday Night Football. Joe just sucked. He repeated cliches and parroted whatever the coach he had dinner with earlier in the week said. I can think of very few insights Theismann gave me.
Secondly, I don't think Kornheiser will ask those simple questions to Jaws. Kornheiser on MNF was nothing like Kornheiser on PTI. I think Kornheiser just realized that Theismann was an idiot who couldn't keep up with him and Kornheiser did what he could to get by.
AA, Your missing the point. WE ARE RID OF JOE THEESMAN ON MNF. Thats all that really matters to me.
It's not what he says. It's the sound of his freaking voice. So long Joe.
I agree with WastingCompanyTime6... Theismann is gone! I'm optimistic.
Did Joe Theismann do anything different on MNF that he wasn't doing on SNF? Was he asked to? I believe the answer to both these questions is no. And how he kept a job on SNF for what, 10 yrs, and then lose it in one? Sort of like all the DA firings going on.
Personally, I couldn't care less who is announcing the game anymore. It's background noise for our poker night. But I never thought Theismann was terrible. Certainly not as bad as some of the 3rd wheels (yes you, Tony Siragusa) around the league who add zero value to the telecast.
Thx,
Jay!
AA --
Jaws has done a bunch of Eagles preseason games here in the Philly area and I always enjoyed his commentary. I think the big difference between Theismann and Jaws is that while Theismann THINKS he knows everything, Jaws actually does. Plus, Theismann always rode the Billy Packer "high horse" while commentating, which a lot of people despised, including myself. Jaws just doesn't seem as arrogant to me.
I SOOOOO want to see football insight on TV again. "NFL Matchup" is my favorite ESPN show, because they really go into the technical nuances of the NFL. If it were up to me, We would see an hour of that instead of burying the 30 minutes at an ungodly hour and two hours of "Sunday NFL Countdown." And who's running the show on NFL Matchup? Jaws!
Wait--I've got it. The Perfect MNF booth.
Play-by-Play: Gus Johnson
Commentary: Ron Jaworski
Sidelines: Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild
Who wouldn't watch that?
i've seen jaws be the color guy for plenty of bucs preseason games and he always does a good job ... i'm always amazed at how much research he's done on the team, he talks knowledgeably about the battle for the 6th linebacker spot or the backup gunner on the punt team
Ron was horrible on the Monday night game this week. Just really bad.
He was upset that the Cowboys didn't get beat. I'm not sure how he did the post game through his tears.
Now that you have brought this frightening, very likely, possibility to light we can only pray Tony reads up on the game in the off season has no need to ask questions in the booth. Although I'm a huge fan of Jaws and his breakdowns (and his glasses), I don't want people to have a reason to hate him just because Tony can be a dumbass.
I don't usually get bothered to the level you or other fans who probably know the sport a lot better than I do about announcers, but I did get annoyed to the point I had to change the channel with the MNF set-up. Beyond the problems with Joe and the awkwardness of Tony, the booth guests and ABC synergy made MNF downright painful at times. Unless they remove those disgraces to the football game, the announcing changes won’t make much difference and the broadcast will still be severely flawed.