On Second Thought: MNF Review Preseaon Game #3

Tuesday, August 21, 2007


I should have known better, and you should have warned me. I'm ashamed of you really (just kidding). This year is completely mirroring last year when I said Tony wasn't that bad after Game #1, Took it back after Game #2 of the preseason, and then completely hammered them after Game #3.

Last night's game was pretty bad, but I kept telling myself that this is the preseason. It's okay to still have hope. But then I started thinking back to last year, and how every week it got worse and worse. You have to think back to every cheesy Kornheiser joke ("It's 5,000 Degrees....It's Indonesia Hot!"), every mistake and stumble by Mike Tirico ("Ben Franklin high above the City of Philadelphia"), and every single one of those in-booth interviews. They haven't even started the interviews yet (Jerry Rice doesn't count).

I then thought about the post from yesterday on the videos that fans can now submit. Shortly after that the emails started flooding the Inbox....

"I liked how three of the four studio analysts were former Cowboys. Who does ESPN think it is? Fox?"- AN

(While this is true I did enjoy the exchange between Keyshawn and Parcells. Berman said it was weird getting used to Parcells at the desk. Parcells came back with, "you better get used to me being here," which was immediately followed by Keyshawn saying, "Yeah, Yeah. We've heard that one before coach.")

"There were entire series of downs, changes in quarterbacks and turnovers that were overshadowed by stories about White House dinners and interviews with players."- MS

"Why is Kornheiser there? He knows he shouldn't be there, the audience knows he shouldn't be there, but somewhere in Bristol is an executive's ego which refuses to admit a mistake was made and will thus force it down people's throats at all expense."- Anonymous Commenter

"I tune in for a football game, not for a circus. While Jaws has to be an improvement, the production, extended interviews, etc, seemed to once again stress how much ELSE there is to watch besides the football game... Ugh. MNF on ESPN sucks."- Anonymous Commenter

" If that is what is going to happen during the regular season, my household will either listen on the radio or rent a movie and read the highlights in Tuesday’s newspaper. The broadcast was awful. I hope [they] will re-think the entire format."- MS

"AA, I love your site and your comments, but I have to put in an intervention. You, my friend, are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Poor guy can't remember what a good broadcast is on that show anymore."- Anonymous Commenter (from Game#1 review)
I think that last one about sums it up. I believe the wool was/is trying to be pulled over our eyes folks. I still love Jaws on the broadcast, but I think once the season finally gets going, he's not going to have a chance to get a word in. He seems to be rushing already.

Over the past three games they've talked about Michael Vick a good 70% of the time. While I understand it was necessary to touch on it a bit yesterday, that's just overkill. I could really care less about Mike Vick now, and I think most people feel that way as well. We all knew he was going to jail and that he wasn't playing this year....you're not telling us anything new.

And guess what? It's only going to get worse. I think this one line from last night summed up next week's telecast for me already......
"We will be in Atlanta next week on August 27th.....the same day that Vick will be in a Richmond Court entering his guilty plea."- Mike Tirico
Ugh. It's like the perfect storm for Monday Night Football. I could do that review now if I wanted too. While I'm not taking back my first review (I did enjoy that game), I'd like to hold back on all other judgements until we get into the Regular Season. I'm just going to hope for the best, but plan on me flipping out during a live-blog around Week #3.

Anyone know who's on Dancing With the Stars yet? ESPN needs to plan some interviews.

Your Official MNF Review: Game One (Awful Announcing)

17 Comments:

Looks like ESPN's producers' notes finally reached the booth last night.

MDT said...
Aug 21, 2007, 12:17:00 PM  

At one point during the game last night, they showed a baby in the stands and Tirico said that maybe they could interview the baby at some point (why, I don't know). Anyway, Tony said interviewing the baby "would be better than some of the guests we had last year." So, I think he should get at least some credit for that.

Aug 21, 2007, 12:38:00 PM  

ESPN Pods.

As in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers...

ESPN replicants need to justify their jobs just like everybody else. If moving up the corporate ladder gets in the way of something like a football game, so fucking what.

ESPN should be allowed to be bigger than the game the network covers because they have earned it, they've earned the viewer's consent to be insulted with years of outstanding product...like a half hour each week of NFL Live and Spelling Bees.

Tirico is an automaton, some jagoff yells in his ear and he does whatever he's told.

If they could turn the little milk dud into a cyborg without a mind and freewill, they would. They're close...

In order to work at ESPN, you have to be well on the way to that end.

Just remember, ESPN is god. War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

Tony Kornhole is Joe Montana.

E Buzz said...
Aug 21, 2007, 12:41:00 PM  

I think it would be better if they just stopped talking altogether. Did I really turn on the game to hear about Michael Vick??

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 12:46:00 PM  

I remember once that NBC broadcast a game without announcers, and this was before buffoons like Kornhead got involved.

I'm SURE this happened...

E Buzz said...
Aug 21, 2007, 1:25:00 PM  

Guys, love you all ('specially you, AA), but I think this a really large bit of overreaction here. I am a big Bears fan, and even I realize that last night's preseason game was totally meaningless. You can't scout that well, because most backups (especially, say, backup quarterback Brian Griese) play against second and third string defenders, so it renders a lot of the second half stuff meaningless. Would you really prefer Jaws and Kornheiser to sit there and break down every single play of a meaningless preseason game? I think AA had it right last week ... it's the effing preseason. They're gonna go on tangents. They're gonna work on things. They're gonna have lots of interviews with starters while the scrubs kill each other on the field.

The booth's performance means no more than the action on the field's, and just like last night wasn't a real loss for the Colts, it wasn't a real loss for the three in the box. Everyone just relax.

PostmanE said...
Aug 21, 2007, 1:31:00 PM  

All valid points E, but I think the main point I was trying to get across is that all the "bells and whistles" haven't been brought into play yet.

It's okay to go off-topic during the Preseason a bit, but you know they are going to talk about Vick Week 1 as well.

And those interviews are right around the corner.

Aug 21, 2007, 1:45:00 PM  

Monda Night Football has become a pain. The first quarter was fine, the announcers were not shown and the game was in full view. After that it was all announcers and little football. I was frustrated and angry. Get those bafoons off the air and let us enjoy the game.

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 2:04:00 PM  

we all know TK doesn't want to be there.

He just a) wants the money and b) doesn't want to be branded a failure.

Let's just ride it out and soon he'll be back on the radio where we all want him to be.

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 3:21:00 PM  

that picture of the milk dud cracks me up.

E Buzz said...
Aug 21, 2007, 4:08:00 PM  

I only saw about two minutes of the game and happened to catch Tirico utter this gem while schilling the fan vids:

"...so send your videos in and we will upload them...(what's that, that's not how it's done? oh)...I mean YOU upload the videos and we will look through them and choose which one..."

Priceless.

I find it mildy ironic that the downturn of ESPN has dovetailed nicely with the destruction of MNF.

Talk about a perfect storm.

J Rose said...
Aug 21, 2007, 4:10:00 PM  

It amazes me how natural TK is on PTI and how fake he is on MNF.

GMoney said...
Aug 21, 2007, 4:23:00 PM  

I would preach patience here. They may turn out to be bad, but it is a preseason game. No one cares about the action on the field in the late third and fourth quarters, and if you do, you really need to find a hobby or get out more. Give them three games into the regular season to make all the adjustments and receive the feedback they are going to receive, then judge them.

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 5:26:00 PM  

As soon as I saw the contrived, banal "Manning can do no wrong, everything Rex does is wrong" drivel that they call analysis, I was ready to puke.

Kornheiser does not belong in the booth.

Tirico is top notch and Jaws is already solid and will continue to get better. But what does Kornheiser bring to the booth? His stupid little pregame thoughts? He's no Larry Merchant. Get off the air.

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 5:42:00 PM  

You hit on it perfectly, Zoner. Kornheiser brings nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, to the broadcast.

I saw that MNF commercial where everybody hums the theme song. I thought to myself, "do they seriously think that people will buy Tony Kornheiser breaking down film with Jaws?"

The poster that said "he knows he doesn't belong in the booth" is 100% correct. The "Peyton: Good, Rex: Bad" thing had ZERO value whatsoever. It had no point.

Eric said...
Aug 21, 2007, 8:03:00 PM  

"What is MNF?"


- Sage Steele

Anonymous said...
Aug 21, 2007, 11:45:00 PM  

I would contend that the 4th wuarter doesn't matter in a preseason game. I would rather hear those guys blather on about literally anything than have to watch CFL level football. I'm probably the minority on this one, but like last year, wait for the regular season. But this year, hope that it doesn't suck donkey dong

omnivore43 said...
Aug 22, 2007, 9:01:00 AM  

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