One of the more fun things about the MNF booth over the past few years, was the love/hate relationship between Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser. Whether you thought Tony was good or not was irrelevant, because he knew how to get under Jaws' skin, and every time he did so, it was pretty funny. Well now Jon Gruden is in the booth, and after a pretty good debut last night, the Coach didn't hold anything back after Jaws said he didn't like the Vick signing by the Eagles. Here's the clip....

I obviously agree with Gruden, and while I was skeptical of his hiring at first, it seems like this trio really could work out. The producers of MNF always wanted three different perspectives in the booth, with Tirico providing the images, Jaws providing the stats and analysis and Kornheiser providing the angles. And while those three perspectives didn't gel, replacing the writer's slant with a coach's slant, looks like a winner. Especially when you have a story like the Vick signing that will bring up many different emotions and opinions.

Jaws Jumps The Shark on the Vick Idea, ESPN Video (NESW Sports)

There was a rumor, that started from a Deadspin podcast, that Bill Simmons would be filling in for Tony and/or Mike on PTI this summer, but apparently that's not the case. Dan LeBatard told the Deadcast that he and Simmons were all set to host the show together, but according to show producer Erik Rydholm, that's not the case. Via The Sporting Blog....

When Tony and Mike came back from vacation this week, the question became if, not when, Simmons and Le Batard would have their chance to pardon and/or interrupt one another. Usually the fill-in weeks are during the dog days of July, and with August just around the corner and football season starting, there may not be time for Simmons to do a full week of PTI.

I emailed with Erik Rydholm, executive-producer/creator/genius behind PTI and he told me that he would like to make it work, but scheduling isn't cooperating. He wrote:

"Very few upcoming stretches when both Tony and Mike are off. A couple of single days and it makes little sense to fly Dan and Bill in from forever away for one day. Hope to get something (scheduled) down the line."

It's surprising to me that Simmons has never had a stint on the show, especially when you think of all of the random people they've had as fill-ins. I mean, Patrick McEnroe was a co-host at one point! Personally, I think it would be a fun experiment to have Simmons on, but I guess if it ain't broke, there's no need to fix it.

Don't Expect Bill Simmons Pardoning Any Interruptions This Summer (The Sporting Blog)

I said this last year, and I'll say it again. The Monday Night Football broadcast last season wasn't all that bad. Sure it had its moments, and Tony Kornheiser still didn't belong in the booth, but it wasn't the worst combination of announcers in the NFL. With that said, Tony Kornheiser is continuing his quest to make you think that he did belong today, and now he's using comparisons to other NFL analysts to prove his point. Via TSB....

"And this was great to hear, because I think most of the criticism is from people who don’t play themselves but who insist that football be mystified. Everything else has to be demystified in life, except football. These dopes want it mystified, and they want nothing but third-level and fourth-level Xs and OS. Which, if anybody has ever been around a football game--you don’t have to have played it--you know right away that it’s impossible to know. Because there are 22 moving parts. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on until they indeed look at the film. So to find out that people liked my work was very, very good for me."

"Last year, that was a really good football broadcast," he said. "It was really good. Jaworski and I have obvious rapport, that’s just obvious to anybody who paid attention to the show. And I really REALLY liked the show last year, and thought it was as good as ANY football game being broadcast, and believe me, I watched them all. I had to suffer through Brian Baldinger just like everybody else did."

While I'd like to disagree with him, he's actually close to being right this time. I wouldn't call it a "really good football broadcast", but it certainly wasn't the worst. The trio improved immensely from year two to three, and while I still think Tony wasn't the man for the job, he did the best with his abilities. And yes, I think we can all agree Brian Balldinger is god awful.

Kornheiser Feels the Love After Leaving MNF (The Sporting Blog)

Look, I'm not one to kick someone when they're down, and Tony Kornheiser has certainly received his share of criticism, but this quote from his latest appearance "On The DL" just cracked me up....

“I am absolutely gratified and buoyed by the street reaction that I have gotten where people say to me ‘we really liked your work, we’re really going to miss you.’ Total strangers, people I don’t know, seem to have responded very well to what I did on Monday Night Football. That thrills me. I didn’t expect that.

“You know, I thought that critically I was crushed, and internally, maybe, at ESPN there were a lot of people who didn’t like me -- I mean, I don’t know that, but I sense that every once in a while -- but I think there are just people who don’t like me. But the average guy on the street, at least the one who wants to talk to me, is so kind in what they’ve said and I’m very grateful for that.”

So basically everyone who mattered (i.e.- His co-workers and peers in the business) think hammered him, but the average Joe on the street says they'll miss him? First of all, I don't think Tony is that much a "man of the people", that he's strolling around DC and talking with the commoners. But even if he is, I'm sure people would bring up PTI over anything he did on MNF. I certainly could be wrong though.

Tony also talks Gilbert Arenas, the Mickelsons, Gruden and Millen and Twitter! Be sure to listen and subscribe to the OtDL podcast!!!

Tony Kornheiser Enjoys Salty Snacks, Talks MNF, Radio Future and Twitter (On The DL)

I felt a bit sorry for him at first, but Joe Theismann has spent the last three years whining about MNF and Tony Kornheiser, to the point it's almost sad. Well Theismann isn't done, and on the heels of Korny leaving Monday Night Football, he headed to the airwaves to pile on. Adam Schein, host of the Sirius Blitz, asked Joe about Kornheiser, and here was his response....

Adam Schein: “In your opinion, how will history judge, how should history judge Tony Kornheiser’s time in the Monday Night booth?”

Theismann: “I think as a fish out of water. I don’t think Tony was ever really comfortable in a role. I know the time that I spent with him, he really didn’t want to do football. One of the things we discussed early on, he didn’t want to go to meetings and it was an interesting scenario because, you know, Tony is a cynic. Tony wants to criticize. That’s what he does with PTI and that’s what he’s done as a writer. When he got into television the reason he didn’t want to sit down with coaches and players was really simple, because he felt like if you got to know them then it would be very difficult to be able to criticize them the way he has. And I think he really found out that there are a lot of really great people that are involved in professional football and a lot of the things that you hear, a lot of the things that you think about individuals aren’t necessarily the case. But Tony was cast in a role to bring a different type of perspective to the telecast and I think people will look at the three years there and say, ‘He was a writer. He was a guy that gave it a shot and it’s [unintelligible].’ It’s not for me to judge how someone will view Tony. I know how I did and I, like I said, to me I always felt like he was somewhat of a fish out of water. It wasn’t a comfortable place for him and that is very difficult to mask when you’re on a set. When you do three hours of a telecast people are going to get to know an awful lot about you and in Tony’s case I think he did a heck of a job trying to get ready and prepare but I still don’t think he ever found a comfort zone doing television.”

I love how he says that it's not for him to judge Tony, after he just spent a minute doing just that. Look, what he says about Kornheiser is right, but he's spent the past three years saying the exact same thing. Sometimes it's just better to just say nothing at all.

Sirius Blitz (Sirius)

We've heard from a lot of people on Tony Kornheiser's decision to leave Monday Night Football, and about his replacement Jon Gruden, but we had yet to hear from Tony himself. That is until tonight. Kornheiser explained his decision at the very end of PTI, and delved deeper into the notion that travel was the reason....

If the man hates flying, the man hates flying. Oh and the Hall of Fame comment was pretty damn funny. There was also a veiled shot at Gruden's different faces at the end of the program, but I cut the video off.

What in the world just happened? Tony Kornheiser has been replaced in the Monday Night Football booth by former NFL Coach John Gruden. Seriously. I'm not kidding. The cause appears to be the schedule, and the fact that Tony is afraid of flying, but either way the PTIer has decided to call it quits....

Former Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden is joining ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The dynamic, outspoken and often fiery Gruden will join commentators Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski in the booth when sports television’s signature series kicks off its 40th season this fall. Gruden will also contribute analysis throughout the year on ESPN Radio and other platforms, in addition to being a part of ESPN’s 2010 Pro Bowl telecast and Super Bowl and NFL Draft coverage.

Gruden replaces Tony Kornheiser, who has decided to step down after three years in the Monday Night Football booth.

“I would like to thank Tony Kornheiser for his many contributions to Monday Night Football the past three years,” said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president, content. “He has been a big reason for the show’s success on ESPN. Pardon the Interruption is one of ESPN’s most important franchises and fans will continue to see Tony on the show and involved in other future ESPN projects for many years to come.”

Kornheiser added: “I am totally grateful for the MNF opportunity that I truly enjoyed the last three seasons. I feel we got better each year. My fear of planes is legendary and sadly true. When I looked at the upcoming schedule it was the perfect storm that would've frequently moved me from the bus to the air. I kept looking at the schedule the past month and wanted to find a way to quietly extricate myself. If I could handpick a replacement of a football guy, I would cast a net and drag in Jon Gruden. He is the two things you most want -- smart and funny -- and has the two things I don't -- good hair and a tan. I love PTI and am looking forward to continuing to yammer and yodel with Wilbon until the end of time.”

Man, now that is a complete and utter shocker right there. I obviously think that Kornheiser wasn't the right person for the job, but like he said, each year he got better. Some moments were still unbearable last season, but the three were finally starting to get it right. As far as Gruden goes, I enjoyed him on the NFL Network, and it's definitely a good hire, but I question his dedication. It's no secret that he wants to go back to coaching, and this could quickly become a one or two year fill-in.

Why they wouldn't go with someone proven like Matt Millen is beyond me, but good luck to them. Maybe this is finally the combination they've been looking for.

(Via ESPN PR)

Got a note from ESPN that I had to watch the start of PTI today, and they were not lying. Kornheiser and Wilbon are breaking the news that the John Calipari to Kentucky deal is reportedly of because Rick Pitino was completing a "backdoor" deal at the time of Calipari's press conference today. Check the video....

If you remember, PTI tried something similar last April, but the attempt at fooling people that they were replaying the end of an NCAA Tournament game didn't really work. I have to admit to all of you, that even though I'm not a fan of April Fool's Day, that one was pretty good.

Oh and I have to also admit that I fell for it too (bastards!).

The first part of the latest Simmons vs. ESPN went down on Friday, but Bill Simmons not only hosted ESPN Senior VP & Exec Editor John Walsh on his podcast, he also got ex-Ombudsman LeAnne Schreiber to discuss the current "State of ESPN". Simmons has obviously been vocal in his distaste for his employer lately and the two guests talked about everything from commenting on employees (i.e.- Kornheiser on MNF) to the role of sex in Sports (i.e.- Erin Andrews). Here's are a few quotes (some quotes via Sports Business Daily) from both and then an audio snippet from both interviews....

Walsh and Simmons on discussing current ESPN employees: Walsh: "We don’t want to have people doing things critically within a company, going after one another."

Simmons: "For me the Kornheiser thing, the root of the issue, is ... fundamentally people watching a football game want to hear from people who played football or coached it. Anybody outside of that realm they just don’t trust their opinion on it."

Simmons on Sports Center: "I watch ‘SportsCenter’ and it’s like, all right we made money there, we made money there. To be honest, I miss the old ‘SportsCenter.’ I just feel like we make enough money as a company that we don’t need to bleed ‘SportsCenter’ with all these different zingers."

Schreiber on Announcers: "ESPN is the only way you can experience the game, and the announcers have a tremendous impact on it. So I think they care a lot about who the announcers are and how they're operating. I received almost no complaints for instance about, very few complaints about play-by-play announcers."

"The analysts and color commentators, you know, there were a lots of complaints about them and the all essentially come down to essentially one thing. You're too much of a presence between us and the game."

Simmons and Schreiber on random ESPN Segments and Sponsors: Simmons: "My personal biggest, I don't know if it's a fear or I just don't quite understand about ESPN is that they care so much about being a media entity, and reporting news, and being on top of things, and having the best editors and reporters, breaking stories. And then on the other hand, you know....the Budweiser Hotseat, and the Coors Light Top Five, and all that other stuff.

Schreiber: "Yeah that's the trick. You have the argument that could be made, that you have a sponsored segment and what you do on that segment better be something that is justifiable in and of itself that is news."

"Simmons: "Did you feel that was consistently the case?"

Schreiber: "No. It felt it was variable, but I felt it was actually getting better.

And that's just a small taste of the over two hours and thirty minutes (!) worth of audio. I had recently thought that Simmons was just trying to get fired, but if his gripes cause this much discussion, you have to consider his complaints/bitching one of the most productive things to happen to ESPN in years.

As far as the quotes above, nothing sums up everyone's feelings on the network better than the last exchange between Simmons and Schreiber above. I am in the group of people that think ESPN has certainly has improved, but for every step they take forward....they take a giant leap back.

Hopefully these discussions help the network, and I have an idea. If ESPN won't have me on as the Ombudsman, they should get Simmons to try out the role.

John Walsh (ESPN: BS Report)
LeAnne Schreiber Part One (ESPN: BS Report)
LeAnne Schreiber Part Two (ESPN: BS Report)
Simmons Discusses Gripes With ESPN Senior VP & Exec Editor Walsh (Sports Business Daily)

Of course the answer is no, but there was yet another funny moment on PTI yesterday, when Wilbon called Kornheiser out for his appearance on the "Today Show" with Matt Lauer. Wilbon not only questioned it, but even accused Tony of "auditioning" for the show. Here's the clip (thanks to HK for the vid)....

It would never happen, but wouldn't it be funny if the end of PTI was brought on by Matt Lauer? If there's a way to go out....that would be it!

I mentioned late yesterday that Tony Kornheiser would be on the Today Show this morning, after he and Wilbon called out Matt Lauer, and here is your video. Not only does Tony don fake antlers but he even questions the fact that there are actual deer in the Hamptons. Enjoy!

That was actually pretty darn funny, and I'm with Kornheiser on this one. I would never call "one of the most trusted man on television" a liar, but I've been to the Hamptons before. There ain't no deer around dem parts!

There was a rather funny segment on last night's PTI program that had Wilbon and Kornheiser debating just which bike accident was more intriguing, NBC's Matt Lauer during his recent bike accident, or Lance Armstrong's crash. Well the Today Show picked up on it, and even joked that Matt Lauer would sue Tony and Mikey for their comments. Here's the clip via DC Sports Bog....

Pretty entertaining, and while Matt Lauer's story is somewhat unbelievable, I have seen an actual person get hit by a deer before. Since then....nothing's really shocked me.

Update: Tony will actually be on tomorrow with Matt Lauer. I'll try to get the video for you all.

Today Show vs. Kornheiser/Wibon (DC Sports Bog)

The past few years, we've been blessed with two opening night Monday Games by ESPN, and this year will be no different. Not only are they giving us two great games this year, but in the first game, they've set themselves up with quite possibly two of the most polarizing characters in the NFL. The Buffalo Bills, and newly acquired Terrell Owens will be heading to New England, to take on the Patriots, in Tom Brady's first game back from the knee injury that sidelined him all of last season.

Via ESPN....

Monday Night Football will kick off its 40th season with two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady expected to make his highly-anticipated return to the field when the New England Patriots host wide receiver Terrell Owens and the Buffalo Bills in the first game of a nationally televised ESPN doubleheader on Monday, September 14. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, followed by the San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders in a matchup of AFC West rivals at 10:15 p.m.

The Patriots finished with an 11-5 record in 2008 despite losing Brady to a season-ending knee injury in their opening game. In 2007, Brady was named the NFL MVP after leading the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 regular season record and a Super Bowl appearance. The AFC East rival Bills will make their season debut with a revamped offense featuring Owens, the dynamic All Pro wide receiver who signed as a free agent earlier this month. ESPN’s MNF commentator team of Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and analysts Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser will call the game.

Quarterback Phillip Rivers and running back LaDainian Tomlinson will lead the Chargers against the Raiders in Oakland in the second game. San Diego won the AFC West a year ago and advanced to the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs. The Chargers and Raiders also played in ESPN’s inaugural season-opening MNF doubleheader in 2006. The ESPN commentators who will call the game will be announced later this offseason.

The Bills-Patriots is obviously a good matchup, but the Raiders? I know it's tough to find a West Coast game during the first week of the season, but there has to be something better than that one. Either way, it should be a good opening Monday Night, and this release also signifies a few other things. First, that the Cowboys "New Stadium Game" will end up as the first game of the Sunday Night season on NBC (Titans-Steelers are rumored to be the Thursday Night Opener), and second, that Mike, Mike and Mike, won't be calling the second game.

Update: Here is your full Kickoff Weekend schedule, plus the Thanksgiving Day action, via the NFL....

Thursday, September 24th- Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers (NBC, 8:30pm)
Sunday, September 25th- Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (NBC, 8:30pm)
Monday, September 26th- Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (ESPN, 7pm)/San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders (ESPN, 10:30pm)
Thursday, November 26th (Thanksgiving Day)- Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions (FOX, 12:30pm)/Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys (CBS, 4:15pm)/New York Giants at Denver Broncos (NFL-N, 8:20pm)

I was all set to follow up with the based on an article from the Detroit Free-Press that detailed Kornheiser and Wilbon's, extreme anger with Detroit's NBC Affiliate for the whole disclaimer thing, but this is much more entertaining.

PTI is still doing those live cut-ins during commercials, but apparently they're running out of ideas. Why do you ask? Well because yesterday they had Tony Reali make out with the camera during one of them....

Man, that was a bit too close, wasn't it? It might be time to try something else guys. Just sayin'.

PTI's Kornheiser, Wilbon not amused by Channel 4's Matt Millen crawl (Detroit Free-Press)

It's been awhile since we've highlighted one of PTI's random commercial cut-ins, but this one was too funny to ignore. As they come back from one commercial, and heading into the next, you can tell that Kornheiser is trying to come up with something for the "Give the People Something to Watch" bit at the end of the show. Tony only cares to know if one show is on, and that show is American Idol!

Good lord. I don't watch the show, but isn't it on just about every night during the week? You would think that someone working on the set would know the answer to Tony's question.

Idol....Idol?....Idol's On???....Oh Idol! Oh and if you're looking for more Tony, be sure to check out his latest interview with Dan Levy over at "On The DL".

Tony Kornheiser (On The DL)

Tony and Matt Millen have had a long relationship, and even as Millen was destroying the Lions, it was still tough for the PTIer to say anything bad about the guy. Kornheiser thinks so highly of Millen that he said yesterday that a booth that adds him as an analyst would be the best in the business. Even better than the MNF team. Via Fanhouse....

"It's fair to ask the question, 'If you're so smart, why didn't you ever win? But Matt Millen is great on TV. Not good, he's great. The booth that he walks into will become the best booth. Even if he walks over my body and sits in my seat, it's going to become the best. He's just great at it, and in six months or less people will forget."- Tony Kornheiser

I personally enjoy Jaws more, but during some of the later games this season, he started to get on my nerves. Tony is right about one thing though, replacing him with Matt Millen would make the MNF booth infinitely better. Hell you could replace him with Pam Ward, and it would be better. Well maybe not Pam....let's say FOX's Chris Rose.

After the third year of Monday Night Football on ESPN, the trio of Tirico, Jaworski and Kornheiser have definitely improved in the booth, but there are still some things that bother both myself and the masses. Kornheiser doesn't seem to annoy everyone as much as in years past, and is starting to settle into his role, but some of his tangents and on-air "articles" remain over-the-top. The constant Brett Favre talk through the first five games or so was unnecessary, and it took a chastising from Tirico to finally make him stop.

Other than that, the only other thing the trio suffered from was a set of terrible games. But even with some stinkers, Monday Night Football was the most watched program on cable this past year. Via ESPN PR....

ESPN’s third season of Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable television in 2008, set an all-time cable viewership record for the third straight year and drew the year’s three biggest cable household audiences and 13 of the top 15. In three seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered seven of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the Eagles-Cowboys telecast on September 15, which attracted cable’s largest household audience ever (an average of 12,953,000 million homes).

ESPN’s 17 Monday Night Football telecasts in 2008 averaged a 8.9 rating, representing an average of 8,679,000 households (11,962,000 viewers – P2+), increases of 3%, 5% and 7%, respectively, vs. 2007 (8.6; 8,277,000 and 11,230,000). MNF ended on a particularly strong note with last night’s Chicago Bears’ 20-17 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers delivering a 9.8 rating, representing an average of 9,582,000 households (13,803,000 viewers – P2+). The game ranks as the third-largest household audience on cable this year.

The numbers don't lie, and for those of you expecting or wanting a change, aren't going to be getting it anytime soon. I know we poke fun at the trio each Monday night, but they're slowly getting better each season and each broadcast. If it ain't entirely broken, I'm sure ESPN feels no need to fix it. And they honestly shouldn't mess with what's working (for the most part) at this point.

That's not to say that there weren't some funny moments and quotes throughout the year, so what I've done is come up with a top ten set of quotes, and a compilation video of clips I've saved throughout the year. We've got Tony apologizing for a comment on Hispanic Heritage Day, Emmitt being Emmitt (Plaxico Berries, Rites of Patches and more) and Kat Deluna butchering the National Anthem. So buckle up and enjoy your 2008 Monday Night Football Season in just eight short minutes!



10. "Hi Brett, Hi Diana."- Mike Tirico during the Week One Packers-Vikings matchup

9. "This is not a Buccaneer team that's built to come from behind." - Jaws
"But they have, on the road. 3 times." - Mike Tirico

8. "Does that mean that, Delhomme, he went to Jarrett?" - Tony Kornheiser

7. "Great play calling, I can't tell you anything else. Very hard."- Mike Ditka

6. "The good thing about being short is that everyone else is tall...."- Emmitt Smith

5. "They were dooing for Deuce McAllister."- Mike Tirico
"Dooing?"- Tony Kornheiser
"Deucing."- Mike Tirico

4. "We put the focus on Favre because people like me are in love with him."- Tony Kornheiser

3. "That's exactly the kind of pass Favre would have thrown. Does it remind you of him at all?"- Tony Kornheiser
"Yes, but you've got to let it go, Tony."- Ron Jaworski
"I'm going to put a Favre moratorium on the Second Half. You only get five mentions!"- Mike Tirico

2. "I took high school Spanish, either he said he's not going to be caught, or please pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow." - Tony Kornheiser
"I said something before which I shouldn't have said, I apologize for it. Not my first mistake, undoubtedly won't be my last, but a 100% apology."- Tony Kornheiser

1. "This kid has obviously not earned his rites of patches in the locker room."- Emmitt Smith
____________________

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to join in on the live-blogs each Monday Night, and sorry for bailing near the end of the season (there was good reason, but I don't want to bore you with the details).

I have a little year in review piece going up for Monday Night Football later in the day, but MDS of Fanhouse got the chance to sit down with Mike Tirico before last night's game to talk about the crew's third year in the booth. Tirico answers questions about his preparation, and Jaws' Xs and Os, but more importantly....does Tony Kornheiser mention Brett Favre too many times?

Great interview, but that camera sure is close. I kid, I kid. I also think that's as good of a booth breakdown as you're ever going to get. I'm not saying whether the three succeed in their preparation, but you can definitely tell that's the direction they're going on gameday.

ESPN's Mike Tirico Discusses His Preparation and Working With Jaws and Tony (Fanhouse)

Tony Kornheiser went on "On The DL" again this week and after a few questions about his work on Monday Night Football and "bloggy news", the ESPNer broke the news that he's only going to be doing MNF for awhile and not radio....

“I don’t want to yo-yo. I don’t want to do it five months on and six months off. Or five months on and seven months off, whatever the math is. I don’t want to do that. So if I’m going to do Monday Night Football...if I’m gonna...then I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do radio until I can do radio forever.

“Right. There is no radio, as long as I’m doing football. But I’ll happily be a guest on anybody else’s radio show whenever they want me. I loved it. I love radio. To do it for a while and stop becomes more painful than not doing it at all.”

Seems like a smart idea, and hopefully something that will give him time to improve on his work in the booth. Like him, I think the three are working much better this year, but still have some holes in their game. A lot of that has to do with the crappy games they've had this year, but also a lot to do with them still defining their own roles.

Oh, and everyone also give a round of applause to Dan Levy on his 100th show! Congrats.

Special 100th Episode Extravaganza - Tony and Jaws Lead Off (On The DL)

When I first got an email with the above quote, I assumed that there had to be some sort of joke involved with the comment. But no. Not joke at all. Tony was asking Michael Wilbon if he had any wedding advice for Shelden Williams and Candace Parker, who recently eloped, and he had this to say....

So that's why he was hanging out at those porn star parties! But hey, I'm not one to judge. Like Kornheiser said....good for you.

(Thanks to ES for the tip)