Someone else who's had enough of Tony.

Bob Sander is Chuck Norris

It's an old story but it blasts Tony so here we go.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Analysis of Week 8 Broncos/Packer's broadcast.

The Intro
Is it just me or did last night's broadcast have a very real "Oprah" feel to it. For a few minutes there I thought Brett had died or something and this was a tribute to him. I like Brett, as a player and as a person, and I think his wife is super but come on folks. When the broadcast team told me they had tears in their eyes and goosebumps watching Deanna's intro I almost threw up. Give me Special Agent Jamie Foxx any day. I mean I knew they were going to make a big deal about the apparent twilight of Favre's career but I had no idea they were going to make a tribute fitting a dead person.

Week 8 Grade: D

The Broadcast
This was a pretty good game and I have to admit I thought it was one of the better broadcasts of the year. Of course I was busy uploading pictures to Facebook and wasn't giving the game my full attention but I have to admit I didn't hate this broadcast. I thought that besides the time when Deanna was in the booth the game was getting covered pretty well. There were lots of replays (even some of penalties), good play break-down by Jaws and suitable excitement about the game from everyone in the booth - even Tony! The Deanna thing went on a little long but she was really nice so it wasn't that bad.

The funniest thing that happened during the broadcast was when Vince Vaughn visited the booth and asked the broadcast team if Jay Cutler was the QB who did all the bench presses during this last Combine. Never mind Jay is in his second year as a pro, and I don't hold anything against Vince because... well because he is not a professional sports broadcaster, but everyone's ignorance to the fact it was Brady Quinn that Vaughn was referring too was very funny. Any real NFL fan would have known that let alone *cough* pros like Mike, Ron and *cough* T.. *cough* To... *cough**cough**cough* Mike and Ron. (Deanna could have probably corrected Vince)

Week 8 Grade: D+

Tony Kornheiser

I can't say I thought Tony was any better tonight. He did talk about the game a bit more and, as I said earlier, he seemed generally excited about the game but his man crushes on any player on the field who is doing good is getting old real fast. Some of the comments this guy comes up with are so stupid and unfunny it keeps me in awe.

A few beauties from last night:

• The Denver Barrel Man (who was supposed to retire 10 years ago) is the Brett Favre of barrel men. (I bet the Barrel Man, having heard this, is the happiest barrel man ever)
  
• I'm developing a man crush on the guy. (Tony - you don't need to actually tell us this. Your attractions are very very obvious)
• After a Denver player dropped a ball. Tony's remark: Obviously he was supposed to catch that ball. (Is there an antonym for receiver?)
• Nobody throws to Champ Baily and when they do they don't beat him. Well Brett just beat him. Just so you know Tony although his name is Champ he is still human and can be beat.
  

I just can't understand why this guy person is in the booth.

Week 8 Grade: F

Week 8 - Packers/Broncos

Another Monday Night game is upon us. We have the surprising Green Bay Packers vs. the disappointing, but generally well coached, Denver Broncos. By my estimate the game isn't as exciting as last week's match up but the Packers are a good story this year and Farve is playing like a kid in the candy store again.

I have to wonder which issues Tony is going to hound (to death) tonight but if I had to guess I'd say we'll hear about Farve's incredible resurgence and how everyone thought Farve was going to be done after last season but has somehow put some gas in the tank and is playing exciting (and excited) football. We'll hear the question "Is Farve the greatest ever?" and Jaws will answer with another coin flip. We'll hear about how Denver, at 3-3, is not playing great football and has only won very close games and could easily be 2-4 or 1-5.

There is sure to be discussion about how GREAT New England is and how they are RUNNING UP the SCORES and that next week's meeting between the Patriots and Colts is going to be better than anything in history that has happened up to this point. (I hope I sensationalized this enough because I can assure you it will not hold a candle to what we will see tonight)

These are only my guesses and I am probably wrong as they are all football related and for all we know we will be bombarded with more non-football entertainment information than we care to see but will keep the target demographic (football wives) happy.

Unlike MNF - IHMNF Viewership Increases!

I was checking the page stats for the site today and was surprised at Friday's sudden increase. I was able to track it down to a link from another site. Thanks to The Big Lead for the blurb today.

The goal of this blog is to make some noise and the more people that see it the better. Make sure to vote on the Polls and send a comment our way.

Too True

Someone in the comments sent me this link. Check it out:

MNF Parody

It's pretty humorous!

Analysis of Week 7 Colts/Jags broadcast.

The Broadcasters

Mike Tiricio: I don't mind Mike at all. He is a decent color commentator who gives a fairly unbiased view of the game. Mike points out important details occurring in the game and has good chemistry with Jaws.

Week 7 Grade: B

Jaws: Ron Jaworski is the Xs and Os expert. He knows his stuff but I don't think his talents are called up enough. In last night's broadcast, by my count, he did two, yes two, X and O segments. Both on interceptions that were thrown by the Jags. My biggest issue with Jaws is how he deals with Tony, often getting caught up in useless dialog started, of course, by Tony. At the end of last nights show it was almost embarrassing how Tony kept pushing the issue of who is the better QB, Brady or Manning, and it ended with Jaws flipping a coin.

Week 7 Grade C-

You can learn a little more about Jaws in this article.

Tony Kornheiser: To put it bluntly Tony is what is wrong with MNF. Maybe I am not broad enough of a sports fan to know (or care) who Tony is. In fact until I saw his weaselly face on MNF I had no idea who this clown was. Maybe my problem is that I have never been enamored by his writing skills, on any given sport, or been caught up in any controversy he has tried to blow out of proportion like he does on a weekly basis on MNF. I understand sports writing is about creating controversy and that it sells newspapers but I think, for some strange reason, MNF should be about football. And Tony, well Tony is not about football. Tony is about contoversy! Tony's big issues last night were about the Jags dumping Leftwich before the start of the season, Brady vs. Manning, and what a stud Bob Sanders is. Besides those comments he had only two football related quips including talking about Del Rio's playing days under Tony Dungy and whether the Jags would go back to smash-mouth football to get back in the game. Other than those Tony might as well have not been in the broadcast booth. Here are an array of his stupid comments:

1. The Jag's defensive roll call sounded like NASCAR.
   
2. He comments that Del Rio throws his sock out instead of the red flag.
   
3. Jaws is saying Bob Sander's is like Chuck Norris and he can do everything including drive Tony's bus after the game.
   
4. Wonders if Brady is watching to see how Manning is doing. (Tony - These guys are not in some kind of epeen competition. Neither of them talks about their records without referring to their team. These guys are top athletes playing at very high levels who play a team sport. They are not like you- showing off in front of a national stage with an ego the size of Manhattan.)
5. Puts Jaws on the spot with the earth shattering controversy of who is the better QB - Brady or Manning. No matter how hard Jaws tries to dodge the question Tony is on him and on him. Remember the game is still going on at this point

I could go on a lot longer about Tony but needless to say he says nothing worthwhile throughout the broadcast and in fact causes enough friction with Jaws to make for some uncomfortable moments. Besides all that he is a distraction from the game. There were times I felt like yelling "The game is still going on!". Note: Replace "felt like" in that last sentence with "was".

Week 7 Grade: F-

Commentators Total for Week 7: D-

Guest Commentator

Don't get me wrong, I like Russell Crowe. He's been in some cool movies and he comes across as a pretty tough guy. But about 7 minutes of game time was wasted talking about The South Sydney Rabbitohs, that's right the Rabbitohs. If you really want to learn more about the Rabbitohs you can go here. I was watching the broadcast hoping to hear about some *GASP* football! Did they even once mention the game? I am not sure - I had visions of a rabbits running through my head. Watership Down anyone? All I know is that the entire time Russell was there the game took a back seat.

Guest Commentator Week 7: F (No Russell put down that phone.... Russell put down.. Nooooo!)

Colts/Jags - October 22 - 2007.

The game is over. 29-7 win for the Colts. Garrard went down early but I'm not sure he would have been the difference maker. Indianapolis looks for real and their D (a.k.a Bob Sanders) looks tough. I have November 4th. marked on my calendar.

As for the broadcast team... I would say they did about as good a job as they've done this year (meaning it was just OK) . I'll talk more about them tomorrow. But I really have to question what the heck Tony is doing in the booth. I had him down with one worthwhile comment the entire night.

Manning is the Man.

Peyton Manning, in my mind, is what football is all about. A student of the game, a great player, and someone with more class than the entire Bengals' organization.

Well guess what? It appears Peyton is not a big fan of MNF and, in fact, watched his brother play on Monday night in week 6 with the broadcast muted (shows just how smart he really is).

Anyway here is the article:

Here's a key matchup: QB vs. 'MNF'

It's a good read and you'll understand the phrase "Kornheiser's head on a stick" better even if it makes sense on its own.

If It's Broken - Fix It!

Here's an article I came across that fits with the theme of this blog. Take a read:

How Can ESPN Fix MNF

Whether you agree with this writer's solution or not word of MNF's suckage is starting to spread.

Monday Night Stats

Starting this Monday night I am going to be taking stats of the broadcast. I will be keeping track of things like how many plays aren't replayed, how many comments are not football related, and how many insightful comments Tony makes.

If you have any ideas of other events I should be monitoring please let me know.

Tuesday I will also be putting up a Grade Poll for the previous night's broadcast so be sure to come back then and cast your vote.

Kimmel Speaketh

So Jimmy finally let everyone know he is upset about the reception his comments on MNF have had.

Kimmel Speaketh

Thanks for sharing Jimmy. I heard the broadcast team laughing too. Their verbal silence (besides the laughing) spoke volumes about their class.

I like how they say Jimmy won't be back because of this but honestly he fit right in with the broadcast crew.

Update Oct. 21.07
Here is some more Kimmel drivel:

Kimmel Discusses His Monday Night Football Ban

The Final Straw

Before the Falcons-Giants game I imagine I was like a lot of MNF viewers. I watched because I love the NFL and was hoping the ESPN team would be an upgrade to 'attention to silly details' John Madden. Well, I can say now it isn't an upgrade and in fact is a huge downgrade.

I can honestly say I dislike the MNF broadcast and here is an article that explains the straw that broke the camel's back.

Kimmel's Remarks - Tony's Laughter

Take a read.

It's a Start

Came across this article today on the IMDB site:

Kimmel Cut from 'Monday Night Football'

Knowing Jimmy Kimmel will not be back on MNF is a positive but I still think his comments during the game and the crew's poor handling of them are a sign of how bad it is on MNF?

Comments?

How about a Replay?

Remember the excitement at the start of the regular season? Games counted. Teams game planned. It's what every NFL fan waits the long off-season for. The real deal.

After a plethora of games on Sunday in week one we were treated to not one but two Monday night games! I was so excited about the new season that I hardly cared if Oprah Winfrey * hosted the show. I was ready for some football.....

But as each week has gone by I have become more and more disillusioned about the excitement I usually reserved for the Monday night game. Monday night. The night of the big game were teams who had shown signs, or even flashes, of greatness the previous season squared off at center stage with prime time coverage.

What started this feeling of being let down? Well, to put it bluntly it was the lack of replays!!

I haven't been keeping track (yet) of the amount of plays that I thought deserved a second look (or more) on MNF and instead was treated to closeups of head coaches faces, players running to and from the huddle, or some random celebrity who happened to grace us with their presence at the game. I'm not going to mention anything (yet) about the running commentary during these intriguing looks into people not playing football! All I know is that we are not getting enough replays of plays. I am talking about amazing catches, grinding runs, one on one match ups, spectacular hits, and even penalties. (Was it really holding?) The list goes on and on.

The only time we get a good replay is if a coach thinks a play is worthy of review. When the red flag hits the turf we finally get to see the power of the MNF team. I am not sure what the number is but the MNF crew has more cameras filming then most Sunday games and when a challenge is made we get to see the play with startling detail from as many angles as a football fan could hope for. This is how good it could be on MNF. This makes what we are subjected to even worse.

* Check out the Oprah link. Yes they want her on MNF.

Enough is Enough

So I sat through another Monday Night Football. It wasn't a great game with the troubled Falcons hosting a suddenly good Giant's team. I hoped the Falcons would be better this year and that Joey Harrington would shine as all of Atlanta tried to put their troubles (Micheal Vick) behind them. It wasn't to be.

Boring game or no the issue here is this year's Monday Night Football crew. I have tried week after week, even with much better games, to ignore their antics in the booth but last night a chord within me was struck and now I need to release my anger and disappointment at ESPN and their terrible handling of MNF.

The straw that broke the camel's back, for me, was the shows special guest Jimmy Kimmel and his comments about last years analyst Joe Theisman. Not only were the things he said about Joe ignorant and hurtful but Tony's arrogant handling of these comments truly sickened me.

So today I started to search the web looking for other like minded people. I Googled "I Hate Monday Night Football" and could not find a site where I could vent my frustration. I did end up sending emails to ESPN and to Tony about my feelings but even having done that I thought I needed to take matters into my own hands. This Blog is the result.

Over the coming weeks I hope that as other people Google "I Hate Monday Night Football" they will be directed to this site and we can discuss the way we feel about the best night in sports and how ESPN is (mis)handling it.

If you are like minded please post and make your thoughts known. Even if you disagree with me I'd be happy to hear how on earth you could like MNF in it's present state.

Also feel free to click the links above and send your own emails to ESPN and to Tony.

In my email to Tony I mentioned I thought his ego was going to have a snowball effect before it got any smaller. I hope this Blog will have the same snowball effect in that we, true fans of football, can bring about change to a show that is not even touching it's potential and ESPN appears to have no interest in changing.