MNF switch
So, ESPN has announced that they’re replacing Joe Theismann in the Monday Night Football booth with Ron Jaworski. Okay. To me, this is about as meaningful as when Aaron Spelling replaced Shannon Doherty with Rose McGowan on “Charmed”. In other words, is anybody really going to notice? Sure, ESPN would like this to be far more momentous - akin to changes on another Aaron Spelling production, for example, when Farah Fawcett-Majors was replaced by Cheryl Ladd on “Charlie’s Angels”. Sorry ESPN, the MNF franchise is far closer to “Charmed” than “Charlie’s Angels” these days.
Ron Jaworski’s fine. He certainly knows football, and is generally able to relay his genuine passion for the game. We’ll see if Tirico, Kornheiser and Jaworksi are able to mesh as cohesively as Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan… but really, again, does it matter? People clearly tuned into MNF in the early days for Howard Cosell - and specifically, his interactions with Dandy Don Meredith (who he clearly despised). Theismann was clearly annoyed by Kornheiser’s presence, but it did not translate into good theater. Back in the day, they used to say that half the people tuned into MNF cuz they loved Howard Cosell… and the other half tuned in cuz they hated him. The game itself was almost a distraction at times.
Along the way, Al Michaels got involved. I like Al Michaels, solid announcer. Dan Dierdorf came and went. And Frank Gifford was eventually sent out to pasture, presumably forcing him to spend more time with his wife….. sucks for him. John Madden came on with Michaels, and they made a good pair. Course, now they’re over on Sunday nights, on NBC. Where the announcers were once as much (if not more) of a draw as the actual game on MNF, that is clearly no longer the case. If the game is attractive, people will tune in. If the game is exciting in itself, people will stay with it. If not, they won’t. Personally, I always try to get there in time to catch Hank Williams, Jr, asking all of us if we’re ready. I don’t know why, but I do like that diddy. Gets me revved up… although I preferred it when it was just Hank, and not the Ringo Starr All-Stars with him. If they water it down any more, I’ll be forced to lament, “That ain’t no Hank Williams (Jr) song!”
One last thought on Theismann: I really liked him in the trio with Mike Patrick and Paul Maguire. Patrick’s a good announcer, knows the game, but also knew when to fade into the background to allow Theismann and Maguire to have their little catfights…. usually involving Maguire putting Theismann in his place (which he needed at times). The chemistry was obvious, and it did make for a more enjoyable viewing experience on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football telecasts. I never understood why they didn’t just move that trio right over to MNF - rather than replacing 2/3 of the crew with a worse announcer, and a newspaper columnist. Hey - I like Kornheiser (and Wilbon) on PTI… but he doesn’t work for me in the booth.
In short, ESPN felt a need to make some changes when they moved their telecast from Sunday night to Monday night. I wish they would’ve adopted the life approach skillfully employed by noted talk show host, Garth Algar: “We fear change.” If they would’ve just left well enough alone, Theismann would still be calling Monday night football games with Patrick and Maguire - and I would be more inclined to stay with a bad game because of them.
Instead, Jaworski will just be a different voice droning on in the background as I focus on the play on the field.
Okay, I’m done now.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Actually, that could be an interesting exercise… matching up MNF announcers with Charlie’s Angels. How many Angels did they end up with, wasn’t it six? The original three: Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett-Majors. I know Farrah begat Cheryl Ladd. I believe Tanya Roberts and Shelly Hack later joined as well, though I couldn’t tell you who they replaced. Did I miss anyone?
Actually, that won’t really work, will it? The Angels were various degrees of gorgeous, and not much else - while the MNF announcers were many things… but “gorgeous” is certainly not one of them. If there had been any effort made to developing the Angels characters, perhaps we’d have something to work with. But then, that was the brilliance of Aaron Spelling, wasn’t it? Produce what’ll sell - and what sold was hot chicks playing cops and robbers. That’s it. Brilliant in its simplicity.
And for the record, the hottest one was clearly Tanya Roberts… and it wasn’t even close.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Cosell and Meredith hated each other, but were much more evenly matched than Kornheiser and Theismann. I absolutely despise Theismann, and the largest contributing factor is that he’s an idiot. I really enjoyed Paul Maguire, and I like Tony Kornheiser as well. But someone with half a brain needed to be their foil. Jaws is a great football guy, and may get into the sparring. I certainly hope so, because a lot of the games really suck.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Interesting to note that I’ve indeed heard many who don’t like Theismann at all - but the other group is not the “do like him” group, but rather the “don’t really care” group. Again, that’s the think with a guy like Howard Cosell - or switching gears, a guy like Howard Stern: They evoke passion one way or the other. Theismann seems to only evoke negative passion, or no passion… and that’s not good.
Jaworski and Merrill Hoge would occasionally spar over the Pittsburgh/Philly dynamic on NFL Live (with the delightful Suzy Kolber… but I digress) - so maybe he and Kornheiser can get something going. I guess we’ll find out next September.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Ummm… why do you know so much about “Charmed?”
March 27th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Because its reruns are on TNT and I run into it when I’m looking for “Law & Order” and/or “NYPD Blue”. I remember hearing something about Spelling putting the girls together (and possibly being among the only people in Hollywood who’d actually hire Shannon Doherty), and of course, Alyssa Milano caught my eye. Then at some point I remember seeing the chick that was/is with Manson (Marilyn, not Charles) on the show in promos - and noticed it was Doherty who was gone. Putting one and one together, I arrived at two.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah suuuuuuuuuuure.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Hmmmmmm…..yes I assure you.
March 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Count me in the “absolutely despise” camp. And no, it’s not becuase he’s a former Redskin - rather, it’s becuase he’s an absolute idiot when it comes to a) football and b) saying anything remotely intelligent and insightful
March 28th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Well… he was one of the scant few in the media (Merrill Hoge is the only other one I can think of) that actually picked the Patriots to win outright vs. the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Course, at the time, many thought he was an “absolute idiot” - and perhaps the fact that he turned out correct was more of a case of a blind squirrel occassionally finding the acorn than anything else, but still…. he did get that one right, fwiw.
March 28th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
You said it yourself - blind…squirrel…nut….