Something Nice About Monday Night Football. Well, Kind Of Nice...

I don't know about you, but I wasn't exactly racing home last night to catch the riveting Seahawks v. Oakland matchup on ESPN Monday Night Football. However, I did manage to catch the last few minutes of the game and I was pleasantly surprised to see and hear Tony Kornheiser saying something interesting. Finally! The magic potion consisted of one Michael Wilbon in the booth. Tony was clearly very comfortable with his old buddy. That was a nice call by ESPN. Having Mike there was a clever way to loosen Tony up. Tony and Mike's chemistry is so compelling that even Joe Theismann was being quiet! Nice, ESPN. If it helps Tony, ESPN should have a segment with Mike there every week, but at the beginning of game rather than the end. It might give Tony a comfort level that he can preserve throughout the entirety of the broadcast. I wouldn't even be opposed to Mike coming into the MNF booth permanently, although the challenges of a four man booth is obvious.

It is clear that the MNF team is not up to par. But if I could only save one man on that island, it would be Tony. Tony is not realizing his potential, but he still has upside. He could get up to PTI-strength, but ESPN has to figure out the best way to accomplish that. Mike Tirico is solid, but nothing special. He is not irreplaceable. And not only is Joe Theismann irritating, he is no Chris Collinsworth. At least, I love to hate Chris Collinsworth. Chris Collinsworth is neither inconsistent or incompetent. Joe has a long way to go be Chris Collinsworth... Sad, isn't it?

And speaking of Chris Collinsworth, NFL Network coverage will be starting in a mere few weeks on Thanksgiving. There is no reason to expect the NFLN won't produce an excellent game. NFLN is consistently good. Bryant Gumbel and Chris Collinsworth bring a lot to the table. In fact, the NFLN games may go down in history as the most sarcastic football broadcasts ever. The presence of the NFLN game along with NBC and their ace in the hole, flex scheduling, is only going to turn up the heat on the MNF crew to perform. Only time will tell if ESPN will respond. I mean, they only shelled out a cool billion for the rights (with no flex scheduling).