I really wonder what goes through their minds when they select these morons to work there. They'd be better off picking up some random stranger off the street and throwing him in there. I find it hard to believe people like Michael Irvin, Chris Carter etc. even went to any of their classes when they went to college. They can't speak english to save their own lives. Steve young seems retarded to when he speaks, in his defense though he has been hit in the head a few times to many. He is like an old punched out boxer. Aikman to for that matter. These TV stations need to realize that you don't have to have former players in there to validate the show. Some of them are really smart though, don't want to bag them all. Ron Jaworski and Merrill Hodge really have their stuff together. I think they should be coaches or coordinators.
ESPN is taking a path straight down the tubes. First it was that highly annoying heavy metal background music on SportsCenter. Then the faux boxing matches between Wilbon and the ugly guy. I don't know what makes them think we want to see MORE trash talking on TV. They must be looking at the meager success of Rome and Best Darn Sports Show -- and they think they're losing share because of what Fox is doing, not because they've dumbed down their own product. Don't they know that football (and maybe baseball) is the last bastion of cerebral fans? They must've decided that they must attract a different demographic, but they're losing their core as a result. I actually think Limbaugh could be a turn for the positive, but will withhold judgement until we see how his role is defined. I fear they have him for novelty value and will treat him accordingly. Well, at least we don't have to watch much of the pregame shows because it's prime capping time, but the really depressing part is the deterioration of the poontang quality on MNF. Lisa Guerrero is a disaster. At least they could dress her the way Fox did.
espn being owned by abc doesn't help them. monday night football was outstanding in its early days with gifford cosell and dandy don but when meredith took some time off to make movies abc really suffered, stooping really low in hiring one of the worst sideline reporters in history oj simpson from nbc. his later saga wasn't too surprising, he came across as a thug on the air.
al michaels is their lone saving grace and still they can't find anybody to complement him though madden is becoming less offensive lately. they shouldn't even bother with the sideline reporters.
none of the networks seem to get the simple fact that the audience is a fan of football not those that report it. just get the facts out there and quit trying to be entertaining... and don't bother trying to impress rudy martzke.
al michaels is their lone saving grace and still they can't find anybody to complement him though madden is becoming less offensive lately. they shouldn't even bother with the sideline reporters.
none of the networks seem to get the simple fact that the audience is a fan of football not those that report it. just get the facts out there and quit trying to be entertaining... and don't bother trying to impress rudy martzke.
Disney is the parent of both ABC and ESPN (though its just a technicality) and they do seem to be making some questionable decisions lately but they are trying hard to manipulate the fan base rather than just cater to the existing base. Its not a new strategy and if you think about it I suppose it makes sense - even if they landed the best combo of commentators and play by play guys the base group of tough guys age 20 to 40 (or whatever the range) are probably not going to wane too much on their reasoning for watching/not watching a particular game. Its the chicks and the geeks that they want to bring in to this thing and as they are showing - they could care less about the "tough guys".
Ditto CapperJohn - Irvin was atrocious on the Arena games! He NEVER added anything of value. He would say ridiculous stuff like "I'm picking Detroit." Troutwig would ask why. Irvin replied, "because Marcus Nash is on the team. I played with him in Big D, he's my guy." Great friggin' insight jackass! Now we got to listen to this idiot till February - ESPN is killing me!!
