What the suits at ABC don't seem to grasp is that Howard Cosell had an encyclopedic knowledge of every detail of the game, which he loved to flaunt to humiliate his ex-jock co-hosts. Theisman clearly despises him and Tony looks like a kid brother cowering in fear of a nuggie. The first two games are in the can and Kornheiser has been even worse than I thought possible. But Kornheiser? It looked like the Dennis Miller fiasco all over again. ESPN's Sunday night crew of Joe Theisman and Mike Turicco are servicable if a bit stiff. Replacing the abrasive and annoying Al Michaels and the out of touch blow hard John Madden seemed like a great idea to juice ratings. Although the show's ratings have sunk over the past few years, it's still the premier NFL property. People watch it because they can't get enough pigskin on Sunday. It's basically E! focused on sports.īut MNF is different. His ESPN show, Pardon the Interruption, is watchable, if only because of the contrast with the Sports As Religion tone of the other shows. What he has been his entire career is a wise guy from Long Island with a chip on his shoulder.
Skeptics were quick to point out that Kornheiser might not be the ideal third guy in the booth since, (1) he knows next to nothing about football, and (2) he knows next to nothing about any other sports. Trying desperately to recapture the magic that was once MNF, ESPN picked one of its own, PTI host and Washington Post sports columnist Tony Kornheiser, to warm the old Howard Cosell chair.