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The New Crew: Tirico, Theismann, Kornheiser

18
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by user Chris

If Monday’s Raiders-Vikings game was any indication, ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth crew has already developed a level of comfort and familiarity with one another, providing crisp commentary and entertaining banter and analysis. Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser head the team that will lead MNF into the series’ cable television-era. Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber will work the sidelines.

The Sports Hookup loves Tirico as a play-by-play guy. He knows how to call a game. He reports plays without throwing in bad jokes or trying to offer unnecessary analysis. He also has a smooth broadcasting voice that makes a person want to keep listening. We like that around here.

Tony Kornheiser is a humorous man. For years, we have enjoyed his comedy on Pardon the Interuption. His barbs will bring a type of entertainment to the show not present during the John Madden-Al Michaels-era. If nothing else, Kornheiser will make the program more fun. You cannot help but smile when you are watching a football game and you hear quotes like “I wish I had my turban on” and “Penguins are the way to go”.

Joe Theismann is the former player/coach that many broadcast teams have. He and Kornheiser will surely have many entertaining exchanges throughout the season. For example, during Monday night’s game, Kornheiser called Theismann’s hair fake, Theismann confessed he did not wear cologne, then tried to save face by saying he wore deodorant. Only with Mr. Tony Kornheiser in the booth could such events take place.


Date

Tue 08/15/06, 7:44 am EST


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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
The new booth looked good on Monday night. I think they guys are adapting to each other very quickly. As long as Tony is willing to stick with it, I think this can be a good booth for a while to come.
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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 3+-
I think Kornheiser needs to shelf the PTI bit during MNF otherwise he'll be Dennis Miller disguised as a respected sports journalist. From what I saw last night, the opinions were a little too much for me to handle on a game telecast.
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Davis21wylieMVP
1203 days ago
Score -1+-
Yeah, all throughout the game I couldn't help but think that Tony was being kind of a toned-down version of Dennis Miller's MNF persona. That said, I didn't think Miller was as terrible as everyone made him out to be, so Kornheiser isn't going to bother me either. Just don't do any Sylvia Plath references, okay, Tony?
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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud
1203 days ago
Score -1+-
i love theismann and tirico, they are extremely knowledgeable and have more pleasing voices than other commentators. kornheiser is a humorous man, and you can tell that the only reason he is on the team is to add levity to the commentating. it seemed like his witty comments were getting on theisman's nerves towards the end of the game. also, i heard that kornheiser was quoted as saying that he won't try to study the names of the players and try to gain more knowledge of the game. not the greatest work ethic, but i think the trio will work out
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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud
1203 days ago
Score -1+-
well i hope you're right, because a quote like that is somewhat troubling and raises doubts as to whether or not his heart is realy in the right place.
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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud
1203 days ago
Score -1+-
^^that was meant for bigppup
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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 2+-
Having heard, watched and read countless amounts of Kornheiser, I can feel safe in saying I doubt, that statement was meant with lil more than tongue and cheek. He is a very intelligent man, whose entire schtick is lowering the bar of his performance so he can then over achieve greatly because he does work so much and so hard.
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ShrubberyVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
Relax everyone, it's only pre-season.
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Anonymous Fanatic #1
1203 days ago
Score 2+-
I cannot stand Joe Theismann. He is generally thought of in the sports world as a joke as a broadcaster. He contradicts himself continually and is extremely annoying. I do like Tirico and Kornheiser though. Theismann?? Please.
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J CunninghamVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 3+-
Tirico is one of my favorites in the booth, and I know he'll do a good job on the Monday night stage. I think Kornheiser will also prove to be a better addition than people expected, especially the moer comfortable he gets in the role. He was good last night, but I could still tell he was nervous and sort of out of his element. As for Theismann? Well, let's just put it this way...I wish John Madden were still in the MNF booth--and I *hate* John Madden,
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Chris McGovernLittle Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I totally agree, Cunningham.
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LastRowAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 2+-
Joe Theismann is the Billy Fudge Packer of football...TK is just another older version of Dennis Miller with a tad more sports knowledge. Replace Michaels & Madden with this give me a break
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I also don't like Theismann. He makes a lot of incredibly unintelligent comments, and all he can talk about is the QB (how everything good is because of him, and nothing bad is a result of him). I've seen QBs throw passes ten feet over the heads of receivers, only to have Theismann scream about how the receiver gave up on his route. So, I couldn't care less about Kornheiser's comments getting on his nerves. I like Kornheiser precisely because he can be funny, but with MUCH more sports insight than Dennis Miller. I agree with BigPPup - Kornheiser's act about not knowing much or not caring much about sports is just as act. As a guy who's covered sports for MANY years and has accomplished as much as he's accomplished, I think anyone should realize when he says stuff to make it seem like he doesn't care, he's only kidding.
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
his aloofness and self-deprecation could come to hurt him. Many people who watch MNF aren't neccessarily hardcore sports fans or may not be football savvy or particularly knowledgable. He's gonna turn the people who don't 'know' him (like you or I) against himself.
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
Yes, it could, but I think that will only be people who don't give him a fair shake. He grows on you, and I think anyone that actually watched MNF on a regular basis will quickly realize his brand of humor for what it is.
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score -2+-
For all you Theismann haters - think about it, who's MORE fun to watave a leg get broken?? Come on, he's not THAT bad...he's better than you. If not, turn the TV down and announce the game yourself. To clear up another common misperception - Dennis Miller IS a sports fan, too. It's not like he was Louie Anderson in the booth.
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
Never said Miller wasn't a sports fan. But being a sports fan doesn't make you qualified to be in the booth. Heck, being a sports FAN doesn't even make you sports SAVVY.
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Twins15Varsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 3+-
Kornheiser probably won't bring a lot as far as football insight, but he's consistently funny and entertaining. Love the guy on PTI, and if last night was any indication, he should be very solid on MNF. I'm a big Tirico fan as well. As far as Theismann, overall I think he sucks, but he was ok last night. At the very least, getting away from Paul McGuire will help anyone.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score -3+-
I think the crew sucks. I have never liked Tirico. He just doesn't have the vocal chords to call big plays with excitement like the greats do. I love Tony K on PTI but he felt sort of out of place last night. Hopefully he will improve as the season goes along. Theismann is (right now) the best of the three and that's not saying much. I'm sure these guys will improve with time, but nothing will ever give Tirico's voice the oomph I would prefer in a play-by-play man and that is going to keep them low on my list no matter how well Tony ends up incorporating his humor. I liked the ESPN Sunday Night crew a lot better. In fact I like pretty much every NFL crew in existence better.
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 2+-
Depends on what you mean by calling the big plays. I heard a clip on Sunday of the Cleveland broadcaster calling Travis Hafner's sixth grand slam. That's an enormous feat and everything, but he was literally SCREAMING into the microphone on a hit that only extended a beat down of the Royals from 7-0 to 11-0. I'd rather have a commentator that can give good insights than one that screams.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score -1+-
The Cleveland broadcaster you heard happens to be number 6 on the depth chart. He calls like 10 Tribe games a year and I will fully admit he sucks as a baseball announcer (he's better at football). But their main radio announcer is one of the best in baseball. He is a great storyteller, gives great insights, and his homerun calls are out-of-this-world exciting. And, yes, he screams. He just has the right voice, the right pitch, the right timing, the right everything. I like a play-by-play man who gets excited when the time is right. It really helps to put the listener or viewer in the moment. Tirico may be good at insights (which I'm not sure I would agree with), but that's about all he is good at. Announcers can and should be multi-dimensional.



But back to your comment about the game on Sunday, Hafner tied a MLB record with that homerun. I don't remember what the score was when Barry hit number 73, but does it really matter?
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I wasn't knocking his excitement over the hit, nor am I concerned about how many games he calls a year. Just saying I thought that his screaming bordered on unprofessional. It was a terrible call. I was merely pointing out that what one person thinks is a good call might not work for another. I personally didn't see Tirico last night, so I couldn't say. I just wanted to point out that, while I like excitement, I don't care for a commentator who yells. They don't have to yell. That's why they have microphones.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
Well how about we replace "yell" with "raise their voice to indicate excitement"? Personally, I would have liked to see ESPN hire a commentator that can be both informative AND exciting. Tirico just doesn't have the voice to do the latter.
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
And again, I have no problem with them raising their voice to show excitement. There's a difference between that and what some commentators do, which is yelling.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
Well good. And I never condoned yelling, so I'm not sure what this back-and-forth is about. But before I move on, just to give you some examples of commentators who I believe portray excitement very well: Jon Miller, Brent Musburger, Mike Patrick, Al Michaels and Joe Buck. All of them raise their voice during exciting plays but I wouldn't describe any of it as yelling. And all of them are a million times better than Tirico (IMO).
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I agree that they all show excitement well, but I don't know that I'd prefer Brent Musburger or Jon Miller over Tirico. Miller constantly mispronounces names (it's Taveras, not Tavarez; and Betemit is pronounced just like it looks, it's not Baitameat). And Musburger (at least when it comes to football) is just a dufus. When he doesn't like a team, he doesn't hide it at all, and he almost never has a clue what he's talking about.
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JackdocJV Squad
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
Tirico is definitely capable of showing excitement. During last year's Pitt-Louisville game, the Pitt return man fumbled away the opening kickoff, and Louisville recovered for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Tirico commented to Herbstreit that it would be great to see the same guy return the kick for a TD. When he actually did, Tirico's call of the play (an incredulous "YOU ARE NOT SERIOUS!!!") was highly entertaining. Also, a note on Jon Miller's pronunciation of Betemit: On a recent Sunday night telecast, Miller explained that Betemit himself had told him that his name should be pronounced that way.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I know Tirico can show excitement. I mean, ANYONE can show excitement. The question is, how well do they show it? And Tirico has never really done it for me. It seems forced coming from him. With the best ones, the excitement just bursts forth naturally. Tirico is probably better than I'm giving him credit for, but it's just disappointing that ESPN didn't go with the best, especially considering they already had one of the best in their booth last year.
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ASwaffAll-American
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
Betemit told him it was pronounced that way? I think Miller misunderstood him. You also still have to explain why he can't pronounce Taveras, Langerhans, or a whole slew of other names.
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Chris McGovernLittle Leaguer
1203 days ago
Score 1+-
Frisky, who are you saying ESPN had who was one of the best? The old Sunday Night Football crew was death.
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FriskysmanVarsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I think Mike Patrick doing play by play was great.
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Twins15Varsity Captain
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
Oh yeah, IMO, that Sunday night crew was the worst announcing crew in all of sports... To use Paul McGuire's style... You want to talk about a group that exaggerated everything? You want to talk about a group that didn't really make any good points? Look at these guys, watch this, BAM!
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DRE-LOAAA-er
1203 days ago
Score 0+-
I was apprehensive about Kornheiser being on MNF. But after last night, I was impressed with the way he got in the flow of things. Tirico is solid and so is Theismann.
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