New night to shine
For NFL fans, Sunday night is replacing Monday Night Football.
“San Francisco cannot keep kicking itself in the foot like this,” Jason Witten famously said earlier this season in a particularly dubious moment of Monday Night Football.
And this. “He pulls another rabbit out of his head.”
If Yogi Berra had said such things, we would laugh and shake our head and feel all fuzzy that we were in the presence of such whimsical charm. Yogi, like Witten today, teaches us that it’s usually not what you say, but how you say it.
And there is no charm, no whimsy, about Monday Night Football. Not anymore.
The Saints play the Panthers on Monday night as the franchise nears the end of its 49th season — can you believe it? — and Monday Night Football has never been held in such low esteem. What once was appointment viewing has become can-miss television.
If it’s Chiefs-Rams, OK. If it’s 54-51, sure. If it’s a compelling matchup, fine. But otherwise, Monday Night Football is imminently missable. And that’s not Witten’s fault.
Oh, he’s mostly terrible. Bashing Witten has become a cottage industry. Witten offers little insight, few stories and no personality, all in a package like he’s running from a fire. Witten’s delivery is so rushed, he makes you tired just listening to him.
Some guys go straight from the gridiron to the broadcast booth with ease. All kinds of Dallas Cowboys have done
exactly that. Tony Romo. Troy Aikman. Don Meredith, when Monday Night Football was in its early glory.
Others struggle and either get better or flame out. That’s Witten’s untold tale. Witten hasn’t diminished Monday Night Football. Witten is the result of a diminished Monday Night Football.
Monday Night Football once meant Meredith and Howard Cosell, Al Michaels and John Madden.
Now it means Witten learning on the job and Booger McFarland trolling the sidelines on a crane, blocking the view of ticket buyers and cramping the airtime of sideline reporter Lisa Salters, by far the best thing about the current Monday night crew.
Monday Night Football in the old days was cutting edge. Under Roone Arledge, president of ABC Sports, Monday Night football had a feel of something special.
These days, Monday Night Football feels worse than the typical NFL broadcast.
Compare the production values and presentations of ESPN’s Monday Night Football with NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The latter has every whistle and bell; it oozes class and professionalism.
ESPN counters with mediocre production; more often than not, the crowd mics drown out the announcers, which would be a problem if the Witten/McFarland crew wasn’t doing the talking.
NBC Sports always has been the gold standard of sports television. NBC baseball in the old days was as good as it gets.
I’m no expert, but many NBA die-hards long for the day when the peacock network had pro basketball. And Sunday Night Football is the best. Everything is pristine.
Maybe ESPN broadcasts too much. Maybe it’s spread thin.
Maybe it figures the casual fans no longer watch in these days of unplugging, so what’s the point of excellence? Sunday night clearly gets the better games; Sunday night is the new Monday night.
If you don’t believe it, just watch the broadcasts on back-to-back nights, listen to Witten and lament the fall of an American institution. Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.