Joe Theismann has been been tabbed by the dim bulbs of ESPN to pair with Al Michaels to do Monday Night Football. This is brought to you by the same people that brought you the X-Games. This is about the dumbest idea since the Washington Redskins hired Steve Spurrier as their head coach.
Now, I could be accused of an anti-Washington Redskin bias. It's true that my second favorite football team is whatever team is beating the snot out of the Washington Redskins this week. And it's possibly true I once suggested the creation of a Joe Theismann action figure with fully posable multi-position shin action.
However, biases aside, let me assure you I am only thinking of the great game of football. Monday Night Football is a venerable institution which is the mainstay of the professional game. It is almost larger than the pro game itself. By picking a mediocre talent like Theismann, it's almost assuring the switch to cable TV will be a failure.
And, quite frankly, I'm concerned there may not be enough airtime for both Michaels and Theismann. It's quite possibly, given the way both of them like to talk, that by the end of the season we'll have two announcers just babbling over one another while a football game goes on in the background.
Is it too late to bring back Dennis Miller?
Update! 11:49 AM Apparently I'm not alone in my disregard for the abilities of Joe Theismann. The Road from Bristol is having a contest to determine "which ESPN broadcasting personality is the most totally loathsome and most deserves to suffer permanent paralysis of the vocal cords." Needless to say, despite tough competition, Theismann is doing well in this contest. Closer to home, Paul Noonan has a more visceral reaction. And Badger Blogger is not making a call to his cable guy.
