AT | ![]() |
Location: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium Jacksonville, FL
Kick-off time: 8:40 pm ET
Broadcast: ESPN
Key injuries: ESPN is reporting Marvin Harrison will indeed start tonight. Bob Sanders, Joseph Addai, Freddie Keiaho, and TJ Rushing are all expected to play.
Before we get into the open thread, I gotta say it is painful to watch MNF these days. If it's not the dumb celebrity interviews in the booth, which absolutely no one cares about, then it's usually Tony Kornheiser. We all though it couldn't get much worse with Dennis Miller, a man so obnoxiously stupid he makes Gregg Easterbrook look like Ghandi. Sadly, Kornheiser has de-evolved from a once knowledgeable, intelligent commentator into a no-whit, two-bit hack more interested in generating cheap laughs than in reporting on anything worthwhile. Listening to Kornheiser comment on a MNF game is like trying to watch a game and your girlfriend keeps asking you questions about how the game. "What's that yellow line?" What does first down mean?" "Which one is Peyton?" "Are all their butts that big?" "Why do they do that punting thing? They should just go for it."
By the end of the game, you want to scream bloody murder... and it has nothing to do with the game's outcome.
Like millions of other Americans, Peyton Manning mutes Tony Kornheiser and the MNF crew when he watches the games. I do the same. I mute the game and turn on my IPod. I'll likely be writing something on the laptop while the game is on, grooving to some appropriate "football music," but very rarely do I listen to the MNF announcers call the game. I like Ron Jawarski, but Mike Turico sounds like he's going through puberty when he's calling a big play, and Tony Kornheiser sounds like puppies being drowned. Apparently, the only people who actually like Tony Kornheiser are either complete morons or complete hacks, just like him. Bob Kravtiz, Peter King, and Mike Florio all love Kornholio. That should tell you something about the man's humor. When he's not taking shots at Peyton, his brother, or anyone with the last name "Manning," Kornheiser is busy slurping up Tom Brady's man juice, or pretty much anything fed to him by Bill Parcells. He claims ignorance on a lot of things while commenting on a football game, a decision that makes him look more of an idiot than an "everyman." I guess he's asking these stupid questions the normal viewer wouldn't ask so he can appear more "ordinary." There's just one problem with this.
THE ONLY PEOPLE WATCHING MNF ARE FOOTBALL FANS, YOU IDIOTS!
Why the hell would a non-football fan turn on MNF and watch a game when shows like Heroes, Gray's Anatomy, and a bunch of other non-football-related shows are on? When will networks realize that football fans and ONLY football fans watch these games, not people who don't know football. Kornheiser is trying to fill an unnecessary role, making him sound more and more like that annoying girlfriend who just won't shut up and let you enjoy the damn game. He's covered sports, and football, for over 20 years. Playing the part of the "everyman" makes him sound like an idiot who didn't pay attention to the games he covered for the last 20 years.
For tonight's game folks, learn to appreciate and enjoy your mute button. God knows I do.
For a Jaguars fan's take on the game, check out our man RiverCityRage (aka Chris Harris) over at Big Cat Country. I believe he is actually at the game tonight. Here's to a good, clean game with no injuries. Go Colts!