The Downfall Of Monday Night Football

[Natty Boh]

I understand that the games for Monday Night Football are picked when the schedules are made for the season. And that they could not foresee Peyton Manning being out for the season and other similar situations that can take away from certain MNF match-ups. Now with that being said...they need to improve it.

I don't hate the MNF crew but I really think they may need to re-work it a bit. When that crew was new and fresh with Tirico, Jaworski, and Gruden...I found them very entertaining and somewhat insightful. Now they are just very predictable to me in regard to what they say and how they say it most of the time. It's hard for me to explain but they just kind of seem "cartoonish" to me now. Tirico being the straight guy, Gruden with his thick accent (Chicago?), and Jaworski with his corny announcer voice.

The match-ups on MNF are one thing but the MNF crew is another. They have worn out their welcome with me. Sunday Night Football has been much better and from what I have seen on Thursday Night Football in just one game (Raiders/Chargers), the product also looks very good.

Now with all of that being said...I will continue to watch MNF regardless and maybe that is the problem. [img]http://content.boards.baltimoreravens.com//public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.png[/img]

[JO_75]

I wish the NFL would allow Monday Night Football to have the possibility of their game being Flexed.... that way the best MNF games can be shown. I also think it would be nice if Flex Scheduling could be for the ENTIRE SEASON and not just specific weeks.

[ryan23945]

i cannot stand tirico

"its gonna be holding" nano second later ref-"holding, offence"

news flash mike it doesnt make u smart or knowledgable calling the penalty just before the ref, especially when we can all c the ref who called it run toward the head guy making the sign

he does crap like this so often and its irritating, not to mention i cant stand his voice

[K-Dog]

The only problem with flexing Monday games is out of town travles. I would be pretty pissed if I booked an expensive flight and hotel based on a monday night game to have it switched to sunday morning or vise versa.
Can you imagine booking a flight and a room to see a 1:00 game and then fly out that night just to have it flexed to Monday?

[Purple Nurple]

[quote name='K-Dog' timestamp='1322368266' post='887661']
The only problem with flexing Monday games is out of town travles. I would be pretty pissed if I booked an expensive flight and hotel based on a monday night game to have it switched to sunday morning or vise versa.
Can you imagine booking a flight and a room to see a 1:00 game and then fly out that night just to have it flexed to Monday?
[/quote]
Yeah. They will NEVER flex dates, just times. For what you mentioned and millions of dollars in other reasons.

[Moderator 2]

Flexing MNF would be a nightmare, especially for people that need to work, find sitters or travel. I love Gruden and Jaws but the play by play needs work.

[JO_75]

[quote name='Moderator 2' timestamp='1322372196' post='887703']
Flexing MNF would be a nightmare, especially for people that need to work, find sitters or travel. I love Gruden and Jaws but the play by play needs work.
[/quote]

Good Point. Maybe Flexing MNF 1 or 2 Months ahead of time could work? I think the big thing that could help MNF is if they could do more Double Headers during the season. Week 1 they always do 2 games, one east coast and the other being a west coast game. Obviously that is the hardest part of doing a double header each week since we would always know the 10PM is featuring teams in the West.

[George70]

I'll admit it has been some while since I've seen a semi-good Monday Night game, mostly due to my apartment going without cable while the building is being re-wired for digital, but I feel that, should there be room for improvement, we should voice our concerns to ESPN. After all, there is a chance that when we speak as one, improvements can come.

[MagicianCamille]

I love MNF's commentary team personally. Mike Tirico is gold.

[berad]

Not as bad as the TNF crew but they're still bad.

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='berad' timestamp='1322496238' post='889215']
Not as bad as the TNF crew but they're still bad.
[/quote]

I think Mayock and Nessler are really good... better than MNF and leaps better than SNF.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' timestamp='1322500786' post='889267']
I think Mayock and Nessler are really good... better than MNF and leaps better than SNF.
[/quote]
I much prefer Mayock and Nessler over all the rest, although I'd love to see Al Michaels resume MNF duties again. I can tolerate Mike Tirico just fine, but he's more of a basketball guy than a football guy. Tirico is a little too understated for my tastes. Al Michaels has the right balance in how he calls the action, in the same vein as Pat Summerall.

And for the kids too young to remember Pat Summerall, he was fantastic with John Madden. Both men in their prime helped usher in a new generation of announcers, similar to Howard Cosell & Co. in the early days of MNF.

[berad]

[quote name='FerrariFan87' timestamp='1322500786' post='889267']
I think Mayock and Nessler are really good... better than MNF and leaps better than SNF.
[/quote]

Honestly, they're okay but I got tired of Nessler's mispronunciation of names / incorrect names and Mayock's catchphrases, he had at least four "favorite players"

[Moderator 2]

Mayock is a bit bland even though technically good, Like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman--cure for insomnia

[JO_75]

[quote name='Moderator 2' timestamp='1322510213' post='889413']
Mayock is a bit bland even though technically good, Like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman--cure for insomnia
[/quote]

I like Mayock and even though he is a refreshing voice in the NFL Broadcasting world, his bread and butter is still the Draft and analyzing future players. I feel like Mayock sometimes when talking about a player is treating it like that player is getting ready to be drafted. Someone mentioned how he always talks about a favorite player and it's the same with when he does the Draft.

[JO_75]

Ugh... Chargers vs Jaguars is next Monday Night's game. For those wondering it's in Jacksonville meaning the Jaguars got TWO Home MNF games!

[Wallace17_OutRunMe]

[quote name='JO_75' timestamp='1322546665' post='889901']
Ugh... Chargers vs Jaguars is next Monday Night's game. For those wondering it's in Jacksonville meaning the Jaguars got TWO Home MNF games!
[/quote]
Yea didnt those same Jaguars beat another team on Monday night football about 6 weeks ago and then only won one game after that against a winless Colts team and then fired their coach 2 weeks later...Boy losing to a team like the Jags can really come back to bite you especially if the Ravens dont win out the rest of the way...

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Wallace17_OutRunMe' timestamp='1322880615' post='892828']
Yea didnt those same Jaguars beat another team on Monday night football about 6 weeks ago and then only won one game after that against a winless Colts team and then fired their coach 2 weeks later...Boy losing to a team like the Jags can really come back to bite you especially if the Ravens dont win out the rest of the way...
[/quote]
Dude, just stop!! I want to say so much more, but I cant. Just stop your dribble!!! Its really getting old!!

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='Wallace17_OutRunMe' timestamp='1322880615' post='892828']
Yea didnt those same Jaguars beat another team on Monday night football about 6 weeks ago and then only won one game after that against a winless Colts team and then fired their coach 2 weeks later...Boy losing to a team like the Jags can really come back to bite you especially if the Ravens dont win out the rest of the way...
[/quote]
Slow your roll...

[BrownsFan]

I can completely tolerate Tirico but Jaws and Jowarski drive me up a wall. I pretty much watch the games on mute now because I just really don't care to hear them say "penetration, stud and special" 5,000 times in 3 hours. Every single freaking player is a stud according to Gruden and every single play is amazing.

[J-man]

To make it extremely interesting is that they choose next weeks match up during the prior monday night. That why you would watch to see if your team plays next monday night AND they will always get a favorable matchup. But knowing why youre going less than a week in advance might not work.

[Jamal]

I can understand some of these games, but Jacksonville/SD??

What was ESPN expecting there?

[JO_75]

[quote name='Jamal' timestamp='1322889172' post='892905']
I can understand some of these games, but Jacksonville/SD??

What was ESPN expecting there?
[/quote]

I agree... look at the more better games this week:

- Steelers vs. Bengals

- Falcons vs Texans

- Ravens vs Browns(They put this game on MNF before)

- Packers vs Giants

- Saints vs Lions(even though that eventually got flexed to SNF)

I wouldn't have minded Dallas vs Arizona over Chargers vs Jaguars.

[Natty Boh]

One thing that I will say in defense of the match-ups being nationally televised is this...

I am fairly certain that there is a limit on how many games a NFL team can have nationally televised per season, not including the playoffs. I think that number is 4...could be 5 but I think 4. So after 1 MNF, 1 Thusday Night Game, and 1 Sunday Night Game...there is only 1 or 2 more nationally televised games allowed for that team.

The popular teams generally get the max number of nationally televised games whereas some of the less popular teams may not get that. That is when you get those crappy match-ups with a really good team and a really bad team. The good team either directly or indirectly helps the bad team to get the national exposure. Sometimes it can be just a single player that brings national interest like Peyton Manning. If they knew Peyton Manning wouldn't be playing before the schedules were already made up...the Colts would have far less nationally televised games this season.

[codizzle]

[quote name='Jamal' timestamp='1322889172' post='892905']
I can understand some of these games, but Jacksonville/SD??

What was ESPN expecting there?
[/quote]
they expected SD ro be the division leader like almost everyone else was thinking and they prolly expected jax to be fighting to get into the wildcard picture.. When the schedule was made, david garrard was still their qb wasnt he?

[Romo Ravens]

[quote name='Wallace17_OutRunMe' timestamp='1322880615' post='892828']
Yea didnt those same Jaguars beat another team on Monday night football about 6 weeks ago and then only won one game after that against a winless Colts team and then fired their coach 2 weeks later...Boy losing to a team like the Jags can really come back to bite you especially if the Ravens dont win out the rest of the way...
[/quote]

So what do you have to say about the Steelers getting swep by that same team who lost to the Jaguars?

[H8R]

[quote name='Wallace17_OutRunMe' timestamp='1322880615' post='892828']

Yea didnt those same Jaguars beat another team on Monday night football about 6 weeks ago and then only won one game after that against a winless Colts team and then fired their coach 2 weeks later...Boy losing to a team like the Jags can really come back to bite you especially if the Ravens dont win out the rest of the way...
[/quote]


That loss doesn't hurt as bad as BOTH of the ones the Stealers had handed to them in the division.......

[True]

The two home games for Jacksonville on MNF are easily because of their attendance issues and the league is trying it's best to save em by putting them in prime time. Though they haven't had a blackout in like 15+ games I almost always read how they have to wait till the very last second to finally sell out.

It's not Jacksonville's fault. The NFL is trying to promote professional football in region where college football is 2x more dominate and it's just hard to get people to pay in that region without having a consistent competitive team.

I would not be surprised if in the next 10 years that the Jaguars and Bucs leave Florida. They both play in areas with a lot of transplants, snowbirds, college football fans and will be hard to sell tickets unless they have a strong competitive organization.

[JO_75]

Rams vs Seahawks??? What was ESPN thinking they would have got here? I know Rams and Seattle battled for the division and thought they were going to get a game where both would be contending for the NFC West and nobody saw the 49ers doing what they did but still. At least they close out MNF with 2 great games back to back, Steelers vs 49ers next Monday and Falcons vs Saints in Week 16.

Hopefully NFL gives ESPN better games next year.

[Natty Boh]

[quote name='JO_75' timestamp='1323736331' post='905132']
Rams vs Seahawks??? What was ESPN thinking they would have got here? I know Rams and Seattle battled for the division and thought they were going to get a game where both would be contending for the NFC West and nobody saw the 49ers doing what they did but still. At least they close out MNF with 2 great games back to back, Steelers vs 49ers next Monday and Falcons vs Saints in Week 16.

Hopefully NFL gives ESPN better games next year.
[/quote]
Ugh. I just hope the Seahawks defense gets me some fantasy points since they are home against a bad Rams team. I play match-ups week to week for the most part with my fantasy defense...that's why I have the Seahawks this week.