Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Within the echo chamber of the blogosphere and Internet message boards, making fun of Tony Kornheiser on Monday Night Football was a pretty easy business. Just about everybody would agree with you, and just about everybody would send their own barbs at the orange guy.
The famously prickly Kornheiser--who has lashed out at critics in the past--recently began saying he had stopped reading his critics, yet in a radio interview today he reported that the feedback he's received since stepping down has been overwhelmingly positive.
"I’ve now gone three years without reading a word about myself, because I’ve been told by so many people that it’s so bad, so I don’t bother to do it," he told Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980. "Anyways, I find out—and this is strictly anecdotally, of course--but I find out as I just sort of work around near where I live or where I go...that people liked my work. They really liked it. They say, 'I’m really sorry you’re gone, I really liked it. You were funny, you were a regular human being, it wasn’t just Xs and Os that nobody understands anyway.'
"And this was great to hear, because I think most of the criticism is from people who don’t play themselves but who insist that football be mystified. Everything else has to be demystified in life, except football. These dopes want it mystified, and they want nothing but third-level and fourth-level Xs and OS. Which, if anybody has ever been around a football game--you don’t have to have played it--you know right away that it’s impossible to know. Because there are 22 moving parts. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on until they indeed look at the film. So to find out that people liked my work was very, very good for me."
I know Tony a little bit, although I'm pretty sure he hates me, and he's often critical of his own work (except in this interview he also called PTI the best show on television, which won't rate high on the modesty scale). But he was pretty dang positive today when looking back on his third year of Monday Night Football work, which he said was his best.
"Last year, that was a really good football broadcast," he said. "It was really good. Jaworski and I have obvious rapport, that’s just obvious to anybody who paid attention to the show. And I really REALLY liked the show last year, and thought it was as good as ANY football game being broadcast, and believe me, I watched them all. I had to suffer through Brian Baldinger just like everybody else did."
Well, that's gonna make for an awkward meeting at a TV reception one day. Anyhow, Kornheiser again said that the airline travel drove him away from MNF, that it was the first time in his career that he had to "grab for the microphone" as the third man in a booth, and that there were changes he would have made to the show, but that they weren't dramatic. He also said that Jon Gruden will offer a 180-degree change from his approach, and I guess we'll all have to decide for ourselves whether Gruden is mystifying or demystifying the game, offering third-level Xs and Os to blogging dopes or improving the product.
Either way, Kornheiser was pleasantly nostalgic about the whole thing, which is probably how a lot of us fans will end up remembering his tenure, regardless of what we might have Tweeted during the third quarter of the 11th game on some depressing November night.
"Oh, I’m gonna miss it, I’m gonna miss it tremendously," he said. "I’m gonna have great longing for it, because it introduced me to a whole new part of the sports culture that I’d never seen before. I mean, I was inside the ropes. It was cool fun....I’m not gonna say every bit of it was great, that would be insane, and that would be a lie...but it was GREAT to have done. I’m so happy for the opportunity to have done it and I don’t use the word proud a lot, because it’s not quite prideful, but I’m really thrilled. I thrilled that I did it for three years. I’m gonna miss a lot of it, really a lot of it, and when I watch those games there’s gonna be a great longing for it."
For more of Dan Steinberg, visit his blog with The Washington Post, D.C. Sports Bog.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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Kornheiser was by far one of the worst on MNF. Jaworski is awesome and he might be friends with Kornheiser but make no mistake that he gets supremely irrated by what Kornheiser calls demystified commentary. Are you kidding me? Its true that a lot of football is mystified but most people don’t like commentator’s pretending we are dolts and talking to us in generalities and banalities. What we appreciate is taking the mystified parts of football and translating them into layman’s terms which Jaworksi is great at doing. And of course even the worst commentators are going to have some fans. Opinions are diverse but I doubt a majority of people liked him in his role on MNF. Good riddance.
P.S. I love him on PTI. He’s funny, and that show brings out his personality and suits his tone and knowledge. And for those of you looking to see when Jaworksi was irritated, look back at the first game of Aaraon Rodgers when Kornheiser couldn’t stop comparing him to Brett Favre, and Jaworksi just shot him down.
by julius_seizure on Jun 23, 2009 4:27 PM EDT reply actions
Mystify or demystify? What the h3ll is he talking about? Tony, THAT is why you fail. You were meant to serve the role as the color man…you know, guys like Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Jim Nantz, Keith Jackson – people with voices that made you feel like, "hey, I’m watching something important!" They didn’t want a loud, nasally nerd obsessing about everything that was going on as if it were a reality TV show as opposed to a football game. People can only take so much of you drawing attention to a player’s off-field issues as it relates to the previous play, what T.O. had for breakfast, or what underwear Brett Favre was wearing last night.
People don’t want PTI while watching football. They want to watch FOOTBALL, not Entertainment Tonight.
by BuckeyeXB on Jun 23, 2009 7:09 PM EDT reply actions
Kornholler… What classic denial …Dan Steinberg, are you related to Tony? You must be kidding .. "feels the love" … ha ha ha Good -one !
My question is, what took MNF so freakin long to can the bum? That is the real "Mystification"… I remember one game …. when Tony K-hole,
rant and raved @ Brett Farve… for all 4 Quarters! Poor Jaws … Dennis Miller was at least entertaining! Tony … you, my friend…"aint no broadcaster"… Oh.. and nice deflection… calling us, "blogging dopes"…
I know football inside and out…Maybe, you SHOULD have read some of what people had to say? Called feedback … you self-centered dork!
Anyway … ratings just went -up !!! Agree with Julius S.
Don’t let the airplane door hit you in the ass! ha ha
by wheelo on Jun 24, 2009 3:18 AM EDT reply actions
Thank God! MNF is back. That idiot almost killed a tv institution in the game of the week, and I’ll be glad to tune in now.
by hockey_eh_721 on Jun 24, 2009 8:08 AM EDT reply actions
I’m a big PTI fan and I love Kornheiser on it. But on MNF he was a fish out of water as was Dennis Miller who I Happen to be a huge fan of but not on MNF. They both sucked. We will never see the days of Frank, Howard and "Dandy" Don again. Those days were majic. Hopefully Gruden can bring some of his "Chucky" attitude to the booth and spice things up a bit. It’s alot easier to listen to someone who has been in the trenches and trust that they know what they are talking about. That being said I think Jaws is Great and he’s perfect for MNF.
by bamagator8 on Jun 24, 2009 8:48 AM EDT reply actions
His focus is on himself, not the game. The game is secondary. He is actually anti-sport. Some may remember a toupee-wearing announcer in the 70’s.
His analysis of his performance is as misguided and convoluted as his analysis of the games. On top of that, it is disingenuous. Madden didn’t mystify things – he did exactly the opposite.
The author pretends to be a critic while writing a very flattering piece.
by rp33 on Jun 24, 2009 9:05 AM EDT reply actions
Yeah I’m in the minority here but I liked Kornheiser for some of the reasons that people "told" him. I don’t know if people actually told him that or he just made it up, but I at least feel that way so he can take something out of that, at least he didn’t spread false opinion.
MNF is more than Football on a Sunday. It’s up against prime-time shows and the attempt is to get ratings from mroe than just the football fans. All of us are going to watch because we like football, but the casual fan who might not know all that much about football could be appealed to MNF because of Kornhesier. Point-blank. He’s a regular man and a big draw for the regular-man crowd.
by npcPronk29 on Jun 24, 2009 9:32 AM EDT reply actions
Did you know that Dennis Miller was kept as long as he was because the wife of the guy in charge like him. True. I put Dennis and Tony in the same bag. Trash bag that is. They where awful. MNF problem is with those that run it. There the ones that keep throwing these idiots at us. I don’t want a person that is in love with himself and keeps stroking his own ego. We want info on the game in front of us.
Not a Gruden fan either. Remember all those shots of him on the side line we had to put up with because those idiot directors are in love with the way he screws up his face every few seconds. It drove all of us wild and non of us here could stand it. Now we don’t have to look at his face to often, let’s hope he gives us want we want. A honest analyst of the game.
by CaptainArt on Jun 24, 2009 12:53 PM EDT reply actions
"I’m really sorry your gone, I really liked it.You were funny, you were a regular human being, it wasn’t just Xs and Os that nobody understands anyway."……really……someone said….to Kornheiser… that nobody (the same "nobodies"who watch FOOTBALL), DON’T UNDERSTAND Xs and Os??? And he thought of this as a compliment?? I don’t know if this is a sad attempt at some way for him to justify, to himself, he was better than he actualy was ( cause he stunk period! ) or something worse.
For instance, a person who would make such an idiotic comment like the one above, but STILL claim to be a Football fan. MNF isn’t supposed to be Late Night with Regis and Kathi Lee, it’s freakin football for cripes sake. This article only buries him further. Oh well, he’s ESPN’s embarrassment now.
by silverstar294 on Jun 24, 2009 8:59 PM EDT reply actions
he actually thinks he had a rapport with jaws? it always seemed embarrassingly obvious to me that jaws was exasperated by kornos naive questions, like i was. those who watched are indeed interested in the game and understand the basic x and o at least. jaws is good because he knows the game so well that he can learn ya while you watch.
i fear gruden will go to far the other way to the point where peyton manning would be mystified by all the x and os, but as long as no more korno and miller we are moving in the right way.
jaws is great.
by scurds on Jun 25, 2009 2:35 PM EDT reply actions
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