ESPN's MNF broadcast is unwatchable

[Nextmanup]

9 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

I got so fed up with the terrible play by play and useless color commentary that I had to turn it off.  Missed an exciting ending.

 

I forgot about Monday Night Manning on ESPN2.  Did anyone watch it?  How was it?

Do you like watching football?

 

I don't particularly like any of the 3 guys currently on the broadcast, but suggesting it is "unwatchable" is ridiculous.

 

If anything, the level of commercials including commercials they are now doing without bothering to go to a commercial break make the games unwatchable!  But that's been a problem for 30 years.

 

 

[MrSarcasm]

8 hours ago, foreboding said:

It was so obvious to me how everything good that happened was cause of how great Lamar was and when anything positive happened with the raiders it was gruden. Serious qb bias.

Did you see the bias with NFL.com Monday

2 headlines-

 

Allen inaccurate in loss vs Steelers.

 

Rodgers looking to regroup after loss.

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

10 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Collinsworth is the best color guy in the business to me. I know some people hate him but he is the best at his job. I think Romo had that title for a few years, and he was actually very good on the KC game on Sunday, but CBS have been obsessed with forcing him into a straightjacket otherwise and last season he was dull beyond belief. 

 

The most annoying thing about the MNF crew was them lusting after a punter who outkicked his coverage on every single punt. Like he is literally failing at his job and you are lauding him. 

Agree Collinsworth is the best.

Steve Levy is fine.  Griese and Riddick just talk too much.  It is non-stop from the time the whistle blows to the next snap.  If they just cut back 30% they would not have to be so verbose when discussing minimally important plays or players.    

[WotAGuy]

3 hours ago, Marv Levy said:

Yeah, I've always liked him. He's more of a Hockey guy but he has moved around and onto Football. Does anyone know if he got his start in the Buffalo area? I thought I heard that he did, but I could be wrong.

I wondered that too ever since he sat in the stands near us at a Bills game some years ago. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

5 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

I wondered that too ever since he sat in the stands near us at a Bills game some years ago. 

His Wikipedia entry shows he graduated from SUNY Oswego in 1987, and worked in mostly NYC broadcasting before he went to ESPN in 1993.

[theRalph]

Riddick and Griese sound too much alike....and Levy sounds like a computer-generated hybrid of Marv Albert and Al Michaels. 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

The Manning brothers were awesome …. Fantastic insight into the game and the things that surround the game. Genuinely funny without being forced. Russell Wilson as a guest has a shot at a TV career once his playing days are over. Not sure I could watch a game I was heavily invested in, like the Bills, but I would DVR it and make that my second viewing. 

[Dan Darragh]

16 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Do you like watching football?

 

I don't particularly like any of the 3 guys currently on the broadcast, but suggesting it is "unwatchable" is ridiculous.

 

If anything, the level of commercials including commercials they are now doing without bothering to go to a commercial break make the games unwatchable!  But that's been a problem for 30 years.

 

 

Yes, I really like watching football.  I don't really like watching all the nonsense on ESPN.  First one of the color guys described an incomplete pass like this: "Carr goes up to the line, looks to see what the defense is set up to do, then if he wants he can alter the play by calling an audible at the line of scrimmage. That's what happened here, although the execution wasn't good."  

 

Then there are the cute little "spontaneous" one-liners that are well-rehearsed, like when Hollywood Brown catches a pass and he says "Hollywood comes to Las Vegas."

 

Then there was the deep dive on two players' recovery from alcoholism. That's a nice story for the pregame or halftime and I'm happy for those guys, but they stopped talking about the game and missed a couple of plays in the process at which point I got fed up.

 

And by the way in an entire 9/11 weekend of watching football - maybe I missed it - I didn't hear Pat Tillman's name mentioned once.

[dave mcbride]

On 9/14/2021 at 7:03 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

Collinsworth is the best color guy in the business to me. I know some people hate him but he is the best at his job. I think Romo had that title for a few years, and he was actually very good on the KC game on Sunday, but CBS have been obsessed with forcing him into a straightjacket otherwise and last season he was dull beyond belief. 

 

The most annoying thing about the MNF crew was them lusting after a punter who outkicked his coverage on every single punt. Like he is literally failing at his job and you are lauding him. 

I despise Collinsworth, although I agree he is prepared. I hate his voice, mannerisms, delivery, and general folksy/smirking/falsely ingratiating tone. And the constant puffery. Other than that, he’s more or less fine.

Edited September 15, 2021 by dave mcbride

[Bubba Gump]

On 9/14/2021 at 6:36 AM, Brennan Huff said:

I actually liked the MNF crew. Anything is better than that lady they tried forcing down our throats. And also better than Collinsworth on Sunday nights 

 

Collinsworth is brutal, and his son is also annoying as hell. 

[Mr. WEO]

On 9/14/2021 at 6:26 AM, Dan Darragh said:

I got so fed up with the terrible play by play and useless color commentary that I had to turn it off.  Missed an exciting ending.

 

I forgot about Monday Night Manning on ESPN2.  Did anyone watch it?  How was it?

 

You had to?

 

Did you consider turning down the volume instead?

[Jay_Fixit]

I liked it. And I’m never wrong so this thread is ballz.

[Simon]

I turned the Manning Bros on for a few minutes but didn't love the format.

Charles Barkley was on at the time and the 1/3 of the screen was their heads and it was hard synching three guys remotely and it just didn't work.

Was Barkley there for the whole game or did I just catch the few minutes he was around.

And did they leave the Mannings' faces on screen the whole time?

[Don Otreply]

Simple solution, don’t watch it.

[Gen2]

I pretty much enjoyed the Manning broadcast, IMHO it kind of lost it's way when the guests started showing up. It was kind of like sitting on the couch with a friend or two watching a ball game neither one of you are particularly interested in, and chatting back and forth, the only difference is the Mannings know a heck of a lot more about football than any of my friends.

 

I don't see this as sustainable though because the big brother little brother smack talk banter will run out soon enough.

 

I'm pretty much a "casual fan" for football games not including the Bills so their lack of 100% vigilance on the game was fine by me. I could NEVER EVER watch that kind of coverage for a Bills game. 

[Rico]

On 9/15/2021 at 9:18 AM, dave mcbride said:

I despise Collinsworth, although I agree he is prepared. I hate his voice, mannerisms, delivery, and general folksy/smirking/falsely ingratiating tone. And the constant puffery. Other than that, he’s more or less fine.

He does also have a very punchable face.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Trying the Manning broadcast tonight

[Mikie2times]

On 9/14/2021 at 7:03 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

Collinsworth is the best color guy in the business to me. I know some people hate him but he is the best at his job. I think Romo had that title for a few years, and he was actually very good on the KC game on Sunday, but CBS have been obsessed with forcing him into a straightjacket otherwise and last season he was dull beyond belief. 

 

The most annoying thing about the MNF crew was them lusting after a punter who outkicked his coverage on every single punt. Like he is literally failing at his job and you are lauding him. 

We have a guy right here, now that a guy, here is an example of a guy. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

On 9/17/2021 at 7:40 PM, Don Otreply said:

Simple solution, don’t watch it.

I turned down the TV sound, but the radio was playing business news! 🙁

[buffaloboyinATL]

I decided to watch the Manning version this week on ESPN 2. That was fun.  You don’t get play by play commentary, but the insight and breakdown from Peyton is unparalleled.

 

I still like the normal format for games that I am interested in, but for games like last night, this was highly entertaining.