A Monday Night Football poll you won’t see on ESPN.com

AP

In response to our item from this morning regarding Mike Tirico’s take on the prodemotion of Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football, a reader recommended that we fashion a poll that gives PFT Planet a chance to sound off on the sounds that will be emanating from their televisions while watching ESPN games this season.

And so, since there isn’t a whole lot else going on today, we decided to give it a whirl.

Cast your vote below on whether you agree with the move.  Since “yes” and “no” seemed to be too simplistic, we added a couple of additional options.

“Bring back Joe Theismann” almost made the cut.

By the way, that’s Charles Haley in the photo with Gruden.  Feel free to suggest a caption in the comments.

It’s Friday afternoon.  What the hell else are you doing?  Working?

52 responses to “A Monday Night Football poll you won’t see on ESPN.com

  1. Gruden: “Is that a baseball bat in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

  2. These guys blather to much. Someone needs to tell them that it’s supposed to be about the game, not them and their opinions on everything. Quite frankly, they are more of a distraction than anything else.

  3. I’m sorry but has everyone at PFT not watched a MNF game the past few years?

    Jaws is just a cartoon who offers little to no analysis of the game. Tirico is a homeless man’s Joe Buck and Jon Gruden’s “aw shucks” sensibilities mixed with his ego is like watching a train crash in slow motion.

    The product has been broken for over a decade, dumping one subpar component isn’t going to make much of a difference.

  4. I found Jaworski to be entertaining. He is a very knowledgeable guy. He has a genuine passion for the game.

    The way Gruden gushes over every player is horrendous. We all saw him when he was a coach. He was an Ahole. Didn’t he once question Chris Simms’ toughness after he ruptured his spleen and continued to play through it?

    Tirico…. Never been a fan. When he was on the radio he was annoying. He is sooo out of touch with the listenership.

    Jaws will be missed.

  5. I’m sorry but the three of them were awful and the two left will be just as bad. I can’t watch Monday Night Football unless my team is playing thanks to these guys. ESPN is just complete trash these days.

  6. I watch the games. It doesn’t matter who the commentators are yapping on and on about as long as it’s not that naselly Aikman droning on and on.

  7. “By the way, that’s Charles Haley in the photo with Gruden. Feel free to suggest a caption in the comments.”

    Charles:Gruden, come on man…you have to see it. Yeh, I whip it out everywhere I go.

    Gruden:Charles, you scare me and everyone else. You are crazy and that’s why you’re not in the Hall of Fame.

  8. “Charles Haley, YOU SIR are the greatest retired linebacker in the HISTORY of the NFL. No other retired linebacker in the world is not playing better than you. You set the standard for being a retired linebacker. They shouldn’t even call it ‘being retired’, they should call it being HALEYED”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. Trying to figure out a where a U.S. guy can play online satellites and win a trip to the World Series Of Poker this year. That’s what i’m doing.

  10. Does anyone actually watch MNF? Sunday Ticket has given us all Football ADHD and I for one can’t stand not being able to flip to a more interesting game.

  11. There has to “the rest of the story” that Tirico alluded to and didn’t share. That’s the part I want to hear – what REALLY happened.

  12. A two-man booth is better than a three-man booth, but by the 2013 neither Tirico or Gruden will be in the MNF booth. There was little chemistry between Tirico and either Gruden or Jaworski. There was mostly tension and little chemistry between Gruden and Jaworski. This season will not only lack the chemistry, but also lack the tension. Tirico will be moved to other sports where his subdued approach is a better fit and some team will take a flier on Gruden. ESPN will then start “fresh” with a new two-man booth in 2013. The fun will be between now and then speculating on who that will be. In the end, however, if the announcers are bad, like most fans, I just ignore them anyway.

  13. I’m fine with whatever as long as I don’t have to see or hear a Gumbel on any NFL broadcast.

  14. How about “No announcers at all and live feed from players microphones” like we get with the NFL films “Mic’d up” series? I would take that over ANY announcing crew in heartbeat.

  15. I’m fine with whatever as long as I don’t have to see or hear a Gumbel on any NFL broadcast

    X 10

  16. ESPN executives and producers obviously feel that Gruden is more entertaining than Jaws. I think Gruden knows more B. S. ESPN might want to explore two in the booth and a guest every Monday night.

  17. Personally, I never felt Jaws and Gruden meshed well. Gruden’s strong personality and opinionated style completely over-shadowed Jaws’ presence in the booth in my opinion.
    The only 3 man team I’ve ever liked was Gifford, Meredith and Cosell. Everyone since have been poor imitators.

  18. Honestly, anything that’s not the old Theisman/3-man booth, or any booth with John Madden after about 1995 (when he stopped paying attention and just started repeating the same schtick for years) is good enough to be tolerable for me.

  19. Too bad all you young bucks never had the pleasure of hearing Ray Scott broadcast a game, particularly a Packers/Cowboys or LA Rams/Packers playoff game. You would understand what a true professional broadcaster is.

  20. I am flabbergasted that so many people actually lement this move.

    Jaws is bland, un-charismatic, and rarely offered any analysis worth noting.

    MNF has been a sinking ship ever since ESPN took it over.

  21. Yes, I agree. And, they also should have canned Gruden! How come that wasn’t an option?

    That ESPN crew is unbearable. The funny thing is that the NFL has such a great product that there is no usable marketing data. People will watch this (as I do) no matter who’s talking over it.

  22. I’ll take Jack Buck and Hank Stram any day those guys can call a game.Today’s play by play and analyst SUCKS.!!!!!!!!!

  23. Where’s the option for “should the NFL pull MNF from BSPN, and disallow them to broadcast anything NFL, including game highlights”? I’ll vote for that option in a heartbeat.

  24. Because football is so popular, broadcasters have a captive audience and we’re stuck with what they give us. I’d love to say I’ll stop watching now that it will be all Gruden. But I won’t. He often makes me want to drive an ice pick into my ears … but on Monday nights, ESPN is the only game in town. On the bright side … anything, anything is better than Tony Kornheiser.

  25. Can we exhume Howard Cosell? He’d be better dead than Jaworski or Gruden or Dennis Miller, ad infinitum. I usually find I have to turn the sound down and listen to a radio broadcast of the game. At least on radio the announcer is forced to talk about the game once in a while…

  26. hardpeaches says: Feb 17, 2012 1:38 PM

    I’m sorry but has everyone at PFT not watched a MNF game the past few years?

    ——————————

    Why bother? The match-ups stink, and ESPN blows. MNF was ruined the second it went to ESPN, so there’s no reason to watch it unless your favorite team happens to be playing in the game.

  27. ESPN is doing such a tremendous job delivering knowledgeable insightful commentary these days. Particularly around QBs and the passing game. I’ve generally been impressed that they make that insight accessible to the common fan, however, reading the overly dramatic negative comments here, I’m starting to think they aren’t connecting with the common fan who doesn’t actually know much about football. Jaws is a football/QB nerd and I’ll miss my MNF viewing benefitting from his nerdiness.

  28. Choosing between Jaws and Gruden and keeping Gruden is like keeping Garfunkel or Messina or Oates.

  29. I cannot imagine Tirico is happy to be stuck in the booth by himself with Gruden. For example, Tirico seems to have actually read the rule book, proves on-air he knows more about that than the former coach who inherited a Super Bowl team.

  30. Gruden’s thinking: Please Dear God!!!……Don’t let Charles start strokin it here next to me on National TV!!!

  31. I know most of you don’t like today’s announcers compared to announcers in the past, but you have to admit that Al Michaels is probably the best today that we have. SNF blows MNF out of the water. I dont know where to rank TNF because I can’t afford the NFL network.

  32. Jaworski is the fall guy when the real issue is how inept Tirico is as the play by play guy. This guy should lose his job he is HORRIBLE

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