In their season opener and first game since 1992 without Brett Favre as quarterback, the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-19. Favre’s replacement, Aaron Rodgers, was terrific, going 18 for 22 with one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. People who wrote off the Packers when Favre retired seemed to forget that this team is loaded with young talent and 2007′s 13-3 record was no fluke. The Pack will be a contender in the NFC.
On the bad side, the game unfortunately was on ESPN, which means we had to listen to commentator Tony Kornheiser for three hours. He is simply the worst NFL announcer I have ever heard. Practically every sentence had the words “Brett” and “Favre” in it, and it got so bad that analyst Ron Jaworski told him in a polite way to STFU about it. Kornheiser’s shtick is to establish a story line in the pregame and talk ad nauseum about it, regardless of what is happening in the game.
For example, the Packers faced a 1st-and-33 and Kornheiser said that every fan watching was wondering what Favre would do. Uh, no we weren’t — 1st and 33 is an extremely rare situation and no quarterback would be expected to deliver in that situation.
I like Kornheiser on “Pardon The Interruption,” whose quick-hitting format forces him to dispense his comments in small segments on a variety of issues; as an NFL announcer he is a lousy fit. I would love to turn off the TV volume and listen to Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason on the radio broadcast, but it is impossible to sync up the TV picture and radio sound.
PS: The second Monday night game, Denver at Oakland, was called by Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic and Mike Ditka. It sounded like three drunk morons watching a game at 2 a.m., with them constantly talking over each other and generally making little sense. I would think the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” could hire competent announcers.
on Sep 8th, 2008 at 11:40 PM
If you get the NFL games on Sirius satellite radio you can sync it up decently. The signal is usually delayed by somewhere around 20 seconds. It’s difficult to get it to the exact moment, but even if the sound is off by a second or so it works for me.
If I’m watching an Eagles game and don’t like the TV announcers I find the local radio feed on Sirius and pause the live picture with the DVR to sync it up. If the announcers are tolerable I keep the radio feed on mute, so when the Eagles score a TD I can hear Merrill Reese’s call a few seconds after it happens.
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 1:40 AM
Hey Joe: I have tried it and for me it’s more trouble than it’s worth, especially if you rewind a play or two, but Kornheiser may motivate me!
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 8:02 AM
I found Tavaris Jackson to be waaaayyyyy more annoying than Tony Kornheiser.
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I actually like Tony Korhneiser…
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Tony’s terrible, but that Triple-Mike crew that called the Broncos-Raiders game was the worst I’ve ever heard.
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Just send Kornheiser to stalk the sidelines with the other sports-girls. His Man-Crush-For-Brett was just creepy.
Keep it focused on the game we’re watching, not the one in your head!
on Sep 9th, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Agreed. TK needs to be fired pronto.
on Sep 10th, 2008 at 6:39 AM
Ya have to wonder what the Honchos at ESPN were thinking when they chose Kornheiser. The Brett favre infomercial he put on during the game shows he has no business in a broadcast booth…WARNING: Jaworski’s Eagles vs Cowgirls, Rons turn to be annoying, hes such a Homer
on Sep 16th, 2008 at 12:04 AM
I never thought I’d miss Joe Theisman, TK needs to go. It’s amazing how good he is on PTI and how utterly annoying he is on MNF.