Finally ESPN manned up and admitted a mistake.
Joe Theisman, he of the incredibly lame assertions and no sense of humor, was smartly removed from the Monday Night Football booth that will include Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, and now Ron Jaworski. ESPN announced that Theisman left because he had been given a "prominent football analyst" position; which if you break down the PR B.S. means that they bumped him to Monday Night Countdown or something. For those who don't know much about the media business; when you're doing color commentary for ESPN's biggest broadcasts of the year, and then are removed and placed on the same set as Michael Irvin, that's a downgrade.
So why was Joe thrown under the bus? It mostly had to do with Tony Kornheiser and their inability to concoct any chemistry. The stuffy Theiseman was the antithesis of Tony Kornheiser, whose sole purpose was to interject life and little flavor to the Monday Night Football booth.
But Theisman and Kornheiser never clicked, for obvious reasons. Theisman is a arrogant prude, and Kornheiser is a sarcastic needler. It was almost painful listening to them bounce off each other; with Kornheiser constantly trying to bait Theisman, and Joe either brushing him off or completely missing the joke.
So ESPN had to made a call, and for all the pub and love they have spent on Tony's arrival into the booth, he wasn't going to be the one to go. Tony of course is the immensely popular host of Pardon the Interruption, one the Worldwide Leader's most-watched daily shows. While Theisman has plenty of fans, he doesn't have the platform that Tony has, and even though Kornheiser is a balding sportswriter; his snarky sense of humor makes him appealing to a wider, and more importantly, younger, demographic. Kornheiser is an up-and-coming brand that could help generate dollars for ESPN, meanwhile Theisman is more like the Costco of has-been-former-athlete sportscasters.
So I will join The Sports Guy Bill Simmons in pouring out a forty for Theisman's departure. Though his time in ESPN's booth was not long, it was full of stiff, embarrassingly awkward moments done in front of a national audience...well done Joe, you're an inspiration to pompous a-holes everywhere.
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