For weeks we've been hearing rumors that Al Michaels would be leaving ABC now that Monday Night Football has been shifted to ESPN, and today we got the confirmation as the network officially announced the replacements for Michaels on both MNF and the network's NBA coverage.
Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser will be part of a three-man booth calling the games on Monday nights next season and Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya will be sideline reporters. Kolber and Tafoya both reported from the sidelines for ABC during Super Bowl XL.Also, ESPN announced that Mike Breen will be its new lead NBA play-by-play announcer, teaming with analyst Hubie Brown for ABC telecasts beginning Feb. 12 and including the NBA Finals.
Feb. 12? I guess Michaels will get his ABC swan song this weekend, and then he must be off to NBC to team with John Madden for their Sunday night NFL package that starts next Fall.
As for the new team, I've got mixed feelings. While I've never hated Sunday night holdover Joe Theisman like so many others, he's never impressed me either. Instead, I'd rather have Sterling Sharpe, who teamed with Tirico when Hurricane Katrina forced the league to play two games on MNF, and did an excellent job.
As for Kornheiser, he gets the job he was denied when MNF gave the third chair to Dennis Miller a few years back. I'm at a loss to say what Kornheiser is going to do in the booth, but he's a confirmed fan of Howard Cosell, and I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to play the same sort of role next season.
One thing is for certain: Kornheiser better do his homework. From time to time, when he gets hold of a topic he knows little about, Kornheiser can sound especially uninformed and arrogant (Cosell was the latter, but not the former) -- not exactly a winning combination.
As for the new crew, last I looked an ESPN poll on whether or not folks like the new team was running 50/50.
