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cotton to the core
Tony Kornheiser
By Anthony Cotton
Denver Post Staff Writer
The most anticipated personnel move of the 2006 NFL season may not be Terrell Owens to the Dallas Cowboys or even Jay Cutler's rookie season with the Broncos, but rather the debut of Tony Kornheiser in the booth of ESPN's "Monday Night Football." The longtime columnist for The Washington Post and more recently, along with co-worker Mike Wilbon, the star of "Pardon The Interruption," recently took some time to assess his chances of succeeding where the likes of Dennis Miller did not.
Anthony Cotton: NFL training camps begin in a few weeks. What are you doing to prepare?
Tony Kornheiser: The most asked question of me in the last three months goes something like this - "You must be getting prepared, for this, you must be preparing all the time." And I always say the same thing, "Yeah, yeah, I'm preparing all the time." That's if I don't know the people. If I do know them, I say, "Well, I could tell you that - the truth is, I'm not preparing at all."
What am I gonna do? Am I gonna memorize the rosters? That's what (Joe) Theismann's there for. Am I gonna learn how football is played from a technical, coaching, coordinator's standpoint? No, that's what Theismann's there for. Am I gonna learn how to call the game? No, that's what (Mike) Tirico's there for. So then the question becomes, "Well, Tony, what are you there for?" And that's a hard one for me to answer; I don't exactly know. It seems to me that I ought to go in and I ought to sit in that booth, and if it's possible, I ought to attempt to have a conversation with Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann while the game is going on and somehow articulate, if possible, what a regular person watching the game might be thinking at that point.
I know I'm gonna get criticism from football players and hard-core football watchers. They're going to say, "What's he doing there? He doesn't know the game." But in 35 years as a sportswriter, I'm smart enough to remember that you get six for a touchdown and three for a field goal. I'm smart enough to look at a scoreboard, and if it's 20-14, to have some idea of who's ahead.
AC: So what's your role?
TK: I'm assuming intricate football knowledge isn't why I'm there. I'm assuming that I'm going to do what I normally do on television, in radio and in print - which is to be sarcastic and subversive, and to not be afraid to say what I don't know. But to be honest, it's all very daunting and I don't know how to prepare. So I'm not gonna.
AC: Part of this gig is, East Coast games end pretty late. When was the last time you were up past 1 in the morning?
TK: I don't think I've seen a Monday night, or Sunday night football game to its conclusion in 30 years. I've been going to sleep at 9:30, so staying up until midnight is going to be a little hard for me. But again, if I fall asleep in the booth, or I doze off, doesn't that add to the charm of it on some level? Aren't I like everybody else at that point, struggling to stay awake?
AC: Clearly you've known Theismann forever and Tirico a long time. Are they ready for what you're going to do?
TK: The first time I met Joe Theismann, and for the duration of his career, I was a guy who quite literally knelt at his feet in his locker and wrote down what he said. And I think it may be a little difficult for Joe to accept me as somebody of equal value in the booth. I hope we can get through that part; I worry about that a little bit. As far as Mike goes, the truth of it is, my broadcasting life is in his hands. If he chooses to sort of ignore what I say and leave me hanging while he does the game, I'll fail. If he likes my company, and appreciates the entertainment value of what I can do - remember, the "E" in ESPN is for Entertainment - if he likes that, and he likes me, I think I'll do fine.
Forget the travel, which I hate and will crush me
Washington Post sportswriter Tony Kornheiser, second from left, joins the "Monday Night Football" crew of, left to right, Michele Tafoya, Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Suzy Kolber. Kornheiser says he's preparing for the new gig by not preparing: "I'm going to do what I normally do ... be sarcastic." (AP/ESPN / Preston Mack)
and kill me, just talk about doing the games. I think I'm there for entertainment. I'm not Dennis Miller. I guess I'm somewhere in between Dennis Miller and Howard Cosell. After five years on "PTI," I think most people who tune into a game on ESPN will know who I am and know what I do, and I think and I hope they'll have some warm feeling toward me.
AC: But the obvious comparison will be to Dennis Miller.
TK: Why wouldn't it be to Howard? I'm not a professional comedian and I may be walking into a booth for the first time, but I'm not walking into covering a football game for the first time. I thought Dennis Miller was an inspired choice. I auditioned for that job and they picked him and I thought it was a great choice. But comparing me to him is sort of unfair to the both of us - I'm not a professional comedian and he's not a professional sportswriter.
AC: Having been through it once, and not getting it, were you leery of going through the process again?
TK: I didn't want to do it. I sat in a room and they said we want you to do it, and I said, no, no, no, a thousand times no, and they said, "Yeah, fine, that's great." Then 20 minutes later, I said, "OK, sure, let's go." Because, look, if you write nothing else, write this - I'm a sportswriter. We're in the same fraternity. I carry The Washington Post sports section onto the "PTI" set every day. And there's no sportswriter on earth, when offered the job of doing "Monday Night Football," could possibly say no. I simply could not say no - even though my instincts said, "Say no and run as far away as you can as fast as you can."
AC: Was it because of having to fly and travel, which you hate?
TK: That was part of it, but really, it's live television, being in the booth, and having to say something in a very short amount of time. Tirico calls the play, Theismann analyzes the play - how much time do you think is left for me? Four seconds? Five? If I have anything to say? I did a radio show for a bunch of years where I had 15 minutes; I do a TV show that may seem fast, but if I want 30 seconds a pop, I've got it. I can't have that on a football game. When I watch a football game at home, I don't sit there and sort of start talking. I waited for other guys to start talking and I made fun of them.
AC: So how do you do it?
TK: I think it will bomb, it will be one year and out. They'll say, "We tried, but what are you doing?" Or I'll say, "I had a lot of fun, but it's not my career." I wish I had a master plan, but I don't.
AC: Maybe you have to somehow bring Wilbon into the equation.
TK: I'd love to, but I don't know how I can. He keeps telling everyone in sight, "Oh, I don't want any part of that." My feeling is we'd be terrific together. "PTI" is a hit cable sports show, am I fair in saying that? Why does it work? It doesn't work because of me, and it doesn't work because of just him - it works because we're good together. So naturally, I felt it would be good and fun to do this with him, but so far, that's not the gig.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4003278
Tony Kornheiser
By Anthony Cotton
Denver Post Staff Writer
The most anticipated personnel move of the 2006 NFL season may not be Terrell Owens to the Dallas Cowboys or even Jay Cutler's rookie season with the Broncos, but rather the debut of Tony Kornheiser in the booth of ESPN's "Monday Night Football." The longtime columnist for The Washington Post and more recently, along with co-worker Mike Wilbon, the star of "Pardon The Interruption," recently took some time to assess his chances of succeeding where the likes of Dennis Miller did not.
Anthony Cotton: NFL training camps begin in a few weeks. What are you doing to prepare?
Tony Kornheiser: The most asked question of me in the last three months goes something like this - "You must be getting prepared, for this, you must be preparing all the time." And I always say the same thing, "Yeah, yeah, I'm preparing all the time." That's if I don't know the people. If I do know them, I say, "Well, I could tell you that - the truth is, I'm not preparing at all."
What am I gonna do? Am I gonna memorize the rosters? That's what (Joe) Theismann's there for. Am I gonna learn how football is played from a technical, coaching, coordinator's standpoint? No, that's what Theismann's there for. Am I gonna learn how to call the game? No, that's what (Mike) Tirico's there for. So then the question becomes, "Well, Tony, what are you there for?" And that's a hard one for me to answer; I don't exactly know. It seems to me that I ought to go in and I ought to sit in that booth, and if it's possible, I ought to attempt to have a conversation with Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann while the game is going on and somehow articulate, if possible, what a regular person watching the game might be thinking at that point.
I know I'm gonna get criticism from football players and hard-core football watchers. They're going to say, "What's he doing there? He doesn't know the game." But in 35 years as a sportswriter, I'm smart enough to remember that you get six for a touchdown and three for a field goal. I'm smart enough to look at a scoreboard, and if it's 20-14, to have some idea of who's ahead.
AC: So what's your role?
TK: I'm assuming intricate football knowledge isn't why I'm there. I'm assuming that I'm going to do what I normally do on television, in radio and in print - which is to be sarcastic and subversive, and to not be afraid to say what I don't know. But to be honest, it's all very daunting and I don't know how to prepare. So I'm not gonna.
AC: Part of this gig is, East Coast games end pretty late. When was the last time you were up past 1 in the morning?
TK: I don't think I've seen a Monday night, or Sunday night football game to its conclusion in 30 years. I've been going to sleep at 9:30, so staying up until midnight is going to be a little hard for me. But again, if I fall asleep in the booth, or I doze off, doesn't that add to the charm of it on some level? Aren't I like everybody else at that point, struggling to stay awake?
AC: Clearly you've known Theismann forever and Tirico a long time. Are they ready for what you're going to do?
TK: The first time I met Joe Theismann, and for the duration of his career, I was a guy who quite literally knelt at his feet in his locker and wrote down what he said. And I think it may be a little difficult for Joe to accept me as somebody of equal value in the booth. I hope we can get through that part; I worry about that a little bit. As far as Mike goes, the truth of it is, my broadcasting life is in his hands. If he chooses to sort of ignore what I say and leave me hanging while he does the game, I'll fail. If he likes my company, and appreciates the entertainment value of what I can do - remember, the "E" in ESPN is for Entertainment - if he likes that, and he likes me, I think I'll do fine.
Forget the travel, which I hate and will crush me
AC: But the obvious comparison will be to Dennis Miller.
TK: Why wouldn't it be to Howard? I'm not a professional comedian and I may be walking into a booth for the first time, but I'm not walking into covering a football game for the first time. I thought Dennis Miller was an inspired choice. I auditioned for that job and they picked him and I thought it was a great choice. But comparing me to him is sort of unfair to the both of us - I'm not a professional comedian and he's not a professional sportswriter.
AC: Having been through it once, and not getting it, were you leery of going through the process again?
TK: I didn't want to do it. I sat in a room and they said we want you to do it, and I said, no, no, no, a thousand times no, and they said, "Yeah, fine, that's great." Then 20 minutes later, I said, "OK, sure, let's go." Because, look, if you write nothing else, write this - I'm a sportswriter. We're in the same fraternity. I carry The Washington Post sports section onto the "PTI" set every day. And there's no sportswriter on earth, when offered the job of doing "Monday Night Football," could possibly say no. I simply could not say no - even though my instincts said, "Say no and run as far away as you can as fast as you can."
AC: Was it because of having to fly and travel, which you hate?
TK: That was part of it, but really, it's live television, being in the booth, and having to say something in a very short amount of time. Tirico calls the play, Theismann analyzes the play - how much time do you think is left for me? Four seconds? Five? If I have anything to say? I did a radio show for a bunch of years where I had 15 minutes; I do a TV show that may seem fast, but if I want 30 seconds a pop, I've got it. I can't have that on a football game. When I watch a football game at home, I don't sit there and sort of start talking. I waited for other guys to start talking and I made fun of them.
AC: So how do you do it?
TK: I think it will bomb, it will be one year and out. They'll say, "We tried, but what are you doing?" Or I'll say, "I had a lot of fun, but it's not my career." I wish I had a master plan, but I don't.
AC: Maybe you have to somehow bring Wilbon into the equation.
TK: I'd love to, but I don't know how I can. He keeps telling everyone in sight, "Oh, I don't want any part of that." My feeling is we'd be terrific together. "PTI" is a hit cable sports show, am I fair in saying that? Why does it work? It doesn't work because of me, and it doesn't work because of just him - it works because we're good together. So naturally, I felt it would be good and fun to do this with him, but so far, that's not the gig.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4003278
