PFT: Gifford will return for season 40 of Monday Night Football

[WoodysGirl]

Posted by Mike Florio on August 15, 2009 10:11 PM ET
Frank Gifford, who spent 27 years as part of ABC's Monday Night Football, is returning in a special role for the 40th season of the franchise.

According to Neil Best of Newsday, Gifford taped vignettes last week recalling famous moments from the first 39 years of MNF.

"It brought back good memories for me," Gifford told Best. "I liked the way they did it."

Asked to critique the past three seasons of Monday Night Football, the ultimately ill-fated Kornheiser years, Gifford had this to say: "We talked way too much, and I think they talked way too much and I think all the telecasters talk way too much. There are so many toys the directors and producers have today, it becomes an expression of whatever the director or producer is.

"Sometimes you're better off just letting the game play."
We're not so sure we agree with that. NFL games feature plenty of down time, and if the dead air weren't filled with talking the viewers might decide to change channels between plays.

Besides, pro football has many intriguing anecdotes and angles; given that the game-day broadcast is the product of days of research and interviews, the broadcasts typically include compelling nuggets of information.

Except when Kornheiser was talking.

 

[Duane]

It'll be good to see Frank back on MNF again.

 

[fannypack]

I think Al Frank and Dan were the best, but maybe that's just nostalgia talking.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Exit Kornheiser enter Gifford? Upgrade!

 

[DallasEast]

"Sometimes you're better off just letting the game play." We're not so sure we agree with that. NFL games feature plenty of down time, and if the dead air weren't filled with talking the viewers might decide to change channels between plays.

There's one problem with that assumption, Mike Florio. There isn't any 'dead air' worth mentioning during today's game broadcast to speak of. Color commentary, analysis, one/two replays every other down and a decent proportion of graphics throughout the game would be more than enough.

Game broadcasts are filled with so much fluff now that fans cannot fully enjoy the simple pleasure of watching their favorite team and players on their television screens. Your definition makes one wonder how anyone can truly enjoy themselves when they're actually AT the game without all the extraneous nonsense.

From the fan's perspective, televised games are their alternative for not being AT the game. That viewpoint may have once been shared by the networks, but it has slowly eroded since the days of Cosell and Gifford.

Sorry, Florio. Professional football is one of (if not the) most exciting sports in the world. There really isn't any logic which can be based upon neutering its proven entertainment value by censoring it unnecessarily. Allowing more time for actual on-the-screen football coverage visible for the viewers wouldn't be seen as dead air. It's fresh air.

Let the fans located away from the stadiums breath it in once in a while.

 

[burmafrd]

well its florio. What do you expect from a hack like that. That is the attitude that has ruined watching the games live for me. I cannot stand all the garbage. So I record them and watch it later so I can mute or fast forward.

 

[Seven]

Hell yeah!!!




Championship!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chocolate Lab]

"Sometimes you're better off just letting the game play." We're not so sure we agree with that. NFL games feature plenty of down time, and if the dead air weren't filled with talking the viewers might decide to change channels between plays.

There's one problem with that assumption, Mike Florio. There isn't any 'dead air' worth mentioning during today's game broadcast to speak of. Color commentary, analysis, one/two replays every other down and a decent proportion of graphics throughout the game would be more than enough.

Game broadcasts are filled with so much fluff now that fans cannot fully enjoy the simple pleasure of watching their favorite team and players on their television screens. Your definition makes one wonder how anyone can truly enjoy themselves when they're actually AT the game without all the extraneous nonsense.

From the fan's perspective, televised games are their alternative for not being AT the game. That viewpoint may have once been shared by the networks, but it has slowly eroded since the days of Cosell and Gifford.

Sorry, Florio. Professional football is one of (if not the) most exciting sports in the world. There really isn't any logic which can be based upon neutering its proven entertainment value by censoring it unnecessarily. Allowing more time for actual on-the-screen football coverage visible for the viewers wouldn't be seen as dead air. It's fresh air.

Let the fans located away from the stadiums breath it in once in a while.

:clap2:

 

[UppityCracker2]

I don't like this because I would have like to see him replace Madden instead. I think MNF is terrible since it moved to ESPN.

 

[FLcowboy]

I think Al Frank and Dan were the best, but maybe that's just nostalgia talking.

Nope, you are absolutely right. And Kornhiser was the worst.

 

[Venger]

I don't even watch MNF anymore. Why the NFL okayed the move to ESPN still escapes me - the loss of prestige of MNF may be irreversible.

I remember watching football as a kid, and how many more moments there were with just the crowd and field mic activity, not filled with graphics and idiot inbred bottom feeders who ought to be drowned in their own effluvial (i.e., Phil Simms) yapping incessantly with so little insight that you wonder how they ever played football. I miss those times with less robotic terminator football animations and spinning backrounds and animated players and their stats filling every microsecond, and more the feel of being at the game.

NFL, thy name is overproduction.

 

[Hostile]

Cosell was the best ever on MNF. JMO.

 

[speedkilz88]

Gifford taped vignettes last week recalling famous moments from the first 39 years of MNF.

Just clips of him reminiscing about MNF. He's not coming back to the booth.

 

[jimmy40]

I think Al Frank and Dan were the best, but maybe that's just nostalgia talking.

Well I feel extremely old.

btw: Frank, Howard and Dandy Don were the best. BY FAR

 

[Seven]

Cosell was the best ever on MNF. JMO.

Yep..............hands down.

 

[DallasEast]

Cosell was the best ever on MNF. JMO.

+1. Perhaps only one or two have ever come close to his level since as far as football color analysis is concerned.

 

[poke]

Well I feel extremely old.

btw: Frank, Howard and Dandy Don were the best. BY FAR

absolutely !

 

[ZeroClub]

I don't even watch MNF anymore. Why the NFL okayed the move to ESPN still escapes me - the loss of prestige of MNF may be irreversible.

I remember watching football as a kid, and how many more moments there were with just the crowd and field mic activity, not filled with graphics and idiot inbred bottom feeders who ought to be drowned in their own effluvial (i.e., Phil Simms) yapping incessantly with so little insight that you wonder how they ever played football. I miss those times with less robotic terminator football animations and spinning backrounds and animated players and their stats filling every microsecond, and more the feel of being at the game.

NFL, thy name is overproduction.

Nice.

More field mic. I gotta have more field mic.

 

[dadymat]

Well I feel extremely old.

btw: Frank, Howard and Dandy Don were the best. BY FAR

what...no love for Dennis Miller......

 

[jimmy40]

what...no love for Dennis Miller......

I know I'm in a minority of about 3 football fans in America but I actually liked Dennis Miller.