BUCS

New 'MNF' Crew Trying To Find Comfort Zone

By IRA KAUFMAN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Nov 14, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The ESPN caravan rolled on Monday night as a crowded broadcast booth welcomed the Bucs, Panthers and invited guests.

With ESPN now televising "Monday Night Football" instead of ABC, analysts Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser traded barbs amid play-by-play man Mike Tirico's attempts to keep the peace.

"I never knew those three little words - 'Monday Night Football' - carried the power that it does," said Theismann, who had spent almost two decades working ESPN's Sunday night telecasts. "When 'Monday Night Football' comes to your town, it's very different. It's big, bigger than big, and we treat it like a Super Bowl every week."

Kornheiser, the longtime Washington Post columnist who co-hosts ESPN's popular "Pardon The Interruption" show, is still adjusting to life as an NFL color man.

"I don't know how many times I was told 'just be yourself,' and that sounds good, but it's not that easy," Kornheiser said. "You can be yourself if you're the only one in the booth - or if you have control of the microphone. I'm the third guy, and sometimes it's hard to be yourself in a crowd of people."

Kornheiser is still feeling his way, searching for the kind of comfortable role Dennis Miller never found.

"ESPN has a certain amount of power, but what I feel the most is the power of Joe Theismann when you roll into a restaurant," Kornheiser said. "That's when the seas part. The best place for you to be is right behind Joe, because Joe will get you a table."

On Monday night, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon made a guest appearance in the booth. It's all part of ESPN's plan to expand its audience beyond an avid NFL base.

"Yes, we have guests, but nobody at home is being deprived of any football," Tirico said. "They're still getting all the details of the game and remember, most people are watching us as casual football fans. They're not living and dying with each game.

"Are we trying things that haven't been done before? Yes. Are they all succeeding? No. But that's what has made ESPN so good for more than 27 years."

Aiding Tirico as a spotter in the booth is Lutz native Mike Black, a former Arena League kicker who played for the Tampa Bay Storm.

For ESPN producer Jay Rothman, "Monday Night Football" represents quite a professional challenge.

"The cities we go to are electric," Rothman said, "and it feels real big-time. It's still a big deal to be on 'Monday Night Football.' These players grew up on ESPN and there's still a buzz you can feel."

Well before ESPN's initial matchup Sept. 11, Rothman said the success of the Monday night telecasts would be linked to the chemistry in the booth.

"I think those three guys are getting more natural with each other," Rothman said. "It's not like you can script everything out because you have to react instantly to what's happening in the game. I would say we're beyond a work in progress."

Theismann said the cable network always will have critics who harp on ESPN's penchant for self-promotion.

"In the beginning, there was so much uncertainty about who we would be, how we would do it and what the product would look like," he said. "Our ratings indicate people are enjoying what we're doing. Last week's Seattle-Oakland matchup did an 8.0 on a drab game with Andrew Walter and Seneca Wallace as the quarterbacks."

Reporter Ira Kaufman can be

reached at (813) 259-7833

or ikaufman@tampatrib.com.