I'm Just an Armchair Sports Fan

I am just finishing a fascinating book on the history of the ESPN empire, and had several observations arising from the interviews within. To be honest, the thoughts that have come out are little more than memory-joggers which in most cases have found me
in agreement with what was said in the 750 or-so pages.

Inasmuch as I spent 5 years in the USA, and ESPN was pretty much my go-to place when it came to sports coverage, I feel I am qualified to comment - in an Armchair Fan kind of way - on a few things.

Some of what was said predates my arrival Stateside in early 2007, but sports being what it is, it can be quite easy to fill in the knowledge gaps in a fairly short stretch of time.

I never saw SportsCenter when Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann helmed it, and as you can see here they were pretty much legendary, but I saw plenty of K.O. on MSNBC. I've heard a lot about what a brilliant and instinctive sports broadcaster he was, but as a person he seemed at the very least a loose cannon, and most of what I saw him coming out with on MSNBC ranged from the decidedly dodgy to the downright idiotic. maybe he should have stuck exclusively to sports.

There were many who said just the opposite about Rush Limbaugh when he was hired to appear on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, a tenure that ended prematurely after Limbaugh's comments about then Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. Rush was basically hurried out the back door after what many took to be racially motivated comments about McNabb, although it was strange that analyst Michael Irvin seemed in agreement with Limbaugh's assertion that Donovan was overrated.

Thing is, I think Rush was right. McNabb was kinda lazy and seemed perpetually to underachieve. I mean, just look at what happened with my Redskins. Not a lot to shout about there from McNabb. 

And before you rush to accuse ME of racism, just take a look at the other black QB's over the years who I would rate - without exception - above him. Doug Williams - late 70s Redskins hero. RGIII - current Redskins QB hero. No contest. Warren Moon - Oilers, Cam Newton, for goodness sake, and Dennis Dixon, a legend at the Oregon Ducks, and still with a chance to make a big name for himself, some would say.

Donovan McNabb cannot hold a candle to any of these guys.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel (it says here) speaks in the book about the hypocrisy in football. He was banned from Monday Night Football for having a pop at Joe Theismann, and talked about how Mike Vick was considered off-limits for satirical comment after his dog-fighting...er..episode. Kimmel was angry at football stars on the field with their pink shoes on promoting breast cancer awareness, when as he saw it, it was basically PR because "You've got a lot of guys on the field who are flat-out criminals..." You might think that overly harsh, but these days a rising number of football players ARE getting into trouble for all kinds of offences from the arguably trivial to the very arguably serious, so JK may have a point.

Finally, the one thing I was aware of right from day 1 concerns the ESPN move to Monday Night Football, and the decision not to use the SNF producer, or Al & John (who needs last names?!).

My first year in the US coincided with the first ESPN MNF season, and it was clear from the get-go that the booth line-up was disastrously lightweight. When you have Al and John on the quite majestic NBC SNF, which was always an occasion, the contrast with the amateurish, TV-star laden nonsense on a Monday could not have been more marked. It never got any better while I was in the country, and with the whole NFL package up for renegotiation in 2014 (I believe) it will be interesting to see where the various flagship football nights end up.

So these are just a few armchair thoughts from a passionate U.S sports fan. I miss it all desperately, but this book has really filled in some gaps and brought up some fascinating discussion points.

"Those Guys have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN" by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. (Back bay Books)