Esiason Takes His Turn in the Hot Seat

The hits, the gouging, the rips--they’ve all been a part of ABC’s “Monday Night Football” the last 30 years.

There has been some of that on the field too. But the game within the game has always been, “Let’s Bash the Announcers.”

It’s been a popular game among newspaper critics as well as the general public. It has been easy to play.

Howard Cosell, pompous, brash and arrogant, was the easiest target. And there have been others. People complained Dandy Don Meredith was lazy and unprepared and Frank Gifford was vanilla. It was written once that O.J. Simpson had a brick wall between his brain and his mouth. Joe Namath took plenty of shots.

Dan Dierdorf was often called abrasive and too opinionated, although now that he is gone some of his harshest critics say he is missed.

About the only one to escape criticism is Al Michaels, who is technically so sound as a play-by-play announcer one would have to dig deep to find a fault. Michaels is in a class with Vin Scully. He ranks with the best of all time.

So, for “Monday Night” bashers, whom does that leave? The new kid, Boomer Esiason.

Esiason is in his second season on “Monday Night Football” and his first flying solo, without Dierdorf. If he were doing afternoon regional telecasts on Fox or CBS, he’d be just another former quarterback who shows promise as a commentator.

But every Monday night he puts himself atop a dunking tank, letting 30 million or so viewers take their shots. He knew what he was getting into.

“I could have played football for three more years, but when this opportunity came along I scooped it up because I knew it was a unique challenge,” he said.

He can handle the criticism.

“Playing quarterback prepared me for it,” he said. “I’m used to being criticized on Mondays, only now I don’t have to get hit.”

What has been tougher is dealing with some of the egos in the television business.

“When you’re a player, there’s a scoreboard,” he said. “You know if you won or lost. In this business, it’s more subjective, and you have insecurities everywhere. And I don’t mean from just the [on-air] talent, I mean from management on down.”

Of Michaels, Esiason said: “We have a good working relationship, but we’re different. We have different backgrounds, we are from different generations. He is a wordsmith who uses big words and perfect grammar. I’m more your everyday guy who is going to make grammatical errors and sometimes say something stupid. What I have over Al is I played the game.”

Said Michaels: “Boomer has become a lot more comfortable, but he is still making the transition from being a quarterback to being a broadcaster. He’s got to understand what we’re trying to do with each broadcast and he’s got to prioritize in his mind what stories to tell and how to tell them.”

Both prefer the two-man booth, now that Dierdorf, who was not invited back, is at CBS.

Said Esiason: “Dan was a great teammate. He worked with me, he sacrificed for me, we became friends. But the selfish side of me says I enjoy this better.”

Said Michaels: “What we have now is about right. It’s really a 2 1/2-announcer situation. You can’t forget about [sideline reporter] Lesley [Visser]; she does a tremendous job and would play an even bigger role if the NFL gave her more access.

“These days, all football telecasts on all networks are too cluttered--too much verbiage, too many graphics, too many promos and billboard announcements.

“I’d say there are 40 such announcements during a telecast. No announcer loves to do this, none want to do it, we have to do it.

“A telecast needs room to breathe. There needs to be some down time, some silence. You get that with a 2 1/2 announcers.

“People look back and point to the so-called golden days of ‘Monday Night Football’ and say we need a three-man booth. That’s revisionist history. There were plenty of complaints then too.”

STILL A BIG HIT

People look back to the 1970s and ‘80s and point to the 20-something ratings that “Monday Night Football” drew and say, “Wow, quite a drop-off.”

In truth, the series is doing better than ever. It never ranked among the top 20 prime-time shows back then but has ranked in the top five in recent years. Coming off a sensational Tampa Bay-Minnesota game in which ABC had all the intriguing angles well covered and got a 14.3 national rating, “Monday Night Football” is now tied for second among all prime-time shows.

Last Monday’s L.A. rating was a 14.1. Compare that to the weekend sports ratings in the box that accompanies this column.

MICHAELS’ MAGIC MOMENT

Despite all he has done, Michaels is best remembered for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call when the U.S. hockey team defeated the Russians in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Michaels introduced the team on a CBS-Sports Illustrated awards show last week. The victory was voted the century’s No. 1 sports moment.

“I’m so glad I was there,” Michaels said. “I can’t tell you how emotional that was--the hugs, the tears. Even stolid Herb Brooks got emotional. It validated what they did 20 years ago.”

SHORT WAVES

One of the best made-for-TV golf events, the Diners Club Matches, will be televised live on ABC Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. from Pelican Hill Golf Club at Newport Coast. The appeal of this event, besides featuring such golfers as Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples and Annika Sorenstam, is that it is essentially three tournaments in one. Two-person teams from the PGA, LPGA and senior PGA tours compete in match play for $1.2 million in total prize money. . . . Nicklaus has sold his majority interest in Jack Nicklaus Productions, which created and produces the Diners Club Matches, to Gaylord Entertainment Co. of Nashville, Tenn. Terry Jastrow remains president and CEO. . . . ESPN has announced that its “Outside the Lines” will be expanded to include a half-hour weekly show Sunday mornings, beginning April 2.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 4-5.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share College football: Nebraska vs. Texas 7 5.2 16 College football: Florida vs. Alabama 7 5.0 11 College football: Army vs. Navy 2 3.7 12 College basketball: Kentucky at Indiana 2 1.7 5 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at Phoenix 9 1.5 2 Golf: Office Depot Father/Son Challenge 4 1.4 4 Pro basketball: Seattle at Clippers 9 0.8 1

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Fernando Vargas vs. Ronald Wright HBO 1.9 5 Hockey: Tampa Bay at Kings FSN 0.8 1 College basketball: DePaul at Duke ESPN 0.7 2 College basketball: Arizona at Texas ESPN 0.6 1 College football: Temple at Wake Forest ESPN 0.5 2 Golf: PGA/LPGA JCPenney Classic ESPN 0.4 1 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 0.4 1 Golf: Sun City Million Dollar Challenge ESPN 0.3 1 Prep football playoffs: Saugus vs. Valencia FSN2 0.3 1 College soccer: Women’s NCAA semifinals ESPN2 0.2 1 Hockey: San Jose at St. Louis ESPN2 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air hannel Rating Share Pro football: Seattle at Oakland 2 12.3 29 Pro football: Indianapolis at Miami 2 8.2 22 Pro football: St. Louis at Carolina 11 6.1 17 Figure skating: Pro Super Teams Challenge 11 2.7 6 Golf: PGA/LPGA JCPenney Classic 4 2.6 6 Figure skating: ISU Nations Cup 11 2.5 6 Golf: Office Depot Father/Son Challenge 4 2.2 6 College football: Bowl selection show 7 1.0 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Dallas at New England ESPN 7.4 13 Pro basketball: Orlando at Lakers FSN 2.3 4 College soccer: Women’s NCAA tournament final ESPN 0.4 1 Boxing: Wolfgramm vs. Cowboy Calvin Lampkin FSN 0.5 1 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 0.4 1 Golf: Sun City Million Dollar Challenge FSN 0.2 1 College basketball: Women, Penn State at Connecticut ESPN 0.1 0 College basketball: Women, UCLA vs. Louisiana Tech ESPN2 0.0 0

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY--Pro football, Minnesota at Tampa Bay, Channel 7, 14.1/23.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.