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ABC
prepares for last call of 'Monday Night Football' 

As
"Dandy" Don Meredith would sing, turn out the lights, the
party's over for ABC's Monday Night Football



The finale is Monday after a 36-year run, though ABC's MNF
crew will handle Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5. ESPN takes over Mondays with the 2006
season, and NBC returns to the NFL broadcast team with Sunday night games. 

When ABC Sports maven Roone Arledge and director Chet
Forte brought football to prime time in 1970, they thought they would blend
sports and entertainment. They ended up changing the way we view sports — and
creating the first reality show. 

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Announcers through the years
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[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1970: Keith
Jackson, Don Meredith, Howard Cosell

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1971-73:
Frank Gifford, Meredith, Cosell

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1974:
Gifford, Cosell, Alex Karras, Fred Williamson

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1975-76:
Gifford, Cosell, Karras

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1977-78: Gifford,
Cosell, Meredith

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1979-82:
Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, Fran Tarkenton

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1983:
Gifford, Cosell, Meredith, O.J. Simpson

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1984:
Gifford, Meredith, Simpson

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1985:
Gifford, Simpson, Joe Namath

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1986: Al
Michaels, Gifford

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1987-93:
Michaels, Gifford, Dan Dierdorf

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1994-96:
Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lynn Swann

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1997:
Michaels, Gifford, Dierdorf, Lesley Visser

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1998:
Michaels, Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason, Visser

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]1999:
Michaels, Esiason, Visser

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]2000-01:
Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]2002:
Michaels, John Madden, Stark

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]2003:
Michaels, Madden, Lisa Guerrero

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]2004:
Michaels, Madden, Michele Tafoya

[img]mnf_files/image004.gif[/img]2005:
Michaels, Madden, Tafoya/Sam Ryan # 

# — Replacement
during Tafoya's pregnancy/maternity leave
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The celebrated trio of Howard Cosell, Frank
Gifford and Meredith became bigger than the games they called. The
bombastic Cosell influenced a generation of sportscasters with his machine-gun
delivery of "Halftime Highlights." MNF popularized the
three-person booth, multiple cameras and microphones, extreme close-ups of
players and fans, instant replays and graphics and Wide World of Sports-type
storytelling. All those tools are still employed, if not overused, today.
"It was a milestone in TV sports coverage," ABC's Jim McKay says. 

Influential? Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter rescheduled
their 1980 presidential debate around MNF. The show aired so long it has
its own records: The Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys are tied in wins (39);
Dan Marino and Jerry Rice dominate individual stats. The infighting among
Cosell, Gifford and Meredith inspired a book and a movie, both titled Monday
Night Mayhem. 

MNF is the latest in a long line of sports
properties to migrate from free to pay TV. ABC was losing $150 million a year
on its annual $550 million package. Armed with dual revenue streams from
subscribers and advertisers, sister Disney network ESPN will pay double that
amount, or $1.1 billion annually. 

With MNF games averaging a 10.9 rating this season,
the show's numbers are half of what they were at their peak of 21.7 in 1981.
While the name Monday Night Football will continue, it's still the end of an
era. 

As Monday Night Mayhem co-author Bill Carter told Bernard
Goldberg of HBO's Real Sports, ESPN's new version won't be Monday
Night Football. It will be "football on Monday night." 

Magic memories made on Monday<a name=memories></a>

Before the gun sounds on ABC's Monday Night Football,
let's go to a videotape of some highlights and lowlights of its 36 seasons: 

•Most memorable game: The Miami Dolphins stop the
Super Bowl Shuffle in its tracks and end the Chicago Bears' 12-0 season-opening
run with a 38-24 upset victory on Dec. 2, 1985. Twenty years later it remains
the highest-rated game in MNF history with 29.6% of U.S. homes watching. 

•Saddest news: Howard Cosell breaks the news of the
murder of John Lennon, who had visited the MNF booth, to a stunned
country on Dec. 8, 1980. Said Cosell: "John Lennon, outside of his
apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps
of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival." 

•Lowest moment: Cosell refers to African-American
wide receiver Alvin Garrett as a "little monkey" on Sept. 5, 1983.
Despite his strong support of civil rights, the resulting controversy forces
him off the show before the 1984 season. 

•Best coming-out parties: Los Angeles Raiders
running back Bo Jackson outruns the entire Seattle Seahawks defense for a
91-yard touchdown on Nov. 30, 1987 and doesn't stop until he's halfway up the
tunnel. 

Bears defensive lineman William "The
Refrigerator" Perry becomes a star Oct. 21, 1985 by lining up at running
back and wiping out a defender on a touchdown run by Walter Payton, then
rushing for a TD. 

•Best comeback: Trailing 30-7 against the Miami
Dolphins on Oct. 23, 2000, New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde fires
four fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead a 40-37 overtime victory. 

•Toughest run: New York Giants tight end Mark
Bavaro catches a pass from Phil Simms, then drags seven San Francisco 49ers,
including safety Ronnie Lott, 20 yards. 

•Pack attack: The Green Bay Packers figure in three
memorable moments: a day after his father dies, Brett Favre throws four TD
passes Dec. 22, 2003; quarterback Lynn Dickey outduels Joe Theismann 48-47 on
Oct. 17, 1983 in the highest-scoring MNF game; and Antonio Freeman makes a
miraculous, sliding TD catch Nov. 6, 2000.

ESPN to have earlier kickoff, Theismann <a
name=espn></a>

Are you ready for a new Monday Night Football? ESPN
hopes so, as the franchise moves from ABC in 2006. 

While the Hank Williams Jr. opening theme will stay, the
on-air feel, including new graphics, will resemble that of ESPN's Sunday
Night Football, says incoming analyst Joe Theismann. 

Among other details: 

•Earlier kickoff: In the biggest change for
viewers, ESPN's show will start at 8:30 ET, with kickoff at 8:40 vs. the
current 9 o'clock start and 9:07 kickoff on ABC. 

•Lower ratings: MNF's shift to cable from
broadcast will mean smaller audiences. About 20 million U.S. homes that currently get ABC do not get ESPN because they don't have cable or
satellite service (MNF will be on free TV in the home markets of the
participating teams). 

•New faces: Theismann will move to Monday after 18
years on Sunday night, replacing John Madden, who is heading to NBC. Al
Michaels will handle play-by-play for a 21st year. Michele Tafoya
will return to the sideline after a maternity leave and be joined by ESPN
Sunday night vet Suzy Kolber. 

•All MNF, all Monday: ESPN will build a six-
to seven-hour programming block around the game. Monday Night Countdown
will air from 6:30-8:30. After the game, SportsCenter will originate
live from the game site. Chris Berman's NFL PrimeTime will shift
to Monday from Sunday nights (it cannot be on when NBC has NFL programming);
the start time is undetermined. 



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Meredith
to help turn out the lights for ABC's 'MNF' finale 



Where have
you gone, Dandy Don Meredith? TV's original good old boy sportscaster
has been missing in action since leaving the booth of ABC's Monday Night
Football in 1984. Now Meredith is coming out of retirement to help give
36-year-old MNF a Viking funeral during ABC's final telecast of the
series Monday.

Meredith, 67, was one of the original trio, along with Keith
Jackson and the late Howard Cosell, who called the first MNF
game in 1970. His chemistry with Cosell and Frank Gifford, who replaced Jackson a year later, helped turn MNF into a pop culture sensation and TV
institution. 

During Monday's telecast of the New England Patriots-New
York Jets game, Meredith will appear with Gifford and current play-by-play man Al
Michaels in a taped, two-minute opening segment. Then Meredith will close
the show with another rendition of The Party's Over, the song he used to
belt out in the booth during blowout games, to Cosell's irritation.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback spent 13 seasons
(1970 to '74; 1977 to '84) in the MNF booth. But he has kept a low
profile since.

His longtime pal Gifford talked him into returning to the
limelight, according to George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC
Sports, who will shepherd the move of MNF to ESPN in 2006.

"It shows you the weight this property has,"
says Bodenheimer, although ABC had to send a crew to Meredith's home in Santa Fe to tape his parts for the finale because Meredith had family commitments.
(Gifford's part was taped in Los Angeles.)

Fred Gaudelli, producer of MNF the last five
seasons, says Meredith "closed that chapter on his life." But Dandy
Don is as outspoken as ever, according to Gaudelli. "He said, 'Freddy, if I
was doing a game where a team was losing 35-0 ... and a running back started
dancing after making a 3-yard gain, I'd say get your a— back to the huddle and
hug an offensive lineman.' "

Meredith declined through an ABC spokesman to be
interviewed.

ABC's final MNF game also will feature:

• Famous faces who popped into the MNF booth such
as Ronald Reagan and John Lennon.

• A salute to ABC's Roone Arledge and former NFL
commissioner Pete Rozelle.

• Clips from the greatest games, including the Miami
Dolphins' defeat of the Chicago Bears in 1985, the highest-rated MNF
telecast ever with a 29.6 rating.

MNF is the second longest-running program in prime
time behind CBS' 60 Minutes. While still a top-10 show, its ratings continue
to slide. Monday's telecast of the Baltimore Ravens' 48-3 rout of the Green Bay
Packers generated an 8.2 rating, the lowest this season and the second-lowest
ever. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. St. Louis Rams last season posted the lowest, a
7.7.) This season, MNF is averaging an overall 10.9 rating, down 1% from
an 11.0 last season.

It remains to be seen whether the finale, a matchup of the
playoff-bound Patriots vs. the eliminated Jets, will attract enough viewers to
send MNF off on a ratings high note. Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis
Colts are this season's ratings darlings, drawing the two biggest numbers (a
14.8 for their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 28 and a 14.3 for
their game against New England on Nov. 7).

In a bitter pill for ABC, rival NBC was able to land the
kind of late-season flexible scheduling for its Sunday night NFL package next
season that the network had sought to avoid turkeys such as Monday's contest
between two losing teams. 

As Willie Nelson sings in The Party's Over: "Turn
out the lights, the party's over, they say all good things must end. Call it
tonight, the party's over. And tomorrow starts the same old thing again."

Dying inside: The networks did a great job of
catching the agony and ecstasy of NFL coaches as the last few days, as they
alternately screamed, stormed and sulked their way through games.

ABC had a great close-up Monday night of Green Bay coach
Mike Sherman's 1,000-yard stare as his team absorbed its worst beating since
losing 61-7 to the Bears in 1980. "His team is not putting up much of a
fight," said ABC's John Madden.



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Wow!!! Can't believe it's already time for the move to ESPN. Oh well, ESPN will probably give MNF the treatment it deserves with the pre & post game shows.

ABC's Monday finale is a night of reckoning

ABC's Monday Night Football ended the way it started its 36-year run: with controversial sportscaster Howard Cosell welcoming TV viewers to the brave new world of prime-time football.

ABC's announcing team of Al Michaels and John Madden were classy enough to give the show's most famous trio of Cosell, "Dandy" Don Meredith and Frank Gifford their due before MNF moves from ABC to sister Disney network ESPN for the 2006 season.

That trio was only together for 11 out of MNF's 36 seasons. But they're like the Ghost of Christmas Past for whoever steps into the MNF booth, whether they're Madden or Michaels, one of the many ex-jocks who flopped in the canary-yellow blazer such as Joe Namath, Fran Tarkenton, Alex Karras and O.J. Simpson or a professional comedian such as Dennis Miller.

Cosell influenced a generation of sportscasters such as ESPN's Chris Berman. During Monday's telecast of the New England Patriots-New York Jets game Monday night, we saw why.

Cosell was the first sportscaster to become bigger than the games he called, yucking it up in the booth with everyone from presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton to celebrities such as John Lennon, William Shatner and John Wayne.

The teasing, sometimes volatile chemistry between him and Meredith and Gifford, two members of the "jockocracy" he deplored, made viewers tune in to see what they would say or do next.

Recalled Gifford during a live interview with Michaels at halftime: "Howard pontificated. Don Meredith was the country guy who kept the big city slicker straight. I kept law and order."

Bill Carter, co-author of Monday Night Mayhem, said Monday Night Football started becoming football on Monday night when Cosell left under fire in 1984 after describing Alvin Garrett as a "little monkey" on the air.

"Cosell made the difference," he said. "It was not just football. It was really an entertaining package."

ABC, of course, had a game to telecast Monday night. But I would like to have seen more of what made MNF so groundbreaking.

Such as the night in 1980 that Cosell took it upon himself to inform a stunned nation of the murder of Lennon in New York. Or Cosell's exciting, rat-a-tat-tat recitation of "Halftime Highlights."

Or the unforgettable night in 1985 when incoming ESPN color analyst Joe Theismann suffered one of the most bloodcurdling injuries ever seen on prime-time TV, a bloody broken fibula and tibia in his lower right leg.

A look at other memorable moments during ABC's 555th and final MNF broadcast:

•Best live moment: The New York Jets' Vinny Testaverde, 42, becoming the first player to throw a TD pass 19 seasons in a row.

•Best taped moment: Dandy Don serenading viewers on tape with another rendition of The Party's Over, the Willie Nelson song he used to warble in the booth during blowout games.

•Funniest clip: David Letterman pointing at MNF analyst Dan Dierdorf and saying, "He's still wearing his cup."

•Say what? MNF's first play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson touting one of the show's first advertisers: Marlboro cigarettes.

Gifford told Michaels about the night both Lennon and Reagan visited the booth. He recalled the conservative politician with his arm around the peace-loving Beatle, explaining the finer points of American football. "That was something kind of special," Gifford recalled

So was this show.

That really would have been a sight to see President Reagan with his arm around John Lennon.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DRTYFN:
Wow!!! Can't believe it's already time for the move to ESPN. Oh well, ESPN will probably give MNF the treatment it deserves with the pre & post game shows. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

X2 + Good announcers = should be sweet.

Remember when they had Dennis Miller on.

Will Madden still announce?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by h2co-pilot:
X2 + Good announcers = should be sweet.

Remember when they had Dennis Miller on.

Will Madden still announce?

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

•New faces: Theismann will move to Monday after 18 years on Sunday night, replacing John Madden, who is heading to NBC. Al Michaels will handle play-by-play for a 21st year. Michele Tafoya will return to the sideline after a maternity leave and be joined by ESPN Sunday night vet Suzy Kolber.

Dennis is probably thinking about National Hockey Night in Canada

While Barry Melrose is an all right guy, he's no Madden

Speaking of Madden, has anyone heard the clip of Frank Caliendo doing his Madden impression?

It's a classic!!!!

"Here's a guy, who when he runs, he goes faster!!"

"Here's a guy who when he puts his contacts in, he sees better!"