TOSS UP!

It's time for the game that makes Wilbon cry in his pillow: Toss up!

So PTI co-host Tony Kornheiser is part of the new Monday Night Football announce team for next year’s switch to ESPN, along with Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann. Sounds good, sounds good. Maybe just replace Tirico with Michael Wilbon, and Theismann with Tony Reali, and we’ve got a pretty good lineup going here. Trim sideline reporters Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber, and add ATH’s Woody Paige and Jay Mariotti, and you will guarantee that I will watch every single MNF game next year. I don’t care if it’s the Texans and 49ers, I’ll watch.

All joking aside, Dennis Miller’s brief stint on MNF was a failed experiment in bringing a “different” voice into the booth, and I hope TK is able to avoid being pigeonholed as “the funny guy”. He is very funny, but he’s probably the most qualified of those three to step into Howard Cosell’s shoes, as he knows football, but is able to spin it towards everyman.

PTI will also go on the road each Monday, to broadcast from the site of that night’s game. This could be great, but I doubt it’ll be necessary if you end up with a terrible game like the aforementioned matchup. How much in-depth analysis do we need of a game that’s sure to suck? For nights when the Patriots play the Colts, though, PTI will rule.

I’ll be watching MNF when it premieres on ESPN in September. The team could be terrible as a unit, and I’ll avoid them when possible, but I’m hoping they’ll blend together well, for the kids’ sake. After all, we do it for the kids.