Every once in a while there is a moment in sports broadcasting that prompts us to beg the question.

What is with the celebrity appeal in sports broadcasts? 

The most recent Monday Night Football telecast on ESPN is the latest example.  The guest in the booth, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, made a smart alec retort directed towards former MNF analyst Joe Theismann. Whether or not Kimmel and Theismann have any kind of adverse history is unclear, but the point is a moot one.  Kimmel had no business being on the air in the first place.


If I want to laugh (or more like
contemplate suicide) I'll watch his
show.  Otherwise, keep him
away from my NFL games.

ESPN has had other “guest announcers” in recent Monday Night telecasts, including NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and movie star and Chicago area meatball Jim Belushi.  I couldn’t tell you what these folks add to the presentation or what the clowns who are in charge at ESPN were thinking when they invited them on, but I could tell you that most football fans could do without their irrelevant comments and opinions.


Chuck knows his basketball, but there's
no reason for him to spew his mouth
about the NFL

MNF on ESPN isn’t the only culprit.  NBC had singer Pink doing their introductory song in 2006, but apparently ratings weren’t high enough, so this year Faith Hill gets the honor.  Anybody who has watched a Super Bowl on any network knows there is almost as much hoopla made of the commercials and halftime show than there is about the game.

Fox is guilty too.  Raise your hand if your baseball intelligence is insulted by Scooter, the talking baseball who teaches us the physics of different pitches thrown by the starting pitcher.  In football, they have those ridiculous football playing robots and celebrity analysts giving predictions on the pre-game show. 

Every single network showing college and professional football games have decided that more people tune into their relay if a past-her-prime female who knows nothing about football updates us on coaches’ halftime speeches and player’s injuries.  The same occasionally is true for NBA games. 

The point of all this complaining is that fans watching the games are more annoyed by this than “turned on.”  I’m not more likely to watch the upcoming Monday Night game between the Colts and Jaguars because I’m curious to know who the guest in the booth will be.  No, I’m going to watch the game because I want to see how Peyton Manning will fare against one of the top three defenses in the NFL and while playing on the road.  I’m going to watch because Maurice Jones-Drew is on my fantasy team.  I’m going to watch because I like football.  Period.  End of freakin’ story.

In the absolute best case scenario, many fans are prone to mute the T.V. and/or listen to the play-by-play on the radio.  In the worst case, sports fans will watch “How I Met Your Mother.” 

Getting back to ESPN and their Monday Night debacle, could anybody out there explain what Tony Kornheiser is supposed to bring to the table?  I enjoy him on “PTI,” but he knows less about play-by-play than Mike Tirico and knows absolutely nothing about analyzing, so what are they paying him to do besides annoy listeners?

Here’s hoping that one day networks will wake up and tailor their sports broadcasts to sports fans and not pray these promotional stunts grab the attention of people who don’t care anyway.