Monday Night Football is almost intro-free.
ESPN didn’t have a rousing introduction for its season opener between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, eschewing the usual bombastic start that was practically invented by the telecast in the 1970s.
Hank Williams Jr. was, of course, not going to be part of the plans this year, but so was the soft lit, inspirational opening that replaced him in the middle of last season. The network seamlessly flowed from pregame to actual game and viewers barely heard the familiar strains of the theme music.
ESPN also pulled the plug on player introductions, continuing a trend from other networks in minimizing the early-game interruptions. While NBC shows full video in its player intros and gets buzz every week for how a player presents himself, his name and his college, ESPN went the other direction. A simple crawl went across the top of the screen showing the starters. CBS and Fox have gotten away from in-depth intros in recent years as well, but ESPN’s failure to acknowledge the ticket seemed new.
This development isn’t going to make the world collapse onto itself, but it’s a bothersome trend. Why talk about actual sports when you can talk about artificial storylines related to sports? Were the 45 seconds devoted to reading starting lineups really getting in the way of Jon Gruden that much? MNF got rid of Ron Jaworski on the broadcast team this year too! Apparently Gruden needs more time to talk about that guy’s explosivity.
Even without the production, Mike Tirico still rattled off some names of offensive starters, almost like a reflex or as part of a rebellion.
WRITTEN BY Chris Chase, USA TODAY & FULL STORY HERE
