Kornheiser out/Gruden in on MNF

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

MNF is different than your average Sunday game. It is a national game that has to appeal to more than just the fans of the teams playing. That's why both ABC and ESPN have worked to create it is more of a regular entertainment option rather just a pure football sport game. I doubt ESPN will or even should abandon that strategy. It may turn off some more hardcore type fans (like us) but it also makes the product more accessible to the masses...and that's the point really.

I think you are underestimating the sophistication of your average NFL viewer FRPLG. This is not 20 years ago when Joe 6-Pack needed Madden to explain nickel coverage to him. Your average NFL fan today has grown up on simulation video games and NFL network, and resultantly, understands the game with a depth of knowledge that his father most likely did not.

I think both the backlash that Kornheiser and Dennis Miller before him engendered, as well as ESPN's decision to fill that third seat with a pure football guy this time around, say a lot about the changing demands of the NFL viewer.