Sports Publications

When MNF roaredand ruled

Sporting News, The, Jan 14, 2002 by Fritz Quindt

You didn't have to be alive in the Howard Cosell Era to appreciate how big Monday Night Football was, although it helps.

Assistance is provided by Monday Night Mayhem, a made-for-TNT movie premiering January 14 (9 p.m. ET)--a reminder that MNF is considered as significant to pop culture as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Britney Spears and $99 DVD players combined.

The detailed story of behind-the-scenes dirt (Did you know Cosell once got so drunk on the air he threw up on Dandy Don Meredith's boots?) doesn't fully translate, even with a screenplay by Bill Carter, coauthor of the 1988 book. This is established: MNF made ABC (in 1970, as now, a third-place network) and the NFL sizzle; Cosell, Meredith and Frank Gifford received rock-star treatment; folks literally gathered at the water cooler Tuesday morning to discuss the show; they threw bricks at TVs when Cosell came on; theaters, restaurants, even maternity wards emptied out on Monday nights. Really.

Really, Monday Night Mayhem is about Roone Arledge, godfather of ABC Sports (and News). He sold America's suits and viewers on prime-time sports, deployed nine cameras when five was standard, insisted on Cosell--basically, invented everything about Monday Night that God missed. John Heard (Home Alone) gives good Arledge.

Alas, John Turturro (He Got Game, Raging Bull, Collateral Damage), in the juicy lead role as Cosell, resembles him less than Jon Voight in Ali, and his How-ard Cosell imitation pales to Billy Crystal's. Only termites will relish the wooden portrayals of Meredith and Gifford by Brad Beyer (Sex and the City) and Kevin Anderson (nothing on his resume I recognize).

Casting, they tell us, is also problematic on the modern-day MNF. Phooey. Al Michaels is terrific, Dan Fouts uses sharper incisors than any analyst, and Dennis Miller is ... well, Dendoo "polarizes the audience"? That's what Howard did.

Another misdiagnosis for MNF: "Games are lousy now." Aw, that '70s show had stinkos like Raiders 34, Oilers 0; Dolphins 21, Bengals 0; Steelers 42, Broncos 7.

From every angle, the Present matches up favorably with the Past--ABC still uses all the bells and whistles; delivers celebrities in the booth; replaced director Chet Forte's "honey shots" with Melissa Stark--EXCEPT in the ratings. MNF has free-fallen to an 11.0 Nielsen. That's down 14 percent from last year's all-time low, half what the halcyon days were. If the loser tag fits, wear it. Well, it doesn't.

But some of us can remember the good ol' days, when MNFs legend hardened. Before cable, satellites, VCRs, "audience fragmentation." When, if the game wasn't entertaining enough, your only options were to flip over to Here's Lucy--or to turn the TV off. Just telling it like it is.