ESPN's Irvin decision wrong
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Full disclosure: I receive a paycheck from the Worldwide Leader for
radio duties. So I hope my ESPN brethren can handle a little
constructive criticism from a family member.
Mickey, you screwed up this Michael Irvin decision.
ESPN and Irvin confirmed Saturday that he would not be with the
network next season. Both were doing a good job of painting this as
an amicable parting of ways. Irvin had a one-year deal with an
option for three more.
ESPN opted out. It is their right. I just think they are wrong.
Irvin was a big reason why Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday
night NFL Countdown were must-see TV. He was funny and biased
and controversial and, most of all, dialed in. He was just about
everything a football fan wants from a pregame show.
Is he biased toward particular players? Obviously.
Does Irvin say crazy, non-PC stuff? Of course.
Did he go too far with his comments about Tony Romo and his
great-great grandmother's dating habits? Most definitely.
But admit it, you tuned in. I definitely did. And I guarantee I am not
the only one who TiVo-ed ESPN before church so as not to miss
whatever crazy debate Irvin and Tom Jackson might engage in and to
see Irvin try to look good in purple velour.
Half the time, I thought he was wrong. The percentage jumped to 85
when the subject was T.O. What Irvin did best was taking average
fans into players' brains, how they talk and what they feel and why
they do what they do.
ESPN will be fine, of course. Word is former Cowboys coach Bill
Parcells is taking Irvin's place with Chris Berman and Co., thus
preventing my TiVo from taking Sundays off.
Of course, Parcells taking Irvin's job, when Irvin and his little buddy
T.O. were at least partially responsible for Parcells being available, is
proof the karma train eventually reaches every station.
Not that Irvin will be unemployed for long. He was not simply
sunshine-pumping when he told S-T beat man Clarence E. Hill Jr. on
Saturday that "these are exciting times for me and my family. There
are a lot of opportunities to explore."
If CBS is smart, a spot in its very "ish" pregame show will be one of
the offers Irvin is contemplating. And it will be an offer teeming with
zeros and virtually impossible to refuse.
Because, of the four big NFL shows, CBS is seventh. Behind even the
p.r. machine that is The NFL Network.
To say Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino and James
Brown lack chemistry and fire is a gross understatement. They are
Must-Not-See TV. They are flip-between-Fox-or-ESPN-and-switch-
just-in-time-for-the-game boring. They underwhelmed during the
Super Bowl, but...
Whoever is running the show at CBS took a step toward watchability
by bringing former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and his jaw in for
Sunday brunch.
Adding Irvin would be another giant leap toward
changing viewing habits.
What CBS has to ask itself is, "Do we want the Charles Barkley of the
NFL and all that implies?"
Because there will be days when The Playmaker drives you crazy,
days when he makes you wish you had brought in somebody who
followed the script, days when he says something so shocking that
everybody buzzes about him. And you. And not necessarily in a
good way.
ESPN decided it did not need the headache.
Full disclosure again: I enjoy working for the Worldwide Leader. So I
usually agree with every wonderful thing Brother Mickey does. But in
regard to Irvin, I think he went Goofy.
Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on The
Little Ball of Hate Show on ESPN/103.3 FM.
White women under the conrol of ESPN to the rescue!
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