On Monday night the Free World will find out who has the worse team: The 1-5 Giants or ESPN's new, underwhelming (that's being kind) "Monday Night Football" trio?
Yet in Atlanta, ESPN's Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, and Anthony (Booger) McFarland will be catching a break. In the Giants, they will be chronicling a team now known for its dysfunction, distraction, controversy and ineptness. This lethal (at least in sports) cocktail should take the spotlight away from a broadcast team that has yet to strike a chemical balance.
The "MNF" crew should view this as a huge opportunity. While the Giants are struggling, they have also provided the media an endless buffet of juicy material, led by circus ring master Odell Beckham Jr. By granting Josina Anderson that now legendary exclusive interview, OBJ has already delivered a huge gift to ESPN. The spot, coming shortly after the Giants signed him to a $90 million contract, provided OBJ (he was flanked by designated puppet, Lil Wayne) the opportunity to use quarterback Eli Manning and coach Pat Shurmur as his personal fire hydrants.
Does anyone really think OBJ is unaware of the "opportunity" presenting itself Monday night when he's playing in front of a national audience on one of the NFL's primetime TV platforms? The only question is will the Look-At-Me moment, sure to once again embarrass the Giants, come during a Beckhamesque end zone celebration or sideline tantrum? No doubt ESPN will capture the "action" through the lens of its designated Odell Cam.
All the three voices have to do is caption those pictures. That should not be too hard _ even for them.
More must-see pictures ESPN's cameras will no doubt capture: Manning with a pained look on his face being sacked. This will be easy. Tessitore, Witten, and McFarland can lay out. No need to talk. Let the picture tell the story. That should not be hard _ even for them.
ESPN should use an eye-in-the-sky camera to peer into the suite of John Mara. All Tessitore, Witten or McFarland has to do is figure out whether the Giants owner is sipping straight from a bottle of water. Or chugging directly from a bottle of Maalox. That bit of "investigative" reporting should not be hard _ even for them.
When the smoke clears, all anyone in the Valley of the Stupid and other media precincts will be talking about Tuesday morning will be either 1) Something Beckham did or 2) Another Giants controversy. So the ESPN Gasbags will likely be judged by the way they handle those moments. If they describe and analyze well, it could result in praise and a positive performance.
For the Giants, it might not be that simple. In the first six weeks of the season, questions continue to pile up. Questions that bring only flimsy excuses, er, answers. This from an organization, once known for its conservative buttoned-down approach, that now walks around the NFL with its fly open.
