Goodbye MNF

How weird - the only program to hold up ABC while their entertainment division has consistently underperformed over the years is getting the boot to cable.

How sad - today's entertainment and sport executives know nothing of the work that went into building America's most powerful dynasty, the National Football League, and the program that has defined the sport, Monday Night Football.

Just the same as the NCAA, lawyers with no appreciation of the great tradition of the sport and its television coverage have taken over, ruining what visionaries like Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge created. Overpriced television contracts are just the beginning - petty penalties, ridiculous regulations, and the practice of whoring off properties such as the Super Bowl to advertisers are combining to flush a great sport down the crapper.

And so we say goodbye to Monday Night Football. With your demise goes the greatest days of the sport, consisting of not only sports television legends Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Al Michaels, but also great players ranging from Johnny Unitas to Jack Lambert to Dan Marino to Barry Sanders, with hundreds more in between.

Thanks for what will undoubtedly go down as the greatest 36 years in National Football League history!