Week Sixteen of the NFL season is here, and ESPN will be airing their final game of the year on Monday night when the Green Bay Packers traveling to Chicago to take on the Bears. Not only will there be a "For Love or the Game" with Greg Jennings, AND a look back on the Monday night season in photos, but we'll also be getting a "comic book style" intro from Samuel L. Jackson!

The 2008 season finale of ESPN’s Monday Night Football will include a matchup of longtime NFC North rivals when standout rookie running back Matt Forte and the Chicago Bears – still in the hunt for the division title – host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers December 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET. It will be the first MNF game in the Windy City since 2003.

Samuel L. Jackson, star of the upcoming film The Spirit, will appear in a special stylized opening tease to kick off the season finale of Monday Night Countdown at 7 p.m. Still photographs of heroic Bears and Packers faces are given a comic book feel in their framing and color treatment as Jackson tells the story of heroes and villains, of good and evil, and a classic rivalry, capturing the longtime spirit of this NFC North matchup.

Well isn't that special? As if Jim Carey's cheesy movie wasn't enough. Although, I think "The Spirit" looks badass, and if they're going to use anyone for a spot before the show....Sam Jackson isn't exactly a bad choice.

(Via ESPN PR)

I had no idea that the Favre Family knew what a blog was, let alone that they had one on Blogger (using the most basic template possible), but alas there it is....The Family of Favre. It's a good enough website on the family with pictures, stories and links to charities. Nothing out of the ordinary really. Well outside of the latest post titled "Family".

I almost skipped past it because of the title, but the post is actually Deanna Favre's first blog entry. One that actually serves as a defense of her husband against the "continual attacks" from the media....

But, over the past weeks, we have been deeply affected by the various media reports and accusations that have unfairly questioned Brett’s loyalty, fairness and character... Our children, family and friends have been so supportive and steadfast during these times. Brett and I have two wonderful girls, who, daily, show us unconditional love and remind us that everything will be okay. And, they remind us that media reports, accusations and rumors become irrelevant in light of the joy they bring to our family and in how they remind us that, in all things—even the tough things--- God has a bigger, better purpose.

But, I will say, most hurtful are those media reports who would like you to believe that Brett is eaten up with bitterness over his split with the Packers. Still feeling some grief, sure… but not bitterness. Yes, in the beginning, Brett was angry and hurt with the way things ended, but how could he not be? Brett gave most of his career (and his adult life) to the Packers. They were more than just an organization but also became our home away from home and our surrogate family. We will always love the Packer fans for making Brett more than just the focus of their applause on game day, but as part of their families, too. Again, how could any of us not be hurt and brokenhearted about such a loss of connection? Thus, certainly, Brett does not, in any way, hold a vendetta against his former team. But that has not stopped some from scrutinizing his every move and blaming him for so many things that simply are not true. Some incidents, like the locker room pranks appear funny (but they are still untrue)… Others, like the questionable phone calls to other teams, are hurtful, distasteful, and… still untrue as they have been reported.
Because of this, lately, my heart has been so heavy.

She's kind of all over the place (not unlike myself), but you get the general idea. Let me first say that I'm sure Deanna Favre is an amazing person. She survived Cancer, wrote a book AND helped her husband beat addiction (she was also the only guest on MNF that was even remotely interesting). She is certainly a better person than I.

With that said, while it's great that they are sharing their lives with their fans, it was an extremely sketchy decision to post this. I mean Brett was caught in an all out lie whether he was helping the Lions or not. He went running to Peter King and Chris Mortensen to deny the whole thing, before finally admitting to the Millen conversation in a press conference. I know athletes play the media, and vice versa, but to come out and try and defend something in this fashion just reeks of a PR stunt. Not saying that it is, but it's just odd.

It'll be interesting to see if anything is added to the site in the coming weeks. I'm guessing it will go dormant for awhile.

Family (Family of Favre)
Deanna Favre Thinks the Media is Hard on Brett (The Sporting Blog)

In its first year on ESPN, MNF decided that it would be smart to cross promote ABC shows all while the game was going on. The likes of Emmitt Smith (only talking DWTS), Hank Williams Jr talked about nothing while Christian Slater and James Denton battled to see who could piss off the audience more. While they did a much better job of keeping the guests in tune with the game in 2007 (Deanna Favre was amazing in October and the return of Jimmy Kimmel was hilarious), we still had to endure the likes of Drew Caray talking Soccer, Jimmy Johnson & Jeff Gordon talking nonsense, Russell Crowe talking Rugby, John C. Reilly talking "Dewey Cox" and my personal favorite Vince Vaughn talking about nothing.

The whole idea reeked of forcing reality shows and crappy movies down our throats. People could smell it from a mile away and weren't happy about it. Every mainstream site and blog hammered them for it and rightfully so.

Fast forward to today....After hearing accounts from people who attended the ESPN Monday Night Football Luncheon that took place in New York on Monday, (yes AA was invited, yes AA thought it was a trap so he didn't go) it seems to me that ESPN is attempting a re-branding of sorts for Monday Night Football. And, according to multiple sources, including Neil Best of Newsday, ESPN might not have any guests at all this season!

But here's a snippet that might even be newsworthy: When I asked producer Jay Rothman for his best guess about the number of booth guests this season, now that Brett Favre will be unavailable for the opener at Lambeau, he said, "Zero."

Then he added, "We may pull something off the eve of the election, but if we do we’ll do so at halftime."

Umm . . . the election? Was he referring to the President of the United States, perhaps?

"I don't know," Rothman said.

Umm . . . where is the game the night before the election?

Rothman: "Washington, D.C."

ZERO?!?! Well how about that? ESPN has been hammered over the past few years for being stubborn and not listening to their fans, but I think that's somewhat changing. Obviously not everyone can have what they want, but it's good that they understand how distracting and pointless a lot of those guests were and that they're (theoretically) making a change.

I also don't really have problems with guests as long as they are somehow linked to the game at hand. It would also be understandable to have the President on as well before the election. But inviting "Desperate Housewives" actor James Denton on, when he clearly knows nothing about Football, might have possibly been the worst decision in the history of Sports Television. I'm just saying.

President Bush to visit 'MNF' booth Nov. 3? (Newsday)

I pulled this video so I thought I would put it up. It's not like she needs anymore press, but I thought this was a pretty good Holiday Intro from Hannah Montana. Have a great Christmas Night and I'll see you for a full day tomorrow.

Cheers,
BP-AA

That's right....John C. Reilly and Trent Green! John C. Reilly will do the intro themed around his new movie "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and Trent Green will on Monday Night Countdown with the guys. There's no in-booth guest this week, which is a plus, but we do get new music by Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross! So we've got that going for us....which is nice.

See you for the pregame festivities around 7/7:30 tonight. Go Bears!

We do have a special intro host from the new movie "Hitman"....This guy!


That's actor Timothy Olyphant who's been in such bad ass roles as Live Free or Die Hard, Gone in 60 Seconds, Scream 2, Deadwood and The Girl Next Door. He'll be doing some fancy intro with Vince Young and Jay Cutler and it should be fun.

In all honesty Timmy Olyphant is a pretty great actor and he's aweseome on Deadwood, but I still have no idea what a Video Game turned Movie had to do with Football.

A lot of you tuned out of last night's game, and rightfully so...the game was pretty uneventful. While the game moved at a snails pace, the action in the booth was frenzied throughout the night. Jaws and Tony argued and bickered multiple times during the contest, Drew Carey mentioned CBS and Tirico almost lost it, and most importantly Steve Young made an appearance during the 4th quarter.

On the surface it seemed like the ex-49ers QB was there to talk about San Franciso, but it quickly turned into something more. Almost immediately Jaws exclaimed, "Great now we can talk about Football!", and the two completely took over the booth for the better part of the 4th quarter. Kornheiser was completely locked out and Tirico couldn't even keep up with the two.

So my questions to you are....Was this just a SF related trip upstairs for Steve, or are they trying a few new things out? Who would you prefer between Kornheiser and Young? And could the booth be tolerable with two ex-QBs as analysts?

I'm not starting any rumors here just throwing some ideas around. After mentioning at the end of October that Kornheiser was heading back to radio many of you proclaimed that he had done this last year as well. While that is true he does have a year-to-year contract and can be dropped, or quit after any season. Tony is great at most of what he does, but being a Football Analyst isn't one of them. Even though I think Monday Night Football would be better off without him, I don't know how much better it would be with Tirico, Jaws, and Young.

What say you?

MNF Live-Blog: 49ers vs. Seahawks - 2nd Half (Awful Announcing)
Kornheiser Returns To DC Radio, Departure From MNF Imminent? (Awful Announcing)

Where's Rod Roddy when you need him? Oh that's right....sorry. Well here it is folks. Your guest for Monday Night Football in Week Eleven is......


Yep, Drew Carey is your guest for Monday Night Football tonight during the third quarter of the 9ers-'Hawks game tonight, and guess what he'll be talking about? The Price is Right you ask??? The Price is Wrong B**ch! He'll actually be talking about the expansion MLS Soccer team coming to Seattle that he's a part of!!!

Hooray. You lose an NBA team, but gain a Soccer Team! And you get Drew Carey to go with it! Your city loves you Sonics' Fans....don't doubt it for a second!!! And guess what? There's actually more!

[They will] have Seattle-native Rainn Wilson (Dwight on The Office) lead a "tour" of the city, and film the Seahawks throwing (God, really?) fish. Blech.

They had this competition last year and I think Deion Branch won, but it should be fun. Also, anything utilizing the Office is fine in my book. Dwight can give me a tour of anything. See you for the live-blog tonight!

Monday Night Football 2Night (Seattlest)

Well ready or not, the boys of Hendrick Motorsports are going to be on the telecast tonight. Both Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon will be guests during the Seahawks-9ers game tonight, but there's good news! Neither will be in-booth for their interviews. The two Nascar point leaders will appear at halftime via Satellite and will speak with Stuart Scott about the final race of the season that will air on ABC this Sunday.

Wait, that's not good news. My apologies....Stu Scott and NASCAR can't ever be good.

(Source: ESPN)

P.S.- I haven't heard if there will be in in-booth visit from anyone but you'll know as soon as I find out.

No not the blonde POA.....It's Terry Bradshaw!

Wait what? Really??? Hmm okay. So much for Disnergy. I guess the Steelers 75th Anniversary party takes precedence over whatever crappy movie Disney has coming out this weekend. Or they must not have one coming out. Hey, at least it's Football related right?! (There's a first time for everything)

I'll see you for the live-blog around 8pm tonight!

Yes. Better than Vince Vaughn, Christian Slater, Jimmy Kimmel....even Sir Charles. I was riveted when she was in the booth explaining how different it is for her to watch a game than the guys in the booth. Jaws follows probably 14 different things at once, but when she explained that she rarely ever takes her eyes of her husband it was something I hadn't thought about. It made me think (shocking I know) about how many different ways, different people watch a Sporting Event and especially something as complex a game as Football.

Yes, she was also promoting her book, but this time her promo was actually relevant. It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.....it's not some cheesy movie, it's a promo for a late night talk show, it's not a promo for Desperate Housewives, and it's not "whatever Christian Slater was in the booth for". It was a great interview and the only other one that comes close was the Spike Lee appearance for the first game back in New Orleans after Katrina.

Deanna was so good she even got Tony to say that she's better than him in the booth! I don't think anyone's ever gotten those words to come out of his mouth. I someone erased the rest of her appearance, but here's the outro.

Also, what's with Tony Kornheiser and talking about women with every guest? He almost posed a Who Would You Do? question to James Denton last year, and has said "Kelly Ripa is hot" and "She smells better than I do" this year.

That's right there's another special friend we'll get to see at the beginning of the telecast......

Deanna Favre, wife of Packers QB Brett Favre, will speak over the opening tease to ESPN’s “MNF” broadcast. Deanna will highlight some of her husband’s career achievements. Broncos S John Lynch will wire a microphone for the telecast, which will also feature music from the Eagles' new record, “Long Road Out of Eden.”- SBD

Yes! A completely not funny sketch featuring Brett Favre's wife AND I get the Eagles as a bonus!??!!?!?11?!!1

Hell yeah! See you folks at 8pm for the live-blog! It's going to be a blast!!! Hopefully Jaws can analyze how Brett pulled of having a mistress in the Packers front office for all those years.....allegedly.

Yep, that's right it's Jennifer Aniston's F-Buddy himself.....


Mr. Vincent Anthony Vaughn! He of course has a new movie to promote, but at least me know that he likes Sports. Let's get him all liquored up before the game, and have Tony ask him about Aniston just to see what happens. We might be able to rid ourselves of Kornheiser in one swing.

I guess there could be worse choices, and as long as he's in there as short as Russ Crowe was....I'm good.

Sorry for the random title, but I was trying to work in that I am actually doing the Live-Blog tonight for the MNFer and that there will be guests in the booth. And yes....that's plural folks.


Steve Carell and Russell Crowe are expected to be the in-booth guests for this week. Crowe was on College Gameday earlier this year so that's not a surprise, but Carell being on an NBC show is definitely a surprise. I was thinking that he had a Disney movie coming out, but I can't seem to find it (Not Evan Almighty on DVD, Not Dan In Real Life, and not Horton Hears a Who). Anyone have any insight?

(Via McCarthy at the McPaper)

Update: "Dan in Real Life is a Touchstone film; Touchstone is a Disney company."- Mr. Pants

Well thank you Mr. Pants....I knew there was something I was missing. Oooh and Steve Carell's character is a writer who has a column on his life right? Who else used to do that??? That's right....this guy....

Oh and there's this too........."Dylan McDermott and other cast members of ABC’s “Big Shots” will take a look at the Colts-Jaguars matchup." (SBD)

So ESPN has decided to take back their official slamming of Jimmy Kimmel's "classless and disappointing" comments, and is still backing the late night host. In a move that is Disnergy at it's finest (do you know if you die in their parks they take you out into the parking lot and say you died there?) ESPN's Executive VP for Content John Skipper has even called the host to smooth things over according to SI.....

Kimmel fits that bill as ABC's late-night host and a former member of Fox's NFL Sunday crew. He said ESPN's executive vice president for content John Skipper reached out to him in a phone call on Wednesday in an attempt to smooth things over. "I got a call from John Skipper who I like a lot," said Kimmel. "He was apologetic. The unfortunate thing for people who did not see the broadcast is now it looks like I exposed myself on national television. Really, I wasn't even making fun of Joe. I just thought it was a funny and inappropriate but harmless thing to bring up in the booth."

On Wednesday night, an ESPN spokesperson emailed a statement to SI.com: "We have had a great relationship working with Jimmy and we will continue to work with him in the future."

Kimmel said he read the Times piece online after midnight on Tuesday and "was surprised to say the least."

What the hell is going on? Here's what I'm thinking happened....Jimmy needs ratings which is why you put him in the booth in the first place. ESPN bashes him after he bashes Theismann. Jay Rothman gets a call from Disney/ABC telling him he's about to get canned if ESPN doesn't take it all back. Everyone forgets about the problem all together.

It's really that easy. And remember.....any publicity is good publicity. Bravo Jimmy Kimmel....I applaud you.

ESPN Is Pissed At Jimmy Kimmel And He's Not Coming Back (Awful Announcing)
Confused Kimmel reacts to ESPN's decision to ban him (CNNSI)

Not in a million years would I ever think this would be the reaction from ESPN and Monday Night Football, but apparently Jimmy Kimmel upset them so much.....he's never coming back on the program. Via the NY Times.....

Jay Rothman, ESPN’s “Monday Night” producer, called Kimmel’s comments “classless and disappointing. It was cheap. The more he went on, the worse he got.”

Kimmel will not be invited back, Rothman said.

Theismann was more amused than annoyed by Kimmel’s comments, some of which he heard while watching TV at home. But he missed others while watching “CSI: Miami” on CBS, a new favorite since becoming a “free agent with nowhere to go.”

“I don’t have an opinion about what people say, but it’s nice to know you’re missed,” he said yesterday in a telephone interview. “It’s interesting that people remember me.” He said, without rancor, that he is not fully engaged in “Monday Night” because “it has become Tony Kornheiser’s show,” more about issues than football.

Okay this is garbage on all fronts if you ask me. First, Joe Theismann isn't even mad at Kimmel's comments and they seemed very much in jest. To go to this extreme is laughable. Also, Joe trying to take the high road and then throw in a dig at Tony is a joke as well. I think the only person that comes out looking good on this one is Kimmel who may or may not need the publicity, but probably doesn't care.

The only guest that Monday Night Football has put in the booth that was a roaring success (Barkley wasn't that great this year) is now never coming back. Look for Christian Slater next week.

‘Monday Night’ Is Not Amused by Kimmel (New York Times)
Jimmy Kimmel's Second Visit to the MNF Booth Will Be His Last, Apparently (Fanhouse)

That's right folks! Jimmy Kimmel will be back in the booth to talk about the game er, talk about sports ummmmm, to promote the Jimmy Kimmel Show (there we go)! Kimmel was in the booth last year during Week 12 and was pretty funny. I remember him asking Theismann how his leg was at one point and when Tirico asked him if he had any interesting guests coming on soon he mentioned Michael Irvin. He followed that with something along the lines, "So no....not really." Pretty funny.

Jimmy is not a bad choice, but please....please do not leave him in there for an entire quarter like Charles Barkley!

P.S.- Not only will Jimmy be in the booth, but he'll "drop by" the set of Monday Night Countdown as well.

P.P.S.- I love how Joe is conveniently cropped out of the ESPN Press Photo above. Too funny. Also, could you look less interested Tony?