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SLAG · 02-09-2006, 08:38 AM

Wednesday, February 8, 2006
ESPN names new MNF team; Breen to call NBA games

ESPN.com

Monday Night Football will have a new broadcast team when it debuts on ESPN in 2006.
Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser will be part of a three-man booth calling the games on Monday nights next season and Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya will be sideline reporters. Kolber and Tafoya both reported from the sidelines for ABC during Super Bowl XL.
"I'm just thrilled to be the next person to take the greatest franchise in television sports history forward," Tirico said on ESPN Radio Wednesday morning.
Also, ESPN announced that Mike Breen will be its new lead NBA play-by-play announcer, teaming with analyst Hubie Brown for ABC telecasts beginning Feb. 12 and including the NBA Finals.
"This Monday Night Football team enthusiastically embraces our vision for sports television's signature series. We will propel MNF into a 21st century, all-day, exclusive, multi-media event that will engage fans in entirely new ways. This team will develop great chemistry," ESPN Executive Vice President John Skipper said.

"Mike Breen is widely respected for his depth of NBA knowledge and his consummate play-by-play skill. We are very excited to provide such a spectacular forum as the NBA Finals to showcase his talents."
In addition, Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon will take Pardon The Interruption on the road on Mondays during the football season. The shows will air from the site of ESPN's Monday Night Football games.
"We look to the future with great enthusiasm and a strong commitment to enhance the presentation of the NFL and the NBA, two of our most important sports properties," ESPN and ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer said.
Al Michaels, the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football on ABC from 1986 through Sunday's Super Bowl in Detroit, will not return to either broadcast.
"Al was not comfortable and let us know he was not comfortable with our vision of where we are going," Skipper said after Wednesday's announcement. "Back in November he said it was the greatest job ever invented. So sometime between the last couple of weeks and November apparently he had a change of heart."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

02-09-2006, 08:38 AM
SLAG Superbowl MVP Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: OOOOOOOOOOOOOLATHE Casino cash: $9910252	MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MICHAELS OUT Wednesday, February 8, 2006 ESPN names new MNF team; Breen to call NBA games ESPN.com Monday Night Football will have a new broadcast team when it debuts on ESPN in 2006. Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser will be part of a three-man booth calling the games on Monday nights next season and Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya will be sideline reporters. Kolber and Tafoya both reported from the sidelines for ABC during Super Bowl XL. "I'm just thrilled to be the next person to take the greatest franchise in television sports history forward," Tirico said on ESPN Radio Wednesday morning. Also, ESPN announced that Mike Breen will be its new lead NBA play-by-play announcer, teaming with analyst Hubie Brown for ABC telecasts beginning Feb. 12 and including the NBA Finals. "This Monday Night Football team enthusiastically embraces our vision for sports television's signature series. We will propel MNF into a 21st century, all-day, exclusive, multi-media event that will engage fans in entirely new ways. This team will develop great chemistry," ESPN Executive Vice President John Skipper said. "Mike Breen is widely respected for his depth of NBA knowledge and his consummate play-by-play skill. We are very excited to provide such a spectacular forum as the NBA Finals to showcase his talents." In addition, Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon will take Pardon The Interruption on the road on Mondays during the football season. The shows will air from the site of ESPN's Monday Night Football games. "We look to the future with great enthusiasm and a strong commitment to enhance the presentation of the NFL and the NBA, two of our most important sports properties," ESPN and ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer said. Al Michaels, the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football on ABC from 1986 through Sunday's Super Bowl in Detroit, will not return to either broadcast. "Al was not comfortable and let us know he was not comfortable with our vision of where we are going," Skipper said after Wednesday's announcement. "Back in November he said it was the greatest job ever invented. So sometime between the last couple of weeks and November apparently he had a change of heart." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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