Your Favorite MNF Moment

[NJTank]

Well how about the fake spike play in 1994 Aaron Glenn's head is still spinning.

[Cujo]

What's that play got to do with Monday Night Football??

[infrared41]

Well how about the fake spike play in 1994 Aaron Glenn's head is still spinning.

Just thought I'd add that the idea for the fake spike came from former Cleveland Brown Bernie Kosar. He told Marino to do it.

[rmered]

Oh yeah, the other thing I like about Monday Night Football.

It's on Tuesday Lunchtime here.

So I can tape it and watch it that night, or if the Pats are playing, give myself the afternoon off.

[WSU151]

What's that play got to do with Monday Night Football?? 

Only Tank could mix up a Sunday afternoon game with a Monday night game...or else he's trying to talk trash...I dunno...

[TFoA]

Favorite Falcons Moment

D-Hall talks trash to T.O. after locking him down for most of the game & securing the victory.

Favorite All-Around Moment

The one catch where the Packers dude was on the ground, still caught it, and scored. That was a kickass moment right there.

[Sterling84]

To save space, let's just say all of the memories you guys have listed are right there burned in my head too.

Amazing stuff.

Mostly though it's just fond memories of getting to stay up late for the first time...throwing the nerf to myself on the couch and watching (as somebody mentioned) the FIRST must-see TV before the infusion of cable.

MNF was the original water cooler program and every Tuesday during the autumn all the guys in junior high and high school would talk about the game. It was wonderful.

Sadly, I'm afraid this program's cultural relevance has been in DEEP decline for years and years. Seeing celebrities in the booth used to be neat, but with 24 hour programming and 50% of the population being a quasi-celebrity in their own right it's just too much. There is just cross-promotional saturation and the audience (dumb as we are) is just way too savvy to fall for junk like having Belushi in the booth shilling for his crap ABC show during every Bears MNF game.

The sideline reporters have been one embarrassment after another and I can't remember the last time MNF had a GREAT game past week 10.

It's time has come, and the new flex schedule model that NBC has for Sunday Night NFL will rule.

So, my point is, if we're mourning MNF we're a little too late. But there will still BE football on Monday nights. ESPN has that locked down. So if we're merely mourning ABC losing it......I guess it's just not that big of a deal. Their coverage has been decidedly ESPN-like for some time anyway.

Breaking point for me as a MNF fan this year? The UNFATHOMABLY stupid idea of having the same lame country song, sung to highlights every halftime. Talk about bottom of the barrel. I'm betting even (insert artists name here)'s BIGGEST fans are sick to death of that song. Pathetic. "I don't like it. I don't love it. I don't want no more of it."

[yh]

So, my point is, if we're mourning MNF we're a little too late. But there will still BE football on Monday nights. ESPN has that locked down. So if we're merely mourning ABC losing it......I guess it's just not that big of a deal. Their coverage has been decidedly ESPN-like for some time anyway.

Sterling, your entire post sums up much of what I have been thinking about MNF and its demise on ABC. I feel fortunate that I spent most of my formative years in the 70's and early 80's and got to enjoy what was truly the heyday of MNF.

The one hope I have regarding the move of the franchise to ESPN is that there won't be as much effort to cross-breed football with entertainment. Yes, ESPN and ABC are children of the same parent but I would hope that the network concentrates more on the action on the field and less on the action in the media booth or on the sister network. Perhaps that's a misguided aspiration but hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

[VitaminD]

Favorite Falcons Moment

D-Hall talks trash to T.O. after locking him down for most of the game & securing the victory.

7 catches for 120+ yards and getting open more often than not isn't exactly "locking him down". But I am not going to say more, because you've already forced me to come to TO's aid, and I feel like I need a shower.

Favorite Game: The Jets' comeback v. Miami. And I am impartial for both teams; it was just a once-in-a-lifetime comeback.

Favorite Moment: Randall Cunningham taking Carl Banks's best shot, staying on his feet and hitting Jimmie Siles with a TD pass at the Vet.

[Avenger]

Two words:

THE HIT

I think it was 1990, Chiefs vs Broncos. Steve Atwater was miked for the game, and laid a hit on Christian Okoye that his grandmother felt. If you don't remember, Okoye was a big dude with a rep for punishing tacklers. Atwater flat layed him out on his back.

I still can remember The Hit and the sound it made through the mic. To top it off, Elway drove the Broncos down the field to set up the game winning field goal, as he'd done many times before.

[TFoA]

^^^^^

One of the rare toddler things I remember, amazingly.

[FiddySicks]

Oh yeah, the other thing I like about Monday Night Football.

It's on Tuesday Lunchtime here.

So I can tape it and watch it that night, or if the Pats are playing, give myself the afternoon off.

Thats so cool. Its like when i got up at 3am last world cup to see the USA get beat by Germany Accually, they used to have a joke commercial promoting the change of MNF to Thursday morning football or something. Kinda reminds me of that

[OB33]

Two words:

THE HIT

I think it was 1990, Chiefs vs Broncos. Steve Atwater was miked for the game, and laid a hit on Christian Okoye that his grandmother felt. If you don't remember, Okoye was a big dude with a rep for punishing tacklers. Atwater flat layed him out on his back.

I still can remember The Hit and the sound it made through the mic. To top it off, Elway drove the Broncos down the field to set up the game winning field goal, as he'd done many times before.

[See Red]

Stopped him dead in his tracks. I wasn't old enough to see it live, but I've seen the video many a times.

Another nice hit done by a Bronco's player on MNF was Al Wilson's hit on Tyrone Wheatley last year in the snow. It was 4th and short, and the Raiders did a hand off and Wheatley looked he'd easily have the first... and then Al Wilson leaves him flat on his back, no first down. I'm pretty sure it was MNF, anyway.

[BCBoy]

THE COMEBACK. Indianapolis Colts VS Tampa Bay Buccanneers, Tampa is up by 21 points with roughly 5 minutes left and after TD's and a successful onside kick, the Colts tied it up and won the game in OT.

[TFoA]

Stopped him dead in his tracks. I wasn't old enough to see it live, but I've seen the video many a times.

Another nice hit done by a Bronco's player on MNF was Al Wilson's hit on Tyrone Wheatley last year in the snow. It was 4th and short, and the Raiders did a hand off and Wheatley looked he'd easily have the first... and then Al Wilson leaves him flat on his back, no first down. I'm pretty sure it was MNF, anyway.

It was SNF. They've only worn the orange on Sunday Night, IIRC, & they've worn orange everytime they've played the Raiders...and lost.

[See Red]

Stopped him dead in his tracks.  I wasn't old enough to see it live, but I've seen the video many a times.

Another nice hit done by a Bronco's player on MNF was Al Wilson's hit on Tyrone Wheatley last year in the snow.  It was 4th and short, and the Raiders did a hand off and Wheatley looked he'd easily have the first... and then Al Wilson leaves him flat on his back, no first down.  I'm pretty sure it was MNF, anyway.

It was SNF. They've only worn the orange on Sunday Night, IIRC, & they've worn orange everytime they've played the Raiders...and lost.

Yeah, you're right. The Monday Night game they played last year was against Cincinatti. Disregard what I said.

[WSU151]

They've only worn the orange on Sunday Night, IIRC, & they've worn orange everytime they've played the Raiders...and lost.

Flame, they lost to the Colts the first time they wore the orange alts (2002), then the Raiders in 2004. Both snow games.

They've worn navy against the Raiders every other time at home since 1997.

[See Red]

They've only worn the orange on Sunday Night, IIRC, & they've worn orange everytime they've played the Raiders...and lost.

Flame, they lost to the Colts the first time they wore the orange alts (2002), then the Raiders in 2004. Both snow games.

They've worn navy against the Raiders every other time at home since 1997.

And for one of them, they wore all-dark blue. I don't believe they've done it since.

[infrared41]

So, my point is, if we're mourning MNF we're a little too late. But there will still BE football on Monday nights. ESPN has that locked down. So if we're merely mourning ABC losing it......I guess it's just not that big of a deal. Their coverage has been decidedly ESPN-like for some time anyway.

Yeah we are about 22 years too late. MNF's magic got up and walked out the door behind Howard Cosell in 1983.

It was still OK after that but it never even got in the same area code of what it used to be in the 70's and early 80's. I grew up on Howard, Frank, and Dandy Don and let me tell you it never got any better than that. I know a lot of us old-timers in here get accused of "living in the past" etc. But this is one time where our era of MNF was far superior to what the younger guys grew up with...And that's really unfortunate for the younger folks.

Hopefully someday someone at ESPN Classic or NFL Network will be able to make the deal that lets them re-broadcast those old MNF classics. I am sure someone has already thought of it but I imagine the legal issues are a big problem. I know with the NFL everything has to go through NFL Films then there's ABC to deal with, the old announcers will want a cut etc... Who knows maybe someday.