For the first time in a while, ESPN will feature the same Monday Night Football booth in consecutive years. The crew of Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick will be back to call the action on Monday Nights. The trio debuted last season and got mainly good reviews, but the bar was set pretty low after the Tessitore/McFarland era.
I didn’t have a major problem with the booth as constructed. I thought the addition of Riddick was a great move. Levy is a pretty solid play-by-play guy and Griese has been around for a while, so I’m used to him as an analyst. Probably not a glowing review on my part, because I grew up in an era of Monday Night Football being a spectacle, and an event. Howard Cosell was the star, “Dandy” Don Meredith was the jokester, and Frank Gifford was a former player turned pretty darn good play-by-play man. I’m spoiled, what can I say?
Over the years as things evolved on the broadcast, television executives tried to fix what wasn’t broken. Wanting to do things differently. Like the failed experiment of Dennis Miller. I’m not sure what the attraction was. I mean Miller was hilarious on Saturday Night Live, but come on, why was he in the football booth? Tony Kornheiser had a crack at it to, but it wasn’t the right fit. My point being, if you’re going to change it up, change it for the better while keeping the integrity of the game and booth in mind.
I bring this up because of Dan Le Batard. Last week he tweeted about having only 17 percent battery life on his phone and he’d been drinking tequila. He opened up his Twitter account to anyone that wanted to ask him anything. One of the first questions he received was from Mina Kimes, the ESPN NFL analyst.
She asked: Do you think Rico Dawdle cemented his position as RB3 on the Cowboys depth chart with his explosive performance tonight?
Le Batard responded: Yes. And I think they need to be smart and put you in the Monday Night Football booth because your analysis is better than anyone’s and no one cares more about football or is better on football than you are.
Le Batard later tweeted he doesn’t want to see Kimes as a sideline reporter on an alternate simulcast. He wants her in the booth each week. To which Kimes tweeted back, “Please drop me off a block away from school; you’re embarrassing me in front of the other kids.”
The former ESPN’er said he didn’t want to see Kimes in a sideline reporting role or on an “alternate broadcast”. He says she belongs in the booth.
Could this be a legitimate option for ESPN, say if Riddick gets a front office position in the league? What if Griese decides he wants to coach? I’m not sure that’s even an option, but you get my point, what if there is an opening as an analyst in the MNF booth? Would Kimes be considered?
First off, if Kimes gets offered a role to host on the MNF Alternative broadcast, she should take it. That would be a great way to get some broadcasting “reps” and better prepare her for a possible role in the main booth.
After watching a recent Los Angeles Rams preseason broadcast, I think Kimes would be a hit on the regular broadcast. She worked the Rams/Chargers game for a local LA television station, which was also carried on the NFL Network. Kimes was seated alongside Aqib Talib as the analysts, working with play-by-play man Andrew Siciliano. He is the perfect broadcaster for Kimes to learn from. First off, he does a great job calling the action, but an even better job of setting up his analysts.
As I watched on my iPad, while getting my car serviced in suburban Chicago, one thing struck me immediately. Kimes knows her stuff. It was clear to me that she spent time preparing for this game. Her information was excellent. Kimes had in-depth knowledge of the camp battles for both teams and was very informed on what the teams did last season and needed to improve upon. She spoke confidently.
What also struck me, was that Kimes was not afraid of the moment that’s for sure. Although I would say early in the game, she did defer a lot to Talib. He wasn’t seizing the opportunity to “analyze” right after a play. Kimes though showed respect for a guy that played the game, allowing him to gather his thoughts. But you could tell that Talib respected her. He deferred to her a few times. In kind, Kimes would bring Talib back into the conversation, with on point questions, especially about the DB’s. His area of expertise. It was fun to hear the two work together. I did feel that most of the time, her information was better.
For example, in the second quarter Kimes began talking about the Rams running game. With Cam Akers out for the season, she said fans should keep an eye on who will be running the ball. She asked the question out loud about whether the Akers’ injury would cause a philosophy change in the Rams run game. She wondered if the style would be drastically different without Akers.
Kimes showed an ability to have a lot of fun in the booth. She joked in the 2nd quarter, after a replay showing a DB grabbing some of the receiver’s jersey. Talib and Kimes laughed about it, with Kimes stating, “I work with a lot of DB’s and I know better than to call that pass interference or holding.”
She told a few great stories too. One was about Chargers quarterback Chase Daniel and his bank account. Kimes mentioned that Daniel, after this season would have made 38.9-million dollars in his career. She added that he’s only started 5 games in the NFL. She capped it by saying, “Wow, his average (dollars) per throw is more than I make in a year.”
I enjoyed her information and the way she relayed it. Kimes certainly has a working knowledge of the schemes on defense and on offense, but the information was presented in a very digestible way. The info was very relatable and she wasn’t trying to overdo it. Meaning, she wasn’t saying, “look at me, I know my stuff and I am proving it to you by saying this.” Kudos to her for realizing that and sticking to her style and understanding of the situation.
If I had a criticism, it would be her ‘feel’ for the booth. It’s probably unfair because nobody ‘gets’ that dynamic right away. Plus, she’s only recently made the transition from writing to hosting and now to analyzing during a game. My biggest gripe is a small one in the grand scheme of things. Every once in a while, she would talk over referee Tony Corrente’s penalty calls, which shouldn’t happen. There were a few awkward moments and a few times where maybe things sounded a little forced. But that was early in the game and it got better as time went by.
The most awkward moment though was handled beautifully by Siciliano and Kimes. She went viral when she was trying to get into position for a booth shot. Kimes wasn’t completely seated when the director took the shot. When Siciliano said, “Hey look, we’re on camera.”, Kimes responded with “So are my pants.” The ability to laugh at herself is something to respect as well.
Kimes is a good story teller. I want to hear more stories, especially during a preseason game. Why? Because the casual fan probably doesn’t care that the Rams are in “Cover Zero” with a blitzing strong side linebacker. But I’ll bet they’d love to hear the “SAM” linebacker was an undrafted rookie free agent from a small school in the Midwest. Those are the stories that the NFL is built on.
I’ve said it before, you don’t have to be a former player to analyze a sport. It’s a bit tougher because you don’t have playing experiences to draw on. But remember, just because you played at a high level doesn’t mean you’ll be a good analyst. If you study the game, if you immerse yourself in it, if you continue to learn from coaches and players, you can analyze the NFL or any sport for that matter. Gaining respect from teams means you’ll get information that others may not.
Kimes was named to the NFL 40 Under 40: by the Athletic. According to the site, “she’s a skilled interviewer and a masterful writer who in the past year crossed over into a full-time analyst role on “NFL Live.” It’s still exceptionally rare for a woman to sit in the analyst chair, yet Kimes already has become one of the most respected voices in football.”
The site interviewed her co-analyst on NFL Live, Dan Orlovsky, the former NFL QB. He added, “Mina is so great because she never wants to live on the surface of a conversation about football. It’s always going down into the weeds, understanding it and then making it surface-level understandable,” said Orlovsky. “Being her teammate is fantastic because you know she’s locked in and forces you to be on top of your game.”
Should Kimes be a candidate if/when a spot opens up in a broadcast booth? Yup. She’s good, oh and she’s qualified too. Her enthusiasm, passion, and knowledge of the game have earned her respect from colleagues and the adoration of many fans. Le Batard is on to something here, hopefully the bosses at his former network are listening.
She’s already ten times better than Dennis Miller.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
Le Betard was drunk, and trying to flirt with her.
Ummm, have you seen Le Batard’s newlywed wife? Oh boi. If anything, he got drunk because he’s trying to be a Daddy. That makes you look foolish, Kyle.
Yeah, let’s ignore that Fact Dan was drunk and gushed to her “Mina you are so talented, nobody knows more about football or is better at football analysis than you, you’re so amazing!”. If he really felt that way, why not hire her to meadowlark media to do a football podcast? And the fact Dan has a good looking wife means he can’t look at other women? Because no powerful millionaire has ever looked at other women than their wife and tried to hook up with them. You sound pretty naive. If he gushed any harder he would of had a Joe Namath moment telling Mina ” I want to kiss you”.
I love Mina Kimes on Around the Horn and other ESPN mid day shows but she really wasn’t very good as broadcaster for a game. It was like she was stuck in pod cast mode. She is super smart but needs to perfect her craft in this medium still.