Flapping ‘Jaws’ is one mouth too many on ‘MNF’

Last season, the bad blood between Tony Kornheiser and Joe Theismann in ESPN's "Monday Night Football" booth was obvious. Together, they were like oil and water. They didn't like each other, and by season's end one of them had to go. It was Theismann who took the hit.

This year, ESPN invited Ron Jaworski, the one-time Eagles quarterback, into the booth to somehow create a new bond with Kornheiser and play-caller Mike Tirico. We're only two weeks into the season, but it's already clear the threesome isn't working.

This time, it isn't bad blood -- Kornheiser and "Jaws," as Jaworski is affectionately known, seem happy together. No, the issue is ESPN's fundamental misunderstanding of the telecast. The game should be the thing, not the chatter. The three-man booth concept, a vestige of Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith from the 1970s, was unique in its day because of their special chemistry but should now be scrapped.

Witness how much more effective the two-man crew of Al Michaels and John Madden is on NBC's "Sunday Night Football." Or, if you want to use an ABC/ESPN comparison, notice how much better Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit were during the Southern California-Nebraska game Saturday.

Jaworski so far has not been letting listeners breathe. Maybe it's nervousness, maybe it's an attempt to show how much he knows. Whatever the case, Tirico is getting squeezed out. I can't keep my mind in the game because of the verbal static, and I guarantee you millions of people across the country can't either.

Last night Charles Barkley became the fourth voice in the booth for a ridiculous 33 minutes. Give us a break! Cut the jib-jab.

• TIRICO TAKES OVER -- ESPN Radio announced Monday that Tirico permanently would take over part of Dan Patrick's former time slot, airing a show from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific time. He begins Thursday.

At least he won't be getting talked over by Jaws.

• 'SUNDAY NIGHT' SCOOP -- Late in the Patriots-Chargers game Sunday night, Andrea Kremer, NBC's sideline reporter, said a "high-ranking NFL official" told her the Jets may now ask the NFL to investigate Bill Belichick's possible use of radio frequencies to steal opposing team's signals. She said the Jets suspect Patriots defensive linemen were wired in the season opener to get New York's audible and offensive line calls.

If the league investigates and finds these new allegations to be true, Belichick could well be barred from the NFL. After last week's videotaping uproar, he is said to have told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell there were no more misdeeds to discover.

• 'INSIDE' TIP -- Viewers who get HBO and are fed up with most of the network NFL pregame shows -- they can be gimmicky and promotional -- would do well to watch the hourlong "Inside the NFL" with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and others from 10 to 11 p.m. each Wednesday.

It's intelligent, relatively unrushed because of the lack of commercials, and sufficiently inside in terms of what's discussed. Plus, it has film footage of the previous weekend's games, going down to the bench and along the sidelines where the networks generally are not allowed.

• HARDBALL -- With the regular season drawing to a close, it's time for "Remote Control's" best and worst baseball commentator awards for 2007.

Best: Orel Hershiser of ESPN. Astute and "inside," he illuminates the game in a way that both the average fan and the seasoned one can appreciate. Although he has been a regular commentator for only a few years, he gets it to an extent that most other experts never do.

I was struck by his insight during a Mets-Braves game last Wednesday. John Maine, the Mets' starter, walked three straight batters in the fifth inning after a catchable fly ball had fallen between two fielders. Hershiser noticed the blank look on Maine's face and said that after the fielding lapse Maine failed to compete -- failed to become emotionally engaged.

"He's kind of got the blank stare like nobody's home," Hershiser said. He then contrasted Maine with New York's Jose Reyes, who came to bat the following inning: "Here you see somebody that is engaged emotionally and is competing. It's not about 'Am I gonna fail?' or 'Am I gonna succeed?' but 'Am I gonna compete?' ... It's that fight-or-flight syndrome psychologists talk about."

Worst: ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe, who talks at you, not to you, preens for the camera and generally comes across as overbearing. Case in point: Sutcliffe addressing his booth partner Dusty Baker after a seven-pitch Derek Jeter at-bat during the Yankees-Red Sox game Friday night.

"It's your rookie year as a broadcaster, Bake, but get ready, that last at-bat with Jeter, that's what this whole series is about."

Ah, the attraction of condescension.

Bill Taaffe is a former award-winning TV-radio columnist for Sports Illustrated. He can be reached at taaffe-reviewjournal@earthlink.net.