I'm willing to give them a shot, but I don't really like their show. Mostly because they often talk about things I don't care about, not because of their personalities.

It "spanks" of self-promotion? Do you mean "stinks?" Or does "spanks" work too? I don't know. Maybe people have been saying "spanks" all these years and it never sunk in for me. Perhaps I am an idiot.

On to the actual topic ... this sounds like it could be a pretty good arrangement, assuming that Mike and Mike are really that good at calling games. Anyone could probably do better than the current group, so I applaud this move, albeit tentatively since I've never heard them try it.

I've always kind of wanted to spank of success.

That soudns encouraging...it might also "smack", but I don't think it "spanks".

As long as they don't have any music from their show or continue with that incredibly lame meme that Greenberg is gay/metrosexual and Golic is a man's man. Seriously, it hurts my brain that they're so obviously playing characters.

Mike Golic is doing live MNF now? Noooooo! We used to have him all to ourselves during live broadcasts in the UK. Hope this isn't a permanent thing, 'cos I'd hate to lose him from our screens.

It was always a nice contrast when watching the banality of the EPSN / Fox feed with commentators, when a timeout was called. US stations go to adverts. UK goes to the studio, where the analysts occasionally read out tedious emails from viewers, and occasionally provide interesting analysis of what is going on. "That 8 yard run was the fault of

I thought Tirico was shockingly good when he called college games. When he started doing MNF it got to the point where I couldn't stand to hear his voice. The "roles" they are assigned by their handlers is what screws everything up. Lets hope they let M&M be themselves.

Put Bradshaw and Long in the booth -- they are so far and away the best I've heard in recent years, and I'm just stumped about why no network execs see this, and instead, want to keep them in the studio, where, for some reason, Bradshaw confines himself to annoying schtick.

Was Mike Golic in "Saved by the Bell", when they'd gone to college, as a trendy proffessor type?

Tirico never bothers me that muchh, he's a reasonably competent play-by-play guy.

6: Are you confusing Channel 5's Mike Carlson with Mike Golic?

re 9

possibly - I know Mike Carlson is on Channel 5 - but thought they had Golic on Sky sometimes. But I admit I may just be getting mixed up since I recognised the name Golic from elsewhere.

If you say Golic isn't ever on Sky, you're probably right, and I'm talking out my a**e :)

As indicated in the first sentence of this EP, this is just for one game - the second game of the opening week MNF doubleheader (which is Arizona at San Francisco). So even if they are worse than the Three Stooges on MNF, it's no big deal.

I don't much care for M&M in the Morning, but Mike Golic is good as a TV analyst. I've seen a little of them calling in Arena games, they're not bad. But a previous poster is right, they need to check their radio personalities at the booth door and keep it professional.

I will give ESPN credit here for changing around their booths. Jaworski is a solid addition to the MNF booth, although personally, I think they axed the wrong guy (Theismann) when they should have booted the "color" commentator Kornheiser. Still, Theismann & Jaworski in the booth would be "too many cooks in the kitchen". They need a guy who can talk defense, there is too much of an offensive bias in commentating (probably owing to the preponderance of well-spoken ex-quarterbacks). Love him or hate him, Madden shines when rambling on about defense.

10: Mike Golic might be on SKY, I don't get it and have to survive on C5, NFL Game Pass (but my internet is too slow) and watching games at the Sports Cafe.

Why does everyone love madden?

The guy drives me nuts. Most of his comments are along the lines of "theyre losing because theyre not playing tough football, and you can't be tough while you're losing".

I loved madden 5 years ago, but hes so awful now.

I loved madden 5 years ago, but hes so awful now

you misspelled "20"

I know folks here are much too sophisticated to be taken in by such cheap ploys, but the whole contrasting personalities as entertainment has worked for about as long as humans have been around. From Laurel/Hardy and Burns/Allen to Felix/Oscar and so on. When done well it works.

And right now the Mike & Mike show is the shining star in the pantheon of ESPN ineptitude. Their ratings are excellent. And more importantly to advertisers, they bring in female listeners/viewers.

And believe it or not, they aren't trying necessarily to appeal to folks here. We get our sports news from different sources. Consider them more the "Regis and Kelly" of the sports world.

They are certainly far more entertaining than the two man male duos so commonplace in radio across the country doing schtick that only appeals to a narrow spectrum of listeners. For one thing, their annual wagers on the NCAA tournament are legitimately amusing when the "loser" pays up on the bet.

In past years Greenberg has dressed up as the Notre Dame leprechaun. That's amusing. This year the New York pretty boy is milking a cow. That's amusing.

Look, I am a nerdy hick from Wisconsin and at times they make me laugh. My girlfriend watches them on ESPN2 and is amused. And this from the woman who enjoys arguing with Chris Matthews (obviously he isn't responding) on CNBC or enjoying the Daily Show.

Everything else on ESPN pretty much reeks. This one they got right. Throw the network a bone already.

re 16

Madden's definitely lost much of the insight he used to have, but just hearing him is like going home again, a familiar voice thats exceedingly comfortable.

16: I disgree withh you over Madden, he's still one of the only analysts that consistently highlights good line play.

Don't let Madden's last year with ABC fool you. I had serious doubts about him after that, I really thought he was becoming senile or something. However, this past year Madden + Michaels was the best crew I heard all year (didn't have ESPN or NFL network). Also, they had a couple bad games late in the year, and no one should ever let Madden call a Packer's game for the rest of his career.

Not yet mentioned: Mike Ditka will the third member of the booth, with Bonnie Bernstein on the sideline. Honest question: Can we get ESPN to put Ditka on the sideline and Bernstein in the booth? Wouldn't that ultimately be cooler and more informative?

I too have caught them a few times on AFL...shockingly good and completely different from the "Odd Couple" schtick they do on Mike and Mike.

Golic is, as you would expect, a very informed broadcaster of line play and they only said "yesterday talking with so and so..." (my personal pet peeve) a few times at the beginning of the game.

Overall, I'm looking forward to their performance...although I can't stand Ditka in the broadcasting booth...dumb loud Chicago-wannabe Polish guy gets old in about 2.78 seconds.

Thanks #22 for the biggest part of this story to go unmentioned. I, for one, look forward to mike-cubed NFL. As of now, this announcement is the most interesting part of this game (sorry, not a NFC West fan and I can't pretend to get emotional about this game until late in the season when it might matter for the division). I also agree with Mike and Mike's opinion this morning that for 46 years Ditka has been one the most recognizable figures in the NFL and a sort of embodiment of what it is.

First ESPN throws Jaws in the regular booth (best NFL-related offseason move), and now they replace the ESPN 2nd team with another interesting group. It's one game a season, why not play with it and try something different. I'll wager now that one day Mike and Mike (and maybe Mike, who knows) will be doing NFL games on the regular.

Can we get no on the sidelines?

Wouldn't that save us valuable minutes of our lives? I think I would rather watch commercials.

Re: 25. How will you know that the losing coach plans to change things up in the second half? Or that an injured player is questionable to return?

re: 23

I agree with that, man. We need a dumb, loud Philadelphia Irish guy in the booth.

That Mike guy has to milk a cow tomorrow. Does anyone know if a clip will be available on You Tube? Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch ESPN2 tomorrow morning.

I hate inspid sideline "reporting" as much as anyone, but I think Michelle Tafoya deserves some plaudits. She puts a lot of effort into that thankless job and always tries to ask something more insightful than the standard "coach,what are you going to do differently in the second half?" fare.

She's also pretty much the only sideline reporter ever that adds anything at all to the broadcast, by finding info that only someone on the sidelines could get (shocking!). The game last year in which she found out that one team's (Seattle maybe?) headsets were malfunctioning so they had to change their play-calling procedure immediately comes to mind. It's not critical information, but it's kind of interesting and actually relevant.

I could do away with the whole position of course, but Tafoya deserves a lot of credit for what she does in that capacity.

Sorry for going a bit off-topic, btw, but the Bernstein comment just reminded me of the one persin in the world who's decent at that job never gets any credit for their work.

#30 - Who are you talking about, Jillian Barberie?

Can I just add that I think Suzy "I wanna kishhh you" Kolber is, by far, the worst side-line reporter.

Ever.

Can anyone recall the name of that hot blonde that does the CFB games (ESPN I think).

Stacy Wolf (or something like that) on CBS isn't too bad.