When I heard that Monday Night Football would be moving from ABC to cable television next season I got all annoyed. The change was not going to affect me; I was annoyed on behalf of all football fans who do not have cable. I instantly believed that this was a great conspiracy against the working man (pronounced workiman around here). I wondered if the ABC family of companies had a stake in cable or satellite and had found a way to force more people to subscribe.
I thought about all the people who loved their Monday Night Football that were now going to have to buy cable to continue enjoying their program. I pictured all of these people as looking just like Bruce Springsteen in the video for Glory Days. Just some regular guys in flannel shirts wanting to catch a little Monday Night Football. Then it occurred to me that I might be the last person in the world who has no cable. I realized that all the workimen would be fine, it was just me who would not be able to watch Monday Night Football. And that was just fine. I don't watch Monday Night Football.
At least, I thought I didn't watch Monday Night Football. As it turns out, watching football has snuck up on me over the last couple of years. First there is LCG, who does not mind explaining the same thing every week because I never bother to retain the info because I always think I won't need it again. Second, there is the Kung Pao Chicken. I don't know how it happened, but Mondays have become Kung Pao Mondays for the last year or two.
Maybe I show up at LCG's house with Kung Pao, maybe he shows up at my house, but either way we end up checking the score on Monday Night Football. And once I hear Al Michaels I say, "Al Michaels is talking! You can leave this on." I sort of like John Madden too. His digressions coupled with Al Michaels's facts make for entertaining television whether I want to be watching the actual game or not.
So last week LCG showed up with Kung Pao and after the hockey game I flipped over to Monday Night Football. My favorite parts of the evening were the flashbacks because one of them included a cigarette commercial. Al Michaels then explained how that advertising got banned just mere weeks after Monday Night Football debuted. In my mind, I saw a cigarette commercial thanks to Al Michaels. He really is the greatest. I used to be a Bob Costas gal but now that I have watched Miracle one zillion times, Al Michaels is number one.
The more I watched the flashback segments the more I realized that I was sorry to see Monday Night Football go. It occurred to me that Monday Night Football is sort of like Johnny Cash. Monday Night Football has been on my entire life and I don't know a world without Monday Night Football. Being a fan of television tradition, I started to see what a big deal this was even though I thought I didn't care.
At the end of the broadcast when Madden and Michaels exchanged kind words and they both got choked up I could not look away. Al's eyes were all shiny and the only reason he did not shed a tear is because he did not blink. I got a little misty myself because it's not every day that you see a grown sportscaster man on the verge of tears. But Al is a pro and didn't blink and made it through his closing remarks and the show ended. And that is when I realized that I would miss Monday Night Football after all.