Monday Night Football ended much the way it started--with a Jets loss. But hey Jets fans, let's not be too bitter. While we will have football on Monday night on ESPN, it will not be the same as MNF. Men (and women) of my age and aspect grew up with MNF. In some households it was an institution.

Last night's show--if not the game--was pretty good. There were appearances by Don Meredith and Frank Gifford. There was a montage of past celebrities asking out, "Are you ready for some football?"

Base10 will miss MNF. He has cursed it for being on too late, for not being perfectly prescient in the preseason and its consequent failure to predict which games will be exciting in December, and its uncanny ability to recruit gasbag commentators from Howard Cosell to John Madden, but MNF has been fun over the years.

Of course there was one bright spot in last night's game. As Vinny Testaverde and Doug Flutie faced each other in garbage time (surely this will answer some future trivia question about the first time two quarterbacks in their forties faced each other on MNF), Vinny scored a touchdown pass on a nice drive in the final minutes. Not with a bang, but a whimper, perhaps, but nevertheless kind of sweet.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:24 AM