ESPN Has Ruined Monday Night Football

Looking back on this season's coverage of Monday Night Football, I am saddened to report that ESPN did a terrible job.

While the quality of MNF has deteriorated since the days of Dandy Don and Howard Cosell, the latest crew of announcers has made it impossible to follow the game. Instead of a play-by-play announcer and a color man, ESPN has hired a crew intent on discussing everything but the game at hand.

Running a current events topic into the ground, conducting long-winded interviews in the booth and doing sideline interviews while the game is in progress demonstrate ESPN's philosophy that MNF is is little more than background noise for their latest variation of Sports Center.

The NFL powers should either force ESPN to cover the game like it was the main event, of find another network.

Dominguez Family Rescued At Taxpayers' Expense

The Dominguez family, father and three children, were finally found after spending three days lost in the snowy mountains of northern California. Thank God that all of them were alive and relatively unharmed.

So, what terrible event placed those children in harm's way? Daddy had decided to drag them into the unknown to look for a Christmas tree.

In addition to dozens of volunteers, the search and rescue effort included the Butte County Sheriff's Department and a California Highway Patrol Helicopter. Bottom line is, not only did Fred Dominguez place his children at risk with his poor judgement, he cost the Butte County and California taxpayers a lot of money.

The news routinely reports stories of people who have committed stupid acts and have had to be rescued by some tax-funded agency. I think Dominguez and other people who deliberately get themselves in trouble should reimburse the taxpayers for saving their hides.

The Ethics of Bobby Petrino

When Bobby Petrino suddenly quit as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, he revealed his lack of character and a complete absence of personnel and professional ethics.

Petrino showed he did not care about anyone but himself. His actions affected the Falcons organization, the families of the players and coaches, the fans, and the city of Atlanta. In a time when American society sorely needs role models for ethical behavior, Petrino has become the poster child for self-serving, inconsiderate cowards everywhere.

Ranking right down there with Petrino is the Arkansas football program. Apparently, that organization saw nothing wrong with covertly hiring a coach out from under the noses of his employeer and getting him to abandon his responsibilities in the middle of the season.

Someone associated with this tawdry, dirty little episode should have had enough character to stand up and cry foul.

Petrino and Arkansas football represent everything I have tried to teach my child NOT to be.

If you are a parent with a high school son who is being recruited by college football teams, I would suggest you look at programs other than Arkansas. Of all the life's lessons our children learn in college, underhanded dealings with others should not be one of them.