ABC earned a 15.2/24 preliminary overnight Nielsen
rating for last night's Bucs-Vikings "MNF" game, up 24% from
last year's 12.3/19 for Cowboys-Giants. During the pre-game
analysis, ABC's Dennis Miller noted Bucs WR Keyshawn
Johnson's remarks about Jets WR Wayne Chrebet, and said,
"I'm a journalist, and I've got a canon of ethics I got to
adhere to, and I'll be very even-handed tonight. There'll
be no bias. We've got a game to cover, dammit, Al, and
that's exactly what we're going to do." Miller then
proceeded to take off his jacket, shirt and tie to reveal a
Jets/Chrebet jersey. Later, Miller said, "The cumulative
effect of all these crowd shots in the Metrodome is you
understand how Ventura got elected. These people definitely
walk to the beat of their own drummer up here" (ABC, 10/9).
In St. Petersburg, Sharon Ginn writes the Johnson/Chrebet
joke "fell flat, but Miller bounced back." Miller is
"spending a little less time trying to be funny and more
time actually adding to the broadcast" (ST. PETE TIMES,
10/10). In Tampa, Rick Harmon: "Miller kept the majority of
his comments to football" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 10/10).
JUST HAVING FUN: Miller said of his "MNF" stint: "At
the beginning there are a lot of purists and they hate your
guts, and you have got to get used to that. But I'm having
a blast. I'm like any guy. I defy anybody to tell me they
wouldn't want to do this. I'm having fun. We'll give it a
season, we'll see what happens" (Minn. STAR TRIBUNE, 10/10).