Monday Night Football War of Words At 'Washington Post'

By: Joe Strupp Paul Farhi of The Washington Post had to know going in that his review of Monday Night Football's new production team and commentator trio would receive slightly more attention than those in other newspapers. After all, one of the rookie Monday Night broadcasters was his paper's own Tony Kornheiser.

But what may not have been expected was Kornheiser's harsh criticism of Farhi's Tuesday review, which said that Kornhieser offered "little for the highlight reel," and "it wasn't clear at times why he was there at all."

"It's still early, as the coaches like to say. But on the basis of his first preseason game, Kornheiser ... wasn't many of the things that ESPN hired him for. He wasn't especially witty, provocative or insightful in calling the Raiders' 16-13 win over the Vikings from the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

"It was enough to make one yearn for Dennis Miller, the comedian whose star-crossed tenure as a 'Monday Night Football' analyst in 2000-01 was at least marked by a certain danger, a whiff of the unexpected, or the just plain loony," Farhi added. "Kornheiser mostly spluttered, typically emphasizing the obvious and playing third fiddle to his more experienced mike mates, play-by-play man Mike Tirico and fellow color analyst Joe Theismann."

Farhi went on to observe that "he looked oddly washed out under the TV lights," then added, "Tony, get a tan."

After reading Farhi's slam, Kornheiser appeared on ESPN Radio's The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday, offering his own attack on his fellow Postie. "I apparently got ripped in my own newspaper, The Washington Post, you know by a two-bit weasel slug named Paul Farhi, who I would gladly run over with a Mack Truck given the opportunity," he said, according to a transcript. "I understand I'm a public figure and I'm subject to review, I thought my own newspaper would be kinder and I wouldn't be back-stabbed by this guy."

Kornheiser also took a shot at Farhi in his column today, although not by name, writing about his debut: "In critiquing my performance, I think what makes me happiest was that I didn't throw up. (Though if I had, I would have aimed at that putz in Style.)"

Farhi told E&P that he merely wanted to give an honest assessment of Kornheiser and was surprised at his response. "I find it amusing that Tony would think his own paper would go into the tank for him," Farhi said. "Grow up, Tony!"

This is not the first time he has been put in the unenviable position of writing about a broadcast outlet linked to his paper. Since it launched earlier this year, Farhi has had to be on The Washington Post Radio beat as well.

His first review of the station after its March 30 debut did not offer the same slams he unleashed on Kornheiser. But it did mix criticism with praise, noting "The station had no shortage of variety," but also describing its first day as having "a bit of sloganeering" and adding that "some of the station's roster of announcers ... missed cues and talked over commercials. Transitions from story to story were sometimes abrupt; an afternoon discussion about White House politics roughly pivoted to one about video games."