Don't Turn Monday Night Football into a Photo-op

Some of you may appreciate that I have found a way to reconcile my hatred for ESPN, "The Worldwide Leader in Synergy," with issues that involve the city. So here it goes:

We are 6 days away from the biggest post-KTMB celebration yet. We finally get our Saints back. For a while it was uncertain whether that would happen. Tom Benson was giving us mixed signals. We figured he would use the disaster as the excuse he was waiting for to move the team out of town--Just like Ruth's Chris did. New Orleans still has a long way to go with recovery. Lives have not been completely fixed yet. God knows the levees arent. And God knows that coastal restoration still needs a serious commitment. But, just like we did with Mardi Gras and Jazzfest, Monday Night Football will be our opportunity to show the world that we remain defiant in the face of great odds. It is a way to prove, once and for all, what this city means and why it is important to America. It is our biggest celebration and coming-out party yet.

So just don't exploit us, like the media and the president did on the one-year anniversary. Neither have been anywhere to be found in the days between the anniversary and today. Don't
come back now, at the opportunity when the largest number of television cameras will be there to see you.

I'm saying this because I'm hearing things. George Bush (the daddy) is expected to be here. I also hear that U2 and Green Day will be here too.

But that's enough, thank you very much.

And to whomever else comes to get their faces on camera, please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, stay out of the booth.

We don't need W. coming down here, at least while he's more interested in defending the war in Iraq and saying we are not allowed to disagree with him than he is in helping us.

We don't need Brad Pitt and George Clooney showing up to tell us how the Republicans don't care about places like New Orleans and Africa.

We don't need our "national" celebrities like Emeril, Harry and Aaron hogging the spotlight.

We don't need W's daddy showing up in the booth to tell us his son's trying real hard.

We don't need Bono in the booth, unless he's ready to talk some football.

And we DEFINITELY don't need C. Ray up there putting his foot in his mouth. Again.

I feel like I have to say this, because God knows the ESPN Monday Night Football crew loves to have "celebrities" in the booth. They have turned MNF into a mockery of itself. Look at how it turned its first ever MNF game into "The Tom Cruise Show." And this isn't just me going off on a rant here. Apparently the 2nd quarter of Monday Night Football is now the "celebrity quarter," with Jamie Foxx and Dwayne Wade making it 2-for-2 so far. You know they're just salivating at the opportunity to exploit the situation for ratings points.

Please, ESPN and the NFL, don't turn Monday Night Football into a Republican Party, pro-war rally. And don't turn it into "Entertainment Tonight" either.

Does anyone remember when football games used to be about football?

This is OUR night, not yours.

We deserve better. We deserve respect.

And if we aren't in the mood to be told to wave American flags before the game because we feel like America (or the president) STILL has his back turned to us, leave it be.

TAGS: Monday Night Football, NFL, ESPN, George Bush, George W Bush, U2, Green Day, New Orleans, Katrina, Superdome, New Orelans Saints, Atlanta Falcons