My letter to Sports Illustrated.

There's something Sports Illustrated and the sports watching community ought to know about us Generation X'ers... we hate John Madden. Madden's commentary on Monday Night Football is mundane and painfully obvious. Yes John, the team that scores the most points is going to win, thank you. What's that you say, the sun rises in the East? Phil Simms is a great color analyst, but he is certainly not the only color man who has leapfrogged John Madden. Give me Moose Johnston or, Tony Bruno forgive me, Troy Aikman. Heck, give me the GM of the Lions. What Madden used to pass off as insight and personality has now given way to an out of touch old man grumbling on the air about running Student Body Right in '73. We have given John Madden a free pass for too long now and it's time to call him out on the carpet for the deteriorated, bitter, egotistical and biased announcer that he has become. He has somehow made listening to Al Michaels a chore and brought MNF even further down with him. He's made the Dennis Miller-Dan Fouts experiment look successful, and hey, at least they were interesting, and didn't complain everytime the game wasn't up to their lofty standards. Madden's not-so-subtle on air fits everytime he does not think the game is worthy of his presence have grown tiresome, not to mention insulting. He's got the greatest job in the world, and somehow he wants us to think he's doing us a favor by being there. Get over yourself, Madden, and get out of the booth. Frank Caliendo's lampooning of him on the FOX pregame show is well deserved, and I hope he keeps at it until Madden calls it a career and takes up doubles checkers with Pat summerall, who can carry him once again. Bring on Joe Theismann.

Andy Doran
523 N. 21st Street
Allentown, PA 18104

(610)432-9884