12/21/24
May 24, 2003
Joumana Kidd on Monday Night Football?: As an interesting followup to this thread, Joumana Kidd has expressed interest replacing Melissa Stark on the MNF sideline.
I see nothing wrong with her being there, but she does seem to be a bit of an attention whore. And I'd be very opposed to her getting that MNF job on the basis of that as opposed to on merit.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:39 PM on May 24, 2003
Can anybody remember when the last time was that ABC went two consecutive seasons without at least one major change in on-air "MNF" personnel? I believe it was sometime during the Reagan administration, wasn't it?
posted by Motown Mike at 02:29 PM on May 24, 2003
No one can replace Melissa Stark.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:06 AM on May 25, 2003
A telephone pole could replace Melissa Stark and disseminate the same amount of pertinent information. Sideline reporters are the pet rock of television.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:47 PM on May 25, 2003
Seeing as merit is very rarely used for anything -- especially for these jobs -- I'll settle for Joumana Kidd being decent. For a sideline reporter, whatever it is. The funny thing is that the sideline gig pretty much renders anyone useless, whether it's people like Keteyian (who normally does some cool stuff journalistically) or folks like Arrington (who's thriving on firmness and little else).
posted by jackhererra at 10:22 AM on May 26, 2003
If she is even considered for this job, it would be an absolute travesty. Argue the value of a sideline reporter all you want, but aside from a little bit of spoon-fed TV work for the NBA and a TV station in Phoenix, I fail to see what qualifies her over virtually any weekend sports anchor in the nation. If the AP asked any of them, they'd all express interest in the job, too.
posted by Conquistador at 09:29 PM on May 26, 2003
Travesty? Based on what? Even before Ms. Kidd's "candidacy", it's not like the networks comb the nation for Peabody Award winners to chat up Coach X before he goes to the john. Here are the qualifications for Ms. Stark's old job: 1) Attractiveness. (We're not having this discussion if the ABC people didn't shuck Visser to the side for Stark in the first place. On merit, Andrea Kremer should get first shot. Does she have a chance? I have a bridge to sell anyone who thinks she actually does.) 2) Name-recognition. (However she got that name, Joumana is recognized. Not too different from retired jocks who move into anchor/reporter slots, as opposed to analyst jobs for which they'd be truly "qualified".) 3) Ability to put two sentences together. (I'm assuming most folks can handle this.) I'm sure we could find safer bets than Kidd for that job. Unfortunately, I don't think ABC's using a civil-service exam for any of their positions. So she doesn't really have to qualify "over" anyone.
posted by jackhererra at 10:58 PM on May 26, 2003
C'mon. Melissa Stark has been in the business for over seven years, and has an impressive resume. Being a hottie is only part of the package.
posted by Conquistador at 07:04 PM on May 27, 2003
Conquistador, here's Joumana's resume for comparison.
posted by dusted at 07:39 PM on May 27, 2003
Using Jack's criteria ... how the hell did Eric Dickerson get a job? Not only could he not put two WORDS together, but he couldn't get the headphones on correctly because his dome comes to a point. I dug the turtlenecks, though.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:43 PM on May 27, 2003
Well, comparing the two resumes, there's no contest. Joumana edges Melissa in the hottie department. Stark destroys Kidd with her experience.
posted by Conquistador at 11:19 PM on May 27, 2003
First off, Conquistador, Stark is not working, so there's not a Stark-Kidd comparison. If she was working, there's no discussion because there's no opening. That said, Stark's resume is rather abbreviated compared to the woman she replaced. Other people who might have more game than Stark are: Pam Oliver, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya and -- WTF -- Bonnie Bernstein. (God forbid I suggest that if ABC really meant business, they'd just hire Keteyian and go mow the lawn.) Once again, it's not about who's "most" or "more" qualified. It's about being qualified, and Stark did a good enough job despite being relatively green when she came in. Changing gears and addressing the Fraze's issue, Dickerson falls into the name-recognition category that gave us O.J. Simpson on the sidelines and Isiah Thomas in the analyst seat. You don't have to have all three pices of the puzzle -- witness Jill Arrington -- if one factor works for you. Thus Dickerson's hellish season on the sidelines Nice smack on ED's dome, though.
posted by jackhererra at 09:41 AM on May 28, 2003
"T.J. was born during a Monday night football game," she told the Star-Ledger. If she knows who won that game, she's enough of an NFL zealot to deserve an interview. Since Joumana Kidd's camera-loving ways were discussed here last, I finally had a chance to see her at games and hear Jason Kidd interviewed about his family (and the time he fell on his son at courtside and broke the kid's collarbone). I don't understand why they're such a lightning rod for controversy. As Kidd said in the interview, when most NBA players are chided for being poor parents (or completely absent ones), why's he being criticized for making his family a constant presence at games? It's weird. He either loves them a lot or is one of these controlling types who can't let his wife out of his sight for fear she'll run around on him.