Red Dog

After watching yesterday's PTI, they should not do it when both Tony and Michael are on vacation. David Aldredge and Michelle Tafoya as guest hosts? WTF!

At least get Bob Ryan or Jason Whitlock in one of the chairs. Even Norman Chad or Dan LeBatard would be better.

das Monkey

It was really weird to see DA in the lead position. He's a great analyist, but I was a bit surprised at some of the jokes he was making. For guest hosts, though, I don't have a problem with them. No one can fill in for Tony and Wilbon, and I don't see any of those others being any better. I've come to really like Tafoya, as it's rare to find a female minority sports reporter who can keep a balanced perspective when discussing issues relating to women's sports or minorities.

Bob Ryan's pretty good, and I've come to enjoy him more with time, but when he gets his head up his ass about something, he won't let go. Tony and Wilbon know they don't know anything, so they can jokingly let it go when they're clearly full of crap, but when Ryan gets a full head of steam, he's pretty annoying. He definitely needs someone sitting next to him who will keep him in check and tell him when he's full of it.

Whitlock annoys me to no end. He's very quick to drop the race card on issues where it's not really applicable, and he's not too knowledgeable on quite a few sports. Last Sunday, he predictably talked about how great it is to watch the Willams sisters face off in a final even when the match is crap. He seems like a nice guy with a laid-back personality, but his analysis is pretty weak.

Chad really makes me laugh, but he's proven that he can't really handle the breadth of full hosting duties. He kicks as during 5 Good Minutes on one specific sport, but I don't think he shines as a host.

LeBatard's pretty damn funny sometimes, but he's also full of crap a lot. He's like Lupica in that he seems to have a very spiteful nature towards the success of athletes and spends a bit too much time trying to tear them down just for the sake of doing so. I get tired of that stuff.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the best combination of substitute hosts would be. I guess I could go for Bob Ryan and Michelle Tafoya, but it's really a crapshoot. None of them is in the same league as Tony or Wilbon.

On to more important things, what was with that loser replacement Statboy last week?

I leave you with some words of wisdom from Kornheiser:

"Time ... Time ... Tony!"

das

tofu

Why don't they ever let Statboy do a guest host spot? That would be interesting.

DA and Michelle Tafoya as guest hosts aren't bad but neither of them really do all the back and forth banter that Wilbon and Tony do which is what I really like.

Patman

Is Sports Night was still on the Mouse, wouldn't it be nifty if Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan (Josh Charles) showed up as guest hosts for PTI?

das Monkey

• Quoth Patman •<HR SIZE=1>Is Sports Night was still on the Mouse, wouldn't it be nifty if Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan (Josh Charles) showed up as guest hosts for PTI? <HR SIZE=1>

"Imagine all the people ... living life in peace ..."

The Utopia that would be is rarely even imagined.

das

Youth N Asia

Yeah, I caught a little of it yesterday and bailed out before the first commercial break. You gotta have Tony and Mike for that show to work...or at least Tony and someone he can argue with.

lisadoris

I don't really mind the guests hosts all that much. My only problem is personal - I don't have ESPN at home and now that I'm on vacation I can watch PTI but of course, the regulars are on vacation! Sucks, sucks, sucks. Nice to see stat boy back again though.

That being said, Aldredge and Tafoya did fine. No they weren't as drop dead hilarious as Wilbon and Kornheiser can be but there was still some craziness there. The views were balanced (even though I disagree with Aldredge on the Dusty Baker issue) and the arguements were interesting. Plus, there wasn't much shouting which is the only thing that bothers me about Around the Horn.

I too would like to vote for Dan and Casey to do a guest spot. Who cares if the mouse screwed up and cancelled a great show - bring em back anyway for just a day (and of course have Sorkin write the dialogue).

kevin75

i have no problems with DA and Tafoya. i don't mind bob ryan either but just about anyone else that has been mentioned bugs me. anyone know how long the guys are on vacation for?

atari2600

michelle tafoya did very well IMO.

j123vt_99

had to turn it off before the first commerical break... not good... not good at all

Red Dog

Wilbon is on vacation for a month. Don't know about TK.

das Monkey

You'd think Kornheiser would have had enough "vacation" already.

das

j123vt_99

anyone have any updates about that sitcom they were making about Tony's home life?

El Talon Del Monstruo

Tony is the funniest guy on TV...enough said

Patman

Can you imagine if Larry David and Tony Kornheiser were next door neighbors?

mrcoaster

DA is ok, but I'd rather see someone like Ryan as the host. I really like Tafoya. The guy I really like is Lupica on Sports Reporters. Would be great to see him and Ryan do a week of shows.

Buck Turgidson

Skip Bayless and Mitch Albom would be the best two replacement choices, for my money.

I don't live in DC, but I get a lot of programming from there, and I've been watching (and enjoying) Mikey and Tony's routine for a long time. I just wish they didn't both hate baseball.

Da Thrilla

I like David A.
And Tafoya...
MILF? (I don't know if she has kids)

das Monkey

Jay Bilas seemed to have a good time today. He always comes across as a serious intelligent guy, and he started the show that way today, but once they started ragging on the absurdity of the sausage story, he seemed to get into the humor of the show.

das

Red Dog

I cannot think of a scenario where I would turn off PTI faster than Skip Bayless hosting. I remember when he used to be a regular on the Sports Reporters. Awful, just awful.

Jay Bilas was much much better than Tafoya, and for me to give complements to a Dookie is saying something (of course, I also happen to think he is the best college hoops analyst bar none).

kevin75

yeah, they kinda beat that sausage story to death.

Buck Turgidson

I always liked Bayless' irreverence on The Spots Reporters, myself.

As long as I don't see William C. Rhoden, I'll be okay.

I wonder if some Sportcenter or ESPN News regulars would be up for it? The idea of Stan Verrett or Stuart Scott doing the show is enticing.

Red Dog

Well - I'll give you credit for coming up with the one reporter who is worse than Bayless. I don't think I've ever heard Rhoden give an opinion without injecting race into the discussion. I used to hate Wilbon doing this. So many of his columns in the WP in the 90s involved race. He finally got away from this and my opinion of him (based on reading and hearing his views on topics without the injection of race) skyrocketed.

Stu Scott - oh man - perish the thought. I can't even tolerate SportsCenter anymore because of his antics.

And today for Bob Ryan. He is awesome. Unfortunately, there was not much to watch today since 80% of the discussion involved the National Thug Association (which I just jump over when watching the recording).

das Monkey

It was good to see Ryan, but you're right ... there just wasn't much material today.

One thing I like about DA is his complete hatred of the talking mailbox. He doesn't just dislike it, but hates it with a firey passion. For some reason that makes me chuckle.

And if we're on vacation time, I hope we get to hear LeBatard abuse "Stat Face" a few times before the real show returns.

das

j123vt_99

Is this the longest vacation ever? Tony is back but when will Wilbon be back?