Did we learn anything from the Dennis Miller debacle on ABC's "Monday Night Football?"
   Fans did. They learned they didn't care much for the gridiron rantings of an ex-cable talk show host. When it comes to TV football, fans prefer their commentary from insiders, either ex-players or on-air talent.
   But the ABC television family may be a little slower on the learning curve.
    In an effort to spike ratings for its already popular “Sunday NFL Countdown,” a roundtable mostly of shouting ex-jocks,  ESPN yesterday hired radio's lead conservative talker, Rush Limbaugh, to toss in his football observations. Limbaugh joins the show starting Sept. 4
   The hiring of Limbaugh is somewhat ironic. Limbaugh tried out three years ago for the slot that Miller won on  “Monday Night Football.”
   There is certainly some logic in ESPN hiring Limbaugh, and it's in the huge following he has on radio. ESPN is certainly betting those right-leaners will be anxious to hear what the former high school offensive tackle has to say about a whole new arena of issues.
   Limbaugh will contribute commentary and a counterpoint to the analysts in a segment called “Rush Challenge.” He’ll get his own buzzer and the chance to use it when he disagrees with the opinions of the other analysts.
   The risk for ESPN, and well as viewers, may well be a sheer excess of gas. Limbaugh will bring his gift for blather interruptus to a show already well stocked with such blatherers as Steve Young, Chris Mortensen, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin and the highly gaseous Chris Berman.
   ESPN reportedly has been after Limbaugh for years, well before he tried out for “MNF.” The departure of Bill Parcels last winter for the Dallas Cowboys coaching job gave the network a slot to fill on its morning studio show.
   But instead of hiring another square-jawed football type, which describes most of the “Countdown” regulars, ESPN chose Limbaugh, the idea being to bring a fan's perspective into the discussion. This man-in-the- stands approach was behind Miller's hiring, and it has been tried by Fox as well, with only middling results.
   Miller was fired after two painful seasons in which he alternated from sucking up to NFL coaches to offering erudite commentary too off-topic from the Xs and Os that most fans prefer.
   Fox used comedian Jimmy Kimmel as a foil in pregame studio segments last season. Although Kimmel could be funny, he seemed out of place, ill at ease and not particularly interesting. It may be coincidence, but ratings for Fox's pregame show dipped 13 percent last season.
    Limbaugh, in addition to being a practiced, comfortable talker, brings another something more than those two did to their sports gigs. Lots and lots of fans.
   Will the anti-feminazi crowd actually tune in to “Countdown” to hear Limbaugh discuss the Buffalo Bills instead of Bill Clinton? Certainly there’s some crossover between Rush fans and football fans already.
   ESPN’s Sunday football coverage is the network’s highest-rated package of the year, though the morning show is significantly lower-rated than the evening edition preceding each week’s game.
   Last year “Countdown's” ratings increased 18 percent versus the year before, mirroring an overall rise in football ratings across the networks.
   Limbaugh said yesterday that he will appear in the Bristol, Conn., studio to tape half the shows and appear via satellite from his Florida home for the rest.

July 15, 2003© 2003 Media Life

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