Monday Night Football
By: Bianca Badia

       For those of us who are in the midst of fall semester, three little words get us through the rather long weeks. Three little words add an extra few hours to weekends, making an otherwise dreaded workday teeming with anticipation.

       Three little words, everyone:

       Monday.
       Night.
       Football.

       The first day of the week-an otherwise awful day of hangovers, tepid coffee and weekend nostalgia-is lulled to sleep by a sports broadcast that is only rivaled by the annual all-star duels and post-season face-offs.

       According to ABC Sports online, over 50 million Americans drop everything to tune in for the 33 year old tradition. It all started in September of 1970, when the Browns played the Jets in Cleveland, and Monday Night Football became a part of our vocabulary. NFL executives had long been pulling for a primetime broadcast, and ABC was the first to bite.

       Anticipating its share of skeptical fans accustomed to weekend showdowns, ABC's Roone Alredge knew that something had to be different. The traditional, all-American sport was taken by storm.

       Enter the infamous panel of Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and later Frank Gifford: a team of sports broadcasters who would not soon be forgotten. (Over the years, countless others like O.J. Simpson and Dennis Miller have at one point taken over the airways.)

       Changes would not stop there. Most Sunday games had been using four or five cameras; ABC would employ nine. The extra coverage meant for new perspectives, including an unprecedented view of the sideline.

       Our own Miami Dolphins currently make for the winningest team in Monday Night Football's history.

       Ladies and gentlemen: Consider this a call to arms. The Bachelors and Joe Millionaires of primetime television have reigned supreme for long enough. Set aside the ironically contrived and calculated reality shows for there exists an event with unwavering appeal. Somehow in a media world of annoyingly hyped television, those three words still hold true. Monday Night Football: no loud headline or exaggerated title here. It is what it is and it speaks for itself.

       Viewers on this night of nights are as diverse as they come, even in terms of gender. These days an estimated 40 percent of viewers are women, meaning that the otherwise popular sitcoms have often been overlooked on Mondays. Even the most feminine and uninterested of us can appreciate football. For those who have not been tuning in: What have you got to lose? Let us get back to the basics: blood, sweat and tears.