Mike Greenberg may be getting roasted for charity in January, but Tom Shales of the Washington Post got started early.
In an article titled, “ABC’s ‘Duel’ Personality? Dull and Dumb“, Shales tears down Greenberg, who tonight begins a stint as the host of Duel, reality/game show on ABC. Greenberg, co-host of Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio, is described as “sleazy“, as having “been born without a sense of humor“, and showing “an obvious contempt for all game show contestants.”
Greenberg sucks the energy out of the air and punctures whatever little balloons of interest might be floating around.
Not everyone agrees with Shales’ assessment. New York Post critic Linda Stasi calls Greenberg “the perfect host – not overbearing, not an annoying know-it-all, and most importantly, not like a professional game show host.”
Deal is just one of the many roles Greenberg has been shoehorned into in the past several years. Greenberg and his radio partner Mike Golic made up the lead broadcast team for Arena Football League broadcasts on ESPN and ABC in 2006, called a Monday Night Football game this year, hosted a bowling show on ESPN, and even guest starred on an ill-fated ESPN drama, Tilt. Greenberg and Golic are also set to guest star on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light next year.
