Can’t think of a better way to start the first college football Saturday than to hear some legendary calls from the greatest of all time.
Here’s Keith Jackson on Desmond Howard’s famous punt return against Ohio State.
And his call on Colorado’s miracle against Michigan.
Did you expect Fox Sports to quietly enter the room with its first full-blown season of college football? Hardly.
The network has two highly creative ads touting the “Gus Effect” of watching the high-voltage Gus Johnson call its games.
And here’s a second promo featuring Erin Andrews.
Fox Sports knows how to get everyone’s attention. But maintaining it at this crowded college football party is another story.
Fox will have a full season of Saturday night games, debuting tomorrow night with USC-Hawaii. The schedule includes the Pac 12 and Big Ten title games.
Fox hopes Johnson, who will be paired with Charles Davis, becomes the life of the party. Working on the big stage, I would expect Johnson’s over-the-top calls could elevate him to cult status on campuses throughout the country.
The telecasts will be preceded by Fox College Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Fox’s new studio show will be hosted by Andrews with Eddie George and Joey Harrington working as analysts.
Andrews already has a big following, which is why Fox paid big money to bring her over from ESPN. She gives the new show a presence it needed.
Here’s Andrews from a teleconference this week:
Andrews on her transition from sidelines to studio: “I’ll miss being on campus. I did it for 10 years. I’m a sports fan and who doesn’t love having the best seats in the house right down there on the sidelines? This is another way to become more versatile and I’ll have my opportunities to get out on the field for NFL.”
Andrews on working with Eddie George and Joey Harrington: “The No.1 thing that sold me on this college football show was Eddie and Joey. The second I sat down with those two and started talking college football I was so excited. They live and breathe it. They don’t agree on a lot of things and that will separate our show from a lot of other shows. You don’t want guys that think the same way about teams, players and coaching styles.”
The focus, though, will be on Andrews to see if she is worthy of being in primetime. It’s a big jump from hosting the early GameDay show on ESPNU.
Fox College Saturday also won’t be your typical Saturday morning pregame fest. It will be airing at a time when there are more live games going on than you can count. Fox will have to make its program compelling enough to make viewers switch to a studio show.
One thing is for sure: You know Fox will try to make it interesting. Let the party begin.
He barely stayed long enough to taste the Guinness.
The Chicago Tribune has the official statement from IMG Notre Dame Radio Network
“Allen Pinkett, a commentator on the IMG Notre Dame Radio Network who made unacceptable comments this week about student athletes, will not be part of this weekend’s broadcast in Dublin. Don Criqui and Jeff Jeffers will handle the broadcast duties. Notre Dame taking on Navy at the Emerald Isle Classic in Dublin is an historic game showcasing the very best of American college sports. The event deserves to be free of distraction. Further decisions on this matter will be made in the coming days.”
Talk about bad timing. It’s not as if he got sent home from a Irish road against Purdue.
I imagine it was an extra long flight for Pinkett as he worried about his future with his old school. Pinkett’s comments were beyond embarrassing. Definitely worthy of being fired.
Just how forgiving will Notre Dame be? We’ll find out soon enough.
Allen Pinkett says I’m sorry. Of course, he did.
I imagine it came after a conversation with his bosses that began with, “What the F– were you thinking?”
Pinkett suddenly realized perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to say in a radio interview with WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago that Notre Dame needs some criminals on its team.
His statement:
“In reviewing my remarks from a radio interview Wednesday, it’s clear that I chose my words poorly and that an apology is in order for these inappropriate comments. My words do not reflect the strong pride and passion I have for the Notre Dame football program.
“I am deeply sorry and did not intend to take away the focus from the upcoming season opener. I especially would like to offer my sincere apology to the current members of Notre Dame’s football team, including Coach Kelly, the entire Notre Dame community, the IMG College Audio Network and the Ohio State football program. As a proud Notre Dame graduate, I wish nothing but the best for our football team and the University.
“I understand that there may be consequences to my actions and accept whatever discipline is imposed.”
Pinkett hopes the discipline doesn’t come in the form of a pink slip. From the Notre Dame IMG Network:
“The Notre Dame IMG Network is extremely disappointed in the comments made by Allen Pinkett in his radio interview. We completely disagree with those comments. As his employer, we will be determining disciplinary action to be taken.”
Update: I really don’t like Allen Pinkett’s chances of remaining as Notre Dame’s radio analyst for football. Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick issued a swift rebuttal to Pinkett’s statement about the Irish needing “a couple criminals” on their team.
“Allen Pinkett’s suggestion that Notre Dame needs more ‘bad guys’ on its football team is nonsense,” Swarbrick said in a statement. “Of course, Allen does not speak for the University, but we could not disagree more with this observation.”
*******
This goes beyond stupid.
Allen Pinkett, the former Notre Dame star, is the school’s current radio analyst. However, perhaps not for long after these comments.
Pinkett stepped in it big time this morning during an interview with Dan McNeil and Matt Spiegel this morning on WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago.
From the station’s site:
Notre Dame has had its fair share of off-the-field incidents over the past few seasons.
But for Fighting Irish radio analyst and former NFLer Allen Pinkett, he’s not concerned with off-the-field issues – as long as the person involved is a good enough football player.
“I’ve always felt like, to have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team,” Pinkett told The McNeil and Spiegel Show. “I mean, that’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can’t have a football team full of choir boys. You get your butt kicked if you have a team full of choir boys. You gotta have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and ultimate ruler.”
McNeil and Spiegel actually gave Pinkett a chance to clarify his statement. Surely, he isn’t endorsing that Notre Dame recruit players of questionable character?
Pinkett only dug a deeper hole.
“I absolutely meant that,” he said. “Chemistry is so important on a football team. You have to have a couple of bad guys that sorta teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right. … You look at the teams that have one in the past. They always have a couple of criminals.”
Those comments aren’t going to go over very well at Notre Dame. At the very least, I’d expect Pinkett to issue some sort of apology. At the worst, he has called his last game for Notre Dame.