ESPN releases college football announcing assignments for 2012 season
We know college football is almost upon us because ESPN has released their announcing assignments for the coming season. Earlier this year it was announced Pam Ward would not return to ESPN's college football coverage. No Pam Ward and no Craig James means half of AA's Mount Rushmore is gone from ESPN's announcing lineup and the 2012 Pammies will be wide open. While those departures are a victory for college football fans, you knew there had to be at least one change made in the lineup sure to bring consternation. ESPN is breaking up the popular Joe Tessitore-Rod Gilmore pairing and giving Tessitore a new partner. Let's hope he doesn't have to call any Penn State games this year....
Notes:
*What did Joe Tessitore do to deserve this fate, cruel universe!! Sure, a move from Friday night to Saturday night can be seen as an upward one... but Matt Millen? Really?? Why would ESPN break up one of its most well-liked broadcast pairs regardless of sport? Furthermore, why would ESPN stick Millen in primetime after the offseason he's had? (Answer: the same reason they gave Craig James not one but two games last year.) It's baffling. For that matter, there isn't a lot of room for two games in primetime unless the first game starts at 5:00 ET or 5:30 ET, and that's hardly "primetime." More of an early evening slot.
*Gilmore stays on Friday nights with new partner Carter Blackburn... and sideline reporter Jemele Hill? It'll be interesting to see how she fits into that new role, which has got to be better than sitting across from Skip Bayless.
*Jenn Brown is NOT getting the glamorous ABC primetime sideline reporting position. Instead, she's buried on the Noon ET ESPN telecast with Dave Pasch and Brian Griese, which isn't exactly a prime spot. Perhaps it's a sign that ESPN is hedging their bets with the lady considered "the next Erin Andrews" or making sure she doesn't become too big for ESPN's own good like EA, who left for Fox. The sideline spot in primetime is curiously still open.
*We knew David Pollack was replacing Craig James on Thursday nights, but who would replace Senator James on Saturday afternoons? The answer is Ed Cunningham... which makes sense, because he hates Mike Leach too. Continuing the domino effect, Brock Huard takes Cunningham's place in the ESPN2 primetime booth alongside Mark Jones. Danny Kanell also moves up to ABC Saturday afternoon regional coverage as does Chris Spielman, who reunites with Sean McDonough. Of all the new combos, the McDonough-Spielman pairing strikes me as the best.
*Former Ohio State WR Joey Galloway is the newest ESPN college football analyst. He replaces Mike Bellotti after a cup of coffee in the booth alongside Beth Mowins for the noon ESPN2 kickoff. Bellotti's got to wonder how Dan Hawkins lasted longer than he did.
*The top of ESPN's college football lineup stays the same with Brent Musburger & Kirk Herbstreit on ABC and Brad Nessler & Todd Blackledge on ESPN. Brent & Herbie are the #1 team in college football, but Nessler & Blackledge aren't far behind. It's fair to say ESPN has the two best announcing duos in college football and in spite of Musburger's age, they should be fixtures at the top of the sport for most of the next decade.
It will be ineresting to see how Joe Davis will be as a PBP man and how Joey Galloway wil be as an analyst in their 1st years of covering a College Football game weekly, it will also be interesting to see how Paul Carcaterra,Jemele Hill and Maria Taylor will do as weekly sideline reporters for College Football for the 1st time ever too!!!
Sean Mcdonough and Chris Spielman are working Saurdays at Noon ET on ESPN2, it will be the 1st time that thy have worked together since they worked Saturday and Friday games together from 2006-2008.
Joe Tessitore has been moved from working Friday Night College football games for the 3 to 4 years, to working the ESPN Saturday Primetime games his year, Matt Millen has beenmoved from being the analyst for the ABC Saturday afternoon games, to being the analyst for ESPN"S Saturday Primetime college football gamesthis year!!!
Ed Cunningham will be moved from being the analyst on Saturday nights on ESPN2, to being the analyst for Saturday Afternoon games on ABC for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons!
Danny Kanell will be moved from being the analyst for the ESPNU Saturday Night football games last year, to working as an analyst for the ABC Saturday afternoon games this year!
Carter Blackburn will move from being the PBP voice for mostly West Coast games on Saturday nights last year, to being the PBP Voice for ESPN"S Friday Night College Football games this year!!!
Brian Griese moves from being the analyst for the ESPNU Saturday night foorball games last year, to being the analyst for College football games on ESPN at noon on Saturday this year!
Jenn Brown has been moved from being the sideline reporter for THursday Night Football Games on ESPN last year, to being the sideline reporter for college football games on ESPN at Noon on Saturdays this year!
John Congemi has been moved from the Bg East Network, to being an analyst for college football games on ESPNU at Noon this year!!!
Brock Huard who was an analyst for Select ESPN and ABC College Fotball games last year, will be working as an analyst or ESPN2's Saturday Primetime games this year and Matt Stinchcmd who was a college football studio analyst last year, will be moved to being the live game analyst for ESPN U's Saturday Night Primetime college footbal gmes this year!!!
It's been revealed on Twitter that Tessitore and Millen will call mostly SEC and Pac-12 games for ESPN2, starting with the second game of Thursday Night's DH opener- Washington State at BYU (not BYU-Washington).
Tessitore's going to be doing the new package of Pac-12 games ESPN has (he has BYU-UW and Ark St-Ore in week 1), along with some SEC games (Georgia-Mizzou week 2). So no, not 5:00/5:30 starts.
I am suprised that Paul Carcaterra is the sideline reporter for Big East produced games and that Maria Taylor is the sideline reporter for Saturday Afternoon games on ABC with Bob Wischusen and Danny Kannell!
It amazes me how guys like Pasch and Blackburn continue to stay employed. They are two of the worst announcers I have ever heard.
