Pac-12 Networks officially announce on-air talent lineup
The soon-to-launch Pac-12 Networks have announced their lineup of on-air talent for football telecasts. To say the lineup isn't glamorous is perhaps an understatement.
Your main play by play men for the network are Ted Robinson - most notable for his tennis work with NBC, Kevin Calabro - NBA broadcaster most notably with the Seattle SuperSonics and ESPN Radio, and Dave Flemming of the San Francisco Giants.
The lineup isn't overly sexy, but you have to start somewhere and these are three solid pros to build a network stable of play by play announcers around.
The Pac-12 is getting some experienced football voices in the analyst role of the booth, including former Pac-12 standouts Adam Archuleta and Coy Wire, as well as Glenn Parker, who worked as an analyst for Versus last year, and is the current radio analyst for the Arizona Cardinals. The sideline reporters for the networks will be Ryan Nece, who works as an analyst for Bright House Sports and was a four-year starter at UCLA, Brooke Olzendam, who has a wealth of experience in both football and basketball, and former ESPN talent and USC coach Yogi Roth.
In studio, the networks are rolling with an unfamiliar face in Ashley Adamson, a local Indiana sportscaster who's a relative novice on the big stage. She'll be joined by analysts Curtis Conway and Parker, when he's not in the booth.
Looking at the crew the Pac-12 has assembled, it looks to me that the league is trying to double down, and sign announcers that can also call basketball games in addition to football. I assume the football-centric analysts (Wire, Conway, and Archuleta) will have counterparts on the hardwood, while Calabro, Robinson and Flemming could easily handle the play by play for both. It's a solid strategy from the rookie pack of networks, and we'll see how well it works out as the season goes on.
[h/t: Fang's Bites]
For those of you who haven't heard yet, joining Erin Andrews for the studio show during the PAC-12 game of the week on FOX this year, will be Eddie George who also worked as an analyst for the BCS on FOX from 2007-2010 and Joey Harrington who worked as a 2nd analyst for Oregon Ducks Football games on the Oregon Sports Network during the 2010 College Football regular season!
Glenn Parker isn't the Cardinals radio analyst - Ron Wolfley is. Parker has done a Fox Sports Net Cardinals show.
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So lets just forget that Robinson has done the Pac-12 broadcasts on Versus the past 2 years with Glenn Parker and is teamed up with him again here. Lets just forget that Flemming is the football play-by-play man for Stanford and has done the NFL on Sports USA broadcasts. And lets just forget that Calabro has done football broadcasts with Dial Global/ Westwood One and Fox College Football in the past. Face it, it's a lot better than Big Ten Network started with, and it's better than what NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network will have for most of their teams. They certainly beat most of the regional broadcasters as well.
@DanielOrmsby You could probably even argue that BTN has downgraded in talent, at least in football. PTN did a nice job here.
