Beth Mowins is sort of grating but I generally do not mind her. Joey Galloway used to annoy me, but the more I hear him on other ESPN shows, the more I appreciate some of his insights. I'd rather not have that crew doing a game, but the ESPN 2 production values (poor miking of band, crowd, rotten half time crew that ignores the Big Ten and talks SEC the whole halftime) are a bigger problem. The ABC/. ESPN product is usually more consistent, but nothing is worse than the 11 AM Big Ten ESPN 2 games. The SEC ESPN 2 games at 6PM and later have much better quality, so there is something going on at ESPN 2 that is dysfunctional.
Unfortunately we have Ed Cunningham and Mike Patrick working our game. I can deal with Mike Patrick, but hearing Ed Cunningham yammer on is difficult. Ed Cunningham is an idiot that has little to say, but likes to hear himself talk.
I'd much prefer the Chris Spielman/ Sean McDonough crew, the Todd Blackledge crew, the Brian Griese team, or even the crew doing the USC/ Nebraska game tonight, although Jesse Palmer needs to go. Matt Millen takes a lot of heat, but I think he is good as well, and did a fine job during the very exciting Pinstripe Bowl today. The atmosphere at that game projected to the TV broadcast very well. I have relatives that went to BC and like the program and coach, but really wanted to see the PSU fans experience a win today.
and now a tangental rant:
I do not understand why during some ESPN games they show the band constantly and you can hear the bands all the time even they are not specifically turning up the microphones after a TD, like during the Pinstripe Bowl, yet during other games you hardy can tell the band is there. ESPN lacks consistency in the way they produce these games. Yesterday, the very large and loud 360 member brass heavy Illinois band was shown about twice and rarely heard during the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Today, the PSU Band was heard between almost every play, and often during the game, even the smallish Boston College band was constantly heard. These uneven aspects of the production impact what adds the college atmosphere to these games, and make the CFB TV product much better than some crappy Tennessee vs. Jacksonville NFL game.
One thing I can assure you will happen is that every single playing of Fight On during the USC game tonight will be loudly heard on the broadcast, because ESPN always gets it right when USC, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, or Michigan (and a few select others) are playing. Half the time, when Minnesota plays on TV when it is not a BTN broadcast, they put the ESPN microphones right in front of the flutes and saxophones and it sounds like crap. I think those high profile teams must have some in house sound technicians that work with ESPN to make sure they do not F up the mic placement to make sure the brand is projected on the TV broadcast in the proper way.
I'll take a Big Ten Network broadcast over the ESPN "family" any day of the week. FSN, FS1, and network Fox are preferable to me as well.
They better get it right in Orlando Thursday, and I will have the DVR scheduled so I can watch the replay when I return from Fl.