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Worst ESPN Coverage EVER

by IowaCougar · 9/29/2012

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IowaCougar
I'm sure I don't have them in order, but here were the really annoying things that happened last night with the ESPN coverage:



The Anae hit - (this is mentioned in a separate post) Anae took on a defender face to face, where both lowered heads. The other player was injured. The ESPN commentator kept saying it should have been called a "helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless player".



The fumble call - The Cougars got to the Hawaii quarterback and caused the fumble that was almost a touchdown for Ansah. The ESPN guy kept saying it should have been called an incomplete pass - completely ignoring the fact that the ball went backwards. You can't have an incomplete forward pass when the ball never goes forward!



The break-away for baseball - There was no excuse for this. If people were still tuned in to the football game, it's because they wanted to watch football! If they wanted to watch the baseball game, they could always turn the channel. At the very least, they could have done a split screen. Or at least wait until there are two outs in the ninth?



The fourth quarter - The commentators stopped talking about the BYU-Hawaii game in the 4th quarter and spent the entire time talking about Notre Dame. They never even mentioned who was playing quarterback for BYU. Again - people tune in to a BYU game to watch a BYU game. A little speculation about other things in the course of the game is fine, but you must continue to cover the game! No excuse for this.



What did you guys think? Personally, I think the BYUtv people do a much better job - even in the eyes of the opponent.
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EM_Puma
I honestly would like to know why they thought it was advantageous in the 4th quarter to somewhat ignore the game and talk about games today. Understand it was a blow out and unless you were a fan of either team, you probably wouldn't wasnt to watch, but that was the point. Their audience wasn't the nation at the point beyond the fact that the game would have probably been on-screen in sports bars across the country. So give you actual audience some attention. They acted like they felt they needed to talk about something else to not lose the non-BYU/Hawaii fan, but actually that was probably their only audience.
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snoscythe
I agree with everything but your assessment of the fumble call. I thought the arm was going forward and that the ball went out forward. He was standing sideways and throwing toward the left sideline, and the ball came out going toward the left sideline. I thought BYU got lucky with that review.
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Schmoe
It's one of the problems with playing on Thursday and Friday nights. Sure, the eyes of the nation are upon you, but you get the absolute worst commentators in the biz and Jemele Hill :sick: on the sideline...
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Cougest
I didn't think jemele hill did a bad job.



I do agree with the Anae hit. I was flabbergasted when the commenter kept on saying it was a defenseless hit. The guy was looking right at Anae for at leas 2-3 seconds and even put his hands up to block. I'm glad to see it outrages someone else besides me.
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IowaCougar
snoscythe wrote:
I agree with everything but your assessment of the fumble call. I thought the arm was going forward and that the ball went out forward. He was standing sideways and throwing toward the left sideline, and the ball came out going toward the left sideline. I thought BYU got lucky with that review.


Check the replay - the ball came out toward the left sideline, but was going back. It landed at least 2-3 yards back from where it left his hand, thus there was no forward motion.
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MesaCougFan
The coverage wasn't great and they are entitled to voice their opinions. By the fact that on successive series 2 d-lineman were knocked off the field by injuries to their heads, I would come to the conclusion that they are being instructed incorrectly on how to engage and receive contact. They are ducking their heads too much. My son's Pop Warner coach always stops practice when he sees a kid ducking. He points to the crown of the helmet and calls it a 911.



We can be bothered by their analysis, but hey I got to watch the Cougs in prime time, on national TV, in HD. That ain't bad!
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scott715
Why not talk about our next game? USU will be on Friday ESPN next week so we will see these guys again in Provo.
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snoscythe
IowaCougar wrote:
I agree with everything but your assessment of the fumble call. I thought the arm was going forward and that the ball went out forward. He was standing sideways and throwing toward the left sideline, and the ball came out going toward the left sideline. I thought BYU got lucky with that review.


Check the replay - the ball came out toward the left sideline, but was going back. It landed at least 2-3 yards back from where it left his hand, thus there was no forward motion.


I watched the replay on BYUtv before I posted my thoughts just to be sure. Because of the way the QB swung his arm behind him in his windup, he was throwing in a sweeping motion, and part of that involved his arm momentarily moving away from the LOS. It was in that moment that he was hit and was deflected further backwards by the hit. The "forward motion" does not mean forward towards the line of scrimmage, it means forward from the cocked position, which makes it relative to how the QB is standing. Where the ball lands has zip to do with forward motion, but may apply in determining forward pass or lateral. My guess is that the ruling on the field stood not because of forward motion, but because they decided there wasn't enough evidence to rule out a lateral.



If I were the ref, I would've overturned on the basis of forward motion of the arm in relation to the QB's body as I attributed the backward motion to the deflection of the ball rather than a reverse pass.
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Mingjai
Everyone knows that last night's commentator Rod Gilmore is an idiot. CFN columnist retweeted this during last night's game:


@MattZemek_CFN wrote:
It's one of America's favorite points of waywardness: #RewardingBadPerformance RT @MakJae9 Rod Gilmore, how do you have a job?


https://twitter.com/MattZemek_CFN/status/251843600801992705
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SpiffCoug
The worst ESPN coverage ever was the Oregon(?) bowl game where they spent 10 minutes talking to Ryan Leaf and another 15 minutes talking to Jerry Tarkanian.
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stuckinbig10country
SpiffCoug wrote:
The worst ESPN coverage ever was the Oregon(?) bowl game where they spent 10 minutes talking to Ryan Leaf and another 15 minutes talking to Jerry Tarkanian.


And had Brent Musberger and Craig James in the same booth.
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Phatgreen
Yes, the coverage was pretty bad. But honestly, I think ESPN is tired of having BYU choke and put up crap games on their network. Now, this wasn't a crap game on BYU's part by any means, but the opponent was horrendous. I get the feeling that ESPN may be regretting that 8 yr deal - BYU better start winning intriguing games.
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Guest
For someone that's sick of having Byron their channel they have an odd way of showing it by choosing to put more games on in prime time.
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SenorCougar
If Anae would have been the player injured by the helmet-to-helemet hit, should the Hawaii player been charged a penalty in the assessment of ESPN commentators? It appears that both were playing live football and never was purposely trying to injure the other. They were both completing assignments, one blocking to protect and the other trying to knock over the blocker and get to the ball carrier. Does the rule stipulate anywhere that the injured player gets the benenfit of the doubt?
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Mars
Phatgreen wrote:
Yes, the coverage was pretty bad. But honestly, I think ESPN is tired of having BYU choke and put up crap games on their network. Now, this wasn't a crap game on BYU's part by any means, but the opponent was horrendous. I get the feeling that ESPN may be regretting that 8 yr deal - BYU better start winning intriguing games.

Silly quote, false and foolish is thy name.
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