I'm just glad Keith Jackson isn't alive to see this (Oh, he is?)
It truly was a bizarre Saturday in college football. By now, you may have heard about ESPN announcer Mike Patrick's verbal meanderings about Britney Spears at a key juncture of the Georgia-Alabama game that went into overtime. If you haven't, we have the clip below. Meanwhile, poor former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge, who was Patrick's broadcast partner, acted like he was blindsided by the entire Michigan defense.
"Who?" says a stunned Blackledge when Patrick brings up "Britney" out of the clear blue.
As Patrick continues on the Spears tangent, Blackledge asks, "Is she here?" obviously wondering if Patrick has just been returned to the broadcast booth following an alien abduction.
And, of course, topping off the day for Blackledge was Michigan beating Penn State, 14-9, proving that you, me and nine random guys who attended your wedding could dress up in those goofy helmets and somehow outscore the Nittany Lions.
But in the most incredible, shocking, stupefying event of them all -- Wofford beat Appalachian State, 42-31.
Now, I won't go into the business of "since Appalachian State beat No. 5 Michigan and Michigan just beat No. 10 Penn State." But I'll issue this challenge -- without looking it up on the Internet -- what is Wofford's nickname?
I'll save you the trouble -- Terriers. And I believe the Terriers are now officially under BCS consideration as at-large. Or they should be.
So returning to the ESPN broadcast booth as the 'Dawgs and the Tide are in a death struggle, we have what can only be described as a desperate cry for help by Mike Patrick.
Comments
With all the cable channels and the vast need for annoucers, has put too many unqualified people in the booth as paid experts! Remember the incident last year with the big fight during the Miami game and the announcer wanting to leave the booth and join in the mess?
Posted by: Captain Jack | September 24, 2007 2:39 PM
Hey Bill:
The Nits are 25-6 over their last 31 games, all after everyone thought JoePa should hang them up. Who's your team and what is their record over that same span????? They are outscoring enough opponents to probably be in a short group of teams with that record over the same span.
How many times have you seen the replay of Mike Hart's TD dive? Have you seen him score yet? How about the pass interference in the end zone by a DB with his back to the receiver playing the ball that put the ball on the 2 yard line in the first place. Did you see any contact on that one?
The history is there. On their last four trips to the Big House, there has been controversial calls that have had direct impact on the final result each time. The first of these was what precipitated the Big Ten to take the lead with use of replay in the NCAA.
Anyway, enjoy your column, but your cheap shot on the Lions is undeserved. Maybe during the 2000-2004 time frame I could have let it go.
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Kevin,
Thanks for the note ... good luck against Illinois.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Kevin in Columbia | September 25, 2007 1:11 PM
I was watching the Georgia - Alabama game live when Mike Patrick made his Britney statement. I was confused at first, but then I realized the genius in his joke.
The game couldn't have been more tense. In that moment, every fan in the stadium and most watching on TV only cared about what would happen next. "Who cares about Britney?" is the natural response. Juxtapose that against the reality that many people do care about what Britney's doing on most occasions. A stream of important news events can't take their attention away from the topic, but a football game can.
Patrick's play on the irony of the situation gave me a good laugh ... after I took a moment to think about it.
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Matthew,
I have to confess that I think the hard left was pretty funny. And making it even better was Blackledge reacting like he was just hit with a stun gun.
-- Nill O.
Posted by: Matthew Taylor | September 25, 2007 2:52 PM