From time to time I get e-mail responses to things I’ve written on the blog. They tend to run the gamut, from words of encouragement to criticism to spam (plenty of spam). However, I got an e-mail on Saturday that I think is worth sharing. I won’t include the name of the lady who wrote it, because I don’t think that would be fair.
First, some background. On Saturday afternoon Michigan played Indiana in a game televised on ESPNU. The announcers for the game were Pam Ward (play-by-play) and Danny Kanell (analyst). I didn’t see it, as I was at Johnson Hagood Stadium watching The Citadel’s game, but apparently the matchup in Bloomington was an exciting contest that featured very little defense. The Wolverines prevailed, 42-35. Shortly after the game ended, the following e-mail was sent to me:
If Pam Ward was the announcer for the U of M game today (Saturday, 10/2/2010) at 3:30 p.m., you should be ashamed of yourselves. Aside from the mispronounciation of Denard “Dernard???!!!” Robinson’s name, could you please find an announcer who’s excited about the game? She’s boring and uninformed, maybe why she falls back on the criticism she’s ridiculed everywhere for? There are so many awesome sports broadcasters in the industry – please get creative! We hate every game she announces and we’re sick of being forced to listen. Not as agonizing as watching the Lions play every Thanksgiving… BUT CLOSE. Thanks!
This is, obviously, a fantastic e-mail. That last line about Pam Ward as an announcer not being as agonizing as watching the Lions play on Thanksgiving puts it over the top.
Some points:
— While she criticizes Ward, the e-mailer doesn’t seem entirely certain it was actually Ward doing the announcing (“If Pam Ward was the announcer…”). However, that doesn’t stop her from blasting Ward anyway.
— More importantly, to me anyway, is the notion that I might somehow be affiliated with ESPN (“you should be ashamed of yourselves”, “could you please find an announcer who’s excited about the game?”). I am guessing that the e-mailer googled Pam Ward’s name and found this post I wrote about ESPN’s announcers for 2010, and assumed I was a publicist for the network or something.
I found this amusing, because while I do write about things that involve ESPN on occasion, so would anyone who writes about sports in this country, given the pervasive nature of the network. I haven’t always written favorably about ESPN, either (see this post or this post, just for a couple of examples).
— The e-mailer is apparently a Michigan fan. She is sick of “being forced to listen” to Ward, but to be honest I don’t think Ward has done a whole lot of games featuring the Wolverines. When she was calling the noon game on ESPN2 the past few years, she usually called Big 10 games — but the two schools I always associate with a Ward call are Michigan State and Northwestern. Michigan usually was televised on ESPN (or the Big Ten Network) if it drew the noon slot. At least, that’s how I remember it. I could be wrong about that.
Incidentally, Ward now wants to call NFL games.
— I couldn’t agree more with the e-mailer about the Lions, though. Why should the entire country be subjected to that franchise every Thanksgiving? Can’t they rotate host teams? I’m tired of the Cowboys too, but at least Dallas usually has a good team. The Lions are almost always bad and boring. This year, turkey day at Ford Field will include the visiting New England Patriots, so at least one of the teams involved should be good. Of course, that means the score will probably be something like 47-10 or 34-12 (the score of the last two games played on Thanksgiving in Detroit, both losses by the Lions).
That game will be on CBS. I suppose Phil Simms will give away a silver iron again. It’s a lame gimmick, but not as lame as the thing Fox hands out to its game MVP.
To sum up, I’m sorry I can’t do anything about Pam Ward (or any other ESPN announcer) calling your team’s game(s), but I’m not affiliated with the four-letter. If I’m going to field complaints about ESPN, though, the least the folks in Bristol could do is send me some free stuff.
I’m not asking for an ESPY gift pack or anything; I would settle for a College Gameday t-shirt (size XXL – I’m fairly tall). I would ask for a hat, but I doubt ESPN carries a lot of promotional caps in size 7 ¾. If they did, Mark Schlereth would probably grab all of them anyway. He looks like he’s got a large noggin.
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As always, thanks to the e-mailers (and commenters) for all their feedback.
Filed under: Football | Tagged: Big Ten Network, College Gameday, Dallas Cowboys, Danny Kanell, Denard Robinson, Detroit Lions, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Galloping Gobbler, Indiana, Johnson Hagood Stadium, Mark Schlereth, Michigan, Michigan State, New England Patriots, NFL, Northwestern, Pam Ward, Phil Simms, Thanksgiving, The Citadel, The Sports Arsenal | 1 Comment »
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