Today is an important day here at AA HQ – it’s the five year anniversary of our relaunch under the Bloguin umbrella. Awful Announcing was started by the great Brian Powell in 2006 and when the site went dark in 2010, Bloguin brought it back on August 29th, 2010. Over these last five years, we’ve taken Powell’s original vision of a place where you can talk about your favorite (and least favorite) announcers and know who’s calling what games and expanded it. AA 2.0 now covers everything in the sports media including announcing schedules, business dealings, ratings, podcasts, and even some breaking news stories.
But the core of Awful Announcing is and always will be this – those moments where something in the well oiled sports media machine didn’t quite go as planned. To celebrate the five year anniversary of the Awful Announcing revival, here is the very best in awful announcing from our time together in no particular order…
The ultimate Sad Hawk Harrelson Compilation
Our video editor Josh Gold-Smith created this masterpiece in 2013 of Hawk Harrelson reacting to a series of crushing White Sox defeats. And unless you’re a fan of the south-siders, it never gets old.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SBwNiZmnSDM
Tim McCarver: Spelling Bee Champ
Is it wrong to say I miss Tim McCarver after watching this 2011 clip back again?
Phil Simms explains the mystery of the forward pass
This piece of wisdom comes from our 2012 blooper list…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bGvsWD29WSE
Nuts And Bolts We Got Screwed!
From time to time we’ve found hidden announcing gems across America, like this 2010 clip from the Abington Green Wave high school football announcers.
Chuck Giampa has the roughest debut ever
Someone should have told Chuck that live television means live! In 2012, his Showtime boxing debut went over like Homer Simpson trying to fight Drederick Tatum.
AND THE PUNT IS BLOCKED!
This is what happens when ESPN has Chris Berman call a Monday Night Football game in 2014 and he tries to talk about serious to.. AND THE PUNT IS BLOCKED!
The John Sterling Blooper Reel
Ten minutes of John Sterling bloopers from 2012? Thank you Baby Jesus.
The highlight of Bob Knight’s ESPN career
Bob Knight left ESPN in 2015, but at least he gave us this one last memory. SIT DOWN!!!
Where’s Wright Waters?!?!
FAU announcer Dave Lamont politely disagreed with a no-call in 2010, and then challenged everyone in the press box to a fight. If you’ve ever wondered what The Incredible Hulk would sound like as a college football announcer, here you go…
Lou Holtz discovers a new language
You’d probably sound the same if you sat to Mark May for that long. From 2014…
Marty Reid forgets who he works with
It’s rare that an announcer gets the boot for his mistakes, but given Marty Reid didn’t know who broadcast partner Andy Petree was in 2012, we can’t blame Bristol for that decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrnacKrRMI
Lee Corso’s f-bomb
We’ve had a ton of announcers and sports media people get caught casually swearing on air these past five years, but none was better than Lee Corso’s quite literal “IDGAF” attitude in 2011.
“Today we’re honoring and supporting Qualcomm”
If you have a sponsor’s pitch that you need to get across to a sports radio audience, Matt Harvey is the man you want on that wall. This 2013 interview with Dan Patrick is still the stuff of legend.
Stool 1, Announcer 0
James Bates of CBS Sports Network met his announcing demise in 2012 – his own stool.
Paul Cicala takes a tumble
Local news often brings us the best bloopers and Arizona sports anchor Paul Cicala’s fateful trip in 2014 is no exception
Mike Francesa falls asleep
If you made it this far, you probably deserve a nap. Who would have thought Mike Francesa nodding off on the air in 2012 would have turned him into such a viral star?
Thanks for giving us a chance with the Awful Announcing relaunch and for your patronage over these past five years. PYROTECHNICS!!!