Awful Announcing Podcast

Coming out of the Sochi Winter Olympics we welcome back NHL on NBC lead analyst Eddie Olczyk to the program to talk all things hockey. Eddie will be a part of the first network television broadcast of an NHL game since 1974 when the Penguins play the Blackhawks in Soldier Field on Saturday night. With such a momentous occasion upon us, what better time to get caught up with Edzo. On today's podcas...

In this week's edition of the Awful Announcing Podcast, we're trying something new. For the first time, we have multiple guests and they are all from our awesome staff. Ken Fang, Steve Lepore, and Joe Lucia all hop aboard a roundtable broadcast breaking down NBC's coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi and the highlights and lowlights of these games for the network. We also share some of...

We've saved the biggest guest for the AA Podcast thus far for our 78th episode as broadcasting legend Marv Albert joins us before TNT's All-Star Game coverage this weekend. Regarded as "the voice of basketball," Albert has been on hand to witness many of the greatest moment in NBA history. In addition, he's called Super Bowls, Stanley Cup Finals, NCAA Tournaments and much more as one of the top an...

For today's podcast we welcome one of the most accomplished NBA players of this generation - 7-time All-Star Grant Hill. Grant has made the full-time transition to broadcasting with Turner Sports as the co-host of Inside Stuff on NBA TV. Today, Grant chats with AA about that broadcast career and the NBA season so far. Topics include... -HIs roles at NBA All-Star weekend including being A GM for th...

To take a look at Fox's Super Bowl broadcast, we invite back an old friend of the program - Ed Sherman of the Sherman Report and the Chicago Tribune. We take an in-depth look at how Fox did the best job they could with the Super Bowl blowout and discuss Ed's new book about Babe Ruth's called shot. Topics include... -His glorious feud with Deadspin and how it all started. -How being called every fo...

On this week's podcast we're joined by the voice of curling and lead announcer for NBC's Olympic curling coverage, Andrew Catalon. While Andrew works the Olympics for NBC, his full-time job is with CBS Sports and the CBS Sports Network. Andrew was named one of our Rising Stars for 2013 in the broadcast industry for his work on a multitude of sports. Today he joins us to talk about topics that incl...

To break down the NFL Playoffs and take a look at the NFL announcing scene we're joined by Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated. Chris has taken over the mantle of ranking all the NFL announcers at SI in addition to covering the league and the NFL Draft as well. We cover a multitude of football related topics including... -Is this the best Final 4 in NFL history? -Would a victory in the AFC Champions...

ESPN presented a revolutionary night of television earlier this week with the BCS Megacast. The network presented several alternate feeds for the BCS title game that gave fans more options than ever before. By far the most acclaimed viewing option was the BCS Film Room on ESPNEWS which featured analysts and coaches breaking down game film in real time. The host/analyst of Film Room was ESPN senior...

We're back for Part II of our Year In Review Podcast Extravaganza Extraordinaire and once again we welcome the Vito Corleone of the sports media industry, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated. The Year in Review podcast has become a tradition unlike any other at AA as we look back at the biggest stories, newsmakers, and industry trends in 2013. Topics include... -Media feuds of the year, includin...

We take a look back at the business side of sports media in 2013 in a Year in Review podcast and who better than sports media savant John Ourand of SBJ to do just that. It was a massive year in sports media with the launch of Fox Sports 1, rights fees continuing to rise, and there being no more interesting time to cover the industry. We chatted with John about some of those stories including... -W...

This week we named our 13 Rising Stars for 2013 in sports media. One of those rising stars was Fox Sports 1 college football analyst and host Joel Klatt. The former Colorado QB has blossomed at Fox Sports 1 in an expanded role not just as a studio and game analyst, but as an anchor, even doing highlights on Fox NFL Sunday. Klatt joins us to talk about his young Fox career, this week's B1G title ga...

We're pleased to welcome one of the very best announcers in sports back to the AA Podcast - the voice of the NHL, Mike "Doc" Emrick. While most sports fans think of Thanksgiving as football time, NBC has a national broadcast on Black Friday between the Bruins and Rangers. We catch up with Doc looking ahead to that broadcast as well as some other early season storylines including... -How realignmen...

With Thanksgiving week upon us, we're joined by one person who has the privilege of not working just one of the big games in store this weekend, but two of them. CBS's intrepid sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson works the Iron Bowl on Saturday between #1 Alabama and #4 Auburn but before that will also call the Thanksgiving Day game between the Raiders and Cowboys. In this podcast, Tracy chats with AA...

In today's podcast we welcome one of the brightest minds covering sports and a lead college basketball analyst for ESPN, Jay Bilas. The former Duke player not only works in the College GameDay studio and calls games for ESPN, but also serves as an NBA Draft analyst. And he has one of the must-follow Twitter accounts in sports featuring his calls for NCAA reforms and Young Jeezy tweets. In this in-...

Ahead of this week's United States Grand Prix it's an absolute pleasure to welcome aboard one of the most venerable voices in sports broadcasting, NBC Formula One analyst David Hobbs. David has announced motorsports on American television for over 35 years and moved to NBC this year with the network's Formula One coverage. In this podcast, we chat with David about this year's season, his history i...

This week's AA Podcast features a conversation with the top NFL reporter in America, ESPN's Adam Schefter. His reporting has been at the center of the unfolding bullying controversy in Miami involving Richie Incognito and jonathan Martin. Since joining ESPN in August 2009, Schefter has quickly become one of the top reporters in all of sports. In this interview, we not only chat with Schefter about...

In this week's podcast, we invite one of the sports blogosphere's favs, Jimmy Traina, who is on the move from Sports Illustrated to Fox Sports. In the last several years, Jimmy has taken Hot Clicks at SI to one of the most popular features not just at the magazine, but across the web in sports. In this podcast, AA chats with Jimmy about the move, the evolution of Hot Clicks, and the media, and an...

We finally catch up with one of our favorites on this week's podcast, lead ESPN soccer analyst Taylor Twellman. The former MLS MVP has quickly become ESPN's top game analyst for the US Men's National Team and Major League Soccer broadcast. In this podcast we not only chat with Taylor about the USMNT clinching a World Cup berth (and keeping Mexico alive) but a number of other interesting topics as...

One of the pleasant surprises of the MLB Postseason has been the entertaining crew TBS has assembled for their studio shows. One of their studio analysts is former Major League pitcher and best-selling author Dirk Hayhurst. After just 25 MLB appearances, Hayhurst has written extensively about his journeyman career and has embraced his travels to being a successful author and broadcaster. Today, Di...

In today's podcast we welcome the newest member of one of the most elite fraternities in broadcasting. 39 year old Kevin Burkhardt is the only rookie play by play man calling NFL games for one of the major networks and he joins us to talk about his remarkable career path and his first few weeks on the job for Fox. Kevin chats with AA about... -His experience through the first three weeks of the se...

In today's podcast we welcome back CBS Sports college football insider for his annual visit to talk about the world of college football. Bruce published a fascinating all access piece inside Texas A&M football this week that's the focus of our early conversation before turning to the major college football media story of the past month, the Sports Illustrated investigation into Oklahoma. It's...

Today's AA Podcast welcomes the host of NASCAR Now, ESPN's Shannon Spake. Shannon came from Speed Channel to ESPN and now not only serves as a NASCAR host and reporter but as a college football and basketball reporter for the upcoming season. Additionally, she just signed a new contract extension with Bristol. We go inside that process as well as... -What led her to re-sign with ESPN and whether o...

Today we welcome ESPN college sports sideline reporter Samantha Ponder. Sam has become one of the most popular and recognizable personalities at ESPN almost overnight with her debut on College GameDay last year and subsequent marriage to Vikings QB Christian Ponder. I talked with Sam about her new life in the fishbowl, her rise at ESPN, and the upcoming college football season. Topics include... -...

The beginning of the EPL season is just a few short days away. It's a new beginning for American soccer fans as NBC has the rights to every EPL game after coverage from Fox Soccer and ESPN. Before the launch of the 2013-14 campaign, we're joined by new NBC Premier League host Rebecca Lowe. Rebecca moved not just from ESPN UK to NBC, but also transplanted across the Atlantic to anchor NBC's coverag...

We're pleased to welcome to this week's podcast one of the premier sportscasters in the country - ESPN's Mike Tirico. We chatted with Mike before the opening Monday Night Football telecast of the preseason in Atlanta about his busy summer calling many of the top sporting events around the world, his career, and his influences in broadcasting. Topics include... -What it's like to call the NBA Final...