About Awful Announcing

About Us

Since its founding in May of 2006, Awful Announcing has been an invaluable source of news and commentary related to the sports media industry, along with sports in pop culture.

The site was founded by Brian Powell, a graduate of James Madison University and Maryland native, in 2006. Powell launched AA as a hobby and it quickly took off in the early sports blogosphere. At its start, Awful Announcing’s focus was the on- and off-air lowlights of the sports media world, both skewering and poking fun at broadcasters across the country.

In 2010, Awful Announcing was acquired by the Bloguin Network, led by Ben Koo. Over the coming months, the focus of AA began to include more news, analysis, commentary, and features in addition to criticism of broadcasters and spotlighting of gaffes.

Following Bloguin’s acquisition of Awful Announcing, many of the site’s more prominent writers joined, including Matt Yoder, Joe Lucia, Andrew Bucholtz, and Ken Fang (and his daily Viewing Picks). Under the ownership of Bloguin, AA continued to grow and expand, becoming one of the preeminent sports media websites on the internet.

Comeback Media was spun out of Bloguin in 2015 and became Awful Announcing’s current parent. Together with its sister site The Comeback, Awful Announcing continues to blanket the web with sports media coverage, covering stories large and small, obscure and mainstream, absurd and emotional. Awful Announcing has continued to grow, reaching over three million people a month, and is widely cited and read by both fans and those within the industry. 

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Selected Bios

Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, recently working for NBC Cleveland affiliate WKYC. He also covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout, and Rivals.

Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

Brandon Contes

Staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. Previously Mediaite and Barrett Sports Media. Love-hate relationship with Neapolitan pizza, radio, and sports. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com

Michael Grant

Born in Jamaica. Grew up in New York City. Lives in Louisville, KY. Has run marathons in Honolulu, Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal, and Australia. Always running from something.

Sean Keeley

Sean is Comeback Media’s Managing Editor. He created the Syracuse blog ‘Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician’ and wrote ‘How To Grow An Orange.’ He lives in Seattle and complains about bagels.

Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. Previously, he covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx, and other outlets.

Joe Lucia

Joe joined Awful Announcing in 2012. Joe enjoys watching baseball, soccer, football, and cooking shows. A graduate of Penn State, Joe was born and raised in Pennsylvania and now lives in California.

Sam Neumann

Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing since 2023. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, he is a Charlotte native who calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the Mets and Jets.

Ben Koo

Ben is the owner/EIC of Awful Announcing, acquiring the site in 2010. A recovering Silicon Valley startup guy now based in Columbus, Ohio and a graduate of Ohio State, he enjoys the Ohio State Buckeyes, A’s, dogs, naps, tacos, and the old AOL dialup sounds.