The last time announcer Thom Brennaman called a sporting event that featured a player with the last name Castellanos, things went very, very poorly for him while simultaneously kicking off one of the great memes of our time.
For his sake, we hope Brennaman doesn’t have a similar experience when he calls next Saturday’s college football game between the Syracuse Orange and Boston College Eagles on The CW.
The ACC rivalry game, which is set for noon on Nov. 9, features a showdown between the rising Orange (6-2) and the middling Eagles (4-4). While former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord is powering the surprising Syracuse offense this year, Boston College’s signal-caller is Thomas Castellanos.
That might be a little awkward for Brennaman, who returned to a national network booth this year calling college football games for The CW. While he’s had a chance to call games from all over the country, most of them have come from the Raycom Sports-produced ACC package, which means it was only a matter of time before he found himself calling a Castellanos once again.
So next week we get Thom Brennamen calling a game featuring a Castellanos…. pic.twitter.com/ZyU8Ql4sOu
— NunesMagician.com (@NunesMagician) November 3, 2024
Sports fans were quick to notice when Brennaman namechecked the BC quarterback back in September, tempting fate from the universe.
If none of this makes any sense to you, we’ll encourage you to start here. You’ll learn about the fateful day of August 19, 2020, when the then-Cincinnati Reds announcer began an on-air apology after being caught on a hot mic using a homophobic slur only to stop halfway through to call “a drive into deep left field” from then-Reds slugger Nick Castellanos. It’s the moment that launched a thousand memes, exacerbated by the fact that Castellanos kept hitting home runs during very somber announcer discussions over the next few years.
How will the Syracuse-BC game fit into all of this? We suppose that’s up to Brennaman and Castellanos. No, the other Castellanos.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.