This week, we’re celebrating the highs, the lows, the best, and the worst of the year with The Awfulies.
Started in 2022 and expanded in 2023, the Awful Announcing staff has cast its votes for who we think should take home the coveted golden microphone.
Keep an eye on category and winner reveals all week long. And be sure to let us know who your pick would have been for the winners as we examine the best media personalities of 2024.
Best Play-by-Play Announcer: Kevin Harlan
The nominees on this list are who’s who of broadcasting royalty, with Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Mike Tirico and Joe Davis each receiving multiple votes. Any of them would be a fitting winner in any given year. But we felt like 2024 belonged to one play-by-play announcer, who remains a national treasure whenever he picks up the microphone.
Kevin Harlan simply owned 2024.
It was a year that cemented his legend, packed with moments that reminded everyone why he’s considered one of the best to ever do it. From effortlessly weaving in sponsor mentions to calling the electric first meeting between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama, Harlan’s voice was the soundtrack to some of the year’s biggest sports moments, from the NFL Playoffs to March Madness.
Kevin Harlan kicked it to Nate Burleson for a studio update. Burleson couldn’t hear.
So Harlan did the update himself, impressing Trent Green.
“You have called two games at one time. And now you’ve called a studio and a game at the same time.” pic.twitter.com/Pj3Dxvfc5C
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 15, 2024
For 12 months, he put on an absolute clinic in play-by-play announcing.
Who else could make a scene of chicken wings being thrown onto the court sound so compelling? He was right there to capture the raw emotion of a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater. He even got a shout-out from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And week after week, social media lit up with praise.
Harlan’s 2024 was a reminder of his greatness. It was everything fans could have hoped for — and then some — from one of the true icons in his field.
Best Game Analyst: Greg Olsen
He may be No. 2 on Fox’s depth chart, but Greg Olsen is No. 1 in our hearts — and more importantly, in Awfulies voting for the second straight year. The former NFL tight end-turned-Fox analyst was our runaway winner, with ESPN college football/Amazon Prime NFL analyst Kirk Herbstreit being the only other candidate to receive multiple votes.
In just a relatively short amount of time, Olsen has clearly established himself as the people’s champ of NFL analysts. His ability to communicate both clearly and intelligently was perhaps best exemplified earlier this month when he explained why the Arizona Cardinals were making a mistake settling for a field goal against the Minnesota Vikings.
Greg Olsen’s explanation of why Arizona should have gone for it pic.twitter.com/pHpucgHqJV
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) December 2, 2024
Despite speculation to the contrary, Olsen remained with Fox for the 2024 NFL season, even after receiving a demotion from the top team following Tom Brady’s arrival. But should a top NFL analyst position become available — at Fox or elsewhere — there’s no question who the leading candidate would (or at least should) be.
Studio Host: Scott Van Pelt
This was a hotly contested category amongst the AA staff, making for some Bad Beats among the other nominees such as last year’s winner Ernie Johnson and College GameDay host Rece Davis. But in the end, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt earned the 2024 Awfulie for Best Studio Host.
In his second year helming the Monday Night Countdown desk, Van Pelt has proven that ESPN does occasionally make good talent decisions for its studio shows. On Countdown, Van Pelt is the definition of a pass-first point guard, allowing his boisterous analyst trio of Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce and Marcus Spears to shine, while at the same time making sure things don’t get too out of hand.
Then there’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, arguably the only hour of the franchise that matters anymore. It is consistently covered on this website for its numerous insightful monologues. Succeeding in both hosting roles — Countdown where he plays traffic cop and SportsCenter where he’s the main attraction — makes SVP the rare sports media figure that can serve as both a complimentary piece and a star, and thus a very deserving recipient of this award.
Studio Analyst: Charles Barkley
Who needs an NBA title when you can call yourself a three-time Awfulies recipient? For the third consecutive year, Charles Barkley reigns supreme as our top studio analyst thanks to his work on TNT’s Inside the NBA.
While Barkley’s victory in any year would hardly come as a surprise, his work in 2024 especially stood out as he refused to play dumb regarding the uncertainty surrounding the NBA’s signature studio show. Barkley’s bluntness and self awareness wasn’t only a welcome presence in the sports media space, but has already created one of 2025’s biggest storylines as he’s far from committed to whatever ESPN’s version of Inside the NBA might look like.
Charles Barkley on ‘Inside the NBA’ moving to ESPN:
“I’m listening to NBC, Amazon. I want to know everything that’s on the table for me before I sign in.” – via The Dan Patrick Show pic.twitter.com/BvMbHBn1TV
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 18, 2024
With all due respect to the other studio analysts — including Mina Kimes, who put up a helluva fight this year — it’s hard to imagine Barkley ever being topped in this category so long as he’s active. As a result, this will be Sir Charles’ last year eligible for the Best Studio Analyst Awfulie, which will be renamed the Charles Barkley Studio Analyst Awfulies Award.
Commentator/Debator: Chris “Mad Dog” Russo
The nominees for this honor are some of the biggest names in sports commentary and debate. Stephen A. Smith, Chris Russo and Nick Wright all received plenty of votes — and for good reason. But in 2024, one voice stood above the rest, delivering some unforgettable moments and providing some of Awful Announcing’s best screengrabs of the year.
This old Dog still has a few new tricks. For the second consecutive year, Chris Russo has brought fresh energy — and plenty of yelling — to First Take. But perhaps most impressively, he’s the one person on this list who can actually keep Stephen A. Smith in check.
Love him or hate him, the ‘Mad Dog’ delivered plenty of moments in 2024 that made you either shake your head or chuckle profusely. His inability to pronounce anyone’s name correctly is comedy gold — and so is his yelling, even if the act can grow a little stale from time to time.
Whether he was quibbling about his beef with Tony Romo, berating someone at an airline counter, or getting into a screaming match with Paul Finebaum, Russo always found a way to grab some Awful Announcing headlines. We’re still unsure what tops the charts, but for now, we’ll leave you with him absolutely unloading on Finebaum — a moment that says it all.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo argues with Paul Finebaum, insisting Lincoln Riley has been a success at USC because Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy.
“He won a Heisman Trophy! At a place where they win Heisman Trophies!… You talk about a Heisman Trophy at USC, that means… pic.twitter.com/GUQjqO7Wjz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 17, 2024
Insider: John Ourand
Has anyone had a bigger year than John Ourand? Seriously.
Sure, this is a sports media blog and we may be a bit biased towards someone covering our own space, but beating out insiders for actual sports like Jeff Passan (last year’s winner), Shams Charania, and Adam Schefter is an impressive feat.
Yes, Ourand technically made his splashy move to leave Sports Business Journal for Puck at the end of 2023. But the volume and importance of stories he has broken over the course of 2024 make him a truly worthy winner of the Awfulie for Best Insider.
Ourand’s newsletter The Varsity (and podcast by the same name, nice branding) is nothing short of invaluable for those in the sports business. Whether he’s breaking news on the NBA media rights deal or explaining how Fox and CBS are getting grinfucked by the NFL in his newsletter, Ourand is a must-read twice a week.
In the classic Puck style, Ourand makes you feel like you’re in the room with all of the power players that impact how we consume sports media. Every week there’s a nugget worth knowing. Be it FIFA’s recent posturing over bids for the Women’s World Cup rights, or how many people were actually watching the MLS Cup on Apple TV, Ourand has the information everyone else wants to know. That’s the sign of a truly great insider.
And if you weren’t convinced yet that 2024 is the Year of Ourand, he was also floated as a potential winner for our next category.
Best Acquisition: Nick Saban
In NBA terms, this year’s sports media free agency class was reminiscent of 2010. But while Jason Kelce (ESPN), Nate Burleson (CBS), and Bill Belichick (everywhere) might have been the Big Three, it was Nick Saban who emerged as the most valuable offseason signing.
Granted, Saban’s jump from Tuscaloosa to ESPN largely came as a surprise following his stunning retirement from coaching following Alabama’s 2023 season. But it didn’t take long for the seven-time national champion to find a new home with the Worldwide Leader, where he’s helped breathe new life into a rejuvenated College GameDay.
Saban’s credibility is obvious, but it’s his chemistry/bromance with Pat McAfee that has jumped off the screen. Sure, his campaigning for the Crimson Tide during the College Football Playoff selection show was a bit much. But it was a small price to pay for what was otherwise sports media’s best signing of 2024, with Saban emerging as the only candidate to receive multiple votes in this year’s category.