During Sunday’s Texas-Nebraska Women’s College World Series game, the ESPN on ABC broadcast did its best to solve the mystery regarding a controversy that went viral after Saturday’s Tennessee-Texas Tech WCWS game.
After Saturday’s game (which also featured a controversial ABC broadcast outage), the media asked Texas Tech’s Taylor Pannell to explain what Tennessee softball head coach Karen Weekly said to her in the postgame handshake line. Pannell spent three seasons at Tennessee and was a two-time All-SEC first-team selection before transferring to Texas Tech this past offseason.
“We were walking through the line just saying ‘good game,’ and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying ‘good game,’ which is kind of crazy,” Pannell said. “Like, celebrate with your team. I just think it’s funny she’s still thinking about it. But it’s old news. Whatever.”
Weekly was asked to give her side of the story on what she said.
“Just ‘good game,’ like I say to every player,” Weekly explained. “‘Good game.'”
Well, ABC showed video footage of the postgame handshake line, with play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins providing the commentary to break it down.
Texas Tech-Tennessee postgame controversy explained. pic.twitter.com/Fl3eX3XJuY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 31, 2026
“Our postgame cameras; we spot-shadow Weekly on the left; No. 6 in red is Pannell,” Mowins explained. “Walking down the handshake line, there doesn’t seem to be a reaction there.
“We’re going to zoom in. You see Karen Weekly saying, ‘Good game.’ Not this person; the next one is Pannell. We do not see Weekly say anything different. There is no reaction from Pannell there.
“We move ahead a moment later. Weekly is well behind Pannell, still in the handshake line. You’re going to see right here, Pannell reacts to something out on the field. Then she starts talking with her teammates.
“A moment later, (Texas Tech head coach) Gerry Glasco is shepherding the team back towards the dugout. He asks Pannell, ‘Did somebody say something?’ And Taylor does say something to Gerry Glasco.”
So, it’s unclear what led to Pannell’s reaction at the end there, but we at least saw Weekly saying ‘Good game’ in the handshake line, as Mowins explained.
That’s great work by the ESPN on ABC production team, as well as Mowins with the breakdown. And Weekly surely appreciates it.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.