The ongoing saga of ESPN vs. the University of Washington took another turn this past weekend. The feud dates back to last year as coach Chris Petersen was critical of 10 p.m. ET kickoffs. ESPN then hit back on College GameDay and then during a game against Cal citing the Huskies non-conference schedule. Mark Jones did not help matters with a tweet after Washington lost to Auburn last Saturday:
Washington Huskies took one one on the chin. Where’s Montana ?
— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) September 2, 2018
That tweet did not sit well with the Pac-12 and the University of Washington. Jones was the announcer during that infamous Cal game last year when sideline reporter Quint Kessenich laid down three cupcakes on the Washington turf to signify its 2017 non-conference schedule. To make matters worse, Jones also called Petersen “irascible and somewhat cantankerous” so that has stuck in the craw of Huskies fans.
Jones did follow up Sunday’s tweet with a new one on Monday:
Hey don’t get me wrong…I still think Washington will have a great season..losing to Auburn in their backyard is a lot better than what a team like Miami did to their CFP chances. All love Seattle. S/o to the bruthas at Greenlake Park ✊🏾
— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) September 3, 2018
However, the damage was done. The Seattle Times reports that Jones won’t be calling any Washington games this season. And the Pac-12 issued a statement that it wasn’t happy as well:
“We are aware of the inappropriate comments in this tweet and have addressed it with ESPN.”
Jones has been with ESPN since 1990 and has called a myriad of sports. He’s been assigned to events all over the globe, but one place where he won’t be going will be Seattle to call the Washington Huskies, at least for the foreseeable future.
