There have been plenty of cases of broadcasts losing play-by-play audio over the years, and there are some further challenges to that in an era where more broadcasts than ever are being called remotely (thanks to both COVID-19 and budgetary concerns). This year alone, we’ve seen announcers lose their camera feed and call the game based off live play trackers (that happened to Dave Flemming and Rod Gilmore during a USC-Utah football game a couple weeks back), and we’ve seen internet issues for the remote play-by-play announcer lead to analysts and sideline reporters filling in (that happened to Tom Hart on a Mississippi State-Kentucky football game in October, leading to Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic delivering play-by-play for a while). The latest case of something along these lines came during the ESPN broadcast of #11 West Virginia-#1 Gonzaga (at the Jimmy V Classic, held in Indianapolis) Wednesday, where the remote booth Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analysis) were working from hit technical issues. Sideline reporter Holly Rowe was actually on site, and she did an admirable job of taking over play-by-play for several minutes until Shulman and Bilas got back online. Here’s how this started, with Rowe delivering a sideline injury report and then hearing only silence in response:
https://twitter.com/TheComebackNCAA/status/1334332589092429826
Shortly after that, Rowe updated viewers on the technical issues, and then started doing play-by-play:
Here's Rowe discussing what was going on and taking over on play-by-play (2/5). pic.twitter.com/qUwTDIhFla
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) December 3, 2020
Rowe would do this for several minutes, and do it impressively, especially considering that she was stepping way outside her planned role for the telecast. Here’s one example of a full play-by-play call from her:
Here's an example of the play-by-play Rowe provided (3/5). pic.twitter.com/3LrQg31Y6l
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) December 3, 2020
Here’s another one, which was a nice job of integrating some of the details she knows about players (which you might normally hear in a sideline update) with play-by-play of what was happening:
Here's another example, mixing some information usually heard in sideline updates with play-by-play (4/5). pic.twitter.com/oFsVHLvezL
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) December 3, 2020
And here’s how this ended, with Rowe throwing it back to Shulman and Bilas, and with Shulman offering high praise for her work:
And here's Shulman's return, and his congratulations to Rowe for the work she did filling in. pic.twitter.com/6NTW7PRk4y
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) December 3, 2020
Shulman also praised Rowe on Twitter, and even said “I think I just got Wally Pipped!”
By the way, @sportsiren is a superstar. Carried us by doing pxp while we relocated to a different booth. I think I just got Wally Pipped!!!
— Dan Shulman (@DShulman_ESPN) December 3, 2020
And many others had high praise for Rowe:
Shouts to Holly Rowe for taking over play-by-play duties at the Jimmy V Classic! Mixing in facts, with game play and setting the scene. Nice work @sportsiren.
— Brandon Champion: Low Ego, High Output (@BrandonthaChamp) December 3, 2020
Holly Rowe seamlessly picking up play-by-play/analyst duties as the only announcer on site for Gonzaga/WVU during technical issues further confirms 🐐 status! @sportsiren
— Kim Adams (@_kimadams) December 3, 2020
HOLLY ROWE DOING PLAY BY PLAY THANK YOU 2020 FOR THIS GIFT!!!!
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) December 3, 2020
Holly Rowe pretty good at play-by-play in a pinch.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) December 3, 2020
holly rowe is absolutely clutch
— Anna Negrón (@ItsAnnaNegron) December 3, 2020
There are pros, and then there is Holly Rowe.
— Patrick Southern (@patricksouthern) December 3, 2020
That’s a solid performance from Rowe in the clutch, and her work definitely helped make this broadcast better during the time when Shulman and Bilas were off-air.
[Clippit]
