It can sometimes be awkward for an announcer to interrupt an interview to share breaking news, and ESPN2 play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff found himself in that situation Friday night.
The network aired the Temple-UTSA game and Shroff and Andre Ware invited Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson to the booth to talk about the school’s recent decision to fire head coach Stan Drayton.
“You guys made a coaching change on Sunday, Stan Drayton out,” Shroff said. “Why now, why not wait a couple of weeks, why make this move at this point?”
“First, I want to start by saying … those decisions are not easy decisions to start with, coach Drayton is a great man,” Johnson said. Behind him on the field, UTSA snapped the ball from its own 25-yard line.
“Did a great job working with our kids off the field,” Johnson continued, as UTSA quarterback Owen McCown started scrambling.
“The work we’ve done in the community and in the classroom,” Johnson continued, as McCown beat a defender to the outside and started racing down the sideline.
Johnson continued, but by now, the fans at UTSA’s Alamodome were going wild over McCown’s run as he crossed midfield and kept motoring.
“However, we want to win championships …” Johnson said, his voice now lost in the crowd noise.
“About to cut you off,” Shroff interrupted, as McCown crossed the 30, “but Owen McCown just cuts one loose and takes it all the way to the end zone, 75 yards for a score!”
As Temple AD Arthur Johnson was discussing the decision to fire head coach Stan Drayton, he was interrupted by a 75-yard TD run from UTSA quarterback Owen McCown. pic.twitter.com/LKoV3qgHj0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 23, 2024
“What a play by Owen McCown,” Ware observed.
These situations are always a little awkward for the play-by-play announcer as to when to interrupt. If Shroff cuts off Johnson and McCown gets tackled after a 20-yard run, that’s a nice gain, but probably not worth the interruption. Shroff seemed to have pretty good timing on the play.
[ESPN2]
