For the hordes of sports fans clamoring to see Colin Cowherd do play-by-play for a basketball game, it sounds like you’ll have to keep hoping and dreaming.
Wednesday afternoon on The Herd, Cowherd lauded ESPN’s Hubie Brown for still being an excellent NBA analyst at the age of 90. The compliment prompted Jason McIntyre to ask Cowherd if he was interested in doing basketball play-by-play, noting the long-time radio host used to call minor league baseball games.
Could Colin Cowherd be the next great play-by-play voice for Fox? pic.twitter.com/VW2gbTGdsu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 1, 2023
“Play-by-play is exhausting and I don’t like travel,” Cowherd said, effectively shutting down the idea that he might be interested in calling games. But McIntyre wasn’t satisfied.
“What if Fox came and said, ‘You know what? We’re gonna throw McIntyre and Cowherd on this Pac-12 basketball game,’ just for schtick,” McIntyre asked.
Most people reading this are probably asking themselves ‘Why?’ Why would Fox want to use The Herd duo to call a sporting event on their network when they already have a cast of talented announcing teams. Well then, you would be asking yourself the same exact question that Colin Cowherd asked.
“I’d say, ‘Why?’ Why would I do that?” Cowherd very candidly told McIntyre.
“Well probably cause McIntyre would enjoy it and he’s a good teammate,” McIntyre said, still attempting to sell his co-host on the idea.
“Then find a new partner,” Cowherd fired back.
Yikes! Here’s McIntyre in his second year as Cowherd’s sidekick on FS1 and Fox Sports Radio, probably thinking it could be a fun opportunity to get some face time in front of a new audience. Maybe he even thought it could be a good bonding experience with his co-host. Unfortunately for McIntyre, Cowherd has absolutely no interest in doing it.
The concept wasn’t totally out of bounds. WFAN has done this with their hosts as a promotional tactic many times. Mike and the Mad Dog, Boomer Esiason, Craig Carton, and Gregg Giannotti have all called either MLB, NBA, or NHL games on the radio for WFAN. So, it’s not crazy to think Fox could do the same with Cowherd for a lesser matchup on their college basketball schedule. But Cowherd isn’t going for overexposure. Instead, he’ll just keep the people wanting more.
[FS1]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com
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