Tagged: ‘Alabama Crimso…’

posted by on December 29, 2012 11:45 AM

ESPN Radio’s Rosinski and crew deliver college football coverage coast to coast (and everywhere in between)

David Norrie (left) and Bill Rosinski will call five of ESPN Radio’s 24 bowl games. (Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)

David Norrie (left) and Bill Rosinski will call five of ESPN Radio’s 34 bowl games. (Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)

Editor’s note: If you want to see a lot of college football before the holidays end, ESPN grants your wish. Between today and Tuesday, Jan. 1, there are 15 college football bowl games airing on ESPN, ABC and various ESPN platforms. ESPN begins airing the BCS Bowls on Jan. 1; our analysts picked the winners of the five BCS games, including ESPN’s Jan. 7 Discover BCS National Championship between Notre Dame and Alabama.

And fret not if you’ll be away from your primary viewing option: ESPN Radio has you covered with audio play-by-play from the best in the business:

ESPN Radio’s lead college football play-by-play man Bill Rosinski literally becomes a student of the game this time of year — a time of year that ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS Bowl game since 2000.

“It’s like cramming for a final exam,” he says of preparing for a 4-games-in-8-day stretch that began Thursday night in San Diego with the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl and continues Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz. for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. He and analyst David Norrie and reporter Joe Schad will then be off to Miami for the Jan. 1 Discover Orange Bowl, then back Arizona for the Jan. 3 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale.

If the travel doesn’t get to you, the Ducks will. continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on December 27, 2012 9:14 AM

Front & Center: Matt Fortuna and Chris Low

University of Notre Dame (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)

Notre Dame (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)

Alabama (Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)

Alabama (Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)

Click HERE to listen or visit iTunes to download the podcast and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Front & Center podcast. Also, make sure to check out the ESPN Radio app, available for the iPad.

On Monday, Jan. 7 in Miami, Notre Dame and Alabama will decide which team is the king of college football this season.

ESPN has the Discover BCS National Championship Game (8:30 ET, ESPN) covered from all the angles, including on ESPN.com.

Blogger Matt Fortuna reports on Notre Dame football for ESPN.com. Blogger Chris Low reports on the Southeastern Conference and Alabama football for ESPN.com. Both will be in Miami beginning Jan. 2 to offer full coverage of the mammoth match-up.

In the “Front & Center” podcast above, the bloggers discuss how they’ll do their jobs in Miami before, during and after the game; how bowl game player and coach access differs from the regular season; and more.

Filed in: Front & Center, Podcast

posted by on August 30, 2012 12:39 PM

Research reveals strongest markets for college football viewership

 

 

College football fans are located in all types of nooks and crannies across the country, but what areas have the largest numbers of viewers per capita?

One way of looking at it is by local ratings.

We examined ESPN’s game telecast ratings in the nation’s 56 metered markets from 2000 to 2011. The results show the overall trends from the past 12 years, the Top 25 markets from 2011 and how the markets compare to this year’s Top 25 teams.

Not surprisingly, Birmingham, Ala. and Columbus, Ohio, rank among the highest-rated markets every year. However, a somewhat surprising finding was they are the only two markets to be in the top spot for all 12 years, and the Alabama market was No. 1 in 11 of the 12 seasons.

While Birmingham and Columbus are the only two to finish as the highest-rated market, six areas have landed in the No. 2 spot: Columbus and Knoxville, Tenn., five times each, and once each for Birmingham, Nashville, Tenn. New Orleans, La. and Oklahoma City, Okla.

The top five markets for 2011 were: No. 1 Birmingham; No. 2 (tie) Oklahoma City and Columbus; No. 4. Greenville, S.C. No. 5 (tie). New Orleans and Atlanta.

Overall, 13 markets have finished a season in the top five over the past 12 years: Birmingham, Columbus, Atlanta, Greenville, S.C., Knoxville, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, Memphis,Tenn., Nashville, Louisville, Ky. Norfolk, Va., and Orlando.

The data was compiled into an ESPN press release earlier in the week.

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on August 21, 2012 12:46 PM

Your vote counts: Meet the 10 finalists in the running for ESPN’s inaugural Hall of Fans class

Imagine getting married in your favorite sports venue with your wedding party wearing team colors. Of course, your cake and even your invitations would include the team logo.

Or perhaps you just have a creative game costume or a special chant to cheer on your team?

Maybe you’ve built up a remarkable consecutive game attendance streak or developed a team-themed charity fundraiser.

Those are just some examples of the creative and compelling stories that emerged from the Hall of Fans submission process this summer. Over the past month, more than 1,500 remarkable fans shared their inspiring stories.

Today, the Hall of Fans has named 10 finalists for this unique honor. Each finalist will campaign for one of three spots in the inaugural class.

The three fans with the most votes on Aug. 31 will be inducted into this newly created institution in a special September ceremony on ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. campus. continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on August 8, 2012 12:33 PM

Inside the game plan for The Mag’s College Football Preview issue

ESPN The Magazine College Football Preview

Even though ESPN The Magazine’s 2012 College Football Preview hits newsstands Friday, it’s already causing a stir in some circles.

On topics ranging from voodoo dolls and honey badgers to live mascots and power rankings, Front Row speaks with Editor-in-Chief Chad Millman on how The Mag’s issue came together.

How did the concept behind the SEC voodoo dolls come about?
We knew the issue was going to look at the game through the prism of the SEC’s dominance but we realized we didn’t have any natural SEC-focused covers. Our main SEC player profile was on LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu, but we knew he wasn’t available. Another player-driven feature was on USC, whose players did sit for a shoot.

We started talking about doing an SEC concept involving the mascots, since we had a mascot photo act [see pages 66-73 in the issue] in the works. We worked on several different ideas and this is the one that felt like the best combination of fun and capturing an attitude a lot of fans outside of the SEC have about the conference. We considered doing split cover — a USC cover for the newsstand and the voodoo dolls for subscribers. But it felt strange to have an SEC-themed issue and put USC on the cover.

Why were LSU, Georgia and Alabama selected to be represented? And where are the dolls now? continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on January 10, 2012 9:11 AM

BCS National Championship Storify

Storify after the jump. . . continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on January 9, 2012 6:00 PM

Why Alabama’s Trent Richardson runs tough on and off the field

In the buildup to the Allstate BCS Championship Game Monday night (8:30 ET, ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3, ESPN Radio 7:30 ET for pregame) in New Orleans, ESPN’s Features Unit has been busy producing plenty of profiles.

One feature focuses on Alabama running back Trent Richardson, whose relentless rushing has spurred the Crimson Tide into this rematch against top-ranked LSU. See a preview of the Richardson profile in the video above.

Like Pro Football Hall of Famer and former ESPN analyst Emmitt Smith, Richardson is the pride of Escambia High School in Pensacola, Fla.

In ESPN associate producer Todd Kapostasy‘s piece, reported by Tom Rinaldi, Richardson revealed his thoughts on fatherhood and showed that no one — even friends — is exempt from receiving a stiff-arm when necessary. Also, Smith gives his scouting report on Richardson’s rugged running.

Kapostasy, a Brown University grad in his fifth year at ESPN, gives Front Row an inside look at the making of the feature.

FR: How did you come up with the theme of “toughness” for this piece?
TK: Richardson’s rugged running style is something that has been discussed at length this season. His early life and struggles, however, are more of a mystery to college football fans. After Rinaldi’s interview with Richardson, it became clear that there was a connection to be made between the adversity he has overcome in his life, the responsibilities he has as a father, and the toughness he displays on the field. This wasn’t necessarily a connection that Richardson made himself, but was a theme that became obvious to Tom and I when listening to Richardson’s story.

FR: How open was Richardson to being profiled?
TK: He was surprisingly open about his daughters and his early life in Pensacola. At one point, he mentioned that when he travels back home to Pensacola and drives around familiar sites in his hometown he gets very reflective. I think he’s at the point in his college career — and in his life — where he knows he’s about to see all of the hard work and sacrifice pay off. He constantly referenced “providing for his family” and probably realizes that dream is within close reach.

FR: Of all of the Richardson highlights that you have to pick from, what’s your favorite and why? continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes

posted by on January 9, 2012 1:15 PM

Man On The Street: Who wins the BCS national title game tonight?

Your preparation for watching the Allstate BCS Championship Game tonight (8:30 ET, ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3, ESPN Radio 7:30 ET for pregame) is not complete until you’ve considered a few more expert opinions.

The video above reflects an unscientific polling of ESPN employees on our Bristol campus last week about the LSU-Alabama rematch.

Count Jemele Hill, Kevin Negandhi, Colin Cowherd, Jalen Rose and Michelle Beadle among the seers.

Who do you think wins? Tell us in the comments below or vote in the FR poll in the right margin.

Filed in: Man on the Street, Today on Campus

posted by on December 5, 2011 3:50 PM

Front & Center Podcast: ESPN BCS expert Brad Edwards

He was arguably the busiest (and most sleepless) man in college football this past weekend so “Front & Center” is proud to have been able to wrangle a few minutes from ESPN’s BCS expert Brad Edwards.

In addition to getting into some of the nitty gritty on the numbers that led us to a BCS title game re-match between LSU and Alabama, Brad discusses: how he became the BCS guru; his “groupies”; the “Plus-1″ debate; and the possibility of a so-called “split” national champion.

 Listen to the Podcast – Mobile Version

 

Filed in: Front & Center, Podcast

posted by on November 7, 2011 12:32 PM

ESPN Films’ ‘Roll Tide/War Eagle’ premieres at historic Alabama Theatre

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Almost an hour before the doors officially opened, a line of passionate college football fans dressed in their favorite gameday gear began forming outside the Alabama Theatre on Nov. 1.

They were there for the premiere of ESPN Films’ latest documentary Roll Tide/War Eagle, directed by ESPN’s own Martin Khodabakhshian and produced by Joe Tessitore and Bruce Feldman.

The film takes a look at the heated Alabama-Auburn rivalry, which has been dividing the state since as early as the late 1800s but has recently been catapulted to a new level over the last two years.

On the field, each program celebrated a national title, a Heisman Trophy winner and an Iron Bowl win. Off the field, the rivalry took a twisted turn, with a stunning tale of poisoned trees and a historic force of Mother Nature that brought both sides of this split state together.

More than 750 Auburn and Alabama fans piled into the Alabama Theatre and the crowd was treated to a traditional performance from the theatre’s organist, who played both fight songs. continue reading…

Filed in: Behind The Scenes, On The Road