CBS Could Be Putting Gus Johnson To Work At The Beginning Of October
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
It's been awhile since CBS had one of their MMA shows. The next one scheduled for October 4th, and will feature the return of Kimbo Slice to the network, but there's now a bit of controversy. No....not that CBS wants to drop Elite XC for the UFC....that's old news. It's the fact that Gus Johnson might not be able to call the fight because of his NFL commitment to the network. Gasp!
Well MDS at Fanhouse talked to someone at CBS and the think they might have a solution. Just have him do both....
Johnson is a well respected broadcaster, and mixed martial arts fans were thrilled when he signed on to call the CBS EliteXC shows. But there's been some hand-wringing among MMA fans over whether Johnson would be able to call Kimbo's October 4 fight because Johnson also does NFL play-by-play, and it would make for tough scheduling to do an MMA show Saturday night and then a football game Sunday afternoon.I know that Gus is a company man, and while it would be an awesome weekend for Sports fans if he pulled this off, but that's a lot of work with little to no sleep. Well come to think of it, with the schedule of games that CBS has him working on over the next few weeks, it probably wouldn't really matter if he sleepwalked through a game....
But Johnson might just give it a try. A source at CBS told me today that they're hoping Johnson will be able to do the EliteXC show (which is in Hollywood, Florida), get to the hotel for a few hours of sleep and and then get up to work the Chargers-Dolphins game in Miami at 1 p.m. the next day.
That would be a rough weekend for Johnson, but I hope he does it. His enthusiasm is a treat to hear, in any sport.
Week #2- Buffalo at Jacksonville
Week #3- Kansas City at Atlanta
Gus Johnson Could Be Busy: Kimbo Slice One Day, LaDainian Tomlinson the Next (Fanhouse)
9 Comments:
The NFL should not allow the Chiefs and Falcons to "play".
I think Terry Gannon Saturday (9/6) called Michigan/MiamiOH in Ann Arbor then was doing WNBA Connecticut/San Antonio the next day.
It's not uncommon for network PxP guys to do games back-to-back during busy sports seasons. Of course, that excludes Joe Buck. lol
Disclaimer: I do not watch the WNBA but I recognized his voice flipping thru channels Sunday afternoon because I am a Michigan fan.
Yeah, there is NOTHING to joke with about the Buffalo Jacksonville matchup. All of a sudden that's a key game for Wild Card implications.
Terry Gannon did the Wake Forest/Mississippi game, it was Dave Pasch (the Arizona Cardinals' radio play-by-play man) who did the Michigan/Miami(Ohio) game. Still, I agree it's not unprecedented.
Gus should call Patriots-49ers that Sunday.
Wild-card implications? The Bills are going to head into their bye 5-0 (check the schedule) en route to a division title. As for this weekend, Gus' announcing is going to make it that much sweeter. Go, Bills.
Announcers doing 2 events in two days isn't that uncommon. Gene Deckerhoff has been doing FSU and Tampa Bay Bucs football games for years. The FSU game didn't end until after 11 Saturday night, he then had to tape the Bobby Bowden coaches show, then head to New Orleans for Bucs @ Saints. In fact, I remember last year he did the FSU @ Colorado game, which had a 7PM Mountain Time start, and then doing a Bucs game the next day at 1 Eastern.
Buffalo at Jacksonville will be a great game