From time to time, I like to get interviews with certain media members or player, and today's one is perfect for Draft Week. ESPN gave me the opportunity to ask NFL Draft Producer, Jay Rothman, ten questions about the "Leader's" coverage of the Draft, and here were his responses. Hope you enjoy, and gain some insight as well....

Q&A w/ ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Jay Rothman, who will oversee ESPN's NFL Draft telecast for the 15th year in 2009:

1. Having worked on the NFL Draft with ESPN for multiple years, what are some of your favorite memories?

Every year it’s intriguing because there seems to be a different controversy of who the better quarterback is. We had the year with McNabb, Couch, Culpepper, Akili Smith and Cade McNown to Eli and Phillip Rivers and Roethlisberger. Then there’s Leinart and Young, and Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, and Rodgers dropping and Brady Quinn’s drama. Even Harrington and Carr. Although it was a forgone conclusion, we debated that. And who really knows with Stafford and Sanchez. Stafford seems to be the bona fide No. 1 and Sanchez the hot guy that everyone is going after. The easy thing that sticks in your head is the quarterback debate that always comes up, everybody looking for that franchise quarterback. So I would say the quarterbacks and how we broke it down.

Other memories that stick out are the crazy things: when Parcells threw Sal (Paolantonio) out of the New York Jets camp. I think that was the year Keyshawn was drafted. The lights going out at Madison Square Garden, and the show going pitch black. The Lawrence Phillips debate with Theismann and Mel. Stuff like that.

Needless to say, the best stuff is some of the unique moments that we capture, Joe Thomas fishing or David Carr’s plane landing in Houston. Somehow, some way, the bizarre seems to fall into our lap. When the Vikings failed to make a pick before the clock went out, that became absolutely frenetic. When they forgot the card and the cards started flying at the table, it made for unbelievable drama, but all of a sudden for us the planes are stacked up. It makes it really difficult for us to get out of that turbulence. Great TV can be very complicated for us, and that’s kind of the stuff that happens.

One year we had Boomer Esiason on the set and we were ready to introduce him as the new voice of Monday Night Football, and we were set to do that with the Jets on the clock. Peyton Manning was drafted that year and we came out of the break and Boomer’s on the set, the Jets traded the pick and Peyton was there on the second set ready to be interviewed. A couple of coaches popped up on the video conference ready to be interviewed. That’s the nature of the draft. You go from what you think is logical to all this stuff that happens in a moment’s notice and it’s chaos.

2. How soon before the Draft do you begin the planning and scheduling?

There are things that go on that keep the process going year-round, and it never leaves your thought process, but it really begins in earnest once the college and NFL season ends. We go full-on. It’s getting to Mel and now McShay right away to try to flush out who are the top players in this class. It’s getting a team of people together to compile the best and worst of these players on video. This year it was how can we better clean up the screen and be more innovative by going in HD – having the SD feed in the 16x9 format to take advantage of the screen. Each year we try to successfully implement the technology we used during football coverage over the last year, so this year we will utilize the EA Virtual Playbooks and ESPN Axis technology and repurpose some of it in the draft show. We also try to find those unique wrinkles to consistently raise the bar year after year. Our goal is always to create a better, more innovative presentation. We have days and days of storyline meetings, team by team, so we are on point with all 32 clubs. We also talk about how to properly highlight the great moments of the last 30 years and even our history and tradition that makes us really the voice of the draft, which we take great pride in. We also spend a lot of time on talent. What’s the best pool of talent and how do we deploy our talent in the smartest and most efficient way? How do we break them down and have them deliver information?

3. What are some of the stats that you can give? (i.e. - number of cameras, number of personalities, total coverage hours)

Well, it’s challenging on tight 51st Street in New York City. For the first time we’ve taken up both sides of the street. But it’s not so much the number of cameras per se like it is for an NFL game that’s a ‘wow.’ In Radio City we have multiple sets – three sets – plus the green room, Todd McShay back in Bristol working the “magic board,” day 2 we’ve got another set fired up. Between 32 sites of video conferencing, and 17 remotes, we are looking at close to 60 locations all told when you include player locations and draft parties that are seamlessly integrated into the show. That stat probably impresses me the most.

4. It seems like in years past, ESPN has tried to fit various different personalities into the program. What makes this year's group special?

We have scaled down the talent in the actual draft show so that on day 1 we are really bouncing from our main set of four guys to Herm and Trey, Mort for news and information, Erin Andrews in the green room, and Todd McShay on the video board, and everything else is live shots and reporters. We are more fleet-footed. We’ve scaled back. We’ve reduced the number on the main set to move the ball around and keep the show in Radio City on day 1 where the buzz is, with the exception of showing the dozens of players and their reality unfold.

Mel is the staple. He is our E.F. Hutton. It’s groundhog day for Mel, and with draft fans there’s an expectation on Mel. McShay is a guy who’s earned his stripes. He’s as credible as Mel when it comes to breaking down players and he’s done so for a while. He deserves this stage, and finally we have a foil for Mel. We’re going to give them an opportunity to debate. Todd gives us the ability to have another credible go-to guy in terms of breaking down players and educating fans about who these kids are and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. We have the ability to do some unique things with Todd and Mel together and with Todd separately with the “magic board” and the ability to forward spin the show.

This is Berman’s 29th draft and that just shows his passion for this event and for the NFL. This is the most difficult studio job out there – bar none. As we’re flying by the seat of our pants behind the scenes, he’s got to do it seamlessly in front of a camera and as flawlessly as possible. There’s a big difference there. To dance like he dances for a big guy, and rock and roll based on this unscripted, unformatted show for the length of time that it is, it’s a very difficult thing to do. And I would argue that he and Mel really made the draft what it is today. Mel certainly did for his unique skills but there’s no question Berman helped make the draft what it is today. All those years of doing this thing and to keep wanting to come back year after year.

When Steve (Young) opens his mouth, it’s a ‘wow.’ What we did unique this year is we have made Steve the lead-off hitter for the NFC teams and Keyshawn the lead-off for the AFC teams. Aside from the obvious of having Steve break down the quarterbacks and Keyshawn break down Michael Crabtree and the receivers, we split up the league with them to help us balance their roles.

By moving Mort from the main set to another set, we are basically giving him the opportunity to focus on more news and information – who’s moving in, who’s moving out, what are the trade rumors he’s hearing? He will have the ability to aggressively work the phones during the show. We’ll get to him often but it further defines his role and allows him to do what he does best and not be prohibited by sitting on a main set. Inevitably, when you have less, less is more. By sheer numbers, it will allow us to be more fleet-footed, moving from set to set rather than being mired in a large set of talent.

We want to utilize Herm as a head coach and as a guy who sat in the draft room, especially on day 1. Put us in these draft rooms and give us that perspective. What do you look for in certain types of players? What he has given us in the meetings up to this point has been great. He spent four years as a scout, so he has a unique perspective that we plan to utilize. And Trey Wingo has proven himself as the year-round voice of our NFL studio show by taking on NFL Live like he has. Obviously, he’s proven his abilities as a very able host, his ability to ad-lib and his knowledge of the game. He can set up his analysts and he’s a very good interviewer as well. He has all the skill set to do an incredible job and he takes great pride in the fact that he’s doing this show.

5. Erin Andrews is close to College Football, but she hasn't covered the NFL for the network in her tenure at ESPN. Why make her the Green Room Host?

The decision really started with Suzy (Kolber) whose responsibilities shifted from day 1, where she is part of the preview show and hosting an A-list group of analysts with Cris Carter, Tom Jackson and Trent Dilfer during the first two hours of the draft on ESPNEWS. She is also essentially co-hosting day 2 on Sunday with the same group. Therefore, she was taken out of the mix. It was best for Trey to remain with Herm on that second set in Radio City, so we felt Erin would be the best person to be in the green room. She’s got a great personality, she’s aggressive, she’s well-liked by the players. It was really a no-brainer to have her back there. She is eager and doing her homework, and truthfully she has a lot of contacts that we don’t necessarily have, and she’s using those contacts within the world of college football to get a lot of unique and different information for us, whether it’s calling Mark Richt at Georgia or Pete Carroll at USC. She’s going to not only do interviews but her ability and skill-set as a sideline reporter is going to lead to unique nuggets and information that she is gathering. She will also react on the fly to the drama and tension of the green room. We’re relying on her sensibilities and smarts to help us translate to the viewer the tension and drama and excitement of that room, and to react accordingly. The players’ familiarity with her from college football makes her a great fit.

6. Along those same lines....Why no Kornheiser this year?

The big reason we had Tony in 2007 was really to introduce the new Monday Night Football team, and that clearly was the play. It was a new booth and a vehicle to recognize that and introduce them in a highly-rated show to sort of get the buzz out, and that was the only year we did it. We’re actually two years removed from that, so it’s really a non-factor.

7. How has the NFL Network's broadcast of the Draft changed ESPN's approach in recent years?

It really hasn’t changed our approach. The good thing is it has made us hungrier and put our radar up to not take for granted our success. It’s great to have another player in there. It makes us sharper and makes us work harder – to be more aggressive and want to differentiate. It’s not so much what are they doing versus what are we doing. It’s just made us work harder to ensure that we are indeed the network of choice.

8. Much talk has been made of a move to primetime for the Draft. Do you feel that would be a wise timeslot, and do you see it happening anytime soon?

Given the length of the two rounds on Saturday with the start time at 4 p.m. and the off-time around 11 p.m., it already is in primetime, and I think we are in a better position right now to get more eyeballs.

9. The Draft will be aired in HD for the first time ever. Why the wait in producing the program in high def?

It really came down to a truck and facilities that we were able to obtain in New York. The picture quality will be better, and, for the HD audience, there will be an additional bar of information and Draft-related content that the SD audience will not be getting. However, the SD screen is going to be in a 16x9 letterbox format. We are giving a bigger screen to the SD audience and taking away some of the clutter by fine-tuning some of the information along the BottomLine. We probably could have gone HD a year ago but this year we were able to obtain the same truck that we use for Monday Night Football and we decided to go for it. In the past we had left and right columns of information, in addition to the BottomLine, and it was just too busy. This year we have built everything into the BottomLine, kept more video in the 16x9 and provided the HD. In using the MNF truck, we are also using a bigger truck, which we realized we needed to do this show.

Note: the Radio City and Bristol portions of the Draft will be in HD, along with taped elements. Remotes and team videoconferencing will continue to be in SD.

10. Any other surprises planned for this year's telecast?

We’re up to 17 remotes on day 1 with players in the draft who will be outside of Radio City, which is a record for us. We’re really excited about that and feel it will be a point of differentiation with our coverage. Between the nine who will be in the green room and being with 17 players, we almost have half the draft’s players on day 1. A great surprise to me is that one of our cameras will be with receiver Quan Cosby of Texas, who will be with Bill Cosby at a theater in New Jersey. They’re not related but they struck up a friendship. If Quan gets picked when Cosby is there performing his show at the theater, he’s going to stop to introduce Quan. That’s a unique twist that’s in the line of Joe Thomas fishing with his dad. We’re also going to be with the top four running backs in the draft – Beanie Wells, Donald Brown, Knowshon Moreno and LeShon McCoy.

Drew Rosenhaus will also have a group of players he’s representing with him in Pennsylvania. He’s got a group of 2nd round guys -- McCoy (Pittsburgh), Darius Butler (Connecticut), Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest), Louis Delmas (Western Michigan) and Cornelius Ingram (Florida) – so we have depth into the second round, which I like. It’s not just at the top and the buzz is over. The other big thing is that Rosenhaus represents Anquan Boldin, Plaxico Burress and Chad Johnson, so storyline guys like that who may be traded before the draft or on draft day, we have a beat on the NFL angle too.

The last thing I would add is that we had access to the Combine for the first time, which allowed us behind the scenes with 43 players. For us, it’s more of the glam that we got out of it, not so much sit-down interviews or features, per se. It allowed us to do the magazine-type poses and things like that that help the elements of our show, both in the front-end highlight package and in the bumpers coming in and out of commercial breaks. We did some really unique stuff with motion and still photography. It elevates our look and feel.
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Many thanks to Jay, and ESPN, for taking the time out of their busy week(s) to answer those so thoroughly.

Just wanted to put up a quick link for you all to check out. I made yet another wonderful appearance with Dan and Nick "On The DL", and after getting guff for missing my previous appearance because of a power outage, we got into some pretty good topics. Here are a few of the topics....

- My crappy power outages
- Men and marketing
- The purchasing of blogs
- The MLB vs. The NFL Network
- March Madness
- Charles Barkley
- The UFL

Brian Powell From Awful Announcing Has The Power To Join The Show (On The DL)

I don't know what it is, but I'm kind of anti website interviews. Don't get me wrong, I think other sites do it well, but there just aren't enough people that I like to do them on a regular basis. I've of course interviewed Gus Johnson, and one Shred Nugent, so I usually save questions for people I find intriguing. One of those people is Detroit Tiger, and now TBS Postseason Analyst, Curtis Granderson. With more and more athletes attempting to blog, it takes someone extra special to catch my attention on these tubes. Athlete blogs have become a bit cliche and watered down, but Curtis' site on ESPN is a must read along with Donovan McNabb's blog on Yardbarker and Chris Cooley's website.

He not only gets things outside of Baseball, but the guy is just fun to watch both on and off the field. Fanhouse has been posting interviews with the entire cast of Inside MLB on TBS, but I wanted to save a spot for the real star of the show. Here are the highlights from a brief chat with MLB's newest member of the media, Curtis Granderson....
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Awful Announcing: Before we get into the tough broadcasting questions (kidding), how did the offer from TBS actually come about?
Curtis Granderson: I'm not sure where the option came from. I was asked last year if I would want to give it a try and it was only a two-day gig, so I figured why not? After that, an offer came in from ESPN for four days, and then again the Division Series round was offered this year. So considering that it wasn't for the entire playoffs, I gave it another shot this year. I play in a long season, so it's nice to get a break. Broadcasting for an entire month still I think may be tough for me.

AA: In all honesty, I've been extremely impressed with your transition to the media side of things. How much practice did you get beforehand? Did you get to sit down with the rest of the guys, or were you just talking to yourself in front of a mirror?
CG: There really isn't much practice that goes into it before a show. It's more research. There are topics put out there and then the games themselves. The highlights speak for themselves, and then the other stuff we slightly go over before we actually see it live. So when a topic about hitting comes up, I was expecting it, and I relate it to the highlight we just saw and my previous experience in the same situation.

AA: It's extremely tough to put together a studio show, it took Inside the NBA years to get it right, what do you think Inside MLB's high points are, and what do you think the team needs to work on?
CG: I think the high points are the Hall-of-Fame cast they put out there. That experience you just can't match. The best thing for the show is time. As they get to the five-year mark of doing it, and testing what works and doesn't, it could become an even better show.

AA: I think one of the toughest things for ex and current players or coaches, when they try to work on the Sports Media side of things, is that they're too vanilla. Almost like they're holding punches back and they are rarely critical of coaches, other players, or even friends. Have you noticed yourself holding anything back, or is Ernie Johnson just asking you the right questions?
CG: I have to remember that I'm still currently playing the game, and I'm not a seasoned vet like some other guys in the game, so I have to be careful with what I say, because I have to play against these guys the next season. I am also our team's player rep and talk to a lot of other players around the league about numerous issues that aren't reported about, so I need to keep that trust with them as well.

AA: The base stealing segement last week was extremely interesting and was expressed in a way that I hadn't heard before. Did you come up with the plan, and if so, how easy/hard was it for you to get your mindset across?
CG:All the different segments actually come from the TBS production staff. Their minds are always working from a fan standpoint of trying to figure what the fan wants to see and learn about the game of baseball. They come to us with the idea and we give the baseball knowledge of it and then we put it on camera. I like that stuff because it teaches the fans a little more about the game. For example, why a base stealer may not try to steal a base.

AA: We've noticed more and more athletes putting themselves out there on the internet as of late. Is this a noticeable trend in the league and do you chat with other athletes about their ideas or plans?
CG: I think it is just what has happened over time. Everything can be found on the internet, so players feel that we can put ourselves out there too. I have talked to Nate Robertson and Todd Jones about their blogs, and other guys about how they either love or hate things like MySpace or Facebook, because of all the fake pages people make about us. Other than that, there really isn't much discussed about it.

AA: Speaking of the internet, How's the ESPN blog?
CG:The blog was fun again this season. I start to run out of ideas, so I give all a lot of credit to all those bloggers that can come up with different ideas and keep it fresh all year.

AA: Anything else exciting we can look forward to from Curtis himself? Is broadcasting something you think you could continue? Following a long career (and multiple 30-30 season) of course.
CG: I'm not sure about the broadcasting thing. I have enjoyed it but never really planned on doing it as a career. Once my baseball career ends, we'll see where everything is and it could be a possibilty. Otherwise, I am starting to plan my celebrity hoops game and charity weekend for next year. It will take place Jan. 16-17 in the Detroit area, and you can look for announcements to come soon at www.grandkidsfoundation.org.

AA: Last question.....What are your thoughts on the ALCS (airing on TBS) and NLCS, and who's your pick to win it all?
CG: The two teams I picked from the beginning are out (Cubs and Angels), so I'm not sure if people want me picking their teams now. After watching the first rounds, I want to give the edge to the Dodgers and Rays, but I think it would be very exciting to see the Dodgers and Red Sox with all the stuff surrounding Manny.
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Many thanks to Curtis' management for helping get this together, and I certainly meant what I said above. The guy just gets it, and for a current player to step in with the likes of EJ, Cal and Eck....and actually outshine all of them....is very impressive.

(P.S.- I've been debating an interview segment on AA, but I really don't want to waste your time. Offers are out there, so let me know in the comments or by email if you'd like to see more of these in the future.)

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen. I wanted to thank Gus Johnson for taking the time and the people from Gus Johnson Sports for setting the whole thing up. This whole interview really came about because Gus is launching a website (linked above and below), which feature "Fantasy" ringtones for teams and I thought it was an ingenious idea. Please check out the site when you're done reading this 10 question interview with the Patron Saint of Awful Announcing. Hope you enjoy it.

Awful Announcing: First off, I wanted to say that I and the readers are huge fans of yours. Do you realize the love that you get from the Internet and fans of Baskeball and Football? Are there any Internet sites that you check out from time to time?

Gus Johnson: I don’t check them out everyday, but I check them out once or twice a week. Actually Awful Announcing is one of the sites on a regular basis. Awful Announcing, last year did me such a huge solid with what had happened at CBS and being supportive of me and it was a great opportunity to get that exposure. I check out the Internet on a regular basis and see that I’ve had some positive responses from fans, and I’ve had some negative ones too. I get killed out there as well, but everything is a great opportunity to become a person that people listen to and I’m very appreciative of the love I’ve gotten from the Internet.

AA: Tell me about the new website and the ringtones you’re putting out there. This is actually an amazing idea.

GJ: It actually came about because of the love from the Internet, and some of the people who responded to my calls over the years. Because the Internet is such a powerful vehicle now a company out of California called Big Fish Media and two companies out of New York, Royalty and Blaze Media came to me and said hey this would be cool if we could take Fantasy Sports to another level and have Fantasy Sports Calls. Why don’t we do some Fantasy calls where every team has a chance and every fan has a World Championship call on their phone. We’re selling a little bit of hope for a $1.99.

We’ve gotten a great response. So far so good, I haven’t had a chance to do all of the calls because it takes so much out of my voice. I'm sitting there really trying to get into the mind frame of it being a big call the last second of the game and the final play. You have to muster up a lot of energy. We did the college and pro football, and the pro Basketball, so now I’m trying to get my mind rapped around College Basketball, which is my thing, so it’s going to take some time to make it authentic.

AA: What was your background coming out of school, and much work did it take for you finally get noticed on a National level?

GJ: Well coming out of College I worked in a lot of small places which was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I worked in Waco, Texas, Huntsville, Ala, Greensboro, NC, Washington, DC. I’ve called games on ESPN2, ESPN, The Big East Network, I’ve the called Candian Football. I’ve called almost everything you can imagine. I even called Hockey before. I used to call NCAA Regional Hockey for the NCAA Network before the rights shifted over to ESPN. I called Boston Hockey games when Mike Greer was there, and he turned out to be a terrific pro.

Things were difficult at one time, I remember working in Waco making $16K a year and eating at Del Taco everyday. They used to have this deal where you would get 4 tacos for $2.50 plus a drink and that was my thing, but it was fun. It’s always been fun, I’ve enjoyed this ride so much. I’ve been so fortunate to experience the things I’ve experienced.

When I got to Washington and had a chance to be seen I attracted some people in New York and came to MSG Network which was the biggest break of my life having a chance to work at Madison Sqaure Garden and be a part New York Knicks and New York Rangers and the World’s most famous Arena. And from there once you’re in New York and Network Execs turn on the TV and I’m doing the Yankees post game report or a Knick pregame show and fortunately I got that attention. There was a man in the New York Daily News by the name of Bob Raissman who was the first to notice my work when I was calling the Grey Cup for the CFL. As a matter of fact I still have the clipping from 1994 and it hangs in my Kitchen to this day.

Once he noticed my work as a play by play announcer things really started to move forward. I got a chance to call some games at CBS with College Basketball and things really started to blossom.

AA: Covering so many different Sports that overlap during their respective seasons has to be hectic at times. What is your schedule like when you’re calling both NFL and Basketball games?

GJ: I mean it’s really hectic. I’ll give you my schedule from this past week. Let me see where was I last week? Half the time I don’t even know where I am. I know I’m in Boston right now talking to you. Okay, I have to do the Celtics Game tonight. I do Knicks-Milwaukee tomorrow. I get on a plane on Saturday and do the Miami-Jets on Sunday. I come home late Sunday Night, have Monday and Tuesday off. I do the Knicks and Nets on Wednesday, the Knicks and 6ers on Friday, and then I get a plane Saturday morning to fly to Denver to call Kansas City and Denver, and that’s how it goes. From one game to the next.

You’re always moving and with Football and Basketball overlapping right now and once Pro Football is over it’ll be College Basketball, and I’ll be rocking and rolling through the Spring.

AA: Most critics throw the term “homework” around pretty liberally (i.e.- PbPer A did not do his homework before this game). For those of us who have no idea, how much prep is involved from week to week and from Sport to Sport?

GJ: It depends. I think homework is an over used term because quite often I see sportscasters get so involved to use homework to impress people with the amount of info they can spew out as much information on the screen that it takes away from the game. I think it’s the game that we need to understand and how people play the game and what’s the strategy.

With the Knicks, I know the Knicks. They’re my team, I’m with them everyday. All the homework you can do with the stats is important but it’s not that important. The key to it is to know the other team. We’re getting ready to do the Celtics tonight and I’m doing it on radio which is a whole different animal. I’ve got to follow the ball, and follow the team, and follow the game instead of letting everyone know that Kevin Garnett went to Farragut Academy and that he’s from South Carolina. Everybody already knows that already.

For Football it’s a little different. On Monday you wrap after the game on Sunday. On Tuesday you get the tapes and you start to watch those. On Wednesday you get your packets and you start putting your boards together. Thursday you’re still putting your boards together and beginning to wrap your mind around the broad based themes of the game and who you should pay attention to and how these guys want to play. You have to make sure you have everyone in the right spot because the lineup changes all the time.

On Gameday you get up early, get your coffee and head to the stadium. You go through all of the checks, you go through all the promos, you rehearse the roll ins, you rehearse the graphics. And once the game starts you watch the game and you hope organically that the information spews out with the stories you want to tell. When you think about it, it's Sports. I'm not a doctor, or a lawyer, or an accountant. I'm doing stuff that most men would love to do. It's not really hard, it's more fun than anything else.

AA: It’s no secret that your enthusiasm during games has been both praised and criticized. Is your level of energy something that just comes naturally? Do you ever feel the need to take it upon yourself to make a boring game seem exciting?

GJ: I always try to take a bad game and make it better. I think if I had to say one positive thing about myself, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of taking bad games and making them at least a little bit interesting. I enjoy that part of announcing. You try to make every event as theatrical as possible. You try to make every game the Super Bowl. In the NFL, every game is so important. Every game really does mean something. I feel many times that it’s my job to bring that passion into the homes of the fans that are watching the game on TV.

AA: You’ve been involved in some of the most amazing finishes during the NCAA Tournament. Which was your favorite to call?

GJ: There are two calls that stick out in my mind, and both come from the NCAA Tournament. The first was the Princeton/UCLA game. Did you know that the guy who made that shot for Princeton is a doctor now? Incredible. The other game was the Gonzaga vs. Florida name where I said “The Slipper Still Fits.” I still, to this day, don’t know why or how I said that, but it came out of my mouth and it’s such a memorable call for me.

AA: Who are some of the up-and-comers in the Sports Broadcasting field that I/we should have our eye(s) on?

GJ: Great question. A lot of guy at CBS are going to be stars. Ian Eagle is tremendous. Kevin Harlan is also up there. Craig Bollerjack is really coming on. He has a sweet style about him. Over at Fox, Kenny Albert is great. When I’m travelling, I love listening to Dan Shulman. He has such a great voice, but what makes him so good is how he works in Dick Vitale so well. I grew up admiring George Blaha, in Michigan so much.

AA: During the (very few) radio interviews that I do for Awful Announcing I always get the question: If you had to choose any team to call a significant moment in your life (birth of a child, wedding, graduation, etc) Who would you choose? (My answer is always Marv Albert, Keith Jackson, Gus Johnson, and Erin Andrews on the sideline). Who would make up your crew?

GJ: Let me break this up per sport. If I was doing a basketball game, I’d want to do a game with Marv Albert and Hubie Brown.

If I was calling a football game, I’d want to be with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms.

If I was doing a baseball game, I’d want to be in the booth with Bob Costas, Al Michaels, and Tony Kubek.

If it was a college basketball game, how could I not want to be with Billy Packer and Dick Vitale?

AA: Last question, and no offense to any of the other Announcing teams on CBS’ Football Roster…..Can you please forward onto management that most of us don’t get the 7 or 8 Houston Texans games you are assigned to each year, and that we want you on some Colts and Pats games?

GJ: I really believe that everything is a learning process in broadcasting. Everything prepares me to be a better announcer. I actually looked at the Houston Texans-Oakland Raiders game that I called as one of the most difficult games to call. Why? Because everyone told me that most of the nation was going to watch the Patriots-Colts game. I knew that I had to do everything I can to make this game so exciting that no one would want to turn the channel. I give thanks that I’m calling NFL games every day, and I wouldn’t change what I do for the entire world.

Gus Tones (Gus Johnson Sports)

From time to time actual mainstream media talks to or mentions Awful Announcing. The following is a collection of those interviews and links.

Awful Announcing Mention On Sports Center (AA.com)
Awful Announcing Mention On Bill Simmons' Podcast (ESPN.com)
Awful Announcing On ESPN Radio (AA.com)
Best Non-Corporate Sports Web Site 2007- Honorable Mention (Sports Illustrated)
Awful Announcing Mention As A Blog To Watch In The New York Post (NY Post)
Awful Announcing On Gus Johnson Sports (Gus Johnson Sports)
Awful Announcing Mention In The New York Times (NY Times)
Awful Announcing Mention In The Wall Street Journal (WSJ Online)
Awful Announcing's Greatest Hits (Ballhype)
Blog Rankings (Ballhype)
Everday Is A Roast (Chicago Sports Weekly)
Encoding For A Living: The Online Sports Video King (the story of Brian Powell) (Sports Illustrated)

Other Mentions Without Links: Palm Beach Post, Chicago Sports Review (Top 10 Blog Stories), The Capital (Annapolis, MD), SLAM Magazine, Sporting News

Blogger Interviews: Awful Announcing (The Big Picture)
SMJ Interview- Brian Powell, Awful Announcing (Sports Media Journal)
Interview With Awful Announcing (Larry Brown Sports)
Mondesi Interview: Brian Powell of Awfulannouncing.com (Mondesi's House)
Brian Powell of Awful Announcing Joins the DL

Other Interviews Without Links: ESPN 710 (Los Angeles), 790AM The Ticket (Miami), 1570AM The Game (Houston), Sporting News Radio