In just about every sport with a neutral broadcast team, you’ll see a common refrain on Twitter: “the announcers are rooting against us.” In college football, where fandom is especially passionate, this happens all the time. ESPN’s Dave Pasch pointed out how ridiculous this can get on Twitter today.
ESPN had coverage of today’s game between AAC power Cincinnati, the No. 8 team in the country, and the Indiana Hoosiers.
Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek were on the call for the Bearcats-Hoosiers clash, between two of 2020’s breakout teams. IU jumped out early, but the Bearcats clawed back, outscoring the Hoosiers 15-0 in the fourth quarter to win 38-24.
It was a real game of runs. Apparently, fans of both teams took that as Pasch and Dvoracek rooting against their teams. Pasch shared tweets from fans of each team that he and his partner received, showing pretty much opposite takeaways on their “biased” view of the game.
Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek are both consummate professionals, so it is hard to believe that either was truly pulling for Indiana or Cincinnati this week.
Pasch is a Syracuse grad, while Dvoracek played his college ball at Oklahoma, so there isn’t even an obvious connection there.
Of course, these types of tweets are what you’ll find during just about any high profile game. It has to be frustrating for someone like Pasch, but the passion is a double-edged sword. Passionate fans make the sport special, even if many get pretty ridiculous when things go against their teams.
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College football!!!!! pic.twitter.com/6LtirePUjP
— Dave Pasch (@DavePasch) September 18, 2021
“>Dave Pasch]