Tonight's game between D.C. United and CF Montreal was a wonderful, wild 4-4 thriller! I am out of words to describe it. My syntax wasn't perfect on every call, but hopefully my excitement helped share just how engrossing and fascinating and exhilarating this game was!
Enjoy:
I'm fond of saying, on air, that teams and individuals love to have a quick turnaround after a frustrating performance so that they can try to quickly right the wrongs of that disappointment.
That storyline was at play in my work last week, as I was able to move on from some Wednesday frustration to enjoy an exciting game on Saturday, one I feel had some really good calls of exciting moments.
They didn't all make the highlights, actually. This compilation leaves out one of the best plays of the game, a defensive intervention by Griffin Dorsey, but it still provides a good sample of our broadcast.
This game was also rare for me because of how much Spanish it involved. Both coaching staffs speak primarily Spanish, while my partner (MetroStars legend and former New York Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese), my producer, and both of the Spanish-language announcers were all fully bilingual. This left me embarrassed at speaking only one language and relying on automatic transcription and Google Translate after the coach calls. It wasn't a problem, just something I hadn't experienced in a while, since my days in Houston when the Dynamo competed internationally.
It's an area of growth for me: I hope to be able to understand so much more and to be able to communicate in Spanish beyond "lo siento por mi español."
I've got one more MLS game before the World Cup, in D.C. on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what happens in that one.
I’m not going to lie: I walked away from Wednesday night’s Apple TV broadcast pretty frustrated with myself. Our game—No. 1 (Nashville) vs. No. 2 (New England) in the Eastern Conference—had three goals, and I felt like I messed up two of them.
Not great, Bob!
I got caught storytelling on Nashville’s first goal and took too long to switch to calling the scoring chance. Then on the third goal, I initially identified Hany Mukhtar as the goalscorer, when I KNOW that I should wait until I’m certain before I say a name. I quickly corrected to Bryan Acosta, but it ruins the call.
Many other parts of the broadcast were good. A colleague praised our scene set, which opens the broadcast. I thought we covered a lot of topics relevant to each team. We got to tell some great stories (including the one that bled into the opening goal). I felt there were some good transitions from our promotional reads back to game coverage. We did an on-camera report after the game down on the natural grass surface. Plenty of things to be proud of and to build on.
For all of that, I was definitely holding onto the game’s big moments—which I feel I didn’t match—as I drove home. But as I tell my kids, we’re not perfect, mistakes will always happen, and what’s important is how you respond to them. So I’m ready to have a great call on Saturday, nail the big moments, and call these games at the top of my skillset.
The best part of my night? As I walked with my partner, Jalil Anibaba, and our Spanish play-by-play announcer, Moisés Linares, to the production truck, a young fan called out to me, “I like the suit you’re wearing! You look nice.”
We don't have time or space to go through all my emotions leading up to the show, my first on the primary English TV feed of an MLS game since an ESPN game I called in 2021. Suffice it to say, I've been looking forward to it! The event itself certainly delivered more than I could have asked for.
Five goals, multiple lead changes, and a 90th-minute game-winner from the home team in front of their supporters? Yeah, that's how you draw it up. What's more, the decisive goalscorer, Kye Rowles, was the D.C. United representative we talked to on Friday to prepare for the match. I did not expect that he would be the hero less than 36 hours later!
Here are the highlights of a game I thoroughly enjoyed calling with my partner, 12-year MLS veteran Jalil Anibaba, who I only met on Thursday but already consider a friend. We had a blast!
For my first broadcast on Apple TV and my first full broadcast in almost six months, I felt very good about our show. Getting fooled by the 80th-minute chance and calling goal on a shot that didn't go in will not make my personal highlight reel, but it happens to the best of us.
Dave is a true class act for whom I have so much respect. He showed that American broadcasters can put their own stamp on soccer. Ever the insider, he had confirmed both lineups and bench rosters way before us TV folks, helpfully sharing that information to help us prepare.
I have a few weeks for my voice to recover before I call three more MLS games in May, and then everyone's focus will flip to the World Cup.
But for now, I'm very happy to have gotten my feet wet. As I texted a friend this morning, "God was it fun!"
Obviously, I've been derelict in posting, to say the least. But I want to celebrate the culmination of my college soccer season today.
My spouse often asks how my broadcast went, and after one of many "OK" responses, or perhaps it was an "it could have been better" night, she said, "You never say 'Good' or 'great' when I ask."
I had to admit it was true. I'm hard on myself and tend to focus more on the things I think I should have done better than the things that went right.
But today, my last game of the season, the Ivy League men's championship game, called in person on the Princeton campus, felt right. It was an exciting game, with an early goal, a dramatic penalty kick save, and a late goal. It looked great, on a crisp, sunny afternoon with just enough fall foliage still lingering. And in addition to my knowledge of the teams, player identification, storyline development, interviews, chemistry with my partner, and on-camera hit, all of which felt good today, I also felt like I nailed the big moments.
I haven't listened back to any of it, to be honest, but all of the big spots felt good as they happened. My partner liked the goal calls, and I spoke long enough to punctuate it but quickly enough to lay out and let the pictures and sounds of player and fan reactions carry the mail.
A colleague texted me later, "You were on today!" and it took me a second to figure out what he meant. But I'll gladly take it. What a fun morning and afternoon, a great way to close my portion of the college soccer schedule!
Calling Little League's Intermediate 50/70 World Series (for 13-year-olds) is one of the annual highlights of my broadcast schedule. It's so much fun and I look forward to it (and prepare for it) for months in advance.
But I can admit the lights shine brightest on ESPN's coverage of the 12-year-old Little League World Series, with regional games featured on linear television. Williamsport is the event so many of us grew up watching (I can still vividly remember some of the broadcast opening from when I was 9), and, of course, it's the one I aspired (in vain, as I knew it would be) to play in.
So on August 6, I called the Great Lakes Region elimination game between Jasper, Indiana and Bowling Green East, Kentucky:
The following day, I called the Midwest Region winners' bracket final between Webb City, Missouri and Sioux Falls, South Dakota:
They were both tight, well-played games that seemed to fly by (less than 1 hour, 45 minutes for each) compared to the games in Livermore, which are an inning longer and inevitably slow down due to the addition of leads, pickoffs, and true stolen bases.
As I do at the 13-year-old level, I took pride in calling the teams by their league names, not just by the states involved. There's state pride involved, absolutely, and some teams even choose to order new uniforms that feature their state name. But most wear their original uniforms bearing their league name, and when you've beaten teams from all over your state to win the prize of representing that state, the town and the league deserve some specific love. Some towns have more than one league, too, as my hometown did when I played. After all, California didn't win back-to-back Little League world championships in 1992 and 1993; Long Beach, California did!
The games were close and interesting and fun to call, and both were such an adrenaline rush, too: I was trying my best to get up to speed on these teams in short order, working with a new partner in Chris Burke and new production crews, and scrambling to get everything done. For the second game, I even had enough time to set up and appear on camera for our open!
It was incredible fun, an important contribution to our team's coverage, and a taste of something I can hope to work on again in the future!
Champions of the Little League World Series (12-year-olds) back in 2019, Eastbank becomes the first individual league ever to win both the 12- and 13-year-old world championships (although Seoul in 2014 and West Seoul in 2015 presumably had some significant overlap).
Both teams were so sound and had such good pitching that we never expected a wild, 8-7 game, but that's exactly what we got. This video doesn't include our opening tease, which I was quite proud of, but here's about 25 minutes of 13-year-old Little League fun:
I'm not going to lie: I was as excited to do this game as any I've called in the last year and a half. I emailed maybe 100 people who have been instrumental in my baseball broadcasting career to let them know that I was *finally* going to call a college baseball game on linear TV.
That it wound up being a game with no implications in the standings or for either team's postseason chances didn't change that at all. That it wound up being ended early due to the 10-run rule didn't phase me at all. This was high-level college baseball, and my partner and I told the stories and put a good call on it! And I even got to use the home run call suggested by my children while we were riding the New York City subway.
Mission accomplished, as far as I was concerned, and cross your fingers with me that there is more to come. In the mean time, check out the highlights from Clemson vs Boston College:
#Clemson completed the sweep with another 10-run performance. It was the first three-game weekend series in which the Tigers scored double-digit runs in all three games since 2001 & the first time in an ACC series since 1995.
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) May 18, 2024
🎥 Clemson vs. Boston College Highlights ➡️ 5/18/24 pic.twitter.com/QYTWbp0Bft
I was fortunate this year to schedule my first televised college baseball game for the ESPN family of networks at the end of this regular season, and I picked up a Big East game in early May as part of my preparation. Conference leader UConn, looking for a fourth straight regular season title, and host Seton Hall, trying to move up the standings, both needed to win this series in a big way, and after UConn rallied to win Friday's opener, I called a tense pitchers' duel with a dramatic finish on Saturday afternoon in Jersey.
Here are the big plays in the game, courtesy of the teams' respective Twitter accounts!
Danny stays hot 🔥#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/KP8XFFZNnV
— Seton Hall University Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 4, 2024
Back-to-back doubles from Bry and Maddix has tied it up! pic.twitter.com/HNJkqcWyR9
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 4, 2024
Paul and Maddix help Garrett toss a 1-2-3 fourth with this gem! pic.twitter.com/9Er3pwg0hw
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 4, 2024
2nd and 3rd one out... and Garrett gets out of trouble with a punch out and fly out! pic.twitter.com/BY2trCzaWy
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 4, 2024
What a play by Bry!! pic.twitter.com/S0FNAC0LHm
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 4, 2024
BIANCO WINS IT FOR THE PIRATES IN THE NINTH!!!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ | #NeverLoseYourHustle pic.twitter.com/6aG2eZzpM2
— Seton Hall University Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 4, 2024
That's Andrew Bianco, a defensive replacement, with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 9th to give Seton Hall a MUCH-needed 2-1 win. UConn, however, rebounded in the nightcap of a doubleheader to take the series and hold a 1-game lead atop the conference with two weekends remaining in the regular season. Seton Hall is 4 games out of the final Big East tournament spot with only 6 games left.
My next action is on Saturday, May 18, calling top-5 club Clemson against Boston College in their regular season finale on ACC Network.
Besides working the Women's Euros, a real positive of this year for me, professionally, has been the opportunity to call games on linear TV (aka you can just flip on the TV and find the channel, not deal with a streaming app) in sports other than soccer.
I'll always be a soccer person and proud of it. But I'm a baseball person and a football person and a hockey person and a basketball person, too! I have ties to each of these that go beyond broadcasting ambition, and each one challenges me and captivates me and piques my interest in a different way. I'm very proud to cover all of those sports, and softball and volleyball as well, when given the opportunity, but it often feels like some other sports write me off for bigger games because I am "a soccer guy."
So the chance to call the 13-year-old Little League World Series this summer, including the world championship game on ESPN2, was a thrill and an important professional step.
Similarly, the chance to call the Georgia-Bucknell men's basketball game for the SEC Network on November 18, in person no less, was a real highlight of the year. I have done lots of college basketball for ESPN and the Big East, and I have done lots of NBA work in virtual reality, but I'd only called one previous basketball game on linear TV, and that was a pandemic-enforced home broadcast. Not quite the same energy!
Here's a look at some of the highlights:
The best news is there's at least one more linear basketball game still to come (December 17, LSU-Winthrop men's), even if that one will be called from home. So stay tuned.
My scheduled slate of games at the Women's Euros concluded Friday with one of the first actual upsets in the tournament, as Austria took out Norway 1-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. With two of the top 10 attacking players in the world, according to many (Ada Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen), Norway were the popular pick to finish second in the group. ESPN's Soccer Power Index gave them more than a 60-percent chance of winning the game outright, which was what they needed to advance.
But after losing 8-0 to England on Monday in just a jaw-dropping display of attacking firepower against a porous defense, Norway was under incredible pressure. They never got anything going and were being outshot 13-2 at one point before getting a couple of late chances.
Having closely watched Austria's Cinderella run to the semifinals in 2017, I was not surprised by the outcome: I told Danielle Slaton, my partner, I expected a tie that would have been enough for Austria to advance. So it was nice to be right, for once, and to call another big moment in the progression of Austria women's football! Check out the highlights:
Thursday's ESPN2 game had Iceland and Italy playing what was essentially a must-win in Group D. There were a lot of things to focus on, starting with Italy's response to its 5-1 loss to France in the tournament opener: five lineup changes, including star forwards Cristiana Girelli and Barbara Bonansea starting the game on the bench. The changes didn't really work, as Iceland - always a challenge for broadcasters with its succession of -dóttir last names - scored first and created enough chances to get a second goal.
They never got it, however, and the second-half insertion of Bonansea ultimately proved enough for Italy to come away with a tie. Given the final matchups in Group D, Italy (playing Belgium) probably comes away with the best odds of advancing behind group winner France, but this certainly has proven to be an unpredictable group!
I felt good about our call. Danielle and I, and Christina when the occasion warranted, knew the teams and the stories and the implications of this game. Our Italian and Icelandic were pretty well honed. So even though both teams walked away disappointed with the result, I think we had a right to walk off satisfied. Time for our biggest game yet in the Group A decider on Friday!
Check out the highlights:
We were fortunate to call a five-goal thriller Wednesday, as the Netherlands - missing four starters, including one of the best players in the world in Vivianne Miedema, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Portugal. Having rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie their opener, Portugal fought back to tie the game early in the second half, only to see the game decided by a fantastic 20-yard strike from Dutch midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk (who suffered a gruesome ankle injury in late November and raced through rehab to play in the tournament).
This game had some serious pronunciation challenges that I felt we did well with, even if we weren't perfect. There are some Dutch noises I just can't make.
At any rate, these highlights cut off some of my goal calls and omitted a few exciting plays to keep things short and efficient, but I think everybody could tell I was pumped! Here's to more games like that one.
Austria took care of business against Northern Ireland on Monday, pulling out a 2-0 win that, coupled with Norway's collapse against England, means Austria can reach the quarterfinals with a win or a tie in Friday's decisive game against Norway.
Here are the highlights from my ESPN2 call with Danielle Slaton, our first game of the tournament. A good start!
I was thrilled to be assigned commentary on Sunday's Women's FA Cup Final, the culminating event on the women's club football calendar in England before this summer's Women's Euros. I was even more psyched to call a game that was interesting from start to finish and had some simply fabulous goals.
The game was in London, I was in Connecticut, and partner Julie Foudy was in California - just another day in soccer broadcasting - and we had a blast calling it. I didn't nail every call 100%: I couldn't tell if the first goal was touched on its way in, and I talked into Erin Cuthbert's screamer a bit. But overall, I felt good about our call. I think our excitement for the occasion, the players and teams involved, and ultimately the plays on the field, certainly came through
I call a men's cup final (the DFB-Pokal in Germany) next weekend, which should be really dramatic as well. Then I'm looking forward to finding a rhythm with a regular run of games this summer, although I don't yet know what I'll be scheduled to work. No guarantees I'll get goals as good as these, though!Calling a Red Bulls game in person for the first time since March 2020 was a blast on Saturday, made all the better by a thrilling finish in the thick of the MLS playoff race:
I started my college basketball season Friday night with the ACC Network call of Wake Forest vs. Longwood, and here's how it looked and sounded:
Condensed game (8:45)
Highlights (2:45)
