Wikipedia

Awful Announcing

Awful Announcing
The logo for Awful Announcing
Available inEnglish
OwnerBen Koo
Created byBrian Powell
URLwww.awfulannouncing.com
CommercialYes
Launched2006
Current statusActive

Awful Announcing (AA) is an American sports news website and blog.[1] Founded in 2006 by Brian Powell, the website focuses on sports media personalities, particularly broadcast announcers and television sportscasters.

History

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A graduate of James Madison University (JMU), Brian Powell founded Awful Announcing in May 2006.[2] Early in its history, Awful Announcing was a prominent outlet in the sports blogosphere.[3] Powell noted that Spencer Tillman was an early critic of his blog.[3] Bloguin Network acquired Awful Announcing in 2010; later in 2015, Comeback Media was spun out of Bloguin, becoming AA's parent company.[2] Ben Koo is the current owner of Awful Announcing.[4]

The website reports on news relating to sports announcing, broadcasting, and related media industry spaces.[5][6] AA also conducts interviews with sports media executives.[7] Their sharing of announcing audio has been cited to increase awareness of situations, such as when they wrote about West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins using a homophobic slur in a radio interview in 2023.[8]

Citation and reception

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AA's reporting has been cited by sports media websites such as ESPN and Fox Sports,[9][10] as well as general news outlets like Forbes.[11] ESPN has also issued statements via Awful Announcing.[10]

Some sports announcers have commented on Awful Announcing. The book Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (2011) quoted both Rece Davis and Bob Ley.[12] Davis stated that sports announcers who "fall into reading" blogs like Awful Announcing and get upset or try to explaint their mistakes pointed out by such blogs on-air "probably aren't doing [their] job as effectively as [they] ought to be". Meanwhile, Ley stated that he sometimes checks sports blogs like AA, as well as The Big Lead and Deadspin, likening visiting the blogs to "shopping in a discount store".[12] Other sports media personalities have referenced Awful Announcing in their own writing, such as Bill Simmons in his Book of Basketball (2009) and Jemele Hill in her memoir, Uphill (2022).[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "Curt Schilling taken off ESPN baseball for rest of season". ESPN. September 3, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "About Awful Announcing". Awful Announcing. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Brown, Larry (August 2, 2008) [August 14, 2007]. "Interview with Awful Announcing". Larry Brown Sports. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  4. ^ Ben Koo @bkoo (Owner/Editor @AwfulAnnouncing) 8-10-22. 97.1 The Fan. August 10, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  5. ^ King, Andrew; Ferree, Ben (2022). "This Time, We're Going to Do It Right". Friday Night Lies: The Bishop Sycamore Story. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-63727-224-4.
  6. ^ Clavio, Galen (2021). Social Media and Sports. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-4925-9208-2.
  7. ^ Smith, Chris (July 30, 2014). "NBC Ducks Fight With Monday Night Football: 'You Don't Tug On Superman's Cape'". Forbes. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  8. ^ Thamel, Pete (May 10, 2023). "Bob Huggins takes $1M salary reduction for anti-gay slur". ESPN. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  9. ^ "Reports: Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown removed for reference to struggles vs. Rays". ESPN. August 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Chicago White Sox: Multiple Media Outlets Forget 2005 World Series Title". Fox Sports. June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  11. ^ Brown, Maury (July 11, 2017). "Nearly 9 Million Watch Aaron Judge Win MLB Home Run Derby On ESPN, Up 55% From 2016". Forbes. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2011). Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316125765.
  13. ^ Simmons, Bill (2009). The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy. ESPN Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-345-51176-8.
  14. ^ Hill, Jemele (2022). Uphill: A Memoir. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9781250624376.