Here’s who will be on the call for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
It’s time for the Indianapolis 500 once again, and if you’re tuning into the 2024 race on NBC, you’ll hear some familiar voices calling the action for the 500-mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana.
For the 108th running of the Indy 500 on Sunday, pre-race coverage begins at 11 a.m. ET with coverage of the race itself beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. Back on the microphone in various roles will be Mike Tirico, Danica Patrick and James Hinchcliffe, while Jimmie Johnson will also join to help out on pre-race and race coverage.
Now that Jac Collinsworth is out as Notre Dame play-by-play announcer for NBC, the postmortem on his tenure can begin. In two seasons calling the Irish, Collinsworth was widely panned by viewers both within and outside the fan base. It was almost like NBC had planned him to fail in this role.
In any case, Awful Announcing has pulled no punches regarding Collinsworth. With his dismissal from Irish broadcasts, the sports media site has named his time doing them one of the biggest sports broadcasting flops of the past decade. The list also includes Drew Brees, who lasted only one season as the Notre Dame color commentator before leaving NBC and sports broadcasting altogether.
The good news for Irish fans is that a familiar voice in Dan Hicks will be back on the broadcasts, and he at least has plenty of experience on his resume. Maybe with a little more seasoning, Collinsworth can work his way back into his now-former role in the distant future. For now though, Irish home broadcasts can be enjoyable again.
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CBS will broadcast the 2024 Big Ten championship game, according to a recent release.
The news comes as networks begin to release their marquee matchups for this fall. Fox already announced Ohio State–Michigan and Wisconsin-Alabama as “Big Noon Kickoff” games. The CBS announcement, however, carries a bit more weight.
The conference championship game moving away from Fox for the first time in its history signals the power CBS holds in the media rights agreement. It was known that the three networks (Fox, CBS, NBC) would split the best inventory evenly, but many thought Fox had the power to keep the title game.
Instead, CBS gets the game in its second year broadcasting the Big Ten.
The network had been the host of the SEC championship game every year since 2001. 2023 marked the end of that run. ESPN is taking over the SEC rights while CBS joins Fox and NBC on the Big Ten.
It was odd to hear the classic CBS theme song play into an Iowa-Penn State game. It will be even odder to hear it play into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2024 Big Ten championship.
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Clear your late afternoon and early evening for Sept. 14.
Notre Dame and Purdue are natural rivals in that they both call the state of Indiana their home. Now, we know when they’ll be kicking off Sept. 14 in West Lafayette and how the game can be seen. The contest will begin at 3:30 p.m. EDT and be broadcast on CBS in its first full season covering the Big Ten.
The Irish on CBS is nothing new as the network covered their victory in last season’s Sun Bowl. CBS last broadcast a regular-season game for the Irish during their 2019 loss to Georgia. The Irish have won 34 of their previous 50 nationally-televised games on the network.
With this announcement, the Irish will be on each of the three original broadcast networks during their first three weeks. Their season opener Aug. 31 against Texas A&M will be on ABC, and NBC naturally will cover the Sept. 7 home opener against Northern Illinois.
We’ll see if Fox, the fourth broadcast network, picks up a game later on, perhaps the regular-season finale at USC. For now though, the 2024 Irish have a diverse TV profile.
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Saturday NFL games in December are nothing new, but this year, it will run up against the College Football Playoff slate.
The NFL taking over Saturdays in December is nothing new.
With the college football regular season wrapping up Thanksgiving weekend and only a sprinkling of bowl games on the weekend schedule throughout much of December, the league has taken advantage of the empty space in the Saturday window.
But that changes in 2024. With the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams from four, the playoff slate will begin earlier than normal. And while the expectation was that games on that opening Saturday would only air on NFL Network, that won’t be the case.
On Monday, NBC announced that it will be airing an NFL game on Saturday, December 21, in direct competition with the College Football Playoff. Fox will reportedly do the same.
Naturally, sports fans don’t exactly enjoy having to divide their attention during major sporting events, and the response was about what you would expect when people learned they would either have to use multiple screens or choose between the games.
NBC Sports acquires extra @NFL regular-season game, to be presented Saturday, Dec. 21, on NBC, @peacock, and @Telemundo
Some were annoyed with what they saw as another cash grab from the NFL, while others went as far as saying they’ll opt to watch the CFP games instead.
Here’s how NFL fans voiced their frustrations on social media:
College football playoff Saturday >
— In Jeff Brohm We Trust. (@VilleSportslive) May 13, 2024
Remember when we said that even though the first round of the CFP was going up against NFL regular season games, it wasn’t that bad because those games were NFL Network games. Welp 👇🏻 https://t.co/FrT2f32ywI
I hate the NFL so much. Choosing to play a game on the Saturday of the first round of the College Football Playoffs. Nasty, greedy people. https://t.co/KS46KbQrzv
— Sheldon’s dad has officially died on young sheldon (@diawlectical) May 13, 2024
Hate the idea of NFL games clashing with College Football Playoff games. Anyone think this is a good idea? https://t.co/0s7idCDUu6
— Ben Isaacs (see pinned tweet) (@tweetsfromben) May 13, 2024
There's really only one last frontier left for the NFL, and that's putting its best/most consequential Week 18 game against the CFP title game https://t.co/C7MjkNIIPX
— Empty Seats Galore (@EmptySeatsPics) May 13, 2024
Here’s what you should expect from the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
PINEHURST, N.C. — For many years, the United States Golf Association struggled with the idea of whether a U.S. Open could work at Pinehurst. There were questions about the distance from a major city like Raleigh or Charlotte. Would fans make the trip? How much corporate support could be gathered? Not to mention the agronomics.
In 1999 and 2005, those questions were put to bed as the Cradle of American Golf showed it was worthy and capable of hosting the national open. In 2014 the resort even proved it could host back-to-back majors with both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in consecutive weeks.
Next month, the USGA’s flagship championship will return to the Sandhills of North Carolina, June 13-16, for not just the first time in 10 years, but for the first time as an anchor site. Back in 2020, the USGA announced plans to build Golf House Pinehurst less than a par 5 away from the main clubhouse, as well as host five future U.S. Opens at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024, 2029, 2035, 2041, and 2047. As if this year’s U.S. Open wasn’t special enough for the governing body, the 2024 event will be the USGA’s 1,000th championship.
At the U.S. Open media day held at Pinehurst last week, USGA President Fred Perpall said the new buildings on campus at Pinehurst are “a physical manifestation of a relationship that we hope will last forever.” The USGA has built a new equipment-testing facility, innovation hub, museum and visitors center, as well as an office for 70 of its staff.
Here’s what we learned from the media day with regard to what fans can expect from the 2024 U.S. Open and beyond.
USGA flags flap in the wind during a practice round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Erin Hills. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Importance of anchor sites
From an outside perspective, it’s a little weird that the USGA has planned out its future U.S. Open host sites until 2051. Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer would argue it’s important for the growth of the championship to establish anchor sites like Pinehurst, Oakmont and Pebble Beach in order to continuously improve and not take any steps back.
“We can do so much because we know we’re coming back,” he said. “Golf House Pinehurst and that dream is becoming a reality.”
In addition to the two new buildings that will entertain and teach fans about the history of the game and governing body, the championship has become more sustainable, as well. With its investment in Pinehurst, the USGA has eliminated diesel generators and more than 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel won’t be used due to powerlines underground. New underground waterlines will aid concessions and hospitality venues. It’s all subsurface and additive and spectators will be none the wiser.
“I will tell you that anchor sites come from some mistakes of the past too,” added USGA CEO Mike Whan. The USGA would go to a place like Pinehurst in 1999 or 2014 for the championship, then come back 30 days later for a debrief to talk about what they wish they would’ve done or what could’ve been improved.
“Then we’d come back in 20 years and go, ‘How about if we …’ and nobody that did the last (championship) are there and nobody invested in all those things because they didn’t know we were coming back and we didn’t know,” Whan continued. “So to say to Pinehurst, what if we came back this regularly? Or if Merion knew we were coming back or Pebble Beach didn’t guess if we were coming back in eight years or never coming back. What together would we do to make the championship bigger, better, stronger?”
On top of the sustainability developments, a new championship locker room with a tunnel directly to the first tee has been built beneath the clubhouse.
“So those are kind of things I don’t know that we would invest in. Would we have built a headquarters across the street at a place we weren’t coming back to? Probably not,” said Whan. “We’re investing in our anchor sites and so are they and that makes the long-term excitement of those sites even better.”
Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Over the next 25 years, the USGA will host a championship at Pinehurst every three years, including the four previously mentioned U.S. Opens. The resort will host the 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2032 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2038 U.S. Amateur, 2044 U.S. Women’s Amateur and a future U.S. Adaptive Open.
Golf House Pinehurst opens
Golf House Pinehurst officially opened on Friday, May 10, which includes the USGA’s equipment-testing and research facility, the USGA Experience, an outdoor educational landscape feature, the relocated World Golf Hall of Fame and administrative offices for 70 staff members.
According to the USGA, independent studies estimate the total economic impact of the USGA’s long-term presence in Pinehurst, combined with the USGA championships it will bring as an anchor site, will exceed $2 billion to the state of North Carolina.
The USGA Experience and World Golf Hall of Fame will be open from 10 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 8 p.m. ET on Thursdays. Admission is free through the month of June. The Hall of Fame features 170 player lockers with more than 3,000 artifacts on display.
Broadcast plans and digital innovations
Chief Commercial Officer Jon Podany and his team don’t have the same challenges at Pinehurst that a venue like Los Angeles Country Club or the Country Club presented. The USGA feels like this is a home game to showcase their product on their new home turf, and they’ve amplified coverage across the board. First up, let’s take a look at TV and streaming.
“Looking back at 2022 when we were at the Country Club on the East Coast, there was a lot of switching back and forth across NBC, USA and Peacock,” said Podany. “What we’re doing for this year is to simplify that for fans so there’s basically only two networks per day, with one variation on Friday just to get that bonus coverage on Peacock.”
Early round coverage switched to USA from Golf Channel a few years ago because USA has 16 million more households than Golf Channel, which gives the championship a wider reach. There will be more hours of linear coverage than any other major at the U.S. Open, including 47 hours across NBC, USA and Peacock, with another 36 hours of coverage of Live From on Golf Channel and Peacock. NBC’s full talent roster will be involved, including the addition of Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch for all four days. The longtime voices were added to coverage after their successful returns to the Players Championship broadcast earlier this year. Now that he’s off Justin Thomas’ bag, Jim “Bones” Mackay will also return as an on-course reporter.
Golf Channel commentator Jim “Bones” Mackay looks on during the final round of the 2023 Honda Classic at PGA National Champion course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
“The expanded number of options for how fans can view the championship, whether that’s the main television screen or second screen on digital, our web and app offerings, you can really follow every shot by every player in a lot of different ways,” explained Podany. “I think fans will enjoy that.”
With golf, the commercial load on broadcasts is always a topic of discussion. Podany said the USGA and NBC are working together to reduce the number of interruptions on broadcasts over the four days.
“We did take steps in the early round coverage last year, and we will be taking those steps on USA, whether that’s the number of promotions we have from the USGA standpoint, NBC’s promotions, commercial interruptions, the number of breaks we take, we are looking at all that to try to present the telecast to the viewers in the best way possible,” said Podany, who also noted that NBC will make the Sky Sports feed available on Peacock (Sky has far less in-action interruptions). The final hour on Sunday will once again be commercial-free thanks to Rolex.
“It’s a balancing act, obviously, because for us and for our broadcast partners it’s gotta make financial sense, so we need commercials within the broadcast,” explained Podany. “Honestly if you look at the breaks per hour on a golf tournament, it’s better than the NFL, college football, NBA. The difference is we don’t have timeouts and natural breaks, coverage is still going on. There has to be a little bit of acceptance of that but we’re trying to improve it as best we can.”
The USGA wanted to provide as many options as possible for fans to take in the U.S. Open, so there will be three featured groups on the digital stream as well as the return of All-Access on Peacock, a RedZone-type channel that will air live highlights on Thursday and Friday.
On-course conditions will be ‘firm and fast’
The U.S. Open is known for being the toughest test in golf with long courses, narrow fairways and heavy rough. The challenge posed to players at this year’s championship will be slightly different. In lieu of long rough will be thousands of wire grass plants in sandy native areas that will make shot execution as much of a mental test as a physical one.
“With Pinehurst No. 2 we feel that the golf course is always close to U.S. Open ready,” said Tom Pashley, the President of Pinehurst Resort. “We don’t have to grow up the rough, we don’t have to narrow the fairways. We focus on firming up the conditions and making sure it’s fast. Now with Bermuda grass greens instead of Bent grass greens, we can’t wait to see how the Donald Ross greens perform under U.S. Open conditions.”
The fifth hole at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo: Fred Vuich/USGA)
Aside from the Bermuda grass, not much will be different from the 2014 U.S. Open. The only other material change will show on the par-4 13th hole, where the fairway was narrowed by 12 yards. The landing area on the 381-yard hole will be around 28 yards wide.
As a whole, No. 2 will play to 7,540 yards from the back tees with a par of 70. The distance is flexible from 7,300-7,500 yards depending on the weather and wind. Putting greens will be rolling 13 plus on the Stimpmeter and the course will be quick, firm and fast.
“We’re known for toughness, and you’ll see it right here on No. 2 in just a few days. But a lot of people have a misconception about tough but fair,” Bodenhamer explained. “It does not mean that our goal is for the winner to shoot even par, but it does mean that we want that winner to get every club in his bag dirty when he wins a U.S. Open, including the club between the ears.”
“We want to test every part of their game. We want them to hit it high, low, left to right, right to left. We want them to think about their golf ball. What happens to when it hits the ground, not just in the air,” he added. “We don’t come in and put a cookie-cutter USGA approach on these great golf courses. We stay true to what Donald Ross intended and the great architects of these great vigils intended.”
“We want players to be able to control the golf ball on the ground, not just in the air.”
Do you wish you had this pageantry when you made your college choice?
It’s always a big deal when a young athlete announces their college decision. They typically have cameras in their faces at an organized event, and fans everywhere are eager to see if that athlete will pick their school. The anticipation builds as much excitement as the decision itself.
But those who aren’t athletes typically don’t get the same level of attention when they make their college choices. That changed during Wednesday’s episode of NBC’s “Today” when three students got to announce their choices live on the air. One of them, Nebraska native Benjamin Robinette, told host Hoda Kotb that he will fulfill his desire not only to attend a Catholic school, but the one those of you who visit this site likely love the most:
It was great to see the Notre Dame Leprechaun there to help Robinette celebrate his decision and to hear the Victory March. It’s even better that he’ll be going to college as a cancer survivor. Here’s hoping he enjoys his time in South Bend.
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Oosterhuis passed away the day before his 76th birthday.
One day short of his 76th birthday, PGA Tour winner and former Masters broadcaster Peter Oosterhuis passed away on Thursday morning according to the PGA Tour.
The Englishman won the 1981 Canadian Open but was probably more known as the longtime voice of the 17th hole at Augusta National during CBS’s annual Masters coverage. Oosterhuis retired from broadcasting in 2014 to deal with early-onset of Alzheimer’s. The London native earned seven wins on the European Tour in a two-year span from 1972-74 and was the rookie of the year in 1969. He also competed on six consecutive Ryder Cup teams from 1971-1981, where he boasts an overall record of 14-11-3. He twice defeated Arnold Palmer as part of his record-tying six Sunday singles wins.
Oosterhuis was the Director of Golf at Forsgate Country Club in Jamesburg, New Jersey, and Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles from 1987-1993 and then tried his hand at broadcasting. He worked as lead analyst for Golf Channel’s European Tour coverage and then joined CBS, where he covered the Masters from 1997-2014.
He is survived by his wife, Ruth Ann, sons Rob and Rich, stepsons Byron and Matt and four grandchildren Peyton, Turner, Sutton and Lachlan.
We spoke with the casting director for NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez about how it came to be Raiders legends Jim Plunkett, Marshawn Lynch starred in this week’s episode
If you are a fan of the Raiders and of comedy, you are going to want to head over to NBC or peacock to check out this week’s episode of Lopez vs Lopez. Because this week it’s LOPEZ VS RAIDER NATION!
Raiders legends Jim Plunkett and Marshawn Lynch star in the newest episode and you know wherever Marshawn goes, hilarity ensues. All that and Plunk too? Whaaaat?
I was intrigued by how such a thing came together, so I reached out to casting director G Charles Wright to give me the details. In the words of George Lopez himself ‘What had happened was…’
“Al Madrigal – one of our actors who plays Oscar – is a Raiders fan,” said Wright. “He showed some interest in wanting to do something that involved the Raiders.”
For that matter, George Lopez himself is well known as a Raiders fan. He’s been seen many times on the sidelines during games in his Raiders gear and even lit the Al Davis torch before a game in Oakland back in 2017.
With the Raiders fan connection well established, from there it was about figuring out who would be on the show. The first answer quickly presented itself.
You see, George Lopez is good friends with Marshawn Lynch aka Beast Mode who is an Oakland native and finished his NFL career for his now former hometown Raiders in 2017-18.
“The writers reached out to me and said ‘can we get Marshawn to play himself,’ Wright continued. “So I pitched the idea to his agent and his manager to have him appear as himself. . . And we talked about it, talked about what we wanted to do on the episode. Went over all that stuff with him, talked about how comfortable he is playing himself and what he’s comfortable doing and not comfortable doing. And worked an episode around that.”
This is where Plunk comes in…
“That all gets set and then Al Madrigal was at a Raiders game with his friends the Plunketts and he’s telling Jim’s daughter Meghan about Marshawn being on the show. And Jim says ‘That’s amazing, could I be on the show? Do you think they’d let me be on the show too? I don’t even have to get paid, I could just be an extra.’
“And Al brought that news to my writers and my writers reached out to me and said ‘Hey, we hear Jim Plunkett would like to do this and he doesn’t even want to be paid.’ And then I had to tell the writers that ‘Um, everybody has to be paid.’
“I worked out a deal with them and my writers wrote him in. As soon as we heard Jim wanted to do the show they figured out a role for him.”
It’s always crazy to think a show can come together like this. In much the same way a coach designs his scheme around his best players; something Marshawn and Plunk experienced firsthand in their legendary careers, with both being the centerpiece of their team’s offense on the way to championships.
With the two of them on the roster, I mean in the cast, it was time to put it on the field. Er, set, rather.
“Marshawn came in, Jim came in,” Wright said. “They flew in, we put them up at the same hotel, they hung out all day, they took the same private shuttle van from their hotel to the set. And just had a blast together all day during the show and signing autographs with our cast and crew and taking photos with them. It was great. . . Jim had never done anything like this before so it was all new to him and he really had a blast. . . And Jim got his SAG card!”
Chalk up another accomplishment for Jim Plunkett as he is now a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Though many believe there is still one accomplishment eluding the two-time Super Bowl winning QB. And you can best believe that made its way into the show. As Wright noted “They even made a joke in the script about how Plunkett should be in the Hall of Fame.”
The most recent episode of Lopez vs Lopez aired Tuesday night on NBC and is now also streaming on the Peacock app.
“It’s dipping the toe in the ocean without fully committing.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s been nearly a decade since Geoff Ogilvy last was a playing contestant in the Masters but he’s back this week to do television and was a popular figure under the famous oak tree Monday.
The past U.S. Open champion and eight-time PGA Tour winner is joining the ESPN coverage team and will appear as an analyst on SportsCenter all week from the event.
“This opportunity came along and I thought, ‘This is pretty good,’ ” said Ogilvy. “It’s dipping the toe in the ocean without fully committing.”
There was speculation that Ogilvy, widely regarded as one of the top quotes among players and an avid reader on golf history who has branched out into the golf course design business, was a top candidate to replace Paul Azinger as the lead analyst for NBC Sports, but Ogilvy has politely declined so far.
“NBC was scratching around but that doesn’t feel right at the moment. I’m not ready to commit to 20 weeks,” he told Golfweek on Monday.
Ogilvy, 46, had a legit chance to win a Green Jacket in 2011, finishing T-4. He still has limited status on the PGA Tour as a past champion and he’s not ready to hang up the spikes and trade in holing putts potentially worth millions for a microphone. He’d like to see if he can still compete against the young pups on Tour and prepare for PGA Tour Champions when he becomes eligible in a little more than three years. So far, he’s been able to make just one start this season at the Puerto Rico Open, where he missed the cut.
“I’d prefer if I can play although it doesn’t look like I’m going to get very many starts, but you never know,” said Ogilvy, who speculated he might go play some on the DP World Tour to help fill his playing schedule.
Asked why he didn’t take a spin in the lead analyst chair during NBC’s portion of the broadcast schedule leading up to the Masters, Ogilvy said he hasn’t closed a door to the idea but the timing just isn’t right.
“It’s not like I turned down the job,” he said. “The job might be there but it wasn’t like it was there, you know? I’m just not ready to commit to half the year.”
But golf fans will get a taste of just how good his analysis and insights can be this week during ESPN’s coverage and if all goes well, he should assume a similar role during the PGA Championship in May at Valhalla.
