Editor’s Note: This is the 16th of a 19-part daily series that seeks to answer the questions surrounding the 2010 Penn State football team. Check back every weekday until the Blue-White Game this Saturday to see the question of the day. Tuesday, we asked: ‘Whatever Happened to Aric Heffelfinger?‘ Today, we ask: ‘What are the Blue-White Broadcast Plans?‘
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This ain’t your father’s football scrimmage.
No, that Blue-White Game had Fran Fisher and Joe Paterno in the radio broadcast booth. And, sometimes, your dad’s version was shown on a small patchwork network of television stations throughout Pennsylvania — i.e., Harrisburg, Altoona, Scranton, Lebanon.
Not this year.
ESPN2 and its 98.7 millions home are coming to Happy Valley to do two hours of live coverage of the Penn State spring game, beginning at 2 p.m.
And The Worldwide Leader is bringing its A team. Brent Musburger will be looking live at the natural turf of Beaver Stadium, and he’ll be accompanied by former Buckeye Kirk Herbstreit and former Penn State All-American Matt Millen. Michigan alum Desmond Howard, the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner, will be roaming the sidelines.
Is that where Dez will be talking to Joe Paterno?
It’s unlikely, but not impossible.
Joe will be everywhere else this weekend.
On Friday night, the Nittany Lion coach will be in the Bryce Jordan Center, as part of a massive official kickoff to Penn State’s newest fundraising campaign, ‘For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students.’ Expect an announcement that Dear Old State is seeking to raise $2 billion – and that it is already halfway home.
Saturday morning, Paterno will be the keynote speaker at the Nittany Lion Club’s annual Blue-White event held on the arena floor of the Bryce Jordan Center. He’ll be joined by members of the 2010 football senior class.
From there, Paterno will do his traditional pre-game press conference in the media room of Beaver Stadium. He meets the members of the Fourth Estate prior to kickoff so he doesn’t have to spend the post-game commenting on an interception by a third-stringer from Red Lion and a 22-yard run by a walk-on from Bedford.
After that, let the broadcasting bonanza begin.
Look for Paterno, sure to be a bit bushed by the weekend’s whirl of events, to make a cameo appearance on the Penn State Sports Network. Radio coverage of the game will be anchored by Steve Jones, whose sidekick for the Blue-White game is typically Paterno.
Not this year. Regular season regular Jack Ham, a college and pro football hall of famer, will be calling the game with Jones. Paterno will stop by, but he will not provide the game-long colorful and candid analysis that had been his hallmark.
Expect Paterno to spend some time with Gushberger, a big fan of the coach who is the closest thing college football has to Keith Jackson. Figure that Millen will trade jabs with his old coach. Herbstreit will quiz Joe about the quarterbacks and Desmond might challenge him to a race.
The Big Ten Network will show a replay of the game beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday. The starting time, just three hours after the game begins, and ESPN2’s decision to broadcast for only two hours emphasize the scrimmage nature of the contest. The game never lasts the full 60 minutes of clock time anyway. The length of the quarters typically get shorter as the game unfolds.
Earlier this spring, ESPN2 covered the LSU, North Carolina and Alabama spring games. The Arkansas spring game will be on ESPN3.com on Saturday, while ESPN2 will broadcast the Oregon spring on May 1.
Despite the presence of a national television network, look for large crowds inside Beaver Stadium, especially since admission and parking are free.
Over the past three years, the Blue-White Game has drawn 71,000, 73,000 and 76,500 fans. Even if TV keeps a few thousand fans away, the game will still be one of the nation’s largest spring football games. Again.
