Tag Archives: Pat McAfee

Kirk Herbstreit: ‘God bless’ Pat McAfee’s Veterans Day show, ‘one of your best’

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On Tuesday, Pat McAfee hosted his eponymous show from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina to celebrate Veterans Day. The show featured numerous gestures in praise of the military, but none more notable than an interview with the sitting president.

The commander-in-chief spoke to McAfee by phone, with much of the interview focused on celebrating veterans. However, the interview has come under fire in the days since. Critics point out that McAfee gave President Trump carte blanche to discuss lies about the 2020 election, didn’t bring up Trump’s history of denigrating the military, and then hid behind his self-proclaimed ignorance of politics when facing the predictable criticism of hosting a controversial political figure on ESPN airwaves.

The following day, McAfee claimed that anyone who disagreed with his decision to interview Trump “hate[d] the troops.”

Despite the polarizing nature of the interview, one of McAfee’s ESPN colleagues decided to publicly voice his support for the former Indianapolis Colts punter during a high-leverage portion of College GameDay on Saturday. Fellow GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit told McAfee that his Veterans Day show was one of the “best shows you’ve ever had,” as the show’s panel picked Saturday’s slate of college football games.

“Veterans Day was Tuesday,” McAfee said before making his selection for the USF-Navy game. “Give me Navy, for America. Of course, I’ll take Navy to get a big time win.” After celebrity picker Aaron Donald also picked Navy, McAfee said, “And God bless the troops,” at which point Herbstreit quickly jumped in to say, “And God bless you for that show you put on Tuesday. One of your best shows you’ve ever had.”

In Herbstreit’s defense, McAfee’s Trump interview was but a small portion of a three-hour show that featured plenty of tactful celebration for our nation’s armed forces. However, the Trump interview was by far the most notable part of the show, and the part that has received the vast majority of media coverage (and criticism) in the days following the episode.

Whether Herbstreit meant his comments to be an endorsement of the Trump interview or not, that is how they came off.
https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/kirk-herbstreit-endorses-pat-mcafee-veterans-day-show-trump-interview.html

Pitt fans chant ‘sell the team’ after Pittsburgh Pirates ‘College GameDay’ tribute

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You never quite know what you’re going to get from Pat McAfee on College GameDay, and on Saturday that included a lengthy discussion about the Pittsburgh Pirates.

GameDay was in the Steel City for Saturday’s game between the Pitt Panthers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was also an opportunity for McAfee to celebrate being back in his hometown and adored by his people—even though he actually attended college at their hated rivals, the West Virginia Mountaineers.

For his show-opening monologue that typically pays tribute to the host location, Pat McAfee began talking about what a great sports city Pittsburgh is, even including the moribund Pittsburgh Pirates. These days, at least the Pirates have reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes to be thankful for, even though fans are just counting down the days and years until he signs for the New York Yankees.

The reference to the Pirates led the Pitt fans in attendance to immediately voice their frustration with the team’s thrifty ownership, as a “sell the team” chant broke out. It may be the first time the Pirates have been mentioned on ESPN airwaves in November in decades, especially with the additional history lesson from Reds fan Kirk Herbstreit.

The Pirates’ lack of spending, led by owner Bob Nutting, like other MLB teams, has become a huge source of consternation within the sport. McAfee’s ESPN colleague Jeff Passan has continually talked about their refusal to spend any money to build a roster around Skenes and actually try to win.

Their $84 million payroll sits 27th in Major League Baseball and is multiple times behind the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They also have had only one winning season in the last 10 years and haven’t made it to the NLCS since Sid Bream broke their hearts in 1992.

But at least the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got some much-needed attention in the fall—it just took an episode of College GameDay in the city to do it.
https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/sell-the-team-pittsburgh-pirates-college-gameday.html

A ‘masterclass’ from Devon Dampier and more: How social media reacted to Utah’s win over West Virginia

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Maybe the frustration directed at Devon Dampier online last week and the angst aimed at the Utah football team was a bit much. During Utah’s 34-10 loss to Texas Tech, many fans and analysts were critical of the Utes’ starting quarterback and the overall offensive effort.

There was a noticeable change in that tune on Saturday, when Utah went on the road and defeated a woebegone West Virginia team 48-14. You can even forgive Utah punter Orion Phillips for giving Utah fans a humorous shoutout to Dampier on social media after the quarterback threw a career-high four touchdowns. As a result of the strong offensive showing, Phillips didn’t even get into the game.

National media personality and former West Virginia punter Pat McAfee was convinced by Utah’s performance on Saturday. But what about others? Here’s a sampling of how social media reacted to the Utes’ impressive win over West Virginia.
https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/09/27/how-social-media-reacted-to-utah-west-virginia-football-2025/