College GameDay was the second studio show after Inside the NBA. Pregame shows tend to fill the air time with a panel of experts struggling to find opportunities to make points or move the conversation into a meaningful discussion. I challenge you to not yell "Oh my god, who the fuck cares?" 17 times while watching the Sunday NFL shows.
A few thousand college students who woke up, swigged some Rumplemintz as a substitute for mouthwash, and made their way over to the set to warm up their vocal cords are the reason college shows work so well. You don't have to watch every second of the show to enjoy it, you can turn it on as background noise while you make coffee or eat breakfast, and check in when something fun is going on.
The last 10 minutes are when the crew picks the games and Lee Corso wears a hat. Over the past few years, with Chris Fowler moving on and Corso's, the show hasn't fallen off, but it has become a little vulnerable to would-be usurpers.
Tom Rinaldi used to be as cynical as Gene Wojciechowski is today. He is polished and has a good relationship with the people they parade on the set.
Fox's Big Noon Kickoff is the most notable show making a bid for GameDay's spot, and it even adopted the traveling circus template that Fowler, Corso, andHerbstreit mastered. The Fox guys do a good job, even though Urban Meyer was rehired by Fox. They don't have a Corso unless Meyer throws back a few Scotches between commercial breaks.
The main attraction of Gameday has always been Corso. It is difficult to listen to what the guest picker is saying or to get out of the way of the rotating celebrity.
Pat was entered by Pat. A stint in comedy and his relationship with Manning has led to a permanent spot on the show, as well as a credible media career. His brand has grown since he left Barfstool. Whenever the aspiring monk wants to complain about the Packers or vaccine requirements, he goes to the Pat McAfee show. I don't know enough about the host's relationship with the WWE to comment on it. I have no interest in Rodgers, wrestling, Barfstool, or Manning, so I was skeptical when he showed up on the GameDay set.
Regardless of how it ended, working for a company that is at the forefront of the fight on cancel culture like it is not misogynistic will make you look bad. The intolerableness is too much if you combine the tank tops and schtick. I think it is too much.
Why couldn't they find a former college football player to play for? One will come eventually. The EPA has declared the antics to be toxic, but Kirk Herbstreit is still the perfect straight guy to the rest of the antics.
I'm starting to get around to it. He puts his all into whatever they ask him to do. He loves the game and watches it.
He helped Manning and the Tennessee band get off a houseboat and into the Tennessee River wearing orange and white checkered overalls and a bucket hat. He hypes the fans as well as he plays the heel, and I have never seen a member of the crew openly antagonize the crowd.
When a jackass shows off his large beltbuckles, my normal reaction is to call him a fuck. I still say that when McAfee flashes his chrome plate for the camera, it's less of a "This fuck guy" with a thumb point, and more of a "This fuck"
I am not a convert and have zero interest in his show outside of the occasional aggregate-able interview since he has not been cleared of cancelable offenses from his previous work. He said his mom would beat his ass if he disrespected a woman. At this point in society, taking what you can get will have to be done.
College GameDay has an over-the-top personality and that's what it is. College football headgear selections are part of the tradition and the show is the soundtrack to a lot of fans. In an increasingly unforgiving landscape that his former employer and QB buddy actively tease, McAfee is trying to become a part of it.
When Corso does, will the headgear be retired? Will there be a new person taking over the duties? Is he going to last that long? I don't know. He lives under the guilty pleasure umbrella because he is reviving a show that I like.
The chances of him getting caught up in some dumb shit and getting canned are as good as the chances that he succeeds in replacing Corso as GameDay's resident court jester.
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