Leave Lee Corso Alone
1. I know there is probably nothing more fruitless than asking people on social media to be nice, but still: Can we all give Lee Corso a break?
The lovable Corso, who has been with ESPN’s College GameDay since 1987, turned 87 years old Aug. 7. Obviously, Corso isn’t going to be as sharp at this stage of his career as he used to be. That’s just basic common sense. But people don’t need to point that out every single Saturday when he’s on TV and call for the man to be removed from the show that he helped build into one of the most popular sports studio shows of all time.
Last weekend, Twitter was filled with nasty messages such as, “Corso needs to retire,” and “ESPN should stop trotting him out there,” and worse.
While I agree that a three-hour show may be a lot for Corso, and maybe his role should be scaled back, can we let the legend go out on his own terms? There is no need to disparage him. And there’s no need to question whether he can still be a valuable contributor to the show.
ESPN executives, College GameDay producers, Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard wouldn’t let Corso go on national television and embarrass himself. I believe if Corso was truly incapable of doing the job, they would all step in.
On last Saturday’s show, Corso said the SEC winner will not win the national title. Then he wanted to repeat the sentence for emphasis and flubbed it and said, “The SEC winner will not win the SEC.”
First, that’s not a major mistake. That’s a slip of the tongue and something that happens to every broadcaster. Second, last week’s show was not your typical GameDay show where the cast is on set together. The show was done virtually with Corso on a weird outdoor set with random people behind him.
Davis came to Corso’s defense during an appearance Monday on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and pushed back on the narrative that Corso can’t handle the gig.
“I would encourage the people who were, perhaps, to use your word, unkind or cruel, to reserve a little judgment,” Davis said.
“He’s doing great. I speak to him regularly, and this weekend in Columbus, I think you’ll see a much more comfortable environment, and you’ll see him be able to deliver, as he still does, which is remarkable. His mind is still razor sharp at the age of 87. I should be so fortunate if I’m blessed to make it far in my life.
“We don’t typically do the show in different boxes with everybody in remote locations.”
One of the highlights each and every Saturday during the fall and winter is watching Corso put on a mascot head and make his pick at the end of College GameDay. We hope that remains the case for many years to come.
2. On his Tuesday show, Pat McAfee discussed a recent story about former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz claiming that he wrote several letters to then Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly and never once got a response. That led to the show’s producer, Ty Schmit, doing an amazing and hysterical imitation of Holtz.
3. I loved everything about this clip from Rafael Nadal’s Tuesday-night press conference after his U.S. Open win. A reporter asked Nadal about ESPN’s John McEnroe criticizing him for taking long breaks. You had 1) a great look on Nadal’s face as the reporter rambled with his question; 2) Nadal throwing shade at McEnroe by saying he’s never broken his racket; 3) Nadal relating to us commoners by talking about how much he sweats and 4) Nadal not letting a PR person cut off the exchange. Well done all around by Rafa.
4. A lot of people watched Serena Williams win her first-round U.S. Open match on Monday.
It will be interesting to see how the ratings would go up for each Serena match, but there may not be anymore after Wednesday night. Serena is an underdog at +205 against Anett Kontaveit.
5. On Tuesday's First Take, Stephen A. Smith said for the second time in recent weeks that a presidential run could be in his future. I hope this happens because it would make my job so much easier from a gathering-content perspective.
6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features two interviews.
First up is WWE universal champion Roman Reigns. Reigns opens up about Vince McMahon’s controversial retirement from the company, what McMahon’s departure means for him personally, his new part-time schedule and a possible WrestleMania match against The Rock. Reigns also explains the differences between getting a pop from a promo and a move, discusses the challenges of fatherhood and shares his reaction to seeing his “Acknowledge Me” boxer briefs, sold on WWE.com, for the first time.
Following Reigns, Andy Staples, who covers college football for The Athletic, joins the podcast to talk about the Big Ten’s recent media deals with CBS and NBC, what it means for college football viewers and how it impacts the SEC. Staples also talks about whether USC and UCLA have impact across the country, the future of the Pac-12 Network, Urban Meyer’s return to Fox’s pregame show, the Netflix Manti Te’o documentary and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Never forget that Lee Corso gave us one of the all-time greatest live sports television moments.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
