Sports Media Spotlight­­: Penn State football continues to win when it comes to TV coverage

This past week has been a victory for the Penn State football program in terms of national media attention.

Regardless of Saturday night’s result at Beaver Stadium, the presence of ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Happy Valley for the fourth season in a row was important. Perception becomes reality in almost every endeavor or industry and by that standard Penn State football matters. That’s always been the case.

Plus, the aftermath of the loss at Indiana, with what was ruled a successful two-point conversion for IU in OT, made that game and moment a talking point nationally for the first half of last week. Then, the second half of the week was a preview for Ohio State at Penn State.

Penn State was on ESPN every day this past week in some form. That’s no exaggeration and, again, that’s a good thing for Penn State football in the long run.

While Penn State always seeks for ways to measure itself against the nation’s best — using draft picks, grade-point averages, rankings, victories or whatever else to promote its prowess — neither Alabama nor Clemson, and not even Ohio State, enjoyed the attention the Nittany Lions have the past eight days.

In fairness, that means little going forward by itself.

The wins and losses ultimately matter, and the Ws typically translate into more attention than the Ls. Or, they usually mean more positive attention. In an unusual season and a weird year, though, no positive should be overlooked, regardless of what happens on the field.

Practicing positivity

Nobody frames an unhappy Penn State football result better than Steve Jones, and he put that skill to good use last week.

Jones used his two-hour midday radio talk show that airs in Centre County to emphasize and frame what the Nittany Lions did well against Indiana. He stressed that the team’s penalties and turnovers were out of character, and found the correct statistic to back up that argument.

By the third day on the topic, Jones used one word to describe the loss and latched onto it hard: atypical. He called the team’s efforts against IU “atypical” two dozen times in the two-hour show — and he was not incorrect. It was an unusual effort for the team in recent seasons.

It’s unlikely his perspective resonated with fans who wanted more emotion or reaction, but that’s not what Jones does. He’s not there to dish hot takes or unfounded opinion, and he’s earned that right.

It can be frustrating that he’s more willing to call out national personalities or teams than the Nittany Lions, but it’s also understandable. In a world with all kinds of uninformed media types willing to rant, react and tweet, Jones almost unfailingly practices perspective and positivity.

Regarding replay

Yes, we’re a week-plus removed from the OT loss at Indiana, but one final perspective about the two-point conversion in overtime.

It was not about the pylon. Nor was it about the sideline. Neither one. Never.

It was about the goal line, and the on-field official ruled Michael Penix Jr. had crossed that line with the football in his outstretched left hand.

Unfortunately, the game’s broadcast partner, Fox Sports 1, did not have pylon cameras to provide any clarity or potentially overrule the call on the field. That’s always a possibility with lower-tier broadcasts and it might’ve bit Penn State a little there. Then again, it was the kind of play that was so close that the evidence needed to change the decision might not have existed anyway.

Any evidence would’ve focused on the goal line, though.

Radio, revival

A couple of years ago when “Mike and Mike,” the ESPN morning-drive radio show, broke up after more than a decade and a half, the show’s two partners, Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, went their separate ways.

It was a split driven mostly by Greenberg, who to pursue some bigger and better things, and it was a loss for listeners and a shame for sports-talk radio in general. They were better than the sum of their parts. They were cliched at times, leaning easily and then too much on the “Odd Couple” pairing of the former jock and unathletic media type, but they were honest and good.

You just cannot fake authenticity on radio. Listeners usually sense it — at least sports listeners. It’s not as clear to me that that’s the case with current events or news talk shows.

Initially, Golic seemed to rebound better after the breakup. He remained on morning radio while Greenberg stated a TV show that took a while to find its rhythm and was regularly panned.

These days, though, Greenberg’s gambit has seemingly paid off. When ESPN Radio altered its lineup (not for the better) again this fall, Golic was out. Meanwhile, “Get Up” with Greenberg as host has endured a couple of iterations and feels like its knows what it’s doing now. It’s not great, but it’s better and ESPN supports it well.

Additionally, Greenberg has a national midday radio show, too. His revival seems complete.

Tuner tidbits

• Kudos to all associated with Penn State’s behind-the-scenes and virtual efforts related to football so far this season. It’s a lot of work, but it’s something they have to do to help facilitate connections with the fanbase. In some ways, it’s a logical extension of efforts they’ve been doing for several seasons. In another way, it’s probably a precursor of things to come and things they certainly hope to monetize or get sponsored. In most instances they have already paired sponsors with the content, which makes sense. It’s been a high-quality option for fans, as long as they keep in mind the stories being shared do come with a clear blue-and-white perspective.
• As fun as it was to have ESPN’s “College GameDay” originating from Penn State, and as well as the show has done while being handicapped without live fans, it does have one glaring challenge. Unfortunately, Lee Corso, the show’s beloved analyst and former coach, famed for his end-of-show picks, has lost a step. That’s accentuated because the lovable 85-year-old does his scripted segments from his home in Florida. Both he and the other analysts typically feed well off each other. It’s just harder for him in the current setup. And it’s hard to hide, too.
• Some media members who cover Penn State basketball seem to care about the success of the program more than some members of the athletic administration, and even some fans. Through the years former coach Patrick Chambers crafted decent relationships with those media members. So, it’ll be interesting to see if any of them end up sharing his side of the story regarding his surprising resignation a couple of weeks ago after a university investigation into him and the program.
• Certainly for the Nov. 28 Penn State football game at Michigan, and possibly before, Fox Sports play-by-play man Gus Johnson and his partner Joel Klatt will draw a Penn State assignment this season. There’s no doubt Johnson is talented and respected, but his work — often speaking in declarations and fragments — feels more self-serving than something that serves viewers.
• Those Siri commercials that air during NFL games seem incomplete to me. Their framed as a question, with Siri getting asked who leads the league in a specific statistical category and then, they just abruptly end. Because Siri primarily exists to answer questions, it just seems logical that the commercials would include the answer as well as the question.
• For as much attention as he earned in his first two seasons by correctly making play-calling predictions, it’s just hard for me to think of CBS analyst and former NFL QB Tony Romo as someone who really serves viewers well.
• It’ll be different, but still enjoyable to watch the Masters in November. The famed golf tournament airs Nov. 12-15 on ESPN and CBS.