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ESPN, perhaps, got caught up in the moment on Saturday when a former Miami legend was shown talking to Hurricane players on the sidelines during ABC’s broadcast of the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State in Orlando.
After all, the Pop-Tarts Bowl had a lot of sideshows going on with mascots and such and, well, maybe it was just a slip of the tongue by the announcer at the worst possible moment. Whatever it was, instead of calling him “Michael Irvin,” the announcer took the liberty of adding a “g” and instead called the former Miami wide receiver “Michael Irving.”
“Nobody embraces their past and their tradition like the ‘U’. Michael Irving coaching up the receivers over on the Miami sideline,” said announcer Tom Hart, possibly unaware that he had just misspoke and the mistake had gone viral.
Or, then again, maybe Hart knew he had unnecessarily added a “g” to Irvin’s name and figured it was too late. Sort of like, mistake made, let’s move on in the high-scoring bowl bash that Irvin’s alma mater led, 31-28, as the second half began.
Whatever happened, it shows that everyone makes mistakes, and when you’re doing live TV, anything can happen, even adding a letter to a legend’s last name.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
