A couple of weeks ago, I attended ESPN's Media Day in Bristol, CT, to tour the facility and to meet the personnel and anchors of the "mothership". To my surprise, I was asked if I wanted to come in a few minutes early for a Q&A session with Colin Cowherd, the controversial yet popular radio host of ESPN Radio's "The Herd". As one of his faithful listeners, I was more than happy to be a part of this event.
During the Q&A, Cowherd talked a little more about his new TV show . The title of it? "Colin's New Football Show", which premieres this Sunday, September 8th at 9am on ESPN2.
So what can we expect from this show? Well for starters, it'll be 50% college football and 50% NFL coverage. Cowherd says that he wants to give college football the respect it deserves, mainly because so many people are out on date nights on Saturday and miss a lot of the action that goes on in the NCAA world. Cowherd says he'll pay homage to Vegas every week, as well as do a Cash/Car segment, where he'll pick the top 3 NFL games of the week and either bet cash or a car on those games (or his children, he jokingly adds).
When asked about the direction of his new TV endeavor, Cowherd said it wouldn't look like anything else on the network. ESPN's version of NBC's 3rd Rock From The Sun, a quirky sitcom from the 90's is what he compared it to. "We have a ton of young people, and the one good thing about young people is they're a little more reckless and willing to try stuff...frankly a lot of [the young people] come to the show drunk", Cowherd says jokingly. "I told [EVP of Production] John Wildhack ... I didn't want to do blue sports coat and tie, turn and what's your opinion. I said I'll do a show, but like Sports Nation, I wanted to break all the rules. I'll never wear a tie, gonna wear jeans, talk about everything slightly uncomfortable. We're gonna mock ourselves and other pregame shows... we're just gonna have fun." If you're looking for a football show that all the other pregame shows are not, Cowherd believes this the show for you. As a fan of all things quirky and outside the box, I'll be watching for sure!
Other things discussed in the Q&A:
Colin on the powerhouse that is the NFL:
"The NFL Continues to make all of the right moves with marketing, rules and branding. The NFL has brilliantly made it an offensive league."
Colin on sports blogs in 2013:
"I'm a firm believer in blogs. Blogs have engaging writers and take chances. Blogs have opened the doors for certain topics."
Colin on the perception from his perception from listeners/viewers that he's too brash:
"I never tell the audience what to think of me. When I talk, how you consume it is up to you."
Colin on the launch of Fox Sports 1:
"I'm all for the competition. Plus, aren't there Canadian anchors on the channel?!"
Listen to the full Q&A with Colin Cowhere below. Colin's New Football show is scheduled to air Sunday, September 8th on ESPN2.
