I give these student announcers a lot of leeway. Some are more polished than others, but they are students and they are learning. I did some sports reporting back in the day on WOUB-AM. Some of my College Football Scoreboards with Randy Greene and I were pretty good. My few attempts at play-by-play and color analysis were shall we kindly say, not so good. These students are trying out different things and find out how to improve from game to game, and what they may ultimately be better at. Some will end up being sports reporters in real life, and others will go on to do other things. I just consider it part of the academic learning environment. That being said, the color gal last night has some learning to do. Might have been her first ever attempt at color work. I applaud her for getting into the arena.
I don't give them as much leeway. Not when you are holding an ESPN microphone and everyone in the world has access to your performance as you represent ESPN and the MAC. There's a difference between not being polished and simply not knowing how to read stats. Your first attempt at sports broadcasting should not be on a national stage with an ESPN chyron.
I also worked sports reporting back in the day. I wasn't the greatest, but I certainly didn't sound like a kid just learning to read. I don't want to be "that guy" who criticizes people endlessly (I really don't like to do that and I appreciate this board for not being a board like that), but that level of performance was not only below ESPN standards, it was below many high school radio sports standards.
It's also an insult to the many hard-working aspiring broadcasters around the country who put the extra work in to prepare, rehearse and do an amazing job for their hometown teams yet never get a shot at doing an ESPN game.