Any time I hear this approach, I have to wonder, how does this help Ohio University in the real world? Will people buy more of our tickets? Will more people watch our games? Will our ad space become more valuable? Will better prospects commit? Will applications increase? This whole digital clout stuff doesn't mean much unless it manifests itself in some real measurable benefits.

My viewing experience was that I started on a browser while I finished some work, then tried to open their app on my Firestick but couldn't get past a freeze when the first ad ended, turned it off, played with my kids, turned on the basketball game, then started watching on my phone when I saw we had to have a two minute drill to tie.

I liked the PBP guy, but what the hell was Portnoy doing in the booth? Muttering about what "Maple Missile" meant since Kurtis is from Ohio, openly admitting he didn't know a starter (Meservy) was out, referring to players as "that guy" or #11. Like, do your homework if you're going to be on the microphone.

I get that they're trying to yuk it up as if they're my buddies in my living room watching the game with me, but leave that approach for my buddies and I actually in the living room.

I'm one of those old guys and at the beginning of the game I was a bit annoyed by the dialogue (though the parachuting in was awesome). Then suddenly I found myself laughing and my wife (married into the Bobcat cult) was loving it. She actually watched the whole game intently, laughing out loud on occasion and cringing when something was cring-worthy (the fat guy trying to pick up the kicking tee. BTW, Did you see the Bobcat do a somersault going to pick up our kicking tee? When has that ever happened before?). After I caught myself laughing and saw my wife's reactions I sat back, relaxed and let myself enjoy the broadcast. The two guys blatantly rooting for the two team and the vociferous and constant questioning of referee calls was rather refreshing. Yes some was over the top (the interview with Titsworth's dad, but haven't you all smirked a bit at least once when his name was called out?) Yes some was annoying like in the crucial end of the game they reduced the size of the picture showing the game to go split screen with the booth and the overly long interview with Josh Allen while the game was going on. And I wonder how the shtick would work in a lopsided game. But overall I'd give it a B grade.

This is the best point made in this discussion. Sure it was unprofessional and they had no clue what they were doing...they also did 0 pre-game preparation and didn't care about getting names right. It was not unlike any of us stepping into the booth of a random game between 2 teams we don't follow. But when the game kicked off, they focused on the game. It was their only game and they were going to pump it up. Meanwhile ESPN uses these smaller games as promos for their bigger and better games.

And as others said, if you had a vague familiarity of the personalities at play going in it wasn't bad. The extreme disgust and rage seen on any OU football facebook post right now is people who truly had no clue what they were getting into. There has never been more discussion on OU social media in our history, it is truly entertaining.

In the end it is still a football game. I've never understood why people can get so worked up about the announcers.

As I posted before I’m bumping right up against 72 and knew a little bit about Barstool and explained to my wife before kickoff that this would be a game broadcast unlike any she had seen before. To my surprise she laughed at lots of it including some of the over the top stupid WWEesque lunacy. While I did think the announcing crew needed to take a breath at times, overall I found it to be acceptably entertaining.

That said I thought they had a huge miss with the trophy presentation. For all the attention paid to Titsworth’s name during the broadcast they should have had the HOOTER GIRLS present the trophy to Titsworth!

Excellent point. Tweet this to Portnoy. He just might be receptive for future iterations.

I must have missed President Camacho between Brawndo commercials.

There was good and bad. The streaming was excellent, and having a good picture made the game fun to watch. The announcers were kind of random, but they were talking about the Ohio-Wyoming game, and not other games being played, so that was a positive. On the whole, I thought the combination of excellent streaming with commentators who were actually watching the game outweighed the negatives.

100%

At this point, people are complaining just to hear themselves complain.

Production value was GREAT. The whole pregame festivities. Fireworks. Military flyover. Skydivers into the stadium with team flags. They put on a show. That was top notch production of a lower tier bowl.

And THEN the game started. Cameras were crisp, clear, dozens of angles. Dave and Big Cat aren't Kirk Herbstriet, but they were funny and passionate.

Even Josh Allen called in to chat while watching the game.

"Live from AZ Bowl" podcast is currently the Number FOUR podcast in America right now. #3 is NPR. #5 is Bill Simmons.

Barstool posted 7 reels during the game. SEVENTEEN MILLION VIEWS.

Instagram post of an interview with Parker Titsworth's dad: 146K likes

Enough said.

Would be more than proud to be in this bowl next season. As I'm sure many others teams will.

We’re “older” alums , loved the stream- what a fun alternative to the usual broadcast . Can’t believe all the offended folks .. lighten up kids :) great Bowl Win!!

My first experience with Barstool came in early Nov. when they streamed a basketball doubleheader from Philly involving 2 MAC teams, UT and UA. I also recall the broadcast going to the two-window view late in both games. Found it kind of odd at the time.

I can't speak for the data, but I know Ohio covers a lot of spreads so the folks in that age group tend to root for us on betting apps. When we cover, they post pics on Twitter of how much they won. They might not attend our school but they bet on us, watch us and root for us to win.

I read a comment from a guy in Minnesota that said he heard how crazy MAC games were and that this year was his first year watching all the MAC teams play in bowl games. All the games were nailbiters pretty much except EMU and that he was on the edge of his seat. He asked Bigcat if he could cover MACtion next year.

I've also read on Twitter about how much respect Georgia fans have for Kent State this year and how they outscored all of the Bulldogs opponents this year.

I look at these as small victories that can lead to more opportunities down the road with NIL, Barstool in Athens for game days, and stuff like that.


The 20-45 year old degenerates who love to gamble without going to a casino will keep this train going on. I do agree they need a little more professionalism in the broadcasting booth....maybe something OU could help them with! 🤝🏽

OU is not simply an activist town….as we all know it is a big party town as well. That crowd leans towards Barstool.

Can we PLEASE be rid of the "Bobbies" thing?