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Straight Arrow News
  • 3 months ago
Transcript
00:00He's been known as the godfather of college football Saturdays for close to 40 years.
00:04The grandpa that made the best pregame show in sports history so much fun.
00:09This Saturday, 89-year-old Lee Corso will make his final appearance on ESPN's College Game Day.
00:18Corso's outspoken picks and opinions were often punctuated by
00:21donning the headgear of the team mascot he thought would win.
00:25He's worn more than 400 mascot headgears in his 38 years on the game day set.
00:32It's a college football tradition, and Saturday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus,
00:36Brunus the Buckeyes mascot head will likely be waiting for Corso during a ceremony at midfield.
00:43But not so fast, as coach Corso loves to say,
00:46while putting the brakes on any debate about who is going to win.
00:50Corso's impact went well beyond broadcasting and mascots,
00:53as the show's original host Chris Fowler said Tuesday.
00:57He's such a beloved guy.
00:59I think when reality hits and you get out there and you realize that we won't see that again,
01:05that's when I think people are going to start to lose it.
01:07I mean, I think the show will go on.
01:08Game day is a powerhouse.
01:09But Lee Corso has brought something to not just game day,
01:13but the sports TV landscape that is wholly unique.
01:17Corso joined ESPN in 1987 following a 28-year coaching career at the college and pro levels.
01:23including 17 seasons as a head coach at Louisville, Indiana, Northern Illinois, and in the USFL.
01:31ESPN honored him at this summer's ESPY Awards,
01:34and co-analyst Kirk Herbstreet has called him a father figure.
01:38I feel like I've had the best seat, really, in all of college football for these last 30 years,
01:42right next to coach, right before he pulled that headgear out or say something that nobody else would say.
01:48There are so many lessons and such a special bond that I'm so lucky to share
01:52with one of the great spirits and the great minds that college football has ever seen.
01:57Herbstreet and others working at the network said Corso was always the coach first
02:01and taught them life lessons.
02:03Most importantly, covering the game should be fun.
02:06One of his favorite sayings is,
02:08we're in the entertainment business and college football is the vehicle.
02:11It's a sentiment that generations of fans, and even those working in today's game, recognize.
02:18Another great ambassador of the game.
02:20Just somebody who's been positive and builds people up.
02:25And, you know, he's somebody that I remember, you know,
02:28just so many years of, you know, putting on the mascot heads
02:31and just making, you know, Saturdays so enjoyable for so many people.
02:35Enjoyable indeed, even when the game is rained out.
02:40In August of 2000, I was covering a game in Blacksburg, Virginia,
02:44between the Hokies and Georgia Tech,
02:45when the game was postponed by a big thunderstorm.
02:49The Game Day crew was there too,
02:51and famously, Corso's car was struck by a massive lightning bolt,
02:56after he had picked against Michael Vick's Hokies
02:58to play for the national championship.
03:01Soon after my photographer and I arrived at the hotel,
03:04a lone car pulled up, the door opened, and out hopped the coach.
03:08As he walked quickly by, he looked at us and said,
03:11I found the one Hokie fan who would take mercy on me.
03:15College Saturdays won't ever be the same.
03:18For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.
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