Not trying to be snarky here. I’m legitimately curious about something.
You may have heard that Kirk Herbstreit’s twin sons are walking on at Clemson. Kirk’s a proud papa — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but he took to Twitter with this announcement.
So… is that a little over the top in terms of Clemson? Does it color your impression/expectation of Herbie’s professionalism? If you were his boss, would you want him calling Clemson games in the future? (Sadly, I have the feeling his boss sees that as a feature, not a bug.) How about when he argues for which teams should be in the CFP?
Again, just curious what you think.
Get The Picture 
It’s going to be real hard to ignore that argument trickling in whether Kirk can be truly impartial or not. I worry more about Kirk’s 90 degree turns on CFB issues than I do his impartiality. People love to call him an OSU homer, but I think he’s pretty fair overall in respect to his Alma Mater. The quality of his analysis can be puzzling sometimes, but I don’t think impartiality is as big of an issue for him as some claim.
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LMAO The man walked off the set when Bama was chosen over OSU for the playoff in 2018.
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I can bet people will be calling him out if Clemson doesn’t win the ACC and he starts pimping for them as a 1-loss team.
Of course, Clemson plays in the ACC … they aren’t going to lose a conference game.
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I think they play at Syracuse this year, so… maybe?
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Good one
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I just see this as a proud father bragging on his son. Herbie’s impartiality is already so suspect, I can’t see this making it any worse.
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Good take, Mark.
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maybe it’s just me…..proud papa should tell his son face to face, not a twitter feed
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^ This! So much this.
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If Clemson meets tOSU in the playoffs, will Herbstreit be struck dumb or spontaneously combust?
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That Herbie’s a dick.
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Herbie does Ohio State games so, why not Clemson. My impression is he’s fairly even handed on the air. What bothers me is his partisan lobbying for or against certain teams for playoff selection and how he changes his position to benefit the teams he favors.
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I’d be more concerned if his kids were scholarship players with high expectations. Not that he wouldn’t want their team to win (what dad wouldn’t), but i’m not terribly worried about it when they may not even make the dress list, particularly for road games.
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The header says his twin sons are walking on, but I only see a reference to one, Tye Herbstreit. Is there a second one? Not that it matters as far as the bias concern comes into play.
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Has Herbstreit ever really been professional in his commentary? He’s fine doing color during a game, but there’s always seemed to be a self-serving element to his general college football commentary, at least as it pertained to Ohio State. I guess Clemson can get most favored program status now.
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I know all the money in the sport now kind of changes things, but this really shouldn’t be an issue at all. It is just a game.
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This is a dangerous sentiment that I cannot abide!
Just a game? SMH….
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I’ve been to a heckuva lot of college campuses. Not sure I’d be bragging about my kids going to Clemson. Just imagine the looks he’ll get at the neighbor’s BBQ when talk rolls around to their kids at ACC schools like Duke, UVA, VT, UNC, etc.
I guess Herbie’s kids aren’t the brightest bulbs, and just want to be associated with the football program. Academics is an afterthought. You would think with Herbie’s bucks the kids could go to a good school.
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Clemson is a top 25 public. Higher than Va Tech.
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While it is difficult to un-hear his spectacular flip flop from 2006-2007’s BCS discussions, he is now swallowed by the countless number of similar examples of public figures who do this regularly on issues far more important. ESPN has become the poster child of biased “journalism” in the arena of sports coverage, Herbie is mild compared to others in his own employer’s line up.
This situation with his sons will put him under a spotlight when it comes to his comments regarding Clemson going forward, but few listeners will feel he has any more influence getting Clemson into a playoff than he has had with ohio. The committee will ignore him; it is ESPN’s drive to get a geographical balance in the playoff bracket that concerns me more. We all know that Clemson has an edge due to their strength relative to the conference they play in, until that changes you can pencil the Tigers into one of those four positions early in the season. Clemson is a more certain participant than Bama at this point. (And the proud papa is right about the culture Dabo has created with his program, it does look like a more fun place to play than the other top contenders. I don’t begrudge him publicly acknowledging them at all, good on them, and the parents.)
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“ohio”…I see what you did there, Mac.
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I don’t have a problem with it personally, and I can understand him bring proud of his sons. The Herbie of today is a far cry from the one from 10-15 years ago, when he openly cheered for OSU against Miami in the ’01 MNC and cried on set after OSU was humiliated by UF in the ’06 game.
He’s far more objective and balanced now, and while he’ll certainly be rooting for Clemson, he’ll still remain objective I’m sure. Hell, after all, everyone will be waiting for him to show the slightest favoritism towards Clemson, so that alone will keep him in check.
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Since Herbie got roasted (and rightfully so) for his tOSU–Michigan rematch boner back in ’06, I think he’s been remarkably even-handed with regards to the Buckeyes and the B1G in general. In general, I think ESPN’s booth announcers do a pretty good job of staying impartial even they played or coached for one of the teams involved.
I think the bigger problem is the in-studio analysts. Here I’m thinking of Lou Holtz generously sunshine-pumping for any program he ever coached, or Danny Kanell carrying water for the ACC and slagging any and every non-ACC team in the process. But that’s probably not going to change until ESPN stops viewing “the guys you love to hate!” as a winning marketing angle.
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Damn, has that boy EVER even been to Clemmons? (yes I know how to spell, Clemmons sounds more appropriate for that God forsaken place and it rhymes with lemons) The ONLY thing Clemmons has going for it is the lake which is the only thing that separates it from just being another Auburn!!!
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Pretty sure it’s “Clem’s son.”
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I’m purty sure there’s a p in there.. Clemp’s son.
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I waffle back and forth between Clemmins and Clempsun, although I usually go with the latter.
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It doesn’t bother me a bit.
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The thing about Herbie that bothers me the most is when I have to listen to him blather on during a game. The guy won’t shut up.
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I mean, he’s no Jesse Palmer, that’s for sure.
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IMO, commentating could be revitalized if they admitted who they are pulling for. As well as simply not talking when there is nothing to say of course.
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Tye? That’s the kid’s name?
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I think I would keep a very close eye on how Kirk’s tv personality could impact recruiting violations. If he happens to run his mouth about future prospects by name at the wrong time it could get ugly.
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Comments being funky. My below response was for this post.
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Yeah something’s kinda wonky today. Anybody else having to fill in the name and e-mail fields every time you post?
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For the next couple seasons it’s not going to matter. I don’t see Clemson losing.
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It has already happened with Ohio State recruits.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Ohio State had to back off the recruitment of five-star defensive end Micah Parsons after a recruiting violation. Herbstreit was at the center of this mishap because the violation involved Parsons visiting the College GameDay set and taking pictures with both Herbstreit and Eddie George.
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/12/kirk-herbstreit-ohio-state-recruits-lost-clemson-penn-state-violation-defense-micah-parsons-jackson-carman-espn-gameday
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This is HORRIBLE!! Those little kids jumping around the GameDay set are now 18?! Oh I’m old…
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What Kirk says has no relevance for me.
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I know this didn’t happen in the age of social media but Bob Griese called Michigan games when his son Brian was the starting QB.
I also remember a time when Frank Broyles and Vince Dooley called games when they were Athletic Directors – not sure if that would fly now or not.
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