Announcing a football game is probably a lot tougher than it looks. You've got to know all the players & coaches and be able to identify them quickly. You've got to know backstories and histories on both teams. You need to have an understanding of the bigger picture and how this game fits into it. And unless you're the team play-by-play guy, you probably go into the game with a very limited knowledge of most of these things.
So I don't think we expect TV announcers to be perfect. We do hope, at least, that they'll get the names of the players right. I think we can all agree that's a low bar we can set and feel good about trying to meet.
I don't know why this seems to be a very hard thing when it comes to Syracuse Orange athletes. I assume it must be special to us because I rarely see other fanbases complaining about the phenomena (or maybe we just complain a lot). Meanwhile we're over here with The Cooney Brothers, Joey McNamara, Ritchie Dene, Jeremiah Wilkes, CJ McCullough and Chris Christmas. It's so common there's a Twitterfeed dedicated to it.
Sometimes it's an association with another person (Gerry Cooney), sometimes it's a combination of two guys on the same team (Tyler Cooney) and sometimes it's just...who the hell knows (Terry Cooney).
So with that in mind, I thought it might be good to prepare ourselves for the coming annoyance. Let's run down the roster and figure out the most likely mispronunciations and flat-out incorrect names you'll be hearing from unprepared announcers all season long. Share your own picks in the comments below...
Julian Whigham: Julius Wiggans
Eric Dungey: Aaron Dunfy
Wayne Morgan: Morgan Wayne
Ervin Phillips: Arvin Phillps
Zaire Franklin: "Zay-ur" Franklin
A.J. Long: B.J. Long
Luke Arciniega: Lucas Archuleta
Austin Wilson: Steve Austin
Rodney Williams: Roger Williams
Kenterius Womack: Kenterus Wombat
Troy Green: Tim Green
Oliver Vigille: Ollie Vigill
Antwan Cordy: Antwon Corty
Steve Ishmael: Steve Israel
Brisly Estime: Brinsley Esstime
Sterling Hofrichter: Roger Sterling
Terrel Hunt: Tyrone Hunt
Trey Dunkelberger: Trey Drunkenburger
Corey Winfield: Dave Winfield
Ryan Norton: Ryan Nolan
Ron Thompson: Rod Thompson
Juwan Dowels: Jermaine Dows
Zack Mahoney: Officer Mahoney
Jamal Custis: Jerome Custer
Dontae Strickland: Rod Strickland
Daivon Ellison: David Elliott
Cordell Hudson: Cornell Hudson
Chauncey Scissum: Fauntleroy Scissors
Jordan Fredericks: Fred Jordans
Shyheim Cullen: Boeheim Cullen
Keilan Whitner: Kiley Whitney
Tyrone Perkins: Tyson Parsons
George Morris II: George Morris III
Christopher Frederick: Jordan Frederick
Devante McFarlane: DeMarcus Farlane
Parris Bennet: Parris Beret
Kyle Kleinberg: Kylie Kyleberg
Marqez Hodge: Marquise Hawes
Jacob Hill: Jake Hull
Eric Jackson: Eric Johnson
Alex Hodgkinson: Eric Hopkinson
Ted Taylor: Ty Tedler
Troy Henderson: Troy Harrelson
Eric Anthony: Anthony Erics
Jacob Green: Tim Green (too)
Joe Stanard: Jim Standard
Terrell Drayton: Terrence Dayton
P.J. Batten: BJ Patten
Matt Keller: Mike Keeler
Cole Murphy: Cain Murray
Alryk Perry: Eric Perry
John Raymon: Josh Raymond
Donnie Simmons: Ron Simmons
Kayton Samuels: KC Manuel
Lucas Albrecht: Luis Albright
Nathan Hines: Gregory Hines
Tyler Cross: Tyrese Crest
Rob Trudo: Ron Trumbo
Kenny Carter: Kenny Cotter
Omari Palmer: Omarion Palmer
Donnie Foster: Danny Foster
Hernz Laguerre: Heinz Laguna
Aaron Roberts: Aaron Robertson
Cody Conway: Cody Calloway
Samuel Clausman: Santa Clausman
Andrejas Duerig: Andrew During
Evan Adams: Adam Even
Rony Charles: Charlie Rene
Colin Byrne: Colin Hanks
Jamar McGloster: Jamal McGinley
Michael Lasker: Michael Lassiter
Nick Robinson: Robin Nickson
Keith Mitsuuchi: Kevin Mitsuzuki
Alex Hayes: Adam Hayes
Steven Clark: Steven Sark
Ivan Foy: Igor Fay
Jon Burton: Jack Burton (you know what he'd say at a time like this...)
Seamus Shanley: Sheamus O'Sanley
Denzel Ward: Denzel Washington
Keaton Darney: Kayton Daniels
Jason Emerich: Roland Emmerich
Anthony Giudice: Anthony "Gwa-dooch"
Taylor Hindy: Tyler Handy
Alvin Cornelius: Erving Cornelius
Sean Avant: Shane Ament
Ben Lewis: Parker Lewis
Nesean Crofford: Nasean Crawton
Adly Enoicy: Adlay Enoisy
Kendall Moore: Kimble Mare
Clay Austin: Wilson Austin
Josh Parris: Jess Purris
Cameron MacPherson: Macky MacPherson
Riley Dixon: Raylon Dawson
Qaadir Sheppard: Qatar Shipley
Chris Slayton: Christian Slay
Amir Ealey: Omar Easly
Jake Pickard: Jack Pickering