Brent Musburger’s recent two-year contract extension with ESPN is off to an awkward start.
During Saturday’s “Cowboys Classic” between Alabama and Michigan on ABC, the audio from Musburger cut out for approximately three seconds. When it was restored, broadcast partner Kirt Herbstreit was shown grinning mischievously, with Musburger apologizing for his “Freudian slip.”
When Deadspin’s Timothy Burke posted the video clip in question, a reader responded that Musburger had said “piss” when he meant to say “picks.” The faux pas had apparently not been edited out on the broadcast on British-based ESPN America.
Why the censorship of such a seemingly harmless word? Maybe, as Burke suggests, ESPN is still abiding by the late George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
