ESPN announcers Dave O’Brien and Dan Dakich got twitter buzzing during the Indiana-Minnesota broadcast after a tease that a special guest would be at Indiana’s game Tuesday against Michigan State. Immediately, most IU fans tried to connect the dots to former IU coach Bob Knight.
As Dakich said on his radio show Monday, “IU fans lost their mind.”
Coach Knight wouldn’t come back to be inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame, or to honor the 1987 Championship team in a 25th anniversary celebration so why would he come back for this. Has he even mentioned IU on ESPN? Nope.
That’s definitely not the surprise. Remember it was an ESPN tease.
This week, analyst Jay Bilas will cover four games in four days, part of his “Gotta Go to Work Tour.” According to the release, “he will tip-off the tour in his usual Monday seat next to Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery,” as an analyst for No. 19 Notre Dame at No. 12 Georgetown.
Four games, four days, four different roles. That’s the special for Jay Bilas. He will serve as sideline reporter for No. 20 Indiana against No. 5 Michigan St on Tuesday. Mike Tirico will be calling his first game in Assembly Hall, joined by former IU player and coach Dan Dakich.
My guess is one game he’ll be the sideline reporter, the next from a coach’s perspective and another as a fan in the stands. He’s going to have some fun with it, that’s for sure.
And why not, he should do one of the games dressed as his favorite rapper, Young Jeezy. With Bilas, nothing would surprise me.