During a live broadcast of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Corso was ready to announce his pick to win the SMU vs. University of Houston game on 11/19. The analyst first picked up a UH megaphone before saying “F*** it” and then donned a giant Houston Cougar costume.
The slip caught Corso’s sidekicks Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and guest Carl Lewis completely off guard. Then all three began laughing uncontrollably.
“Glad there’s a delay,” Lewis said. The only problem…there isn’t one. Fowler followed: “Shame on you. Wash that mouth out.” 30 minutes later, Corso issued an apology.
“Earlier today on ‘College GameDay’ while picking the SMU-Houston game I got a bit excited and used an expletive that I shouldn’t have used. I apologize and can promise it won’t happen again,” he says.
Here’s the video: unedited.
And here’s the apology:
RBR-TVBR observation: Since a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit struck down the FCC’s current indecency rules as unconstitutional – re: fines for “fleeting expletives,” broadcasters have not had to fear these slips quite as much as in the past. The apology is probably the right thing to do, given that these slip-ups do not become a regular part of daytime and primetime TV content someday. However, Congress upped the penalty for violating the rules to $325,000 per incident–how’s that for vague?
Meanwhile, the NAB and RTNDA teamed to argue in a brief sent to the Supreme Court that the FCC’s discriminatory enforcement of indecency policy has a chilling effect on broadcast content and is unconstitutionally vague. They argued to affirm the Second Circuit finding against the FCC enforcement policy.
