{"id":83886,"date":"2020-07-27T15:29:55","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=83886"},"modified":"2023-03-01T21:50:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T21:50:26","slug":"christian-odjanski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/christian-odjanski\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Odjanski?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Imagine if you are the one responsible for starting ESPN\u2019s<\/a> basketball championship week AND their Bowl week for football.\u00a0 Imagine that many call you \u201cThe Father of March Madness\u201d.\u00a0 Then imagine that you are named as one of the four most influential people in all of college basketball by Sporting News.\u00a0 Continue to imagine that you are named as the Most Influential Person in college sports by College Sports Magazine.\u00a0 And, finally, imagine that almost no one can pronounce your name, let alone spell it correctly.\u00a0 In fact, imagine getting ready to sit down at an affair and your name plate says Christian Odjanski or you are being honored by the Alaska Television Network and presented with a Caribou Antler as a gift and your name is spelled incorrectly again.<\/p>\n

This all happened to Tom Odjakjian (O-jack-shee-an), a Lafayette<\/a> graduate of the class of 1976.\u00a0 This past week, Lafayette started a new series called Primetime Pards<\/em> and I had the pleasure to host it and interview Tom Odjakjian, currently the Senior Associate Commissioner of broadcasting and digital content for the American Athletic Conference<\/a>.\u00a0 He spent 13 years at ESPN.\u00a0 He has plenty of stories to tell.<\/p>\n

I have attached the interview \u2013 my talk with Tom starts at the 4:25 spot on the site.\u00a0 When he is done, a question and answer segment starts at the 49:45 mark.\u00a0 More good stories are a part of Tom\u2019s answers.\u00a0 Enjoy:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/17223-UDRJsQxVPPoG90aoVWyrRKNCHp4\/view?ts=5f18495e<\/a><\/p>\n

My next Primetime Pards<\/em> interview will occur in August with ESPN sports broadcaster and sports journalist Beth Mowins, Lafayette class of 1989.<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. As MLB<\/a> teams began play this week in front of cardboard cutouts, PA announcements, and crowd noise piped in, South Korea allowed spectators to return to professional sports. They allowed 10% of the stadium capacity; fans had to wear masks and remain socially distant.\u00a0 They could not eat food or drink any alcoholic beverage.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t being a fan mean eating and drinking at the ballpark?\u00a0 Small steps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. ESPN had their announcers in a studio to call the MLB baseball game between the Yankees<\/a> and the Nationals<\/a>. It will be interesting to see what the NFL<\/a> does.\u00a0 It is much, much harder to announce a football game if you are not at the game.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Who is Phil Gosselin? The little-known Phillie started his first full season with the Phillies<\/a> by going 3-3 with two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored in the 7-1 win over Miami on Saturday. If he keeps that up, he will be known by everyone!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Soon, sports fans will have some tough decisions to make: what to watch? The NHL<\/a>, NBA<\/a>, MLB, and later the NFL will all be playing at the same time.\u00a0 Throw in some college football and you may very well overtax both your head and your TIVO!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. The only place more fanatical than Pennsylvania about their high school football is Texas high school football. They made \u201cFriday Night Lights\u201d famous.\u00a0 Their high school season has been pushed back four weeks.\u00a0 What is next for PA?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. Imagine if you are the one responsible for starting ESPN\u2019s basketball championship week AND their Bowl week for football.\u00a0 Imagine that many call you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Odjanski? - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian Odjanski? - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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