UFC Atlanta results: Rose Namajunas fends off submission scare, overwhelms Miranda Maverick
In doing so, Namajunas (14-7) successfully rebounded from her loss to Erin Blanchfield this past November and moved to 3-1 over her past four bouts in the flyweight division.
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The judges saw the bout 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, all in Namajunas' favor.
"I was a little more surprised with how [many] more chances she took than in practice," Namajunas, 32, said post-fight. "She was more tentative in practice, but she fought like a dog, so I really respect that."
Maverick (15-6) entered the bout on a four-fight win streak and hoped to use Namajunas' cache as a former champion as a springboard into title contention in a deep UFC flyweight division. But "Thug Rose" had other plans, taking the early lead with an array of well-timed kicks from distance, bolstered by her usual smart movement and efficient shot selection inside the pocket.
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After a methodical first round, the action picked up in a second as Namajunas secured a quick takedown then gradually worked to Maverick's back and snuck in a rear-naked choke. In a wild sequence, Maverick, 27, bided her time then exploded up and escaped, reversing position straight into an arm-triangle choke attempt. Namajunas gamely fended off the unexpected danger, however the hard-charging Canadian used the round's final seconds to turn the tide with a flurry of big punches from Namajunas' back.
Namajunas, however, was undeterred.
The former champion immediately retook control in the opening stages of the third round, planting Maverick onto the floor with a piston-fast counter left hand then swarming with big ground-and-pound punches. And that was ultimately all Namajunas needed, as she slickly reversed any of Maverick's escape attempts and rode out the round in control from top position.
Maverick appeared to have an injured left leg following the conclusion of the bout.
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"My game plan was to throw lots of combinations and to get her on her back heels, and get her to not think that I was just going to strike with her," Namajunas said, adding that a shot at the UFC flyweight title remains her immediate goal.
Widely considered one of the most greatest strawweights of the all time, Namajunas owns two victories over current UFC strawweight champion — and Uncrowned's No. 1 pound-for-pound women's fighter — Weili Zhang, as well as two prior victories over UFC Hall of Famer Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Since losing her flyweight debut in late 2023 against Manon Fiorot, "Thug Rose" has found a footing in the division with wins over Amanda Ribas, Tracy Cortez and now Maverick.
Catch full UFC Atlanta results, highlights and play-by-play of the main card here.
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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘No Colon, Still Rollin'': Cass Bargell, US scrum-half and ostomy advocate, sets sights on World Cup
A few years ago, Cass Bargell gave a Ted Talk at Harvard, the same university where she studied integrative biology and played scrum-half, helping the Crimson to a national 15s title and earning nominations for US player of the year. Onstage, visibly nervous, she clutched a rugby ball as if for emotional support. 'I dropped the ball,' she says, laughing. 'They edited it out.' Bargell didn't drop the ball with her talk, which offered a compelling account of her traumatic experience with ulcerative colitis and her extraordinary recovery. It all began in late 2020, with alarming symptoms. Bargell kept playing through quickening pain but eventually, in November 2021, underwent ileostomy surgery to remove her colon and create a stoma, an opening in her abdomen to allow waste to pass. Just a few months later Bargell was back playing rugby, the sport she found as a middle-schooler in Summit, Colorado, as aggressive as ever but now wearing an ostomy bag. The title of her Ted Talk sums up her determination and her emergence as an advocate for life after surgery: No Colon, Still Rollin'. She has told her remarkable tale many times, including to former NFL Man of the Year and fellow patient Rolf Benirschke, for The Phoenix, official magazine of the United Ostomy Associations of America. But now, at 25 and eight times capped, Bargell is about to step onto the biggest stage of all – the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup in England, where the US kick-off against the hosts on Friday. Speaking to the Guardian, she said that though life with an ostomy had not 'gotten any easier … I think I've gotten a lot better at handling it. 'I think some things have actually gotten harder, in some ways. The longer I've had it, the more it feels like this daunting thing that's gonna go on for ever. And I think I have, like, those big emotional moments, but I'm a lot better at handling it day to day. 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But if we're in training and we're doing a drill … where we come up and hit each other and then backpedal, reload, come up at each other again, backpedal, reload, just like working on the constant up and back, as the attacker I was just getting hit straight in the bag over and over and over, and I was like, this never happens to me in a game, and I'm really uncomfortable. 'I wasn't hurt from it or anything. I just was like, that's wearing my bag down more than I need. And my coaches are like, perfect. 'No problem. You'll hold the pad next time.' So then everyone was in the line and I just had a [tackle] pad, and it was fine. 'So it's not like I love getting hit in the bag repetitively. It's just that when it happens, it's not a big deal. I also feel like my right fend has gotten much stronger since I got my ostomy. I don't like people getting that close, so when I can avoid it, I do.' She laughs again, and switches from hand-offs to helping hands, saluting the influence of Ilona Maher, the US center, Olympic sevens medalist and social media star who has fired global interest in the women's game. 'Ilona, the version you see on the internet is how she is,' Bargell says. 'She's, like, a fun, big personality. And also everything she says about there needs to be more stars [in women's rugby] and we need to lift more women up, she lives that and walks it with us. She's helped me so much with sharing my story, with all the social media stuff and everything she talks about in that world. 'On the field, she's fast and she's powerful and she's strong and she can pass, and she brings so much to our team. I love training with her. She's also a really strong organizer, which I don't think people can always see, but she does communicate a lot and helps us all.' 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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
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Efton Chism III to trouble for Russell Wilson: NFL preseason storylines that actually matter
Most of the preseason is noise. Starters sit. Teams don't game plan. Coaches roll out bland schemes, evaluating their own roster rather than attacking the opposition. But there are always some threads that have a real, actual bearing on the regular season. Here are five storylines that look like they will matter in 2025. Jaxson Dart The Giants entered the year with a well reasoned quarterback plan. They would use 36-year-old Russell Wilson as a bridge starter until first-round pick Jaxson Dart was ready, probably somewhere around mid-season. Well, it appears that Dart is ready now. The rookie completed 14-of-16 passes for 137 yards with a passing touchdown and rushing score against the Jets in his second preseason game, building on a solid performance in his debut. Brian Daboll has done what good coaches should do: he has met Dart halfway. Rather than drowning his rookie in a complex system, Daboll has ported over big chunks of Dart's college playbook. It's Ole Miss concepts with pro gloss, designed to get Dart comfortable. The early returns have been promising. Dart does look comfortable in the pocket. He has been fine with the speed of the game. For a rookie starter, those are the first two boxes to check off. By making his offense as Dart-friendly as possible, Daboll has given the quarterback a platform to flash his arm talent. In his second outing, Dart didn't make as many 'wow' throws, but he showed a stronger grasp of the Giants' offense. Wilson, meanwhile, has been fine. Good in spurts. But he's the same old Russ we saw in Pittsburgh: capable of hitting beautiful strikes down the field, but limited in attacking the shorter and intermediate parts. With Dart in the lineup, the Giants can threaten every area of the field. He is a fearless deep-ball thrower and a genuine rushing threat, even if he's sometimes a danger to himself. The offense has also taken on a different rhythm with the rookie in the lineup. With Wilson under center, the Giants have looked mechanical and laborious. When Dart has taken over, the operation has been slicker, with Daboll ratcheting up the tempo. Running such a slim, up-tempo system won't be enough to navigate a full season, but it's enough of a starting point to chuck the rookie in until he can come to terms with a broader playbook. Daboll insists there is no competition. 'Russ is our starter. We're going to keep developing Jaxson,' Daboll said this week. That's understandable; Daboll wants to keep pressure off a first-year player and has a ready-made vet who could squeeze out a couple of wins until Dart can run a more sophisticated scheme. But Dart has shown enough in preseason that he should be chucked into the deep end for Week 1. The only reason to mess around with Wilson is to try to eke out a couple of wins so that the coaching staff and front office can keep their jobs. The Patriots' rookie class No, your eyes are not deceiving you. 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The injection of weapons is good news for Drake Maye, who was forced to throw to the weakest crop of receivers in the league as a rookie. Related: I played in the NFL. Outrage over male cheerleaders is really about attempts to control masculinity It's not just the receiving corps, either. If we're handing out preseason MVP awards, rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson would be near the top of the standings. Henderson was initially tabbed as a third-down specialist. He was a prolific receiver at Ohio State and the best pass-protecting running back in the rookie class. But Henderson has been given a full run with the offense in preseason, showing he can anchor the early-down run game, return kicks and add some juice to the passing attack. The Patriots needed their draft class to hit after last season's debacle, in which they ended the season 4-13. So far, so good this time around. Bills defense Buffalo spent the offseason fortifying their defensive line. But the preseason has exposed issues on the back end of the defense. The Bears roasted the Bills' backups in the second week of preseason, with three quarterbacks throwing for a combined 357 yards and two touchdowns. Being lit up by Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson is one thing; being shredded by Tyson Bagent and Austin Reed should set off a five-alarm fire. All over the league, teams look short at corner. The Eagles, Chiefs and other top contenders are scratching around for starters or backups in their secondary. But the Bills have three worries: who will start opposite Christian Benford at cornerback? What's the ideal safety tandem? Do they have enough depth? Sean McDermott is one of the league's best coaches when it comes to working with the secondary. He can find no-names and turn them into impactful starters. When McDermott starts grousing about a group, you know you're in trouble. And the coach has taken sporadic shots at his safety room throughout the preseason. That includes 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop, who was slated to be a starter this season. 'Cole has missed quite a bit of time … It remains to be seen what he is truly able to do for us,' McDermott said after the Bears' trouncing. 'We're getting short on time.' There are concerns at cornerback, too. Rookie first-round pick Maxwell Hairston is dealing with an injury, pushing the returning Tre'Davious White into the starting lineup. Behind White, it's slim pickings. And at the safety spots, the Bills are relying on Bishop or Damar Hamlin to become consistent starters. For most teams, a secondary shortage would be a concern. For the Bills, it's borderline existential. Depth matters. The Bills played the fewest snaps in base defense last season (three linebackers) and led in their use of dime defense (six defensive backs). That's McDermott's vision for the defense. To hit those rates, the Bills need seven or eight reliable players in the secondary, given the potential for injuries and suspensions. Right now, they have one: Benford. Few teams are operating with as much urgency as Buffalo. Every year with Josh Allen in his prime is Super Bowl or bust. Last season, they were undone by a misfiring pass rush. They tried to address that in the offseason, but now look woefully short in the secondary. Isaac TeSlaa's breakout Lions general manager Brad Holmes has done it again. The Lions traded up to grab Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa in the third round of the draft, taking him 98 spots before the consensus big board – a reliable indicator of draft value. Holmes and the Lions do things their own way, routinely selecting players a round or two before the consensus board has them slotted. On many of those picks, Holmes has been proven correct. But there was a twinge of being high on his own supply in the most recent draft, giving up two future third-round picks to move up 32 spots to select TeSlaa. It's just preseason, but the early signals suggest Holmes was right again. It's hard not to get caught up in the TeSlaa hype. The long, rangy receiver is a splash play waiting to happen. There is almost a languid feel to how he cuts across the field. But when he explodes, he's gone. TeSlaa offers a big target to Jared Goff, and he can play above the rim, leaping and plucking balls out of the clouds. TeSlaa's traits have translated into preseason production. He has grabbed 8 of his 11 targets, scoring two touchdowns and averaging 13.1 yards a catch. In college, TeSlaa was not a go-to target. He is still raw and inconsistent. But the Lions don't need him to be a volume player. With Amon-Ra St Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, Detroit have plenty of dependable weapons. TeSlaa will add extra pop to an already explosive unit. At this point, it's almost unfair. Indy's quarterback competition Nothing can sap the energy out of a fanbase like a quarterback competition featuring Daniel Jones. The only thing less inspiring may be Jones winning one. Jones has been named the Colts' starter over Anthony Richardson despite a blah preseason showing. The Colts opened the preseason with a plan to give the two QBs an equal number of drives and reps to decide who would be the team's starter. The plan was for Richardson to take the bulk of snaps in the first week, with Jones getting the majority in the second week. That idea dissolved when Richardson went down with a hand injury on the first drive of the preseason and Jones entered the lineup. Shane Steichen reset in Week 2, flipping his approach and giving Richardson the game time he was intended to receive in the opening week. But it was telling that Jones, who took fewer snaps, still received more reps with the Colts' starting offense. Snap by snap, there was little to split the two. Richardson remains all upside and volatility, while Jones was steadier. Does anything scream Daniel Jones louder than an 11-play, 77-yard drive that ends in a field goal? Does anything say Anthony Richardson like producing the throw of the preseason (called back for a flag) after butchering a snap and blowing two pre-snap protection checks? It's funny, in a sense, that Jones is the quarterback painted as the stabilizing force. He finished with 42 interceptions and 50 fumbles in 69 starts with the Giants, producing one of the highest turnover rates in the league. Like Richardson, Jones is a volatile quarterback, albeit one in dink-and-dunk clothing. Picking between the two came down to trust. 'It's everything,' Steichen said about choosing a starter. 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New York Times
7 minutes ago
- New York Times
The 25 most impactful play-by-play voices of the 21st century
We live in the greatest era of sports TV play-by-play voices. The ability to describe what we see in front of us, coupled with advances in technology that allow for deeper insight into a sport, has created an environment where viewers are better served than ever before by the people in the TV booth or courtside. Advertisement The list of talented play-by-play voices cuts across all sports, it covers national and local broadcasts, and the profession has become more inclusive as evidenced by women (Lisa Byington, Jenny Cavnar, Tiffany Greene, Beth Mowins, Kate Scott, etc.) finding play-by-play assignments in men's sports. Broadcasters do not impact viewership numbers, but they are essential for how you process and enjoy a televised sporting event. The Athletic has published many pieces over the last couple of months featuring 'top 25' lists on topics covering the last 25 years, and we now add to that compilation with our take on the 25 most impactful play-by-play broadcasters over the last 25 years. Again, this list is specific to play-by-play broadcasters, so you won't find analysts such as Charles Barkley or John Madden here. (That will be a separate list, coming soon.) The list below is entirely subjective. Let me repeat that again: It is subjective. It is also not ranked. The value set I used was calling events featuring mass audiences and the professionalism, preparation and (my subjective) quality of a broadcaster. There are a near-infinite amount of great local play-by-play voices working today such as Merrill Reese, Gary Cohen, Eric Collins and Jason Benetti (and some who have passed over the last 25 years, including Harry Kalas), and they have had massive impact on their fan bases. But when I thought of the word 'impact,' I went for a broad audience. I also limited announcers who work primarily outside of the United States because I have not heard enough of them. (The great Canadian hockey announcer Bob Cole and English football commentator Martin Tyler would fit here.) Jim Durham, a brilliant NBA game-caller who served as ESPN Radio's lead play-by-play commentator for both the regular season and NBA Finals and was so good with Dr. Jack Ramsay and then Hubie Brown, just missed out. I look at Greg Gumbel as more impactful as a studio host. Advertisement I think it's important to have a separate paragraph to honor Vin Scully. The poet of summer, a master sports painter with an endless supply of stories, Scully is arguably the most beloved media figure in baseball history. He worked locally on Dodgers broadcasts during our 21st century time frame so that's why I did not include him below, though those with access to Dodgers games were treated to someone who remained at the top of his profession. Scully died at age 94 in 2022, and no sports broadcaster in our lifetimes will have a similar impact. Michael Cole and Jim Ross also get a mention here. Yes, pro wrestling is not a sport; it is scripted athletic entertainment. But Cole and Ross fall under the aegis of play-by-play broadcasters for me and they delivered with verve and passion for their audience. Think about how many millions of people have heard their wrestling calls since 2000 between WWE/WWF, WCW, New Japan Pro Wrestling and AEW. Some new-school fans might suggest Brandon Gaudin, the voice of Madden NFL for EA Sports, as an impactful broadcaster. That is an interesting thought. One of the toughest calls was to figure out where (or if) to rank some of the all-time greats who only worked a couple of years after 2000. That eliminated (for me) broadcasters such as Keith Jackson, who would easily make my list of all-time play by play voices. Ultimately, we were working with just 25 names, so talented broadcasters such as Adam Amin, Brian Anderson, Michael Grady, Tom Hammond, Dave Pasch, Jon Sciambi and Gary Thorne would be deserving on other lists. Dick Stockton also deserves a similar shoutout here. The hope is that if I did this list again in 2050 (or even 2030), we would see far more women and broadcasters of color on the list at the national level because of their play-by-play impact over the next 25 years. Below, my choices, listed in alphabetical order (and when you're done reading my list, have your say in this reader poll): Kenny Albert Years Active: 2000- You might not immediately think of Albert given some of the other names on this list, but his versatility at the national level is astounding. Albert estimates he has called close to 1,500 nationally televised games during his career and his high-profile moments since 2000 include calling Alex Ovechkin's 895th career NHL goal, and Jose Bautista's epic bat flip following his go-ahead, three-run homer in Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series. Last June marked the third time Albert served as the lead broadcaster for a Stanley Cup Final. Advertisement Marv Albert Years Active: 2000-2022 His move from NBC to TNT Sports in 2002 solidified the network's NBA coverage, giving the company a marquee voice. Albert's ability to work with his partners, using humor and sarcasm, set the standard for others to follow when it came to in-game chemistry. Yes, he wasn't the same broadcaster at the end of the run, but he made Turner's NBA games feel big for most of his time there. Joe Buck Years Active: 2000- It's been great to see Buck get increased recognition over the past decade. His resume is spectacular as far as impactful events. He was the lead NFL play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports for nearly three decades, including calling Super Bowls XXXIX, XLII, XLV, XLVIII, LI and LIV and 18 NFC Championships. Buck called 22 World Series for Fox from 2000 to 2021, including the Cubs' first World Series win since 1908. He has, of recent vintage, solidified ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' booth with longtime partner Troy Aikman. Mike Breen Years active: 2000- Breen's voice has been the soundtrack for multiple generations of NBA fans. Here is an astounding figure — he just called his 20th straight NBA Finals, the most any play-by-play voice has done consecutively. Breen has had so many iconic calls ('BANG!') over the years but perhaps his most memorable one is the 'Blocked by James' call from Game 7 of the 2016 finals. Lisa Byington Years active: 2007- Byington made broadcasting history in 2021 by becoming the first female full-time play-by-play broadcaster for a major men's professional sports team, the Milwaukee Bucks. This kind of ceiling-breaking has real impact and we have seen other women hired since to call major men's pro sports teams. Four years earlier she became the first female play-by-play voice for a football game on BTN. Along with the Bucks, Byington calls games for the WNBA's Chicago Sky and works for CBS as a March Madness voice. Andrés Cantor Years Active: 2000- Last April officially marked Cantor's 25th year with Telemundo, and his passionate run has influenced soccer fans in America in two languages. Of course, there is the iconic 'GOOOOL!' call that made him cross over into popular culture, but his resume is stacked with so many events, including World Cups, Olympic soccer and qualifiers. Listen to his call of Argentina winning the World Cup final. Or Carli Lloyd's hat trick at the 2015 World Cup. Ian Darke Years Active: 2000- ESPN bringing Darke in to call the 2010 World Cup proved to be one of the most incisive moves for soccer broadcasting in the U.S. His calls of U.S. national team games — and World Cup matches — gave those telecasts real gravitas. No one blinks anymore if you hear a British accent calling games on an American network. Darke's signature moment was his call on ESPN of Landon Donovan's winning goal against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup group stage. Ian Eagle Years Active: 2000- For me, Eagle is the best NBA broadcaster working today and you'll hear him on Amazon Prime Video when the streamer debuts its NBA coverage this fall. He's provided exceptional work as CBS's No. 2 NFL play-by-play announcer, first with Dan Fouts and then with Charles Davis, and as the new lead voice of the network's men's Final Four coverage. He's also had a significant role calling major events for Westwood One Sports as well as the YES Network (for the Nets). Advertisement Mike Emrick Years Active: 2000-2020 No sports broadcaster ever did frantic better than 'Doc' Emrick, which made him perfect for a sport played at top speed. He called an estimated 3,750 professional and Olympic hockey games, 22 Stanley Cup Finals and 45 Stanley Cup postseason Game 7s during his career and served as he lead announcer for the NHL on Versus and the NHL on NBC from 2005 to 2020. Emrick also called the most-watched hockey game in 40 years — the 2010 Vancouver Olympics gold medal game between the USA and Canada which drew 27.6 million viewers. Dick Enberg Years Active: 2000-2016 Oh my! One of the all-time great sports broadcasting voices, Enberg worked for CBS from 2000 to 2014 on a variety of sports, most notably the NFL, college basketball and US Open tennis coverage. He helped give ESPN's tennis coverage gravitas when he served as a play-by-play announcer for the majors for a couple of years. He concluded his career by calling his hometown San Diego Padres for seven seasons through 2016. Chris Fowler Years Active: 2000- Fowler has called every college football national championship since 2015 and that alone would put him on this list given where college football sits in the public consciousness. He is currently ESPN's lead voice for its most important college football game each week and prior to his game calling, he helped build the sport's most iconic studio show ('College GameDay'). Personally, I think Fowler's best sport is tennis, where he has developed into an exceptional game-caller since vaulting into ESPN's No. 1 for majors early in the 2010s. Kevin Harlan Years Active: 2000- A broadcaster with such versatility that sports fans have experienced him in multiple ways, from his memorable NBA calls ('LeBron James, with no regard for human life!') with Turner Sports, to his NFL work for CBS to calling more Super Bowls on the radio than any other broadcaster in history, to his NCAA Tournament work. His play-by-play call of a fan on the field during a 'Monday Night Football' Rams-49ers game in 2016 is one of the great broadcaster moments of this century. Gus Johnson Years Active: 2000- Johnson is an excitement machine who, in the manner of Brent Musburger, has an instinctive ability to get you excited about what's in front of you. He's been gone from the NCAA Tournament for awhile now but Johnson called March Madness for CBS from 1996 to 2011 and was the perfect announcer for that tournament's last-second, one-and-done paradigm. He had a brief spell of being Fox's lead broadcaster for international soccer. Since 2011, he's been Fox's lead on its college football coverage (he and Joel Klatt call the biggest game in the noon ET window), which makes him the voice of massive games each year including Ohio State-Michigan. He also leads Fox's college basketball coverage. Mike Joy Years Active: 2000- Joy has been the voice of Fox's NASCAR's television coverage for multiple generations of racing fans and is one of the faces of America's biggest race each year — the Daytona 500. Joy has been on the mic for many memorable NASCAR moments including the 2001 Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlalanta when NASCAR rookie Kevin Harvick, driving as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s replacement driver for Richard Childress Racing, held off Jeff Gordon for victory. Jim Lampley Years Active: 2000- The voice of HBO's boxing coverage and the soundtrack for so many big moments in the ring. His 2000s work included the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin, Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales and Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward battles. Advertisement Verne Lundquist Years Active: 2000-2024 The soundtrack for so many iconic sports moments, from Jack Nicklaus' 17th-hole birdie putt at the 1986 Masters ('Yes, sir!') to Tiger Woods' famed chip at No. 16 at the 2005 Masters ('In your life, have you seen anything like that?!') to Auburn's kick-six in the 2013 Iron Bowl ('An answered prayer!'). He finally got to lead a package when CBS offered Lundquist the play-by-play role for SEC football in 2000. His voice helped usher in the SEC's explosion nationally, and it changed how sports fans saw him, too. Sean McDonough Years Active: 2000- He might be the most underrated national broadcaster, given you forget how many sports he's called — and how many amazing moments we have experienced through his voice. The last 25 years have included a six-overtime basketball game in 2009 between UConn and Syracuse; the 2015 Michigan State-Michigan college football game, and the remarkable Canada-U.S. 4 Nations Face-Off final from this year. McDonough is ESPN's lead NHL game-caller today and still has a major role in college football. He also was the lead game-caller for 'Monday Night Football' from 2016 to 2018. Jon Miller Years Active: 2000- Now the voice of the San Francisco Giants regionally, Miller was the lead voice of ESPN's 'Sunday Night Baseball' (mostly working with Joe Morgan) for 21 seasons, including from 2000 to 2010. During his tenure at ESPN, he broadcast 13 consecutive World Series on ESPN Radio, including from 2000 to 2010. His work nationally was exceptional, and he was so good that he muted some of Morgan's get-off-my-lawn tendencies. Beth Mowins Years Active: 2000- A pioneering career who opened the door for other women to call play-by-play in men's sports, her call of the Chargers and Broncos during the 2017 NFL season was the first time in 30 years that a woman was a play-by-play announcer for a regular-season NFL game. In 2021 Mowins became the first woman to call an NBA game on ESPN. She began calling college football for ESPN in 2005 and has been the voice of the Women's College World Series for 31 years. Mowins helped build women's college basketball at ESPN as a broadcast entity and called the Women's Final Four in 2016. Brent Musberger 2000-2022 You are looking live at someone whose voice called signature event after signature event for ESPN in the early part of this 21st century window. Musburger worked for ESPN through 2017 and called seven BCS National Championship games, the Little League World Series, a multitude of NBA games, including the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio, and many other assignments. His play-by-play career ended in 2022 after four years of serving as the radio voice of the NFL's Raiders. Jim Nantz Years Active: 2000- As the sports face of CBS, Nantz has been the soundtrack for multiple generations of sports fans for the NFL, college basketball and PGA Golf. Last year he called his 500th NFL game, the first CBS broadcaster to reach that mark as an NFL play-by-play announcer. All seven of his Super Bowl calls have come since 2000. His end calls at The Masters will stand the test of time for a sport that caters to history. Brad Nessler Years Active: 2000- Despite his great pipes and an on-air manner that feels like a comfortable sofa, it might surprise you how many major properties Nessler has called since 2000. A sampling: He replaced Lundquist in 2017 to become the national voice of SEC Football on CBS. He's done the NCAA Tournament for CBS, Saturday primetime college football for ESPN and ABC; major college basketball games for ESPN; and the NFL Network's 'Thursday Night Football.' He even called the the 2003 NBA Finals for ABC/ESPN alongside Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert. Advertisement Dan Shulman Years Active: 2000- ESPN has curtailed its baseball coverage in recent years, but Shulman was ESPN's main MLB voice for much of the last 25 years, including the voice of the World Series on ESPN Radio from 2011 to 2022 and the lead gamecaller for ESPN's 'Sunday Night Baseball' from 2011 t0 2017, working with Bobby Valentine, Orel Hershiser, Terry Francona, Curt Schilling, John Kruk, Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone. He's also spent the past 25 years calling college basketball for ESPN, pairing famously with Dick Vitale for many North Carolina-Duke games. Up north, Shulman is the main television voice for Sportsnet's coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays. Joe Tessitore Years Active: 2000- Tessitore has called so many fourth-quarter comebacks and crazy last-second endings that a name developed for a close game when he was on the mic — 'The Tess Effect.' He was the voice of 'Monday Night Football' during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In my opinion: Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe formed one of the best three-person teams in college football broadcasting history. Mike Tirico Years Active: 2000- One of the most impressive feats for a top play-by-play broadcaster is the ability to sustain a high level of excellence no matter the sport. Tirico just completed his third season as the play-by-play voice of NBC's 'Sunday Night Football' and was recently tagged to lead NBC's upcoming NBA game coverage. (This is separate from his role as the company's preeminent sports host). During his 25 years at ESPN, Tirico called 'Monday Night Football' (2016-2025), The Masters, NBA, college football, college basketball, the World Cup, and tennis' U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Now that you've seen the full list of 25, have your say: Vote on your top 5 and your No. 1 overall favorite here. (Illustration: Kelsea Peterson / The Athletic; Chris Condon / Getty, Mitchell Lef / Getty, Ric Tapia / Getty, Porter Binks / Getty) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
