Both Desmond Howard and Paul Finebaum have been vocal on their stances about the Michigan sign-stealing allegations. However, Howard has shared his feelings about Finebaum, and they are not positive.

During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, the ESPN college football analyst had harsh criticism for Finebaum.

“Paul Finebaum is a caricature of a caricature of Paul Finebaum,”Howard said. “That’s what he is right now. You can’t take anything he says seriously. You just can’t. It’s like they march him out there, they pull the string in his back, and he just starts spewing negative things about Michigan. When a person does that repeatedly and you just know his shtick, you can’t take him seriously.”

Howard hasn’t been shy about defending his alma mater through the scandal. During an episode of College GameDay, the former Heisman Trophy winner told colleague Pete Thamel to “put your big boy pants on” after the reporter moved his segments on the program to inside Michigan Stadium after threats from Michigan fans were deemed credible enough that he was in danger.

Longtime Boston Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione was announced as the winner of the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award Wednesday, which is awarded by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to one broadcaster each year for excellence in the broadcasting medium.

However, the call from the Hall to Castiglione didn’t exactly go off without a hitch.

During an appearance on WEEI’s Gresh and Fauria after the announcement was made, Castiglione revealed he accidentally hung up on the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“They said, If you are the winner, we’ll call between 10:30 and 12 o’clock on the day of the announcement. If you’re not selected, you will hear nothing’,” Castiglione said. “And this morning, I was watching the clock. I tried to ride the exercise bike and stretch, and all those kinds of things to sort of divert attention. And then at 11:21, that call came in.

“People that know me know I’m a technical putz. And when the phone rang, I saw the 607 area code and knew it was Cooperstown. I figured that was the good news. But instead of hitting the speaker button so my family could hear it, I hit the red button that hung up on the call.”

As Gresh and Fauria laughed uproariously, Joe Castiglione explained the torture of the moment.

“It was the most agonizing 40 to 60 seconds for that call to come back that I’ve ever experienced,” he said.

Boston Red Sox radio play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione has been named the recipient of the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The longtime Red Sox voice, who has been working on the team’s radio broadcasts for the last 41 seasons, is set to be recognized for his excellence in broadcasting during the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Castiglione was on the ballot with nine other finalists, including Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper and Dan Shulman. With the honor, he is the 48th winner of the Award after earning the highest point total among the 15-member voting committee. In order to qualify for the award, one must be an active or retired broadcaster with a minimum of 10 years of continuous major-league broadcast experience either with a ballclub, network or combination thereof.

“Bringing knowledge and passion to the booth every day for more than four decades, Joe Castiglione has given voice to the greatest era of Red Sox success in the broadcast era,” Josh Rawitch, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “Starting with the team in 1983 in Carl Yastrzemski’s final season, Joe has connected generations of Red Sox fans with a delivery that has become part of the New England fabric. His calls of the team’s four World Series wins in the past 20 seasons provided fans with memories that will echo forever throughout Red Sox nation.”

After earning an undergraduate degree at Colgate University, Castiglione attended Syracuse University where he gained a master’s degree and worked several on-air broadcasting jobs. Upon his graduation, he began his career in Youngstown, Ohio with WFMJ-TV and went on to move to Cleveland to work for WKYC-TV and began calling Cleveland Indians games in 1979. In 1981, he worked for the Milwaukee Brewers before returning to Cleveland for the 1982 campaign. He joined the Red Sox broadcast team in 1983 and has remained a member ever since.

Castiglione is the longest-tenured broadcaster in the history of the Red Sox and has called various historic moments in team history, including World Series championships, 20-strikeout performances by Roger Clemens and four no-hitters. The home radio booth at Fenway Park was named in his honor in 2022 as part of a special ceremony. Outside of his radio endeavors, he has taught broadcast journalism courses at Emerson College, Franklin Pierce University and Emerson College.