All those hilarious #ironbowlgamedaysigns ideas you came up with? You might have to leave the ones with the Harvey Updyke jokes at home.
According to an Auburn student assisting the GameDay crew this afternoon, an ESPN production assistant said GameDay “wasn’t allowing [signs referencing Updyke] in the GameDay area (outside Jordan-Hare Stadium) to be on TV.”
We asked ESPN to confirm whether or not Updyke-related signs would be censored from the College GameDay broadcast and received a statement from Keri Potts, a director in ESPN’s communications department:
“We are consistent at every GameDay site in that we effort to keep the GameDay signs in our set location college football and college sports-themed. We try to prevent any call to action or promotional signs as the show is not an avenue for outside advertisers or the general public to promote their causes or interests.”
We’re not sure if a “Harvey Updyke poisoned my other sign” sign constitutes a call to action from outside advertisers but we are sure about what Harvey Updyke would say if he thought his GameDay sign would be censored: “You think I care?”
UPDATE: Now we’re hearing (from ESPN ) that Auburn University officials may be the ones leading the anti-Updkye signage initiative. But nothing indicating as much has been released via the Athletic Department’s various Twitter accounts, press releases, etc.
Related: The incident on the GameDay set at the 1995 Iron Bowl / Erin Andrews at Toomer’s Corner / TWER’s ESPN GameDay crew interviews, Part I: Erin Andrews and David Pollack.
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Square this w ESPN’s decision to air “Roll Tide War Eagle”
That’s OK with me. ESPN has already given enough air time to that criminal.
ESPN makes Harvey Updyke the main character in the “R*** T*** War Eagle” program and then wants to censor Updyke signs at the Iron Bowl Gameday? How can Updyke not be related to college football and college sports when last year’s Iron Bowl pushed him over the edge. That makes as much sense as giving Bruce Feldman permission to work on book with Mike Leach and then suspending him for it while continuing to put Craig James on the air every week. Speaking of Craig James, interesting that Erin Andrews mentioned him. I would have loved to hear what she thinks about the near-universal dislike of him by the public. Of course, ESPN probably wouldn’t allow any of its employees to speak their minds on that issue. I’m boycotting Gameday tomorrow. (Actually, I wouldn’t be going anyway because I hate getting up early enough to get to Auburn that early, but I feel better saying I’m boycotting.)
With Bama on an NC run, dont want to smear their own product any more. The RT WE thing was in production long before recent developments
I really hope our fans are loud, proud, raucous, LOUD etc but with class. We have better people than they do.
As much as I’d like to see Harvey hauled up on the Gameday site and cut open like William Wallace, I think we should just loudly cheer our team and let the the other side do the moronic stuff.
Of course if they try to roll the trees as the rumor goes, all bets are off.
WDE
JB
Well we have been at Gameday since around 8 and we have seen TPB remove at least two signs. One referenced Bammers illiterate qualities (I was going to make a sign and then I rememeberd Bammers can’t read).One was removed by what looked like a Gameday official and the other was removed by a white shirt “Event Staff” bouncer.
erin andrews is to high on herself to let anyone even put her name on any gameday signs. what a looser