When Texas Tech takes the field tonight against No. 17 Houston, Adam James, the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, will line up as one of the myriad receivers the Red Raiders employ.
And who will be one of those charged with dissecting his play? His father, of course.
The game is being televised by ESPN2, and James will be in the broadcast booth calling the action. In fact, part of the reason why James will be part of the crew covering the game for the WWL is because he admittedly lobbied for this opportunity.
Obviously, there’s potential there for conflict of interest, but James says he will do his best to avoid being a “homer”.
“You can be 100 percent certain that inside I will be going crazy excited about it,” James said according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “But I’ll be fair and have integrity for the broadcast and for University of Houston fans and for college football fans. They don’t want to hear me up there being a homer.”
Even given that, James can’t hide the excitement he’s feeling about getting to call one of his son’s game.
“I’m really excited as a dad to be able to see Adam play in person,” he said. “To be there for pregame and see him on the field and be there with him after the game - as any parent that gets a chance to go to their son’s game would be able to do - I’m thrilled about that.”
Hopefully, James will follow the path plowed by Bob Griese when he got the opportunity to call Michigan games when his son Brian was the starting quarterback, and not that of ol’ DW’s blatant case of homeritis in a different sport...