As ESPN showed, sports reporters can deliver when thrust into major news event

When Pat Boyle was at Michigan State, he initially intended to be a news reporter. But later someone asked him whether he wanted to cover fires, shootings and other tragedies or play to his sports fandom. After going back and forth in his head, he chose to become a sports reporter.

He eventually discovered that sports and tragedies can intersect. At WTOG in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Boyle was anchoring the sports segment when someone told him through his IFB microphone that the newscast was going to pick up KTLA’s feed of a car that was believed to be carrying O.J. Simpson.

“While you get into sports to cover sports, you end up covering stories like that, Larry Nasser, Jerry Sandusky, and you do have to have the skill set that a news anchor has,” said Boyle, the NBC Sports Chicago host for Blackhawks pregame and postgame shows. “[News anchors] may be expecting it more than a sports broadcaster does, but at times you’ll end up going down those roads.”

That’s why Boyle took great interest in how ESPN covered Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest during the game against the Bengals on “Monday Night Football.” He watched all of the network’s coverage, from reporter Lisa Salters to the studio crew of Suzy Kolber, Booger McFarland and Adam Schefter to “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt,” which included former NFL player Ryan Clark.

“I was interested to see because I do put myself [in their place]. How would I have done this?” Boyle said. “They should be commended on how they handled it because in this day and age, where information is everywhere and there’s people out there trying to trip you up with false information, top to bottom they really did an outstanding job in reporting something that they had no idea was coming.”

No one on the “MNF” crew, from announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on down, could’ve been prepared for what unfolded. The crew was ready to call a game. So the network’s shift was laudable, though understandably not perfect. The excessive commercial breaks immediately after Hamlin collapsed following his tackle of wide receiver Tee Higgins bothered many viewers. But it was an understandable tack considering the horrifying scene and scant information available.

Bears radio voice Jeff Joniak has been on the call for a number of scary scenes, such as the hit on former wide receiver Johnny Knox that essentially ended his career and the near-touchdown catch by former tight end Zach Miller that almost cost him his leg. But he had never seen anything like what happened to Hamlin, and he appreciated how Buck and Aikman handled it.

“Watching their reactions and sincerity, the compassion,” Joniak said. “You’ve gotta make sure you have some awareness and be respectful of the situation. The game is unimportant at that point. There’s no discussion about any of that.”

Buck eventually shared that Hamlin received CPR. Kolber, McFarland and Schefter focused on the humanity of the situation, appearing teary-eyed and speaking in practically hushed tones. McFarland was the first to call for the game to be suspended. The network was deliberate, eschewing speculation despite information appearing on Twitter from reporters and Hamlin’s marketing representative.

“ESPN didn’t go with any of that,” Boyle said. “I thought that was great journalism because it’s not about being first, it’s about being accurate and factual. When you’re covering something like this, and it’s over several hours, it’s easy to slip and say, Let’s mention this to further the story. I thought they were very careful in waiting for official statements to dictate what they were going to say.”

Salters, who teared up once on the air, showed what a good sideline reporter can add to a broadcast. She shared how players were reacting and described the interaction between Bills coach Sean McDermott, Bengals coach Zac Taylor and officials. The one time Salters presumed something was when she saw players out of uniform outside their locker room, indicating the game likely wouldn’t resume.

“Lisa Salters was amazing,” Joniak said. “It’s OK to show emotion because you’re keeping it real. It is a moving moment. It’s the last thing you ever want to see in any sporting activity where somebody’s in a life-and-death mode. You have to be genuine. It has to be organic, and it was for sure.”

When the game was called and Van Pelt and Clark took over, enough time had passed for reporters Ben Baby and Coley Harvey to arrive at the hospital and appear on the air. Exemplifying the chaotic nature of the situation, Van Pelt asked a question twice, then admitted his mistake and apologized. He otherwise was exceptional in steering the coverage and maintaining the appropriate tone.

Clark shined sharing the perspective of his own life-threatening event. The former Steelers safety has sickle cell trait, which caused him to be hospitalized after playing in Denver in 2007. The altitude deprived his major organs of oxygen, and his spleen and gall bladder were removed. Clark told the story of coach Mike Tomlin refusing to let him play in the Steelers’ subsequent trips to Denver.

It all proved Boyle’s point that news events can find sports observers when they least expect it, and they are capable of handling it. Joniak gave a reason why.

“We are in many cases trained reporters,” he said. “I don’t think it’s as big a stretch as you might think. We’re story-tellers painting a picture, and in this particular case, it was a very unnerving one, for sure.”

Remote patrol

In the Nielsen fall ratings book for the key demographic of men ages 25-54, The Score’s “Bernstein & Holmes” show – with recurring co-host Leila Rahimi – remained the most-listened-to sports talk show in the market, earning a 5.6 rating. Among all stations in the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. time slot, it held its No. 2 rank from the summer book, behind Mexican station WOJO-FM (9.0).

From 2 to 6 p.m., ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy” inched ahead of The Score’s “Parkins & Spiegel” 4.8-4.7, ranking third and fourth, respectively. The shows were tied in the summer book at 4.1.

The Score came out ahead during prime listening hours, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, ranking third at 5.0. ESPN 1000 ranked fifth at 4.2 but jumped from a 3.6 and No. 9 ranking in the summer.

With both stations firmly in the top five in the market during prime listening, Chicago sports talk maintains a strong listenership.

NFL games expected to air Sunday in the Chicago market: Vikings at Bears, noon, Fox-32 (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma); Patriots at Bills, noon, Ch. 2 (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo); Cowboys at Commanders, 3:25 p.m., Fox-32 (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen); Giants at Eagles, 3:25 p.m., Ch. 2 (Ian Eagle, Charles Davis).

Mark Schanowski will fill in for Adam Amin on NBC Sports Chicago’s broadcast of Jazz-Bulls at 7 p.m. Saturday. Amin will call the Buccaneers-Falcons game Sunday for Fox.

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