COVID-19 protocols have frequently impacted teams, but it’s been more unusual (albeit not completely unprecedented) to see them impact game broadcasts. The latest case of COVID protocols impacting a broadcast feed came with the Chicago Cubs’ game Friday, where analyst Doug Glanville began calling the game solo while regular play-by-play voice Jon “Boog” Sciambi and analyst Jim Deshaies waited for results from COVID tests. Here’s Glanville’s introduction to that game:
Deshaies wound up joining the broadcast after five pitches, and Sciambi joined on the second batter in the bottom of the first. So this wasn’t a solo show for long. And Glanville did an impressive job of stepping into an unusual role on short notice, and of keeping the broadcast rolling despite the absences of regular broadcasters Sciambi and Deshaies. He also wound up featured for an unusual airplane throw:
in their defense, this looks very fun pic.twitter.com/zW3oM0ai9Z
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 3, 2021
This came as part of the concern about a COVID-19 outbreak around the Cubs, which saw both manager David Ross and president Jed Hoyer test positive for the virus. So there certainly was some logic to keeping Sciambi and Deshaies away from others until their negative tests came back. And while that did lead to a brief awkward broadcast setup, Glanville handled that well.
[@WatchMarquee on Twitter]
