Some of the most amusing sports coverage over the years has come from local broadcast affiliates. The latest example there is from Fox 10 Phoenix, which sent weekday morning news anchor Troy Hayden to Philadelphia ahead of Game 2 of the Arizona Diamondbacks-Philadelphia Phillies NLCS series Tuesday. There, Hayden could not find Diamondbacks’ fans, but he did at least get some information on water ice and cheesesteaks:
“No, we found no Dbacks fans! Not one! We were here for almost two hours!” pic.twitter.com/mpMUk8ya70
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 18, 2023
The intro of “Fox 10’s Troy Hayden is live tonight in Philly where he caught up to some Dbacks fans cheering on the home team” is great for how it immediately gets refuted. “No, we found no Dbacks fans! Not one! We were here for almost two hours! I’m telling you, this place is great for how it gets owned by Phillies’ fans.”
Hayden does do an admirable job of making chicken salad out of chicken you-know-what here, talking to water ice (“wooder ice”) and cheesesteak vendors about how they prepare those Philadelphia staples. And this really isn’t a bad segment overall, and it’s better than some local broadcast fails we’ve seen.
But it is quite funny that this starts with a “caught up to some Dbacks fans” and then immediately refutes that premise. And that shows some potential perils of sending local reporters/anchors on the road for segments featuring fans. That only works if those fans show up.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.