The perils of live television.
Whether it’s fans dropping the dreaded f-bomb, young kids flipping the bird or dealing with unplanned nudity, having a live shot at a sports event can be a disaster waiting to happen.
For CBS Miami reporter Samantha Rivera, she was hoping for a routine live shot from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Little would she know that she would have to fend off a fan who wanted to make his presence known right before she recapped a Florida Panthers 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Rivera was about to go to the highlights when the fan started to yell and tried to storm into her live shot. Not even looking away from the camera, she saw the fan and that’s when Rivera went into Derrick Henry mode and gave him a stiff-arm. It was very impressive.
Talking about Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, stiff-arming a fan trying to get on camera and getting into the highlights.
Quite the display of multitasking by Samantha Rivera of CBS Miami pic.twitter.com/yvP8C3V4BS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 6, 2023
“(Fan yelling) Oh no! Nope! That’s the kind of fan you don’t want to be alright? … Let’s go the highlights…”
The reaction to her stiff-arm was swift and positive.
https://twitter.com/gmblngsitefindr/status/1665953882839687169?s=20
Dude got stiff armed by a five foot tall 95 lb woman. He looked like a punter trying to tackle Derrick Henry. pic.twitter.com/OSf4D6Sroy
— Lankychris (@Lankychris) June 6, 2023
We needed you on the ice tonight…
— Maximiliano Bretos (@MaxBretosSports) June 6, 2023
https://twitter.com/TrishChristakis/status/1665928015753117696?s=20
The last tweet is in reference to the city from which Samantha originally hails. And yes, don’t mess with someone from Chicago, we all remember The Untouchables, The Chicago Way? Yes.
The takeaway, please don’t intrude on a live shot and especially, don’t mess with Samantha Rivera. She’ll stiff-arm you out of the way.
[Photo courtesy CBS Miami]
About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.