I don’t work in television, but if there was one thing Chris Berman actually did teach me it would be to not disrupt live on air talent.
While that clip is online video gold, perhaps this is silver or at a very least bronze. The on site Monday Night Countdown crew unexpectedly had to scramble when a facilities employee walked right into their shot just as they were starting their live analysis.
Stuart Scott and Trent Dilfer seemed to have a second of “Can you believe this?” and stayed focused looking at each other before getting back into gear. The real star is Steve Young as his reaction is just absolutely priceless.
I think the real joy of that clip is that you can totally infer what is going on in Young’s head at every single second in between when he first spots the lost employee to when he jumps back into commentator mode several seconds later.
In order we have
“What the hell?”
“No….get out of here!”
“Holy crap that was close”
“Did that really just happen?”
“Yikes, I am on TV. Refocus!”
“Where is that idiot going now”
“Stuart Scott is talking too much, so I am going to cut him off. That’s my go to move and part of the reason I am not doing draft coverage anymore”
I also enjoyed how the intruding Oxygen tank guy doesn’t really seem to break stride or care that he’s made a major faux pas as he reverses course and then loops around the set. Sadly, this may have been the most enjoyable part of the night as Monday Night Football failed to provide a competitive game yet again. We can’t blame ESPN, but hope that going forward Howard Katz and the NFL are a bit more giving in their scheduling for next year.
