Live television leaves a lot of room for miscommunication, especially in sensitive situations.
Take, for instance, a Big Ten basketball highlights package aired on ESPN Sunday morning. Veteran anchor Randy Scott anchored the show, and left some viewers confused with an awkwardly phrased transition from women's to men's highlights.
"66-61 winners. It's their fourth straight win," Scott said to wrap up highlights of No. 6 Maryland's victory over Michigan State Saturday in East Lansing, Mich. — the Spartans' first home basketball game since a shooting that killed three and injured five on their campus Monday.
Then, as Michigan State and Michigan's logos flashed on screen to signal a transition to the Spartans and Wolverines’ men’s matchup in Ann Arbor Saturday, Scott said, “Let’s get back to the actual basketball there in Ann Arbor.”
The turn of phrase seemed to imply Scott was denigrating women's basketball, and was noticed and spread online by early-morning SportsCenter viewers.
Scott, however, offered a clarification.
"We did a (voiceover) of the moment of silence in Ann Arbor," he tweeted. "Then the (women's basketball) highlight. Then said 'Let's get back to the actual basketball in Ann Arbor.' Then the men's basketball highlight."
