Near the end of ABC’s broadcast of the World Cup Final between Argentina and Germny on Sunday, a local ABC station in southern New York/northern Pennsylvania cut off the end of the game for live weather coverage due to a thunderstorm and tornado warning.
http://youtu.be/eHGa5WgR83c
Needless to say, many people weren’t very happy with WENY’s coverage of a potentially life-threatening weather incident as opposed to the end of hte match, as Deadspin chronicled.
This continues the trend of sports fans getting enraged over games getting interrupted for coverage of local events that might personally impact them. An anchor in South Dakota lost her mind earlier this year when people began to complain about weather alerts. Bears fans went off on a local station when coverage of a Bears-Ravens game was interrupted for coverage of fatal tornadoes in the area.
Last Tuesday in the area this station covers, seven tornadoes touched down, killing four people. There was damage from Sunday’s storms. I’m well aware about how important the World Cup is on a global scale, but isn’t your life and livelihood more important? What if WENY didn’t cut in to the end of the game, and shortly thereafter, a tornado touched down and ravaged a town where people were still basking in the glow of Germany’s extra time victory?
Some perspective is needed in situations like this. It’s not the end of the world if you miss the last few minutes of a soccer match.
[Deadspin]
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About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.