ESPN often has new and unexpected personalities making the rounds at its Bristol campus, but they may have outdone themselves with a bear.
Joe Fortenbaugh and Q Myers host the noon – 3 p.m. ET slot on ESPN Radio. Myers is Vegas-based while Fortenbaugh hosts from Bristol. And during Thursday’s show, Fortenbaugh informed Myers of a flashing yellow light throughout ESPN’s Bristol campus which spans more than 120 acres and sits nearby wooded areas.
“This yellow emergency light has been flashing all over the campus for the last 15 minutes or so,” Fortenbaugh said. “There’s no sound that comes with it. So, when you don’t accompany any sound with a flashing emergency light, nobody knows what the hell is going on.”
The yellow light may not have told anyone what was going on, but it did enough to make them inquire about why an emergency light was flashing in Bristol.
“We finally got to the bottom of it, there’s a bear on the campus here of ESPN,” Fortenbaugh said. “It is the bear alert. So, everyone on campus stay inside. There’s a black bear on the campus at the current moment.”
At the time, the bear was near building 13, ESPN Radio was far away broadcasting safely from building two. For context, there are 18 buildings on campus. But one producer noted the real risk was with the cafeteria, where you do not need a badge, identification or credential to enter the building. Any person, or bear, can enter the cafeteria by simply standing in front of the automatic doors.
Back when The Dan Le Batard Show was still at ESPN, Chris Cote gave a tour of the ESPN cafeteria in Bristol and there was no shortage of options. Enough options to lure a bear that is hungry after wondering the 120-acre campus.
Despite the potential for food to lure the bear their way, Fortenbaugh remained unconcerned about it coming to building two.
“Radio, such an afterthought, the bear wouldn’t even know how to find us,” Fortenbaugh joked…sort of, before believing the black bear would be interested in more important shows. “I’m going right to DC1 to find NFL Live.”