Screenshot of earlier arm wrestling action via https://x.com/ThePoniExpress/status/1798675581862851002
RadioBy Ben Axelrod on

It’s been a full week now and listeners of Pittsburgh radio station 93.7 The Fan are still wondering if a woman was injured during a promotional arm wrestling contest earlier this month that seemingly went awry and may have resulted in a serious injury to one of its contestants.

The incident in question occurred on June 6 during a charity event hosted by Audacy’s 93.7 The Fan’s morning show. In an audio recording of the station’s “5-Alarm Marathon” event captured by a listener, host Adam Crowley can be heard taking part in an arm wrestling contest with a female contestant named Mary Ann before the segment abruptly ends. The incident in question was described as follows on a Pittsburgh Sports message board.

Crowley started arm wrestling an older retired lady (Mary Ann). At the end, something happened. Poni said “oh, this is horrible. We’ll be right back.” And they went to commercial. I thought it was a bit, something stupid so they could just throw it to break. But no joke, they have been at commercial for 20 minutes now. The comments on this tweet are all asking about it. Everyone thinks Mary Ann broke her arm.

Below is some video footage of arm wrestling action earlier in the day captured to provide context of the day’s setup. The woman in the video is not the person in question.

Below is the audio listeners heard a few hours later when the possible incident occurred.

“Oh God! Oh no!” somebody could be heard exclaiming during the broadcast.

“This is bad. This is horrible,” another person said. “We’ll be right back after this.”

The show proceeded to enter a lengthy commercial break, which listeners said lasted as long as 30 minutes. While it’s always possible this was part of an elaborate bit — this is sports talk radio, after all — the incident wasn’t addressed after the broadcast returned from its extended commercial break, nor has it seemingly been mentioned on the station’s airwaves, social media feeds, or podcast feeds.

The station also disabled the comments on a social media post celebrating how much money the event raised. Other posts on the feed all allow comments.

Since the incident in question, multiple social media posts from listeners have inquired about the health of the woman known to be a longtime caller, but those inquiries have gone unanswered. Internet sleuths on both Reddit and local Pittsburgh message boards have also failed to turn much up on the status of Mary Ann.

Awful Announcing has reached out to Crowley, 93.7 The Fan’s station manager, parent company Audacy, an employee who was posting video clips of other arm wrestling contests at the event on social media, and the person we believe to be the Mary Ann in question. None have responded to this point.

Obviously, if a woman was injured by a host during a promotional contest — especially one that was on the station’s airwaves — that would be something that should be addressed. Know anything about this incident? Please email us or contact us via our X account.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod