Your first day of work can be nerve-wracking. When it’s a national television debut there’s even more anxiety. It’s a whole different ballgame when you combine those factors and you also show up with a black eye.
That’s what happened when ‘Unsportsmanlike’ co-host Michelle Smallmon came in for her first day on the job. You would have no idea, however.
“When we first got word that we were going to be doing the show, the number one thing I was concerned about was the wake-up call,” Smallmon said on Short and to the Point. “4:00 a.m. is no joke, and I am not a morning person.”
The show airs from 6:00-10:00 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio & ESPN2/ESPNU, so early is an understatement.
Smallmon wanted to be responsible and train her body a week before the show’s debut and wake up early. The weekend before just so happened to be Labor Day Weekend so she was alone in the city and decided to deep clean her apartment.
She was vacuuming when she tripped over the chord of her air purifier.
“As I fall forward, my coffee table that’s right there in front of me, there’s a drinking glass on the table — as I’m falling, before I can steady myself, I hit my face on the drinking glass on the table and I bust my eye,” she detailed.
Smallmon said there was a cut/bruise that formed under her eye that began to bleed. Mind you this was two days before the start of the show.
Yes, it’s radio, but there’s a video element to it too.
“I FaceTime my mom, and I’m like, ‘Mom, I just fell,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh my God your face!'”
“Mind you this is my national television debut,” Smallmon said.
A Google search with some icing and Arnica gel took place, but unfortunately — the bruising hadn’t subsided. It actually took on an even more intense color.
Upon introducing herself on the first day, Smallmon walked into hair and makeup a little early.
“Great to meet you, really excited to work with you, I have a black eye. Can you help me?” she asked.
The makeup team covered it up and you would have never known she had a black eye. Absolute miracle workers.
“It’s a lot color correcting,” she said. A lot of setting powder and contouring (in case you ever needed that information).
She admitted to her co-hosts, Evan Cohen and Chris Canty she was clumsy at the beginning. Smallmon was simply getting it out of the way.
[Short and to the Point]
About Jessica Kleinschmidt
Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.