Howard Stern mocks CBS broadcaster

Climate protesters invaded the final round of the Travelers Championship, and CBS surprised Howard Stern by deciding to stick with the disruption.

With the final group of Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia arriving to the 18th green at TPC River Highlands Sunday afternoon, protesters stormed the area, setting off smoke bombs while dumping white and red powder on the putting surface. The protesters wore shirts that read, “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET.” And as they were quickly removed from the green by police officers, the crowd started chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”

Typically, when fans or protesters disrupt a sporting event, the network broadcasting the event looks away and avoids giving the disturbance any attention. CBS, however, chose to follow the protesters at the Travelers Championship Sunday afternoon.

“I was surprised the network kept it in on because usually what they do is cut away not to encourage this kind of thing,” Stern said on his Monday morning SiriusXM Radio show. “But they didn’t.”

It made for interesting TV and social media clips, but it was an unusual heat of the moment programming decision by CBS as they left Jim Nantz to offer play-by-play of the protesters storming the green.

“We’ve got a whole group of protesters here,” Nantz said as the protest began. “They’ve been tackled on the ground, on the green. Police have responded quickly. I see four protesters that have been handcuffed. They just came flying down the hill out of the gallery with some red powder right in the area of the cup.”

Stern, who is not an avid sports fan, may not have known the announcer providing play-by-play of the incident was Jim Nantz. He may not even know who Jim Nantz is. But as Stern tapped into his own golf announcer voice, he sort of mocked Nantz’s ability to stay grounded as protesters ran onto the course.

“The guy is so relaxed,” Stern said without mentioning Nantz’s name. “It’s like, golf, a protest, cops tackling people, it’s all done in the same delivery…You gotta talk like you have a little secret.”

It would have been amazing if Nantz channeled Kevin Harlan and started passionately calling the climate protest. But the legendary announcer was probably trying to balance describing what the cameras were showing, without giving the protesters too much attention. Nantz can whisper during a golf event with the best of them. And amazingly, he was able to keep that cadence as protesters trashed a patch of grass that Nantz undoubtedly has an appreciation for.

[ Stern ]

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