To clarify, no one was murdered during the first-round NIT matchup between the Dayton Flyers and Florida Atlantic Owls on ESPN, although it may have sounded like it. Play-by-play announcer Tom Hart and analyst Perry Clark covered Dayton’s 86-79 victory over Florida Atlantic Wednesday night on ESPN2. Early in the first half, Clark praised FAU’s guard play off the bench after KyKy Tandy and Niccolo Moretti entered the game, but it was nearly impossible to hear their commentary over the incessant screeching from a fan trying to disrupt the broadcast.
“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. I was listening to that person getting murdered in the third row.” pic.twitter.com/55gI54g1p6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2025
“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you,” Hart wisely remarked to Clark. “I was listening to that person getting murdered in the third row.” Of course, the fan wasn’t actually in any danger; had that been the case, the audience would have reacted more vigorously. Nevertheless, the fan was certainly sabotaging the ESPN broadcast.
This situation raises the question: who enjoys such antics? The viewers at home are likely wishing for a mute button, while the screamer must regret losing their voice. Then there are the announcers forced to call the game amidst the chaos.
While calling a game over a loud crowd is expected, facing a fan producing a scream that rivals Lloyd Christmas’s most annoying sound in the world is far from what any announcer signed up for.
