Tag: WGN

A Chicago sportscaster brilliantly used so many I Think You Should Leave references in his broadcast

How did he fit so many references in???

After three seasons of randomly awkward chaos, it’s safe to say that Tim Robinson’s comedy sketch show, I Think You Should Leave, is a fantastic cultural hit. Where else could you get a story about the legendary Driving Crooner and paying it forward with a comical amount of fast food items?

As it turns out, on a recent local Chicago news broadcast.

Sports anchor Josh Frydman of WGN-TV got a little creative with his report on Saturday. While routinely recapping the day’s events involving the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs, Frydman used so many I Think You Should Leave references in his script.

The lengths to which Frydman went to fit them all are brilliant:

I’m still trying to decide which reference I appreciate the most, but I think it’s gotta be the “gimme that” on a game-ending interception. Talk about delightful and unique creativity.

Farewell to 1988 Notre Dame TV broadcaster Dan Roan

A former “provocative” intern says goodbye to a Chicago sports TV legend.

You have to be a certain age now to remember a time when Notre Dame games weren’t broadcast on NBC. One of the last seasons of that happened to be 1988, the last time the Irish won a national championship. With no TV contract tied to a specific network, several networks broadcast the Irish that season. One network was Chicago superstation WGN, and the man handling play-by-play duties in that case was Dan Roan.

I bring this up because I’m writing this on the night of Roan’s last sportscast. The lead sports anchor at WGN is retiring after 38 years with the network. No one in Chicago has held such a position for longer, and that has led to him becoming a familiar face on the city’s airwaves. He has provided game and news coverage for every pro and local college team during his tenure, which makes it harder to think of him no longer being associated with Chicago sports.

I had the chance to see the man work up close when I was fortunate enough to land a sports internship with WGN. On Wednesdays and Thursdays between August and December 2010, I would be assigned one sporting event to cut highlights for that night’s 9 p.m. newscast. Naturally, I worked with Roan more than anyone else, and it was one of the happiest times of my life. Had I been given the opportunity to stick around longer, I gladly would have taken it in part because of the kindness Roan and everyone else at the station showed me.

It’ll be hard to say goodbye to Roan, but after being on the job for so long, the man has earned a break (and a lot of golf). Here’s hoping he enjoys life now in a state of complete relaxation. From the person he later called “the most provocative intern” he ever had, thank you, and good luck.

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