I hear there’s a nurse shortage. Is there a sports reporter shortage, too? Or is the workforce just getting more and more incompetent?
On Tuesday, a reporter asked Todd Bowles, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if he had any special plans to deal with the weather in Detroit. The Bucs and the Lions are set to face off in a divisional round at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday.
“Looking forward towards Detroit,” the reporter said, “the weather has been a factor in some of the playoff games, even for the most prepared teams.” So far, so good, right? The weather can be a factor in a football game, depending on where you play it.
“Today, it’s 13 in Detroit,” the reporter continued. “Any special plans to acclimate the team to not only endure, but perform in those kind of frigid temperatures, should you face them in Detroit?”
Bowles was taken off guard and paused before responding. Maybe he thought he was on a reality show like “Punk’d” or “Impractical Jokers.”
Whatever Bowles was thinking, he kept his cool. “You do know we play indoors, right? They got a dome.”
Barstool Sports pounced on the opportunity to point out the obvious on X. “Here’s the thing…..the game is being played in a dome. Just like every Lions game has been played for the past 50 years.”
A reporter asked Todd Bowles how the Bucs are preparing for the weather in Detroit this weekend.
Here’s the thing…..the game is being played in a dome. Just like every Lions game has been played for the past 50 years. @BSMotorCity pic.twitter.com/ipbQBHIFWo
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 17, 2024
Do reporters need better training?
Bowles had to stop himself from laughing at the reporter.
He continued, “I don’t…” before shaking it off and answering the question directly, “No. Nothing planned. We’re indoors, and we only have to be outside for twenty seconds getting off the bus.”
Bowels then said, “We’ll be okay,” and politely waited for the next question.
A tiny bit of research — Googling the Detroit Lions — could have saved the reporter from a lifetime of embarrassment. For example, according to Sports Illustrated, professional football has been played in a dome in Detroit since 1975. That’s going on 50 years.
The average NFL fan knows the Lions play in a dome. An NFL aficionado would know the Lions have played at home in Ford Field — which is in a dome — since 2002. Prior to that, the Lions played at home in the Pontiac Silverdome — the fact that “dome” is in “Silverdome” is a helluva a clue — for 37 years.
It’s unforgivable that an NFL sports reporter would not know the Lions play in a dome when at home. Who knows, maybe she was standing in for the regular guy who was out with a virus. Maybe she was misassigned and was supposed to be covering the Detroit Curling Club. But wait, the curling club plays inside, too.
Maybe the reporter was a DEI hire — you know the drill, Diversity Equity and Inclusion — and doesn’t even like sports but happened to fit the open NFL Sports Reporter position.
Whatever the case, the temperature for the playoff game will be set at a climate-controlled 70 degrees inside Ford Field when the Bucs take on the Lions on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, according to SI.
Bowles was right. The Bucs won’t freeze. They’ll “be okay.” Ditto for the Lions. Weather won’t be a factor.
I wonder if the reporter is out looking for a new line of work.
