Women's watch: Chicago broadcaster ready to get back to live sports on TV
It was a surreal environment, much like many places in public have been over the last month or so since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Lisa Byington, a Chicago-based sports broadcaster, was literally in the middle of covering the Big East men's basketball tournament, when the world was seemingly put on pause.
It was halftime of the St. John's-Creighton game early in the afternoon on Thursday, March 12. St. John's was up 38-35 in front of a crowd that was reduced to "essential fans" only.
Byington, a sideline reporter for the game, was set to grab St. John's head coach Mike Anderson as he headed to the locker room for the break.
"We were hearing things all during the first half, about a bunch of other conferences canceling their tournaments," Byington said. "I took a screenshot of a scoreboard on my phone and it was SEC, canceled. ACC, canceled. Big Ten, canceled.
"It was such a surreal feeling walking up to (Anderson) at halftime knowing that this might be the last thing I do before we got canceled, too."
It was.
The Big East, the last major conference to pull the plug, canceled its tournament right in the middle of the St. John's-Creighton halftime. Shortly thereafter, the NCAA canceled March Madness.
"It was just so weird," Byington said. "It was literally the day that sports stopped. I was supposed to do four games that day and I was back at the hotel by 2 p.m."
All of it meant a drastic loss of opportunity for Byington during what she says is her favorite time of year. Byington, who has been getting more prominent work in recent years, including Big Ten football games, NCAA men's games and NBA games, was set to do at least 20 to 30 games over a three-week span during the college basketball tournament season.
It would have been her fourth year of working the NCAA tournament for CBS and Turner.
Byington was also gearing up for a busy spring that included coverage of NCAA softball and soccer, as well as some professional and national team soccer.
"It was like going 90 miles per hour and then suddenly slamming on the brakes," Byington said. "I was going to be really busy going from basketball into the spring and now, suddenly I'm doing more yoga than I've ever done before. And I'm watching a lot of Netflix."
Byington is hoping that the Chicago Sky, for which she performs play-by-play duties on its telecasts, gets some kind of season going this summer. But, like pretty much everything else involving crowds these days, the WNBA is in limbo too.
"There are so many questions," Byington said. "Everyone is anxious to get back to normal and everyone wants to see games on TV again that aren't some kind of throwback games.
"But quite frankly, that's the least of our problems. We've got to think about schools and housing and food and keeping people safe. It's important to get sports and entertainment back, but there are other higher priorities."
That being said, Byington is ready for sports to start again.
She is feeling a void without them, and missing what could have been, especially in the NCAA tournament.
"I was really excited about the tournament this year. It's the thrill of the ride, especially in that first weekend when everyone has dreams and hopes and goals of a national championship," Byington said. "As a sports fan, there's this curiosity of how it will all unfold. And that chapter will never be written now. It's frustrating and sad.
"To me, the tournament is the best sports event out there, and there's this renewed hype. I missed that hype and I missed all the stories out there that come with it."
Follow Trish on Twitter @babcockmcgraw.