Traina Thoughts: The Craziest Day in Sports History
Today is June 17th. Which means it is the anniversary of perhaps the craziest day in sports history. 26 years ago NBC cut away from the 1994 NBA Finals for the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase. Sports Illustrated host Robin Lundberg talked about what that moment was like with SI's Jimmy Traina, including a prank phone call that happened live on the air in the midst of it all. That in today's edition of "Traina Thoughts".
Read the full video transcript:
Robin Lundberg: It's June 17th, which happens to be the anniversary of the craziest day in sports history. In 1994, NBC cut away from the NBA finals for the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase. For more, I'm joined by our Jimmy Traina. And Jimmy, for people who aren't so familiar with that day. Can you sort of take us through why it was so wild?
Jimmy Traina: It is a big day for sporting events. The day started in New York with a parade for the Rangers who had just won the Stanley Cup. You had the U.S. Open golf beginning that day. The World Cup began that day. And then you had game five of the NBA finals that night with the Knicks and Rockets and then the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase in the middle of that game.
Robin Lundberg: Yeah. And you know, that that chase, obviously, people have seen the footage. But there were so many layers to that as well, including how it was covered in real time, which which featured a prank call.
Jimmy Traina: Yeah. One of the great moments in TV history was when a Howard Stern fan called ABC News and Peter Jennings, while he was live on the air, pretended that he was across the street from O.J.'s house watching everything go down. Ended the prank call with "and Baba Booey to you all." And Peter Jennings had no clue of what was going on. Thought it was a serious call and al Michaels had to come on and explain to Peter that it was a prank call and Al is a big Howard Stern fan. So he knew right away it was a prank call. He's talked about it so many times over the years. But just a ridiculous effort by Peter Jennings to not realize that was a prank call.
Robin Lundberg: Well, there was a lot of craziness that day, and not just the fact that the Knicks were actually in the NBA finals. Jimmy, appreciate your time.
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