National Emergency Alert System Interrupts DeMeco Ryans, ESPN’s ‘Baseball Tonight’ and You
On Wednesday afternoon, approximately two minutes before everyone was told it was going to happen, the National Emergency Alert System performed a test.
You probably heard it—it was when your phone screamed at you in the middle of the workday unprovoked.
It was loud! It was annoying! It was somewhat scary depending on your personal degree of preparedness!
But while it was annoying, it was an annoyance that was experienced universally, and not even the world of sports could escape its wrath.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was in the middle of a press conference when the buzzers went off. He leaned into the bit.
The zombie apocalypse happening mid way during the DeMeco Ryans press conference lol https://t.co/qVZnaELpU0 pic.twitter.com/na4qT792XQ
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) October 4, 2023
Meanwhile on ESPN, the alert could be heard as Baseball Tonight threw to commercial.
As you may have experienced, FEMA tested the national emergency alert system 20 minutes ago.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 4, 2023
The alert on someone's phone was loud enough to hear on Baseball Tonight which they would joke about later pic.twitter.com/7mz9HDQqM5
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Elsewhere, MMA fighter Michael Chandler had his interview with reporter Ariel Helwani interrupted by the blast.
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.”
— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) October 4, 2023
Michael Chandler and Ariel Helwani interupted. @MikeChandlerMMA / @arielhelwani / #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/vlCvIC5JjM
Luckily for Major League Baseball and sports fans alike, the afternoon’s postseason games had not yet started when the alert went off.
Had the timing been right, it could have led to some very awkward moments at the plate.