Badass Miami reporter pushes away fan while on air at Stanley Cup Final
It doesn’t appear that everyone attending the Stanley Cup Final is on their best behaviour.
Sports reporter Samantha Rivera — working on-air for CBS’ Miami affiliate — had a Vegas fan come a little too close for comfort during a live broadcast in the crowd following Monday night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 2.
While Rivera was giving her post-game report from T-Mobile Arena of the Panthers’ 7-2 loss to the Golden Knights, one fan wearing a Vegas jersey interrupted the live shot by trying to get a bit of his own airtime on CBS.
Talking about Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, stiff-arming a fan trying to get on camera and getting into the highlights.
Quite the display of multitasking by Samantha Rivera of CBS Miami pic.twitter.com/yvP8C3V4BS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 6, 2023
“Nope, nope, nope. That’s the kind of fan you don’t want to be,” Rivera said on-air while her shot was being interrupted, giving the fan a strong-armed push to get out of the shot.
Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for – get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job.
Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!! pic.twitter.com/iWDQl0Rtvv
— Samantha Rivera (@JSamanthaRivera) June 6, 2023
“Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for – get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job,” Rivera said in a tweet. “Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!”
Plenty of fellow media members and fans were quick to show support for Rivera’s professional and swift handling of the situation.
First star of the game. ⭐️
But also, this is some bs. Have some respect. Nice stiff arm Samantha ! 💪🏻 https://t.co/brFYx4WB5t
— Jackie Redmond (@Jackie_Redmond) June 6, 2023
She stiff-armed the hell out of that dude and didn’t break eye contact with the camera once. Elite. https://t.co/ZtWEGLKmlD
— Steve “Dangle” Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) June 6, 2023
Well done Samantha 💪🏽👏🏽 🎤
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) June 6, 2023
The game itself was quite the rowdy one, with nine goals and 148 penalty minutes spread out between the two teams.
Florida now finds themselves down 2-0 to Vegas in the series, with both former expansion franchises looking to secure their first championship since coming into the league in 1996 and 2017, respectively.
Game 3 between the Golden Knights and Panthers goes Thursday night back in Florida, with puck drop set for 5 pm PT/6 pm MT/8 pm ET. One can only hope that the Florida fans will show a little bit more respect for the live broadcast this time.