The other night, Gayle Sierens of WFLA-TV did an excellent feature on the Rays Matt Joyce (which you can watch here), definitely a cut above what you normally see in a sports story on local news, especially these days, when budgets (and as a result, coverage) have been drastically scaled back. Matt apparently enjoyed the experience, as he noted on Facebook:
↵Gayle Sayers was so awesome! Very honored to meet and talk with her...↵
Oops!
That's a perfectly understandable mistake and it can’t be the first time someone has made it. Sayers and Sierens sound similar. And of course, Gale Sayers is awesome, a legendary player in the NFL and a fine human being. But Gayle Sierens is a legend in her own right here in the Tampa Bay area, a broadcaster with WFLA-TV for over 30 years, beginning her career as the first female sportscaster in Tampa Bay. In 1987, she made television history by being the first woman to call the play-by-play for an NFL game.
Hey, we all make mistakes and Matt Joyce is just beginning his career. Here’s hoping he enjoys continued success and has many more opportunities to sit down and talk with Gayle in the future.
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