U.S. sports reporter braves blizzard, trends online

With winter weather gripping many parts of Canada and the U.S., it’s likely you’ve seen many TV reporters doing their reports from out in the snow and cold.

But one Iowa reporter is gaining some attention online for his work.

KWWL-TV sports reporter Mark Woodley was the man chosen to help report on conditions during a blizzard that hit the Waterloo region.

“I normally do sports — everything is cancelled here for the next couple of days, so what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up, go stand out in the wind and the snow and the cold and tell other people not to do the same. I didn’t even realize that there was a 3:30 … in the morning until today,” Woodley says jokingly in one clip, posted as part of a widely shared montage on Twitter.

“It’s absolutely fantastic, Ryan. I’m used to these evening shows that are only 30 minutes long and generally on those shows I’m inside. So this is a really long show, tune in for the next couple of hours to watch me progressively get crankier and crankier,” he says in another clip.

“Can I go back to my regular job?” Woodley asks at one point.

This is what you get when you ask the sports guy to come in to cover a blizzard in the morning show. pic.twitter.com/h0RL9tVQqg

— Mark Woodley (@MarkWoodleyTV) December 22, 2022

The U.S. reporter’s Twitter post has garnered millions of views and thousands of retweets and likes in just a day.

“This is what you get when you ask the sports guy to come in to cover a blizzard in the morning show,” the tweet reads.

Thousands of users have shared their thoughts on his situation, many of them sending sympathetic and encouraging messages. Others took the opportunity to laugh.

One post reads, “If you haven’t seen this, you must watch it,” while others simply refer to the video as “hilarious.”

“Give this guy an Emmy,” another tweet read.

Woodley’s reporting also caught the attention of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), which writes “This is #MediaRelationsGoals for every DOT/Public Works PIO.”

“@MarkWoodleyTV, you’re officially invited to visit during a Virginia snowstorm. Our plow trucks are very warm!” VDOT added.

Meanwhile, Woodley tells CNN if his colleagues asked him to cover the weather again, he would.

But, he adds, “that would be my absolute nightmare.”