Planes, pains and automobiles: ESPN adventures en route to Cleveland

Attitudes were anything but cavalier about reaching Cleveland on Monday (or Tuesday) as many ESPNers discovered en route to Game 6 of the NBA Finals (ABC/WatchESPN, tonight, 9 ET).

Among those expecting to spend a quiet Monday night in Cleveland only to wind up arriving a few hours before air time Tuesday morning due to flight delays and cancellations were ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg and SportsCenter anchors Chris McKendry and Jay Harris. And there are still a few people up in the air – like Marc Stein, who is en route to Ohio from California with responsibilities today on SportsCenter (Warriors reporter), ESPN Radio (sideline reporter) and Digital (contributing news, features and hosting TrueHoop TV episodes).

One-half of Radio’s Mike & Mike showed up at halftime of this morning’s simulcast at Cleveland’s Progressive Field – see Mike Greenberg’s Tweets below – prompting another Mike into action.

Chris McKendry and Mike Greenberg

Mike Tirico

“I received a text at about 6:30 p.m. as I was driving from Michigan, then received confirmation two hours later as I arrived at my hotel that Mike [Greenberg] wasn’t going to make their show,” said play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico(for ESPN Radio for The NBA Finals). “At that point I needed dinner, started watching the Blackhawks-Lightning and couldn’t give up on the game despite this short night/early morning. But it was a pleasure to fill in for a bit — the guys make that job look so easy, although it’s really a chore. You get a whole different respect for what they have done every morning for 15 years.”

On and off air, Greenberg expressed his gratitude to Tirico:

Jay Harris

While Greeny and McKendry waited out their flight plans, Harris turned to Plan B after coincidentally meeting up with a similarly stranded production trio.

“My flight from Hartford to Chicago was cancelled, so Travel got me switched to a different airline and a different route, going through D.C.,” Harris explained. “When that flight finally got into the air, I checked and my connection was also delayed, so I knew I wouldn’t miss it. When I landed in D.C., I had a chance meeting with Antoine Lewis (coordinating producer), Kevin Reeder (producer), and Hali Levy (stage manager) who had also been on my first flight that was cancelled. The D.C.-to-Cleveland flight was delayed several times and finally cancelled due to a combination of weather and not enough crew, so we decided to rent a car and drive. By then, it was personal. Six hours on paper from Dulles to downtown Cleveland — it was a party that almost didn’t start. Everywhere we tried there were no cars available, until we finally found one, and off we went.”

Marc Stein

Then there’s Stein, who began his journey from Oakland, CaLif. – site of Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday – with a detour to Southern California to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his father Reuven’s passing with family members. Weather cancelled his redeye flight through Chicago, giving him a late afternoon arrival today.

“I was schooled from a very young age by many mentors at the Orange County Register to keep your suffering to yourself in this job,” Stein said. “When you are going to a game, especially a game as momentous as this, you don’t complain about your conditions or your travails. The public doesn’t want to hear it. And the public has a great point because we have the greatest jobs in the world.”