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Miami TV Reporter Stiff-Arms Aggressive Hockey Fan Out Of Live Shot

Tom Tapp
·3 min read

Get that woman some skates.

CBS News Miami reporter Samantha Rivera pulled a move worthy of a burly NHL defenseman as she fended off an aggressive fan seeking to get into her live shot from the NHL Finals on Monday in Las Vegas.

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The station’s anchors had just thrown to Rivera for a recap of Game 2 between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers when a screaming Golden Knights fan tried to enter the shot from her right. Rivera, who was already fighting to be heard above a Vegas crowd celebrating its team’s 7-2 blowout victory over the Panthers, never broke eye contact with the camera while stiff-arming the fan back out of view.

How’d she do it?

Rivera later told Sports Illustrated that she had spotted the fan and a friend earlier and she was ready for them.

“I could see the guy and another guy out of the corner of my eye. It looked like they were staring at us right before we were about to go live, and I think at one point I saw them pointing at us, too. But we were already on camera, and I was afraid they were gonna take me too early, so I wanted to tell my photographer something, but I couldn’t, so I just kept my eye on him,” she said.

“And then I don’t know if I heard him or felt him, but I sensed him, and the second I did, my arm just came out. It’s not gonna happen! I was annoyed.”

Immediately after the encounter, a still-smiling Rivera adroitly threw to highlights.

While her performance earned plaudits, even from Twitter trolls, the Miami-based reporter was just glad she scuttled the fan’s plans.

“It was like, ‘I did my job. I got him out of the way.’ He never got his five seconds of fame or whatever he wanted,” she said.

She was a little more blunt on Twitter, writing, “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!!”

Bonus points for the very appropriate Anchorman reference.

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