Scott Van Pelt isn’t sure where his voice went during Wednesday’s installment of “SportsCenter.”
During the late-night edition of the ESPN broadcast, Van Pelt attempted to recap moments from an Edmonton Oilers game but struggled mightily in the process.
“This is terrible, I’m trying,” Van Pelt can be heard saying on the broadcast.
As the show continued, Van Pelt tried to explain the unexpected disappearance of his voice.
“I don’t know what happened… I can’t talk, it’s a horrible feeling,” he said.
Van Pelt stressed that despite the circumstances, he felt fine physically.
“I feel fine, I just wish I could speak,” he continued. “We’re supposed to do a show tomorrow, we’ll see.”
In a tweet posted early Thursday morning, Van Pelt addressed the “bizarre” situation.
Scott Van Pelt lost his voice Wednesday night at an inopportune time.ESPN“What a bizarre deal. Voice just kinda stopped working….while attempting to host a show. Not ideal, to say the least. Apologies for that mess,” he wrote.
Van Pelt confirmed Thursday morning to Sports Illustrated — via text — that his voice is “not much better” at the moment.
“It was so strange. I just couldn’t talk and the longer it went, the more pissed off I got. Like, WTF is this about?” he told SI.
“When I had to try to start a segment was when it would just fail entirely.”
Scott Van PeltGetty ImagesAs for his showtime status, Van Pelt said he’s “just going to see what happens today and hope it improves.”
“People are being kind and sending me fixes on Twitter. Maybe one of them does the trick. We shall see. If it’s another anchor after Penguins-Stars you’ll know I’m sitting somewhere quietly shaking my head wondering what the hell is going on,” he said.
Van Pelt then offered an apology to Oilers center Connor McDavid, who recorded his 60th goal of the season Wednesday in a 4-3 victory against the Arizona Coyotes.
“Sorry, Connor, 60 deserved actual words being said.”
