When WMAQ-Ch. 5 sports anchor Darrian Chapman burst onto the Chicago sports scene with his initial telecast, I said to my wife, “This guy’s good, but he’s way too happy and might not be cynical enough to survive in this town.”
I was wrong on the latter.
Chapman’s exuberant personality and bubbling enthusiasm for sports, particularly his love for hockey, was a breath of fresh air in a local media overflowing with sour, negative, sarcastic sports reporters and news readers who would rather play comic than tell us what really happened.
While it seems pomposity and buffoonery are requirements to fill these high-paying positions, Chapman sold his employers and viewers on his solid, rapid-fire and error-free reporting skills, leaving out condescension, contempt and disdain.
The fact is, Chapman was so good at what he did that Chicago was unable to run this out-of-towner out of town, as it has done to so many other “outsiders” who tried to fit in here.
