Behind The Scenes

Reviewing #Greenythedance

How much faith did ESPN Radio folks have in Mike Greenberg successfully paying off his loss to co-host Mike Golic in their “Sheets of Integrity Challenge” by dancing in front of a live national televion audience on Tuesday morning?

So much (or so little) that Nancy Mello — aka “ESPN The Nurse” — was among the invited guests who watched Greeny and Dancing with the Stars’ Anna Trebunskaya dance to Livin’ la Vida Loca.

In case they were needed, Mello was asked to bring along a pair of crutches, and she stood with them just off stage as she watched Greeny pay off his bet.

SportsCenter anchor John Anderson, serving as step-by-step commentator with Golic, reaffirmed the doubts when he noticed that the pile of scoring paddles in front of the judges numbered 1-through-10: “A 10 paddle? Well, they wasted some money on those.”

After 83 seconds of Greeny (almost) matching Trebunskaya step for step, the standing-room only crowd in the ESPN gym burst into applause, perhaps as much in relief as in celebration.

“I’m stunned,” Golic exclaimed. “Anna, this had to be the greatest job in your life.”

“He did OK,” she replied. “He stayed in time. He didn’t drop me.”

The judges echoed the favorable reaction with high scores of ‘8’ from both ESPN NFL analyst and DWTS veteran Jerry Rice and NFL legend and former DWTS champion Hines Ward, and a ‘9’ from Greeny’s wife, Stacy.

“Greeny owned that dance floor,” Rice told the national audience on ESPN Radio and ESPN2.

Pleased with the results, Greeny still seemed a bit uncomfortable.

After adjusting his Disney-designed dance shirt, he said: “Onesies don’t work with boxers.”

Finally, everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Come back to Front Row for some behind-the-scenes footage.

For more on the event, click here.

 

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