Joy Burgin, traffic anchor for News4 WOAI and KABB Fox San Antonio.
Courtesy of Joy Burgin
Her name might be Joy, but local traffic anchor Joy Burgin doesn’t exactly play nice when it comes to backing her hometown San Antonio Spurs.
During the first round of the playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, Burgin, who works for sister stations News 4 San Antonio (WOAI) and Fox San Antonio (KABB), has been showing her love for the Silver and Black by sprinkling in some playful trash talk during live morning broadcasts.
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“With the excitement in San Antonio right now, it’s pretty hard not to get caught up in it,” Burgin, 26, told MySA during a recent interview. “When you’re winning, you just got to say it. You got to shout it from the rooftops.”
Burgin’s cheeky commentary began after the Spurs’ Game 1 victory over the Blazers. It started after FoxSA news anchor Ashley Sutton highlighted a sweet moment during Victor Wembanyama’s postgame interview. Wemby said he felt “safe” knowing Spurs legends like Tim Duncan and David Robinson were always there for support.
“Not for the other team!” Burgin responded, suggesting the Blazers shouldn’t feel any sense of comfort playing against the Spurs.
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Then, when meteorologist Brad Sowder welcomed the Blazers to San Antonio, Burgin echoed the sentiment – with a slightly different spin.
“Welcome, losers,” she said with a mischievous grin.
Although Burgin, a graduate of Brandeis High School and the University of the Incarnate Word, said she doesn’t consider herself a “big sports girl,” it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement around the Spurs making it back to the playoffs after a six-season hiatus.
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“It’s not just Spurs pride, it’s San Antonio pride,” Burgin said. “We’re all in on it. It’s for everybody, not just people who are big basketball fans.”
During a recent News4SA morning broadcast, news anchor Mariza Mendoza joined in on the good-natured teasing and wished viewers a good morning, “Except those Portland fans.” Burgin added more fuel to the fire with this clever gem: “I hope you also have a good morning because you’re gonna have a bad night,” she said.
After the Spurs won the series against the Blazers 4-1, Mendoza pulled out a broom on air to indicate a “sweep.” News anchor David Chancellor, however, had to explain to her that it was only a “gentleman’s sweep” because the Blazers won one game.
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Leave it to Burgin to chime in with her own thoughts: “It’s called mopping the floor with ya!”
Chancellor responded by calling Burgin “the trash talker of all.”
We think he left out the word “best.”
So, what have reactions been like from viewers? Has Burgin heard from Spurs fans who love her witticism or Blazers fans who found her comments less amusing? Burgin said it’s been a mix of reactions but “mostly positive.”
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“I even got messages from people cheering from the Philippines and from a Korean Spurs fan group,” she said. “We did get a couple of Portland fans – a couple of sore losers, but it’s all right.”
As the playoffs continue, Burgin said she has no intention of stopping the trash talk. It’s all in good fun, of course, and it seems Burgin wants all the shade.
“As long as the Spurs keep making shots, we’re going to keep taking shots,” she said.