NBC’s Dan Hicks has had a whirlwind year covering two Olympics, Ryder Cup and PGA Tour – The Florida Times-Union

Dan Hicks should be exhausted.

If he is, the veteran NBC sports announcer is doing a heck of job of hiding it.

Hicks, 59, will anchor the network's weekend coverage of The Players Championship for the 30th year on Saturday and Sunday at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, working again with producer Tommy Roy, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident.

This week is just another huge event for Hicks, who in the last eight months has covered swimming at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the final two events of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup, the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics and now the third leg of the PGA Tour's four-event Florida Swing.

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Except Hicks thinks there should be a bit of a disclaimer: like most of the NBC talent covering the Winter Games, Hicks did it from the NBC broadcast compound in Stamford, Conn.

"I've got to say that the Winter Olympics was a bit of a break on the body and the wear and tear," he said. "That last thing I thought I would do is drive from my own house in my car to cover the skiing. It was still a lot of work and because of the difference in time, a lot of late nights.

"It's not what you sign up for, to cover an Olympics from the studio. We tried to do the best possible job to convey to the audience what they were seeing but there's no substitute for being there. The good news is that the cafeteria food is Stamford is pretty good."

Hicks covered two of the biggest storylines of each Olympics, Green Cove Springs native Caeleb Dressel in swimming and Mikaela Shiffrin in skiing.

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They were at both ends of the spectrum in terms of Olympic success.

Dressel won five gold medals for the U.S., the fifth swimmer to accomplish that. In the process, Dressel captured fans all over the world with his power, grace and homespun background.

"Caeleb had all the pressure and the spotlight on him going in," Hicks said. "I was taken aback by how calm and focused he was. He's never tried to be anybody he isn't. He's true to himself, a small-town Florida guy. It's his comfort zone."

But Hicks told one anecdote that spoke of Dressel's confidence and passion. He interviewed Dressel at the USA Olympics swim team camp in Hawaii before the Tokyo Games and at the end of the interview, Hicks said Dressel gave him a preview of coming attractions.

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"He just said, 'I'm going to put on a show for you guys,'" Hicks said. "I thought, 'wow ... this guy's ready to roll.' And then he went out and put on that show."

Then there was Shiffrin. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and the youngest slalom champion in Olympic alpine skiing history, she was favored to win gold in as many as three events, but then fell in each of her first two, the giant slalom and the slalom.

After she skiedout in the second event, she dragged herself to the side and sat forlornly on the snow for around 20 minutes.

NBC was criticized for keeping its cameras on Shiffrin until she finally left the slope with a U.S. official. But Hicks defended the network's coverage.

Hicks said Shiffrin's agony could be compared to the best golfers in the world coming to the 17th hole of the Stadium Course and dumping balls in the water, in front of thousands of people on the ground and millions watching on TV.

"Golf is one of those sports that strips you bare," Hicks said. "We've seen some of the catastrophes at No. 17 and you feel for the athlete. We all felt for Mikaela but it's not our job to pick them off the snow and give them a pat on the back. It's the same situation at No. 17. You see the splash and you see that crushed look on their faces."

"When she fell the first time, you could just say, 'well, that's racing,'" Hicks said. "But then it happened again, and all I could think of was Dan Jansen."

Jansen was favored to win 500-meter speed skating gold medal in 1988. Hours after learning his sister had died of cancer, Jansen took the rink and then fell. It took him until 1994 to win his elusive gold medal.

Hicks said Jansen must have read his mind. He got a text from Jansen that said, "sometimes the best don't always win at the Olympics."

Hicks said one key story line at The Players is the emergence of young stars such as Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann and Scottie Scheffler.

He's especially looking forward to see how Scheffler handles the Stadium Course after winning under difficult conditions last week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

"I've got to give credit to [broadcast partner] Paul Azinger ... before the Ryder Cup, he was saying constantly that this guy has the most potential of all of the young players," Hicks said. "This guy won a birdie fest at Scottsdale, then went bogey-free on the weekend at as tough any test we've seen at Bay Hill ... a very deserving winner and he might be the main story on Tour this season. 'Zinger said it best. He said Scottie has a great disposition and nothing rattles him."

Hicks said a Players field that doesn't include both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for the first time since Woods turned pro before the 1997 tournament doesn't leave the field short of star power and that includes the Stadium Course and its finishing stretch from Nos. 16-18.

"There's nothing like having those guys in the field," Hicks said. "But if The Players has proven anything, you're going to get some incredible competition down the stretch, even with guys who might not be the biggest stars at the moment. The course is always the biggest star of this tournament and I'd put that finish up against any in the world."

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NBC's Dan Hicks has had a whirlwind year covering two Olympics, Ryder Cup and PGA Tour - The Florida Times-Union