It’s been a busy summer for veteran sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak. The Centreville High School alum joined CBS Sports HQ as a studio host. And she’s returning to the DC this weekend to cover the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix.
She’s also hosting a new true-crime series, Game Day Murders, airing on Investigation Discovery/HBO Max. The show explores crimes tied to the sports world.
Czarniak talks about her strong NoVA ties and what her husband, Today show host Craig Melvin, thinks of her new show.
Do you still have family and friends in Centreville?
Do you have a NoVA favorite restaurant?
One of the places that we love is [Trattoria] Villagio in Clifton and also Trummer’s. That’s really close to where my family is.
As an athlete at Centerville H.S., did you know you wanted to be a sports reporter? Was that your dream?
No, I mean, that is not what I dreamt of. My path is twisty and turny. Yes, I played sports, but I also really wanted to be on MTV. I loved music. And when I was in college — I went to James Madison University — I took a course in my communications major where it just flipped a switch for me because we got to experience every different role that it took to put on a show.
Speaking of shows, do you think Game Day Murders will appeal more to sports or true-crime fans?
I think the power of the series is the power to be a real split down the middle. But I think if you had to pick one, I would say I think that it’s more fans of true crime storytelling. But I’m hoping that this will cross between people that do care about sports, people that are interested in maybe it’s a certain sport or a name or someone that we’re covering — but then also someone who doesn’t. It really is important to me that someone who is not into the x’s and o’s of sports cares about this. And I really think that they’ve done a great job of finding the stories and also the storytelling that you don’t have to be an x’s and o’s person.
Shaquille O’Neal is an executive producer of the show. Are you both true-crime fans?
Yeah, we are. But he is big-time true-crime fan. He follows and finds the most obscure stuff. But he also very much cares — justice is a very big thing for him. He’s someone who really doesn’t just talk the talk. If he’s interested in something, then he’s involved. And I think that’s really cool.
What does Craig think of the series?
He does Dateline at NBC. So this has become a really cool like thread for us to connect on. Because what I’m most blown away by is really the process, and how they all do it, and how the producers find these stories. And then how they get people to open up and agree to talk. And I think there’s a really interesting aspect of also carrying on someone’s legacy in most of these stories as well.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image courtesy Investigation Discovery
