The "Oh sh*t, I think I'm getting sick" regimen

What to do when you wake up feeling like utter crap in the 48 hours before a broadcast

Panic.

Just kidding. Panic never helps anything, although I know and understand the feeling well. I felt it just this past week.

Thursday, while I was at work, I started to progressively feel worse and worse as the day wore on. Friday morning, I woke up with a burning throat, that all-too-familiar “I’m definitely coming down with something” feeling, and our annual Apple Cup rivalry game against Washington State at a packed and raucous NFL stadium (Lumen Field in Seattle) lurking just 28 hours away.

It’s a terrible feeling to be unsure whether you can make a broadcast commitment, or to wonder if you’ll have to live up to it at anything less than 100 percent. But, much like the athletes we cover never want to have to play dinged up, we aren’t exempt to life happening, and we often have to go out there and give it our best in spite of the behind-the-scenes things we’re dealing with that are outside our control.

There is no magic cure-all, but like I’ve said over and over here, since there are no guarantees in life our ultimate goal is always to maximize the chances that things go well. There are very specific things you can do to do that, and there are also specific things you should not do. After 20-plus years of broadcasting through allergy attacks, colds, coughs and flus (and maybe a hangover or two), I’ve tried a million different tricks to get myself ready to go. Here are the things that have worked best.

(By the way, this list is by no means exhaustive, so if something has worked well for you in the past, leave it in the comments section below. Also, I’m not taking a penny from anyone to endorse any product I mention. These are just things that work for me, and of course, it is always advised to consult a physician when dealing with serious medical issues.)