Last day of setup!


Our final day of preparation

I was hanging out at the main entrance of the hotel this morning, wearing my "Late Show with David Letterman" sweatshirt, and the valet asked if I was on the Late Show. Yesterday, another valet asked me the same question. What's going on in this town? Just because I'm wearing a "Late Show" sweatshirt, does that mean I was a guest? What's next? If I wear a Texans baseball cap, will people be asking me if I'm a wide receiver with the Texans???

Jen and I started the actual day at iHop (no relation to iTunes, iPod, iPhoto, iMovie, iCal, iChat, iBlog, or any other Apple Macintosh product...but I'm sure iHop had pancakes made with apples). We had to break our three-day stretch of hotel breakfasts, which really isn't that good, anyway.

Jen and I ran more shopping errands...scissors, packing tape, notebooks. We also did some personal shopping at Old Navy, where I got much-needed Houston-winter jacket (or, for the rest of the country, a spring/fall jacket), and a sweater for the ever-so-cold convention center.

Back at the media center, we did some final setup and testing back to Chicago. Unlike some other broadcasts where we're just at the location for a few hours, we're here for several days, with hours of non-stop audio being "streamed" back and forth between Houston and Chicago. We just need to make sure everything works, and in case it doesn't, how to get on-the-air another way.

Meanwhile, Jen makes sure that our broadcast site looks good to our guests and he other stations who may be considering putting Sporting News Radio on their air. So, cables are taped down, gifts are prepared, and all the logistics are worked out. Months of work are culminated in this one week, and she wants to see everything go off, not without a hitch, because that's impossible, but with as few hitches as possible, and contingencies plans ready to go.

As we're working, a reporter from the ABC affiliate here in Houston wants to interview up about the media hype at the Superbowl. Jen goes first, doing her best NASCAR driver impersonation by mentioning the network and the hosts during the interview. She has a great line when asked about the Superbowl: "I planed longer for the Superbowl than I ever planned for my wedding!" She's such a ham...

I, on the other hand, sound like a dope. The reporter asks, "what's the worst thing about being at the Superbowl?" I respond, "A misconception about us in the media is that we're entitled to everything. But we assume that we have nothing: no power, no phone lines, no chairs, no tables. That's why we come out here twelve days before the game." Great answer, but I didn't answer his question directly. D'oh! I figure that they'll cut me out of the piece, because Jen looks and sounds so much better than me!

SNR host Peter Brown and reporter Jason Belenke arrive by car (Peter doesn't fly) and we all head out to dinner. While at the restaurant, I keep my eye on the T.V. at the bar, and see that the news is coming on. I race over to the T.V., and the ABC affiliate leads with Superbowl coverage, which seems weird to me, because I don't consider it worthy enough to be the top news story. Nonetheless, I wait for the our package to begin while my colleagues finish their meal. The affiliate goes into "real" news, and I return to the table to finish up myself, while keeping my eye on the T.V. at a distance.

When we finish, we go back to the bar to wait for our story. The news-portion of the newscast ends at 10:35 pm, and then special Superbowl coverage. We wait and wait and wait until 10:54, when we see each other in the tease into the next segment. Finally, the story begins with me! Sure enough, they use my quote! Then Jen's on with her witty line! Jen and I are Houston celebrities! Wait until tomorrow...

We get back to the hotel, and I crash instantly.

Posted: Sun - January 25, 2004 at 05:24 PM      

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