This just in...

Saturday Nights All Right!

2005-04-01T00:41:00.000-06:00

The Last Dance!!
Oh man! Was this the send off of all sendoffs! We had a good time at the Park Tavern last Saturday. Sending off Tony to the east coast to meet his lovely wife. We sang and drank then drank some more, then did a little more singing. Smoked cigars, did some shots and sang some more.

I must say Tonys rendition of Barry Manilows' "I write the songs" was beautiful! And Joe did a smash up job with "Ghostbusters". Me and the Cheif cleaned up with a heart felt version of Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" acoustic.

It was a lot of fun, just like working with Tony. And at times I thought I could really get into trouble(just like working with Tony!). But all was well in the end, and Tony made the trip safely to NJ.

Good Luck Mr. Berlin. Hope all goes well. You will be missed!!!

~OUT

One last hurrah!

2005-03-23T23:51:00.000-06:00

Sean & Tony's last story

Yeah and why not make it a serious heart felt emotional story? Because we had to do a high gas price story. Yeah we went out with a bang! Feeling a little sad that Tony is leaving but life goes on. I wish him all the luck in the world and whichever station in NYC that decides to pick him up is a lucky news organization!! Tony is one of the best people to work with and he will be missed! I am excited for the party scheduled for Saturday. Drinking, Karoake, Dancing...could be interesting...

~OUT

2005-03-23T00:45:00.000-06:00

Lake Placid, NY 2005

25 years after a Miracle...

2005-02-25T22:19:00.000-06:00

Lake Placid, NY Feb 2005

Here I stand humbled in a place I never dreamed of traveling to. I know it already sounds corny, but when you are a hockey fan and or even a sports fan, getting to be a part of something like this is awesome. As soon as I was told I might get to go on this trip I was giddy. Covering the 25th Olympic reunion in Lake Placid, NY could be the best shoot I have been on in my 7 years of news coverage.

Day 1
It started off great meeting Mark Rosen(sport director) at MSP Airport. This was my first traveling trip for work and I was excited for that reason as well. As we waited to board the plane we noticed John Harrington and his wife show up, as did Eric Strobel, Phil Verchota & Buzz Schneider with some of their families. It was cool to see these guys chit-chat and really be excited to go back to NY.
Rosen was excited too because he was there in 1980 when these guys won the gold. He had tons of great video that we brought along to use for our stories, and awesome memories. All of which he had no problem sharing with me to get me up to speed. You see I was 4 yrs old when they won the gold in Lake Placid. BUT I do remember watching the game with my Dad(I don't remember specifics) even though I was 4.
We caught our flight got to Albany, picked up our rental and made our way to Lake Placid. It was exactly 7:24pm when we got into town. I only remember because these huge fat nowflakes were falling and fireworks were going off in town. It was the exact time & date back in 1980 that the USA beat the Russians. Kinda cool.

Day 2
We started early getting some grub, then some shots of the town and then making our way to the Olympic center. We just happened to walk into the museum when we noticed pretty much the whole team was walking in as well. So we did what we came to do. We did interviews with the guys, got lots of nice pictures of them taking pictures and signing autographs with fans and admirers. We even had enough time to take a few personal pictures with some of these guys(thanks to my digital camera!).
We were pretty much set after that. There was a skate with the athletes event later where the public could skate with these guys and get autographs on the Olympic ice oval(Yeah the one Eric Heiden won 5 gold medals in 1980!)we got some video there too. The big event was much later as the town would honor all the athletes from 1980 and rename the ice arena in honor of Herb Brooks. All went well, we got our short 5&6 stories done and started on our 10pm story. We got most of it done but needed the rest of our story to come from the event later that night.
As we set up for the even to start Rosen grabbed me and said we needed a shot of the actual lockerroom the players used. We got back there and it was set up exactly like 1980, with jerseys hanging and everything. Once again pretty cool.
We got our shots finished the piece, nailed the live shot and had time to get some more pictures with the guys. I had everybody but Neal Broten(my hero as a kid) but finally got one before we left. We hit a local restaurant after the event and guess who was there??? Half the team. We shot the sh*t with McClanahan, Verchota, Janaszak, Strobel, Schneider Johnson, & Ramsey. It was cool talking with these guys about the games and how they treated each other like brothers.

Day 3
We shopped for our families and went home.

Obviously there are some other details I probably left out. Not on purpose, but it really was an event for me just to be there and meet those players who were part of something that we will probably never see in the sports world again.

~OUT

Lets Play Hockey...

2005-02-18T13:54:00.000-06:00

Miracle on Ice

On Tuesday Mark Rosen(Sports Director) and I are flying to Albany, NY. Then we will pick up our rental and drive "upstate" to Lake Placid for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Miracle on Ice. They are renaming the ice rink there Herb Brooks Arena. And I am really excited. Being a hockey fan since I could walk this is a huge opportunity for me. I remember watching the 1980 game vs Russia when I was 5 with my Dad and some of his friends. I didnt realize how big it was then, I was 5. But now with the movie and all the documentaries, I realize how big it really was for the country.
I plan on following up later with stories from my trip and hopefully have a "few" pictures as well. Until I get back...

~OUT

sports sports sports!

2005-01-22T13:53:00.000-06:00

Wednesday I was in Sports and thought it was going to be a slow day again. I was told by the producer that I had nothing to shoot and thought oh well, I love the 90's is on....maybe I can catch the WHOLE THING!!!!

Anyways it turned out to be an interesting night as about 5:30p Mark Rosen drops by and says "I think we need to go over to KFAN and try to get a word with Mike Tice". I was down. Mark works at "The Fan" also and has access to the studio that Tice was doing his weekly show in. As we pul into the parking lot we see a "competitors" newsvan sitting there and all I could say was suckers...Anyways we go in the front door and get on the elevator(which you need a pass to activate) and go straight to the studio.

I wait in the main office area and Mark talks to the Vikings representative for Tice in the studio. He tells Mark that the"competitors" ambushed Tice as he showed up to do his show. Rolling with their cameras, and asking stupid questions like "how do you feel about your team?", he looked steamed as he got on the elevator.

This am"bush"(quoting the bush part because it was a BUSH LEAGUE thing to do), had an effect on us as Tice left he would barely even look at Rosen who was being very respectful asking if he would have a word. Tice said no and we said ok. He left we left. Done. Except that the other station aired the ambush and made it seem that Tice was dodging their questions. Not true, and this station is known for blowing things way out of preportion.

~OUT

doggie air?

2005-01-22T13:43:00.000-06:00

Tuesday I did a nice story with reporter Darcy Pohland. It was on the possibility of certain airlines giving pets frequent flyer miles. So we of course went to the airport to see if we could find anyone boarding with a pet. Like a needle in a haystack right? About 10min in we found a woman buying her tickets and holding her leash(dog attached of course). We spoke with her for a while and then needed to head back to the station for another interview with one of the wives of a co-worker who travels a lot with her pets. She brought in her English Terrier and her Great Dane, WOW! What a dog! He looked like a horse, but he was the gentlest thing you ever saw. Anyways it was a nice story for such a cold day. We could have been doing something outside...brrrrrr.

~OUT

a chance to vote?

2005-01-18T01:09:00.000-06:00

voting for Iraq?

Started working on a story today about local citizens who are either from Iraq or of Iraqi descent, who would like to vote in the Jan30th elections. It seems that there is a way for Iraqi's to go to one of 5 cities in the US to pre-register, then return to the city and vote on Jan30th. We looked today for any local citizen who is making plans to go and vote, but found nobody.

The story was not for today and it gives us a little time to find a person or two to tell their story before the 30th. We did have a good lead on a gentleman who is an artist from Iraq. He had 3 death sentences assigned to him as his paintings depicted the torture and destruction Saddam has caused. He is now in Iraq but will be returning home soon to Minneapolis. Of course we hope to get a word or two with this gentleman as I'm sure he will something to say about the upcoming election.

Upcoming posts will follow.

~OUT

just another year as a Vikes fan...

2005-01-17T01:53:00.000-06:00

Moss after the 27-14 loss to Philly

Well working this Sunday in sports wasn't the treat I thought it "could" be.

First let me say working at any job while hung over is no picnic. And second it is getting to be a real pain in my ass to wait and see every year how the Vikes decide to shoot themselves in the foot. Don't get me wrong in an age of parody in the NFL it is nice to see a somewhat competitive team each year. But to even say this was a competitive team might be pushing it.

Yeah Yeah I know, I heard it all year at the press conferences the day after, "we have some key injuries" & "we didnt show any character" or this one I like, "well I guess you guys need something to write about so thats why you ask certain questions".

Nothing has changed from years past until now. For God's sake the TampaBay Bucs have won the superbowl! This team is really a heart-breaker for most fans. But I am really used to it. Have been for many years now, but it still sucks.

Anyways, work was work. I didnt see anything I havent seen before. I didnt shoot anything. Pretty ho-hum for a Sunday. I did edit the Late Sports show...and it was phenominal!

~OUT

a new toy...

2005-01-15T13:42:00.000-06:00

Sony's new competition for the iPod

So I decided to go against what everybody else at my work did and get and iPod. I like Sony stuff. I am a Sony fan, always have been and I think if they keep coming out with the newest and bestest stuff, I always will be a fan.

Anyways enough with the commercial...I looked into the iPod, and I have to say Iam not that impressed. It is bulky. Being shaped like a remote control doesnt fit so well in my pocket. And only coming in pastel colors...well we'll discuss that another day. I have also learned the battery life of an iPod is really quite poor. A freind of mine recently took a trip(with no car charger for his iPod)across state, and the thing was dead before he got there. Yeah there are 5GB, 10GB, 15GB, 20GB, 40GB & 60GB! The only good thing I am seeing is the ability to put pictures also on your iPod. Yeah!

As for my Sony NW-HD1, it has a 20GB harddrive(which fits about 10-13,000 songs!). The battery lasts about 30 hours. And it is the size of a credit card! I know, to each is own. And really there is nothing wrong with the iPod. It just seems that Sony doesn't market their items as well. Most people that have iPods at my work didn't even know there really was such a competitive item on the market.

I had to vent...all I hear is iPod this and iPod that...I am tired...tired, tired, tired of the iPod.

~OUT

a lazy Saturday...

2005-01-15T13:20:00.000-06:00

Today I slept in. Plan on hanging out, watching some football then going to a friends to discuss a business opportunity. It seems like a non-meaningful day...no wait it is a real non-meaningful day.

~OUT

a nice resting spot...

2005-01-14T13:14:00.000-06:00

Ye Old Bench
This is a bench I took a few pictures of today. A friend of mine is trying to sell this bad boy either on eBay or by word of mouth. He doesnt have a digicam so I helped him out a little. From what I learned this bench is quite old. From an old Drug Store in Helena, MT. This was a place for people who were waiting for their drugs to sit and talk about the weather or something.
For some reason back in the day this item was then moved to Faribault, MN. My friend bought it a few years ago and now would like to see it in a more loving home.

Since it is Friday and one of my days off from the "exciting" world of Local TV News...(yawwwwwwwwwwn!) I need to recharge as this next week could be a busy one. The Vikes are in the playoffs...

~OUT

2005-01-14T01:11:00.000-06:00

just another day...

A Sports Thursday

2005-01-13T17:26:00.000-06:00

Wednesdays and Thursdays are my Sports days. This means I work exclusively for the Sports Dept. here at Wcco TV. Today I edited the 5pm-6pm newscasts. Not much really to do. At 6:30pm I will be going to shoot a celebration at a local high school, the swim team recently set a MN high school record 100th win in a row.
After I shoot that I will head back and edit the 10pm Sportscast. I am also going to try to get out as early as possible because I have sick ones at home.

That is all for now. I will write back if anything exciting happens.

~OUT