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Dec012009
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11 – 0 |
Fox 8 did a three hour pre-game special today leading up the New Orleans Saints appearance on Monday Night Football versus the New England Patriots. Janette asked me to come in early at one this afternoon since we were going on the air at three, an hour before my shift usually starts.Dad and I arrived at 11:30 this morning so I was only at the doctor’s office for a little while before heading out to WVUE for the rest of the day. I got a little bit of housekeeping done but didn’t have the time to do much substantive work.I got a lift to the station shortly before one, stopping at McDonald’s to pick up some lunch to take with me. I was not very busy after I arrived so I was able to eat my lunch. I was interrupted by a request from Paul to fetch a battery charger out of his car… which was only a bit of a hassle because it took three tries before I took the right keys out to the parking lot. Before John and Nancy left, I printed a few scripts for them to take to the Superdome where they would be broadcasting from.With the exception of one segment, everything was live at the dome or various packages and VOs so there was nearly no prompting to be done. I printed the scripts. The broadcast was divided into two rundowns. Since most of it was packages and cues for live shots, there was not much hassle with the printing. I was able to watch a good portion of the special from the control room. It’s always interesting to watch a live show like this unfold in the control room. Truly anything can happen on live television. Overall, this broadcast appeared to go pretty smoothly and they got plenty of great content in. Even though it was gray and damp outside, there were still more than enough fans outside for scenery. A good portion of the show covered the tailgaters, although we did have a couple sports anchors inside the dome for “X’s and O’s.” Sprinkled in between that were weather hits with Nicondra in studio. Kim Vaughn was with John and Nancy for occasional weather commentary as well.In the second segment of the five o’clock hour we did an in-studio news segment with Val Bracy anchoring. Although there was more than enough real news today, it was only given a token time allotment. The Saints game started at 7:30. Monday Night Football is on ESPN but WDSU was simulcasting the game as well. At nine o’clock we ran our usual evening newscast even though the game was still on. I can’t imagine why anyone would be watching us over the football game but it wasn’t my decision to bother with. It’s not permitted to run highlight clips while the game is ongoing so we couldn’t say a great deal about the game. Natasha did a live look at Bruno’s Tavern. It was nearly halftime during her segment. John Henry and Rob were broadcasting live under the seats at the Dome but they basically just commented on the noise and relayed the score. Monica was kind enough to run prompter for the show which freed me up to just print and keep watching the football game.…and what a game it was. I cannot wax eloquent, but I can say it was an astounding match up. Like a lot of people, I was expecting a closer game, maybe even a Patriots win. What we essentially got was another Saints blowout. The Patriots answered our early field goal with a touchdown but the Saints pulled ahead in the second quarter, outscoring New England 21-3. I never would have guessed the Saints would be two touchdowns ahead of Tom Brady and the Patriots at the half.The Patriots narrowed the gap early in the second half with a touchdown but two more touchdown passes from Drew Brees in the third and fourth quarter sealed the deal. Final score: 38-17. Who Dat!The newsroom largely emptied out after 10:30. Eric was working late and Avis got back to the station to play solitaire shortly before 11. There was a auto accident on the Danziger Bridge shortly after 11 which had a fatality confirmed close to midnight. I didn’t send anyone to the scene, however. I left for the night at 12:30. The wait for the cab felt pretty long as it was so cold outside.After I got home, I looked though a couple pictures I took today and talked to Krystle on the phone for a little while before bed.