Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series
Got to sleep in a little today as I only had to do one game – yah!

Still crazy hot in the truck!

Got back to the hotel tonight and discovered that I had been robbed. Since there was not an in-room safe, I had several pieces of my jewelry hidden in a drawer. Two of my most coveted pieces were among the missing…

 


My Sanibel Sandal collection is near and dear to my heart. It is a signature item for a jeweler on Sanibel Island, Florida. I hate shoes and wish I could wear flip flops every single day of my life. However, since I live in Ohio, it’s not always practical. Plus, I am not allowed to wear open toed shoes in an ESPN compound.

So having my Sanibel Sandals allow me to “wear” flip flops every day!

Thank God I was wearing my gold and black onyx Sanibel Sandal pendant today, so it was not taken.

In all, 6 items were stolen. The only thing that is not replaceable is a pearl ring that I had made back in 2000. The jewelry store is now out of business.

For now, I don’t want to comment much more on the situation as I have a feeling this is going to be a very complicated process. Wouldn’t want to say anything that could be held against me down the road.

What a crappy end to the day.  Plus tonight I have a 7 hour turn around.  Meaning from the time I got back to the hotel to the time I need to leave the hotel in the morning - is 7 hours.  Add in the drama of a robbery...  looking at a CRAZY short nite!

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series

Still gotta laugh when you walk past the Viz Van.

Where I sat in the truck, was very close to the door. Unfortunately, with the extreme temps outside, it got extremely hot where I sat due to the proximity to the door.

Since we were packed in to our benches like sardines, I couldn’t move over to the right at all. Just 3 inches to the right, it was cold.

During game action, I would be dripping with sweat and my AP, sitting to my right, was freezing! So in commercial breaks I would stand up behind him to cool down.

After our 2 games, we stayed for a few hours to build for our game on Friday. Just was we were getting ready to leave, word came in that John Wooden was about to die. So we needed to prep some obit panels since he would likely pass during the next two games.

Well this simple task turned into a several hour ordeal. We had difficulty getting the correct graphic layout for an obit. After we solved that, we have even greater difficulty getting a photo or headshot of Mr. Wooden. Which is laughable, however, at the time, we were not laughing! There were endless photos of him on the air during SportsCenter – we know the photos exist – we just couldn’t get a hold of anyone to give them to us!

I know it seems silly to ya’ll – but we can’t just grab a photo off the internet. There are strict guidelines in place on how we obtain photos for legal reasons.

Anyway – we spent easily 2 hours working on the obit panel.
After all that, he didn’t even die tonight.

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series – Set Day #2

Found out this morning that we are going in a little late today. With all the issues they are having on site, they didn’t want a few of us to come until mid-morning.

Once on site, I got to see what some of the dilemmas were first hand.

First of all, there was no where to physically put our machines. We had 3 Viz’s and they must be kept in air conditioned comfort.

Someone had the idea to take one of the rental cars –which was a minivan and make that the “home” for our 2 Viz’s that were on air.

Air conditioning units were brought in to keep the minivan cold.

The USB extenders – where we plug in our ‘jump’ drives were dangling out the window.

This was definitely a new one!







The 3rd Viz, which was just used for building, not on the air, was kept under the steps going into production.

Which made it a bit difficult to get to when you needed to plug in a drive.

After all the quirks were worked out of the set up, we got quite a lot built, but came up against many other road blocks over the course of the day.

Didn’t really do anything after work - early day tomorrow.

Baltimore > Oklahoma City

There was the possibility of me getting the chance to meet up with my friend Mike today in Oklahoma. He is wrapping up his multi-week tornado chasing tour – Vortex2 and was hoping to be in Norman. But thanks to the weather he was a few states away.

Oh well.

So I spent the day just catching up on life once I got to OKC. Which wasn’t nearly as fun as hanging out with Weather Channel peeps, but something I needed to do. I may have also snuck in a nap in the afternoon.

There was a set day today, but I was not part of it. Word on the street is that there are numerous issues with the Viz’s. Hmm… at least I will be there for the set day tomorrow so I can join in the “fun”.

Went to dinner with my friends Shannon, Dave and Don. We ate at Chelino's in Bricktown.

May 28th – 31st

Baltimore

NCAA Lacrosse Semifinals - Notre Dame vs 7 Cornell and 5 Duke vs 1 Virginia
NCAA Lacrosse Championship - Notre Dame vs 5 Duke

Due to parking, we decided to walk the 15 minutes each day. It was quicker.

And not that bad of a walk – thru Camden Yards.

The event was at M&T Bank Stadium.

This year, we were trying something different. We were sharing our truck with CBS College Sports on Sunday. That is our “edit day” and also their day covering the D-II and D-III Championships.

It was saving both networks a boatload of money. There was some pre-planning that I was involved with for the Duet aspect of things. I had come up with a plan of how to make it work…. And it did indeed work!

However, the 2nd Duet did not. So there was a lot of extra work done by my sweetheart Lyon boys on Friday &  Saturday. But as usual, they did it! Total rock stars!! God I love them!

Each evening, I would join the others for dinner and drinks. But for the most part I was a good girl. This was a long trip with early mornings. So I needed to behave!

On our walk each morning, I found new signs to take photos of….

As always, the games are super quick! A goal is scored and then in a blink of an eye, another goal is scored!

One morning, when looking out my hotel window, I saw that the room across the way had a bit of fun the night before.

\

Duke finally won their Championship! Sweet justice for those (now) seniors who had been on the team in 2006. Redemption of sorts.

This is a Championship event that I have grown to love. Our crew is just awesome! I love them all and wish we could spend more than just a weekend (or two) together each year.

Columbus > Baltimore

Got to Baltimore in the early afternoon – this is the start of a long trip, so I took some time to get unpacked and settled.

In the evening I headed out for a walk towards the Inner Harbor. Figured I would grab some dinner and eventually meet up with some friends.

Soon after I started walking, I heard someone calling my name from a restaurant patio. It was Mike, a friend of mine. He and Brian were eating dinner, so I joined them.

They wanted to catch an Orioles game… so after dinner, we walked back to the hotel to meet up with Josh. Then the four of us bought some tickets from a scalper and went to the game.

We weren’t sure how long the game would be since there was quite the storm looming.

As much as I dislike baseball, it was fun to go as a fan.

After the game, we walked back to the hotel and met up with a bunch of co-workers in the hotel bar. I had one drink and went to bed.

Columbus

After HOURS of work, I got my new veggie garden planted and set up. It was quite the endeavor – complete with an automatic sprinkling “system”.

Princeton

*** This is a post that is displaying all WAC-y!  Sorry!!!****

Some of my friends refer to that as "All-WAC - Vai Sikahema"


NCAA Lacrosse Quarterfinals –
Notre Dame vs 3 Maryland and 5 Duke vs 4 North Carolina

We have a double header today. Both should be pretty good games.
Now this is not how the inside of a production truck should look like



We were having generator issues and it was making the day interesting to say the least.




We lost power a couple times which is never a good thing. Each time the truck takes a hit, there’s no telling what piece of equipment is going to lose data or get zapped! It tends to make the engineers quite jumpy!


Plus when a truck does lose power, it is pitch black since we don’t have any windows. So you have to feel your way to the door.


The generator operator kept telling our operations producer that he “promises it won’t happen again”.


We did get on the air with the first game. But lost power shortly after it started. That does not go over very well with ESPN.


A few minutes later we got power back and were on the air again.


It was during halftime that we lost power again. At that point the engineers said we would not be powering the truck up again until a new generator arrived. He just could not take the risk.


So the announcers “called” the game from their cell phones and a scoreboard was put on the screen in master control.


The rest of us hung out waiting for the new generator to arrive.


Since it was New Jersey traffic – it took 4 times as long as it should of for the genie to get there.


ESPN was able to get the start time of the 2nd game pushed back about 20 minutes in an effort for us to get back up and running.


Meanwhile, the camera guys were shooting the end of game one on flip cams. As well as the players taking the field for game two.


The new genie arrived with a police escort – that’s something that doesn’t happen every day!


We did miss a bit of game two, but were able to stay on the air for the rest of it.


It was a very different day to say the least!
More exhausting than if we had actually covered 2 games.


But it was great to work with such a great team. We all pitched in, in areas and on tasks that are not related to our normal duties.

After it was all over, I headed back to Newark and stayed at a hotel at the airport.  I have an early flight home tomorrow and don’t want to get up at 4am to make the drive.

Princeton

NCAA Lacrosse Quarterfinals – Set Day

Met up with Stephanie this morning for breakfast. Went to a local place in downtown Princeton – very good! (Surprised I didn’t take a photo?)

The day was pretty average as far as set days go.

Our director (and his wife) recently had twins so there were photos to oohh and ahhh over. They are quite cute!

That evening a large group of us went to PF Changs for dinner. It was a lot of fun!

Columbus > Detroit > Newark > Princeton

Sucks that I have to spend my day off traveling early – but I am doing it so I can land in Newark before rush hour.
Slight delay out of Columbus, but still landed in Detroit close to schedule.

Upon landing, I had an email and voice mail from Delta stating my flight to Newark was delayed until 2:35pm. Ugh!!!!

Headed to the Delta SkyClub… looked at other airports – but any of the other airports in the region would get me in around the same time. So I stuck with the original plan. 3 hours in Detroit! Woo-hoo!!

Finally got on the plane, taxied out… pause… engines shut down. This is never a good sign. Moments later the captain informs us that Newark has put us on a ground hold due to congestion over Newark.

AGHHHH!!!!!

Sure enough, it was just before 5pm as I exited the rental car facility. And as usual, Linda always screws up in Newark…. She led me astray – but I quickly recovered!

Finally got on I-95! Bumper to bumper… inching along. Took 45 minutes to go 2 miles.

But I was entertained by the pickup truck of idiots in the lane next to me… they had a dry erase board on which they would write messages. The message to me was “SHOW YOUR BOOBS!”

Eventually discovered it was more that rush hour traffic – there was a truck that had exploded. Seems to be a recent theme for me.

Ironically, my mom received the letter from the cruise insurance company today – informing us we would not get our money back because the cause of us missing our cruise was not covered on the plan. However, in the coming weeks we would be receiving vouchers from NCL – a 75% cruise credit (of what we paid) for a future cruise.

So there is indeed hope that Spring Break 2010 will indeed happen before years end. Maybe?

After about 2 hours, I arrive at the hotel. (It should be a 45 minute drive)

My grand plans of getting in early and going to downtown Princeton for dinner were quickly fading!

Got settled and headed down to the bar for dinner.
Just like last time – it sucked and was very overpriced!

Columbus

A few days off at home. Which means my adorable niece and nephew came to visit!

Their vacation began with being spoiled with a dinner treat - They go nuts for “the bird”!! (rotisserie chicken)











Smokey’s post meal nap


That is Smokey’s favorite place to nap because he likes to get his gray hair all over Auntie Nic’s white chair.

Claude posing for the camera

 

Look at the cute kitties!

Spending a few days with the kids always brings some peace (and allergies) into my life!

Charlottesville, VA

NCAA Women’s Lacrosse First Round - Towson vs 6 Virginia

Quick turnaround from a night game to a day game.

Excellent production!

Not a dry eye in the truck.

Charlottesville, VA

NCAA Lacrosse First Round - Mount St. Mary's vs 1 Virginia

There was a moment of silence before the game. Our director covered it very, very well.

The players wore warm up jerseys that said “One Love” on the back. Then their game jerseys had a black round patch on the front that said “Y.L.1”

The Cavaliers defeated the Mountaineers 18-4.

After the game, there was still a lot to do. Press conference and several hits for all the platforms in the “family of networks.”

Another really long day.

Charlottesville, VA

I think summer is here for sure! Good & hot!

Our set day today went well. Lots of extra people in the truck since this is a big weekend. SportsCenter/News reporter, legal people, editorial people, etc.

Again did nothing this evening. Ate dinner and went to bed.

Columbus > Charlottesville, VA

Got into Charlottesville in the late afternoon, checked in, unpacked and then headed over to the restaurant across the way.

Probably won’t be a lot of photos or details this weekend as it’s a sensitive time and place.

I am working the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse 1st Round and NCAA Women’s Lacrosse 1st Round at Virginia. This is the first time both teams will be playing since a player on the men’s team murdered a player from the women’s team.

Since I represent ESPN, I am not allowed to share my thoughts or comments on the incident.  I am here to cover the games.

Got to bed early – it’s gonna be a long weekend!

Knoxville

LSU vs Tennessee Softball

After the game, a bunch of us headed back over to the Pizza Palace again. (The place we went to yesterday for lunch)

It was just as yummy today as it was yesterday!

That meal pretty much did me in for the night.

And I have FINALLY realized that I have indeed been here before. Years ago, I did softball here – back in the Monica Abbott days. But they play at a new field in a very different area of campus – that’s why it’s taken so long to remember!

Knoxville

LSU vs Tennessee Softball


Game went really well. But how could it not?

I am working with some of my favorite peeps….. Casey, Nic, Alex, Pelk… the list goes on!




There was a double header today, but we only televised game 1. So we actually went up in the stands and watched part of game 2.

About halfway thru the game, we were all starving, so we hit a local place that Pelk suggested. It had been featured on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives”

Oh yah baby! That was some good eats!

I had a greek salad that was freaking awesome! Although it was the first greek salad I had with pickles.

I also shared a pizza with a co-worker. Awesome!!!!

This place is a MUST when visiting Knoxville. Although, it is in a rather sketchy neighborhood.
But it is truly a hidden gem. Very old school. You place your order. Eat. And then go up and tell the cashier what you had and pay.

Later that night, a few of us went to a sushi/hibachi place.

Nothing like fresh fish in Knoxville!
I am highly allergic to all seafood, however I tried a avocado roll since it was vegetarian. Being my first sushi experience, I was not trained on the fact that you don’t attempt to eat it in one bite. Doing so, makes you choke and then ruins the rest of the experience.

Lesson learned.

I then had various items grilled up fresh for me on the hibachi. Very tasty.

And I had a couple of Tsing Tao beers! Wow! Does that bring back the memories of August 2008!

Of course I was quick to share with my dinner partners some first hand experiences from the city of where Tsing Tao beer is made.

Our bills were hand written on scrap pieces of paper. We all joked if the IRS would accept them if we got audited.

Fun evening!

Knoxville

LSU vs Tennessee Softball

Today we had a set day. This is going to be a big Campus Connection show – so there is a lot of hype around it.

The student that Alex and I were assigned was actually interested in graphics. Which usually the student wants nothing to do with our department – especially once they realize how much work it is! So that was a nice change.

I had a little time to check out the stadium – pretty nice!

Set day went by fast. They usually do.

Didn’t really do much of anything in the evening.

Columbus > Knoxville

Flew to Knoxville in the afternoon. I feel like I have been here before, but I did not recognize the airport at all. Usually that’s the tell-tale sign for me.

Found the hotel and upon check in, the front desk clerk told me I had been upgraded to a river view room. Cool!

Ha!

The bathroom was strange. My toilet was in a corner at an angle. It just struck me as odd. Never seen this before.

Got settled in and had dinner at the bar.

Columbus

Worked all day at WOSU.

Met with the designer and worked out many of the issues.

Got a lot done on the graphics package, but it became clear that it would not be completed today.

The goal was to have the project wrapped up today since the new graphics package and new set were to debut this Friday. Then next week come in and train the staff.

However, when the set arrived, it was not at all what the producer was expecting. So the debut got put off for a couple weeks.

I made as many elements as possible and started to create a lesson plan for the training. As well as paperwork that give step by step directions on how to do just about everything related to the show and general things on the Duet.

Columbus

Worked all day at WOSU.


A lot of the graphic elements made by the design firm are not going to work. So met with the producer to make a list of things that needed to be re-ordered.



Meanwhile worked on what I could since it would be another day or so before I had new elements.

There are a lot of frustrations working on these side projects.  But it's worth it in the end.  I always learn something new!

Birmingham > Columbus

Getting home proved to be a challenge today.

I was scheduled to land around 10:30am.

I had a meeting with WOSU at 1:30pm to discuss the details of the project I would be working on this month with them.

Delays out of Birmingham led me to miss my connecting flight in Atlanta.

Then delays out of Atlanta.
It’s the summer in the south – thunderstorms!

Made it back to Columbus several hours late.
Made myself somewhat presentable with the dirty clothes I had in my bag and then headed off to WOSU.

Meeting went well. Probably the biggest challenge will be the animations they want me to make. I always struggle with those. Especially in making them user friendly for the various operators that will be running the Duet for these shows. None of them are true operators – so I need to keep things simple.

Tuscaloosa

They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
 - Steely Dan – Aja – 1977





One of my favs.....  a little history on the song
“Deacon Blues” was Steely Dan’s fifth Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, where it peaked at #19 in 1978. The song remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks.

It was originally speculated that the song was written about the losing Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, and the NCAA Division I championship Crimson Tide football teams, which was confirmed in a Rolling Stone interview, when group member Donald Fagen said, “Walter and I had been working on that song at a house in Malibu. I played him that line, and he said, “You mean it’s like, ‘They call these cracker assholes this grandiose name like the Crimson Tide, and I’m this loser, so they call me this other grandiose name, Deacon Blues?’ ” And I said, “Yeah!” He said, “Cool! Let’s finish it!”

So here's a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S6nkRW9ANo
Not the greatest video - but it was shot at a concert in Birmingham, so I thought it was fitting.


Back to reality.....
Bad weather ended up canceling our game. Both teams didn’t want to ride out the storm since it was finals week. They all wanted to hit the books.

I looked into getting a flight home – but it was gonna cost too much. So I headed back to Birmingham and stayed the night near the airport. It was a very wet and soggy drive, so I too it slow and safe.

Ordered some take out and went to bed.
"Livin' the dream"

Tuscaloosa

Slept for almost 9 hours. WOW!

Got dressed to go work out. The fitness center was small and only had 1 treadmill and someone was using it. Grrr! I didn’t have time to come back later.

Showered and then went down for breakfast. Joined Alex and Casey – always nice to have someone to eat with.

The weather forecast was doom and gloom for the weekend. Not good when softball is involved!

Actually got the game in. Never did rain.

Afterwards, we headed to Hooters for dinner and to watch the Mosley/Mayweather fight.

Much to our surprise Hooters did not ‘buy’ it – so we were out of luck.

We ate dinner and then some of the crew went on to another bar, I caught a ride back to the hotel like a good girl and went to bed.