Until this year, I could count on one hand the number of times I've been on television.
One such appearance was not exactly something I'd put on my resume: In January, 1995, I went to the Outback Bowl in Tampa when Wisconsin played Duke. My brother-in-law, Ken, and I painted our faces in Duke blue & white and wore Duke clothing and were outnumbered about 10,000 to 1 by red-clad Badger fans. On the way into the stadium, we must have been interviewed by just about all of the Tampa Bay media, who were desperate to find someone who was not from Wisconsin. It was fun but hardly a career highlight. During the game, I went to the men's room and stood in a long line. I glanced around and realized I was the only one wearing blue in the crowded room; everyone else was in bright red Wisconsin gear. The guy behind me, a 6-foot-6 behemoth, looked down at me as I was scanning the crowd said with a smile, "You are a very brave man." I could only manage a nervous smile. Wisconsin won the game, of course, 34-20, but at least Duke got invited to play in a bowl game. (As we alumni always say during football season, "Wait 'til basketball starts!")
With the Gerald Robinson trial, I got some serious TV time on Court TV, CNN, MSNBC, and the local television news channels. It was quite an eye-opener and Adrienne Wheeler, a producer for Rita Cosby's show on MSNBC, was a great coach who critiqued my performances and gave me good advice. Beth Karas of Court TV also was very helpful with advice and coaching.
On Dec. 3, I appeared on the local ABC channel's Sunday "Roundtable" program with 4 other journalists. The feedback I've gotten from that program has been phenomenal. At first, I thought people were just being polite. But after so many people told me how well I did, I started believing them. One person even commented that I looked like a "matinee idol." How many of you know what that means? If you do, you're showing your age -- and yes, I know what it means so I guess I'm showing my age as well. No use denying it!
As for the TV cameras, I guess I've gotten to the point where I'm feeling comfortable in front of them. The viewers seem to think so. Who knows, if The Blade ends up locking out all of the reporters and editors (still a looming threat -- as the company's kindhearted general manager put it so diplomatically a few weeks ago, locking out The Blade's newsroom staff would be "a slam dunk, a piece of cake"), maybe I'll put together a video resume and knock on the doors of the local TV channels and cc "60 Minutes." Right....
In the meantime, I'm working on my novel and hoping the newspaper's labor contracts are settled fairly and we can get on with our lives.
Toledo, Ohio, December 12, 2006