Train Keep A-Rollin'
Two words to describe my 11pm sportscast tonight. Train Wreck. I don't mind it when the shite hits the fan, if it's my fault (which it usually is). Tonight, however, was very frustrating. It started horribly enough... I had too much to do in too little time, and didn't get started editing my Auburn/Alabama basketball highlights until 11:05 (I hit the air at about 11:20, and still had several other things to write). So, I get the highlights edited, but forgot to write a sports tease for the news anchor, so she had to ad-lib it. As much as I hate it when I screw up my own show, it's much worse when I screw up someone else's, so I already felt pretty bad and I hadn't even gone on air yet!
So I make it out onto the set in plenty of time, look down at my scripts, and realize I don't have my notes for the highlights I just edited (my fault), so I have to fake it and ad-lib the whole thing. Fortunately, since I had *just* edited the highlights, I remembered everyone's names. I even remembered how many points everybody had scored, so that was a serious bonus. I'm feeling pretty good about myself at this point. I cruise through a couple of scoreboards (when we slap the score up on the screen but don't show highlights) and mis-speak... I said "Kennedy" instead of "Kentucky," but just brushed it off and made some kind of lame joke about not beaing able to talk. Then I do the Georgia/Vanderbilt highlights. No sweat.
Ooops! A mistake on my next script, some more scoreboards. I said "a few more scores from the ACC," when in actuality, I hadn't yet done any ACC games. Makes me sound kind of dumb, but I correct myself and move on. Morale getting lower.
Then I transition to my next highlights, "More in the ACC," expecting to see video from the Georgia Tech/Florida State game. Instead, an entirely different game pops up. I say something seriously lame, like "Uhhhh... that's not Georgia Tech." Then when the correct video doesn't magically materialize on the screen, I add "Maybe we should just go on to the next story."
Now, that's really all I can do when that happens. Had I been on the ball, I would have said something like.... "By the way, Georgia Tech lost to FSU, they've now lost 6 road games in the conference." But I was a little flustered at this point by the fact that I now had to talk about God-knows-what and the teleprompter is still showing Georgia Tech stuff, and I can't find the right script in my enormous stack of paper in front of me. I manage to fake it as I dig through the 20-or-so pages until I find the script for the Columbus State men's basketball game. Meanwhile, our teleprompter operator is having a seizure trying to find the right story. I read straight off the script, never looking once at the camera because the prompter is all f'ed up, and then they go to the video. Thankfully, it's the right video. Unfortunately, I didn't shoot the game, so I'm not even sure what I'm looking at, and I was waaaay behind the highlights as I was talking about them. You know... a guy would get a basket... then five seconds later I'm talking about the guy getting the basket. Suck.
So, at this point, they're supposed to wipe to the next game, the Columbus State women's basketball game. They don't. Instead, there I am on the TV. I have nothing to say... so I say, "Do we have those highlights?" (By the way, I knew we had the highlights, since they were the ones that were erroneously aired about a minute earlier!) Suddenly, there's the video! Yahoo! The teleprompter is caught up, we have the right video, I know what the hell I'm talking about, and all is right with the world.
The last 2:00 or so of the sportscast went (relatively) smoothly. But by that point, I was thoroughly deflated.
Ok, I know. I sound like a whiny brat. By comparison, this really wasn't a bad day at work. I'm sure you've had worse. In fact, I've had many, many, many worse days. The only problem is that when I have a shitty day, there's a whole butt-load of people watching it happen. And laughing, I'm sure. Sorry I had to make you listen to all of that. I needed to vent, though. Thanks.
Two words to describe my 11pm sportscast tonight. Train Wreck. I don't mind it when the shite hits the fan, if it's my fault (which it usually is). Tonight, however, was very frustrating. It started horribly enough... I had too much to do in too little time, and didn't get started editing my Auburn/Alabama basketball highlights until 11:05 (I hit the air at about 11:20, and still had several other things to write). So, I get the highlights edited, but forgot to write a sports tease for the news anchor, so she had to ad-lib it. As much as I hate it when I screw up my own show, it's much worse when I screw up someone else's, so I already felt pretty bad and I hadn't even gone on air yet!
So I make it out onto the set in plenty of time, look down at my scripts, and realize I don't have my notes for the highlights I just edited (my fault), so I have to fake it and ad-lib the whole thing. Fortunately, since I had *just* edited the highlights, I remembered everyone's names. I even remembered how many points everybody had scored, so that was a serious bonus. I'm feeling pretty good about myself at this point. I cruise through a couple of scoreboards (when we slap the score up on the screen but don't show highlights) and mis-speak... I said "Kennedy" instead of "Kentucky," but just brushed it off and made some kind of lame joke about not beaing able to talk. Then I do the Georgia/Vanderbilt highlights. No sweat.
Ooops! A mistake on my next script, some more scoreboards. I said "a few more scores from the ACC," when in actuality, I hadn't yet done any ACC games. Makes me sound kind of dumb, but I correct myself and move on. Morale getting lower.
Then I transition to my next highlights, "More in the ACC," expecting to see video from the Georgia Tech/Florida State game. Instead, an entirely different game pops up. I say something seriously lame, like "Uhhhh... that's not Georgia Tech." Then when the correct video doesn't magically materialize on the screen, I add "Maybe we should just go on to the next story."
Now, that's really all I can do when that happens. Had I been on the ball, I would have said something like.... "By the way, Georgia Tech lost to FSU, they've now lost 6 road games in the conference." But I was a little flustered at this point by the fact that I now had to talk about God-knows-what and the teleprompter is still showing Georgia Tech stuff, and I can't find the right script in my enormous stack of paper in front of me. I manage to fake it as I dig through the 20-or-so pages until I find the script for the Columbus State men's basketball game. Meanwhile, our teleprompter operator is having a seizure trying to find the right story. I read straight off the script, never looking once at the camera because the prompter is all f'ed up, and then they go to the video. Thankfully, it's the right video. Unfortunately, I didn't shoot the game, so I'm not even sure what I'm looking at, and I was waaaay behind the highlights as I was talking about them. You know... a guy would get a basket... then five seconds later I'm talking about the guy getting the basket. Suck.
So, at this point, they're supposed to wipe to the next game, the Columbus State women's basketball game. They don't. Instead, there I am on the TV. I have nothing to say... so I say, "Do we have those highlights?" (By the way, I knew we had the highlights, since they were the ones that were erroneously aired about a minute earlier!) Suddenly, there's the video! Yahoo! The teleprompter is caught up, we have the right video, I know what the hell I'm talking about, and all is right with the world.
The last 2:00 or so of the sportscast went (relatively) smoothly. But by that point, I was thoroughly deflated.
Ok, I know. I sound like a whiny brat. By comparison, this really wasn't a bad day at work. I'm sure you've had worse. In fact, I've had many, many, many worse days. The only problem is that when I have a shitty day, there's a whole butt-load of people watching it happen. And laughing, I'm sure. Sorry I had to make you listen to all of that. I needed to vent, though. Thanks.
Labels: Being the Sportslady
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