My career in broadcasting would have never taken root were it not for the sports director at Sunflower Cablevision in Lawrence, Kansas. Rich Bailey remains a fixture on the sports scene in Lawrence even though he left his job at Cable 6 long ago. "The Pureman" still works as the press box announcer at K.U. football games.
Rich took an 18-year-old freshman and tried his best to teach him the ins and outs of sportscasting. I prepared his depth charts, took care of the stats, and as time progressed did color commentary. Through Rich I met a whole world of adult broadcasters who were as colorful and fun loving as their nicknames suggest. There was the irrepressible "Big Blue" Bob Neu, the flamboyant Kevin "The Guy" Wall, photog extraordinaire Brad "Tomato Man" Richmond, and the off beat reporter Reed "The Steed" Black, aka "Burrito Man." This teenager got to spend a lot of time with these broadcast professionals. Many tales were told and much beer was consumed. Bawdy would best describe the time I spent fishing and carousing with these "gentleman."
The set up was unusual in that we did everything live to tape. The productions aired on the local cable station and they were good enough to win some national awards. We covered Lawrence High football and basketball, K.U. swimming and women's basketball, and the Kansas Relays.
My favorite broadcasts were the state high school basketball tournament which we did in 1975 and 76. We watched the progression of one of the greatest high school teams in Kansas high school history, Wichita Heights. The team was led by former K.U. and NBA guard Darnell Valentine. A Larry Drew led Wyandotte team upset Heights in 75. The following year Valentine and company came back and demolished Wyandotte leading 24 to zip after the first quarter. I'd never seen anything like the all out press and scrambling offense dreamed up by Falcon's coach Lafyette Norwood.
Rich did his best to mentor me as did Tom Hedrick. Tom taught a sportscasting class at K.U. and served as the "Voice of the Jayhawks." Tom had been the play by play man for the Kansas City Chiefs the year they won the Super Bowl. He had been a sports anchors in bigger markets like Cincinnati and Dallas.
Tom's sportscasting class usually contained a jock or two. My two favorites were Nolan Cromwell, the Ransom Rambler. Look him up. He was one of the greatest athletes to ever pass their Kansas. An outstanding Wishbone quarterback, a record setting hurdler for the track team, and an All Pro for the Rams as a safety, Cromwell may be the best athlete I ever saw. The other athlete I remember was a pretty fair basketball player, Herb Nobles. When Tom asked us to get interviews with an athlete ol' Herb interviewed himself.
By the time I was a college junior I yearned to move on to KLWN radio and work as a disc jockey. It wasn't until my senior year that the local AM station gave me a job. I don't think the general manager Hank Booth knew what to make of me. I worked with another Bailey buddy, "Big Blue" Bob Neu. Now those were the times.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Otterly Ridiculous
This morning however was the shocker of all shockers and made me wish I carried a camera. About a mile from my front door I came across a family of otters playing along the banks of the sheet flow of water running through the slough. As I approached they stopped their activity to watch me and came up along the bank but as I drew even to them the family scattered back into the water to play.
You see just about everything on the trails, alligators, big snakes, deer, wild boar, and incredible birds including a variety of herons, hawks, and the huge wood storks. I never thought I would see otters, especially in an area which is dry about half the year. I'm sure they had made their way up from Estero Bay which sits about four miles to the south.
Spring has sprung in Florida. I'm enjoying it before the heat and humidty take hold!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Bloodied but Unbowed
The saga of Washington Mutual took an unexpected turn today in federal bankruptcy court. A supposed "Global Settlement" was brought before the judge. I was half paying attention to the share price before I went to lunch and got an excited phone call from a good friend. He asked if I was watching the share price and I quickly logged onto my trading account and about fell over. The WAMU commons had plummeted from 40 cents a share to 10 cents a share in less than 15 minutes. The preferred's had tanked tumbling from 90 dollars to a mere 8.
My first thought was hmmm, an opportunity to buy more. But the mayhem on the message boards made it impossible to determine what exactly had happened in court so I stood pat. What had happened was that WAMU's lawyers announced a deal that would make bondholders whole while stiffing the shareholders. The big question now is whether the judge will sign off on this "deal" or begin asking some serious questions.
The biggest questions is how a company that was worth 52 billion dollars when it was seized could be sold for 1.9 billion to JP Morgan. Amazingly the share prices recovered after the disastrous plummet. The commons climbed back to 19 cents a share, the same share price we were at about six weeks ago. The preferreds are back to 58 dollars, even higher than it was at the end of December.
What happens next is anyone's guess. I think this could take at least another year to play itself out. I feel certain the perferreds will pay off, the commons, I'm not so sure.
My first thought was hmmm, an opportunity to buy more. But the mayhem on the message boards made it impossible to determine what exactly had happened in court so I stood pat. What had happened was that WAMU's lawyers announced a deal that would make bondholders whole while stiffing the shareholders. The big question now is whether the judge will sign off on this "deal" or begin asking some serious questions.
The biggest questions is how a company that was worth 52 billion dollars when it was seized could be sold for 1.9 billion to JP Morgan. Amazingly the share prices recovered after the disastrous plummet. The commons climbed back to 19 cents a share, the same share price we were at about six weeks ago. The preferreds are back to 58 dollars, even higher than it was at the end of December.
What happens next is anyone's guess. I think this could take at least another year to play itself out. I feel certain the perferreds will pay off, the commons, I'm not so sure.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
School's Out
I don't live in Kansas City anymore. I haven't called it home for more than a decade. But I follow the events there with interest. Last night something happened that will probably shock the nation, but really didn't surprise me. The Kansas City, Missouri School District voted to close 26 schools. That's more than 40 percent of its schools.
I started covering the mess that is the KCMO school district back in 1980. At the time it was battling a desegregation lawsuit and white flight was already underway. The school board which functioned like a bunch of spoiled three year olds, was chewing up and spitting out superintendents every year or two. By the end of the 80's the federal courts had stepped in throwing hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars at the the city's tired and failing schools. The district went from having serviceable Chevys as schools to Cadillacs. Many buildings needed much needed remodeling but they didn't need to become palaces. It did nothing to stop white flight.
According to the Kansas City Star about 18,000 students attend school in the KCMO district. That's about the same number that went there in 1889, yep 1889! The district at one time had more than 100,000 students. There's plenty of blame to go around but it falls squarely on the various school boards who plundered the district coffers for patronage or used their positions of power for their own personal agendas.
It's a shame because I can remember when I was in high school the KCMO schools were still considered pretty good. Like a lot of major urban areas the city itself is in danger of imploding. The suburbs are doing just fine thank you but the city itself, a city I chose to live in, is in a shambles. The Mayor is a buffoon and if the movers and shakers that support the city, The Halls, the Kempers, etc; don't do something soon to redirect what's going on, Kansas City will mirror the disaster that is Detroit.
I started covering the mess that is the KCMO school district back in 1980. At the time it was battling a desegregation lawsuit and white flight was already underway. The school board which functioned like a bunch of spoiled three year olds, was chewing up and spitting out superintendents every year or two. By the end of the 80's the federal courts had stepped in throwing hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars at the the city's tired and failing schools. The district went from having serviceable Chevys as schools to Cadillacs. Many buildings needed much needed remodeling but they didn't need to become palaces. It did nothing to stop white flight.
According to the Kansas City Star about 18,000 students attend school in the KCMO district. That's about the same number that went there in 1889, yep 1889! The district at one time had more than 100,000 students. There's plenty of blame to go around but it falls squarely on the various school boards who plundered the district coffers for patronage or used their positions of power for their own personal agendas.
It's a shame because I can remember when I was in high school the KCMO schools were still considered pretty good. Like a lot of major urban areas the city itself is in danger of imploding. The suburbs are doing just fine thank you but the city itself, a city I chose to live in, is in a shambles. The Mayor is a buffoon and if the movers and shakers that support the city, The Halls, the Kempers, etc; don't do something soon to redirect what's going on, Kansas City will mirror the disaster that is Detroit.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
More Than I Can Chew... for now...
Today marked my first real race of longer than five miles in more than five years. I ran the Hooters to Hooters half marathon on what turned out to be a perfect morning. I wanted to see where I am at in terms of preparing for a fall marathon. My efforts at 8K and 5K earlier this winter suggested 1:45 was a possibility but deep down inside I knew that I was short on training to get there.
I hit the first mile in 7:40 and it felt so easy but I knew that it would feel that way until sometime after six miles. I decided to run by feel and not worry about my splits. I immediately realized that I was gradually slowing down mile by mile and was hitting eight minute pace by mile five. At seven miles the race hits the first of two major climbs in the space of two miles. Hills don't exist around here. You get your hill work running bridges and this particular bridge in the middle of this half marathon was one I had trained on last summer. Given my hip and leg problems I have been avoiding hills lately.
Those two miles just about kicked my ass. I was pretty much stuck in 8:20 mode until the final mile when I finally sucked it up and ran an 8:05. I finished in 1:47:33 averaging 8:12 per mile. It wasn't horrible and overall I don't feel like I gave it 100 percent. The run told me the one thing I already knew, I need more long runs. Whether or not my right hip and leg will cooperate remains to be seen.
As for the Czarina, after much complaining about not wanting to run this race she signed up on Friday. The cool, windless day really helped her and she ran nearly three minutes faster than she did last year finishing second in her age group. The Czarina was about eight minutes behind me.
We've got a few 5K's and a 4 mile race before we're done racing for the spring. Hopefully I can dip below 22 minutes before the heat sets in.
I hit the first mile in 7:40 and it felt so easy but I knew that it would feel that way until sometime after six miles. I decided to run by feel and not worry about my splits. I immediately realized that I was gradually slowing down mile by mile and was hitting eight minute pace by mile five. At seven miles the race hits the first of two major climbs in the space of two miles. Hills don't exist around here. You get your hill work running bridges and this particular bridge in the middle of this half marathon was one I had trained on last summer. Given my hip and leg problems I have been avoiding hills lately.
Those two miles just about kicked my ass. I was pretty much stuck in 8:20 mode until the final mile when I finally sucked it up and ran an 8:05. I finished in 1:47:33 averaging 8:12 per mile. It wasn't horrible and overall I don't feel like I gave it 100 percent. The run told me the one thing I already knew, I need more long runs. Whether or not my right hip and leg will cooperate remains to be seen.
As for the Czarina, after much complaining about not wanting to run this race she signed up on Friday. The cool, windless day really helped her and she ran nearly three minutes faster than she did last year finishing second in her age group. The Czarina was about eight minutes behind me.
We've got a few 5K's and a 4 mile race before we're done racing for the spring. Hopefully I can dip below 22 minutes before the heat sets in.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Beware the Ides of March
I've written in the past about a speculative stock, wamuq.pk. It's the common stock of WAMU, the nation's largest savings and loan seized more than 18 months ago by the FDIC and sold for a pittance to JP Morgan. It appears the wheels of justice are beginning to turn.
Today the bankruptcy judge handling the case was supposed to rule about a four billion dollar deposit WAMU's holding company had in reserve in an account surprisingly enough with JP Morgan. The holding company wants its money back and of course JP Morgan doesn't want to fork it over. Surprisingly the lawyers for WMI, the holding company, asked to delay the ruling for another week because both parties apparently close to reaching some sort of "understand", ie; settlement. The news sent the common stock up 20 percent.
The stock at 33 cents is still a bargain if and this is still an if, JP Morgan does settle and pay for the true value of WAMU. The likely outcome is some sort of stock swap. A one for one deal would bring a massive windfall. JP Morgan stock is currently more than 40 dollars a share. The next week should be interesting. Here's to a settlement!
Today the bankruptcy judge handling the case was supposed to rule about a four billion dollar deposit WAMU's holding company had in reserve in an account surprisingly enough with JP Morgan. The holding company wants its money back and of course JP Morgan doesn't want to fork it over. Surprisingly the lawyers for WMI, the holding company, asked to delay the ruling for another week because both parties apparently close to reaching some sort of "understand", ie; settlement. The news sent the common stock up 20 percent.
The stock at 33 cents is still a bargain if and this is still an if, JP Morgan does settle and pay for the true value of WAMU. The likely outcome is some sort of stock swap. A one for one deal would bring a massive windfall. JP Morgan stock is currently more than 40 dollars a share. The next week should be interesting. Here's to a settlement!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
T for Texas, H for Hughes Rudd
I started thinking about what led me to television news. So this is the first entry of what will be a series of my life and times in television, a career spanning more than 30 years so far.
I was unusual in that as a child I liked watching the evening news, Walter Cronkite in particular. The bug really bit me hard in the 6th grade when our teacher, Milton Pippenger, would have students record a short newscast into a tape recorder before school started. I became addicted to it.
About the same time I developed an obsession for the CBS Morning News. I had fallen in love with Hughes Rudd. He was a droll Texan who mixed his acerbic humor into his newscast. It got to the point where I would actually get up at 7 a.m. to watch the entire hour before heading off to school. Rudd was almost always joined by Bruce Morton, a great reporter, who would offer the latest out of Washington D.C., and a comic posing as a sportscaster named Ray Gandolf.
Eventually CBS hired a very young Sally Quinn to join Rudd at the anchor desk. I never really liked the combo and quit watching shortly thereafter.
Rudd was a great writer. Only the legendary David Brinkley showed a sharper wit and pointed copy that would nail you between the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't discover Brinkley until I was a working journalist.
The news bug didn't really take hold until it occurred to me that I couldn't face the prospect of eight years of college if I majored in political science. A degree in Poly Sci would mean getting a PhD and I really hated school. The only that I loved as much as politics was sports and since I wasn't going to be the next Jim Ryun I saw journalism as a potential career. Newspapers did little for me. They seemed pretentious and I loved to talk so radio and television made more sense.
Just before the start of my freshman year at K.U. somebody suggested I approach the sportscaster at our local cable news station about helping him out. I knew Rich Bailey having been interviewed him on a couple of occasions. Rich said if I could do stats and make his depth chart boards, I could have the honor of sitting with him as he did games and if I was lucky, do a little color commentary.
I remember our first game just like it was yesterday. We did a horrible junior high football game at Haskell pitting Central Junior High against West Junior High. We recorded the game onto a black and white reel to reel video tape recorder with a bang box punching between the two cameras. I was hooked. By basketball season they actually started paying me ten dollars a game. That could buy a lot of beer back in 1975!
I was unusual in that as a child I liked watching the evening news, Walter Cronkite in particular. The bug really bit me hard in the 6th grade when our teacher, Milton Pippenger, would have students record a short newscast into a tape recorder before school started. I became addicted to it.
About the same time I developed an obsession for the CBS Morning News. I had fallen in love with Hughes Rudd. He was a droll Texan who mixed his acerbic humor into his newscast. It got to the point where I would actually get up at 7 a.m. to watch the entire hour before heading off to school. Rudd was almost always joined by Bruce Morton, a great reporter, who would offer the latest out of Washington D.C., and a comic posing as a sportscaster named Ray Gandolf.
Rudd was a great writer. Only the legendary David Brinkley showed a sharper wit and pointed copy that would nail you between the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't discover Brinkley until I was a working journalist.
The news bug didn't really take hold until it occurred to me that I couldn't face the prospect of eight years of college if I majored in political science. A degree in Poly Sci would mean getting a PhD and I really hated school. The only that I loved as much as politics was sports and since I wasn't going to be the next Jim Ryun I saw journalism as a potential career. Newspapers did little for me. They seemed pretentious and I loved to talk so radio and television made more sense.
Just before the start of my freshman year at K.U. somebody suggested I approach the sportscaster at our local cable news station about helping him out. I knew Rich Bailey having been interviewed him on a couple of occasions. Rich said if I could do stats and make his depth chart boards, I could have the honor of sitting with him as he did games and if I was lucky, do a little color commentary.
I remember our first game just like it was yesterday. We did a horrible junior high football game at Haskell pitting Central Junior High against West Junior High. We recorded the game onto a black and white reel to reel video tape recorder with a bang box punching between the two cameras. I was hooked. By basketball season they actually started paying me ten dollars a game. That could buy a lot of beer back in 1975!
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