Pinch Hitter

Blogging on a Saturday? What's this? Well to be honest I'm actually just finishing up work I began yesterday. Why start a blog if you have no intention of finishing it? So I sat down this morning at the keyboard, and now I'm banging away. The week is over, and what a week it was.

The weekend is here. So what do I have on tap? Virtually nothing! You can't beat that. This was a busy week. From the news desk it was busy, and outside work it was busy too.

One of my favorites events to go to each year is the Washington Business Hall of Fame dinner each year. One of the reasons we like it is because it's a benefit for Junior Achievement. Every year some teen gets up and speaks and you think to yourself I'm looking at the next Bill Gates. This year it was a teenager from Northern Virginia who has started her own jewelry business. The kids are a true inspiration. One of the other reasons we like to attend is that it gives us a chance to hang out with our good friends Ed and Lynette Grenier. Ed is the CEO of the local chapter of Junior Achievement. That's him on the right delivering a stirring speech at the dinner the other night.

After Ed came back to the table we thought we'd have a lot of time to chat and catch up. But instead his top lieutenant Kim Denis arrived and huddled with him. Ed turned to me and said "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to." By now Kim had stepped in front of him. She's about to have a baby boy in a few weeks. "You can't say no to a pregnant woman, we need you to emcee this event."


The emcee is another well known anchor in town. But @@#### had problems with his voice and said he couldn't go on. Without @@#### they needed a pinch hitter. So why am I calling him @@####? Well he works at a competing station and chances are he isn't given me any free publicity on his blog, so why should I give him a mention here?

Before long I was on stage. It was a lot of fun. I wanted to wing it, but the event is tightly scripted. That's why it always gets done on time and runs so smoothly. But I did ad lib some off the top, and here and there. All in all it was a good time.

One of the best speeches came from Vernon Jordan. What an incredible imprint he has left on this city. We may know him as a confidante to Presidents, but he didn't waste any time talking about the politicians and the powerful. No on this night he honored his mom. He also reflected on his humble beginnings, his sacrifices, and his perseverance. He and the other inductees into the Business Hall of Fame all had things in common. They all worked hard, met every challenge, and were gracious in thanking everyone that helped them along the way. If you ever get a chance to attend this event you should. It's a lot of fun and it will leave you inspired. I would like to thank Freed Photography for sharing their photos of the event on my blog.

A YOUNG LIFE OF PROMISE

I was going to write about something silly today. But how can you do that on such a sad day? We got the word from our producer in the five a.m. hour.

Heather: "Sean Taylor is dead, but don't say anything yet, we are still trying to confirm it."

Confirmation didn't take long. We waited until we were given the green light, once we had the news, we gave it to you.

It's just so sad. A life of promise! So much talent. A young baby girl. Sean Taylor had so much to live for, but his life was extinguished so quickly. I didn't know Sean Taylor, but I watched him on the field a lot this year. A friend of mine has season tickets to the Skins. He allowed me to purchase a good chunk of the games. So I've seen Taylor deliver incredible hits on the field.

He was enormously talented. Darryl Grant is a frequent guest on our air. The former redskin has come to the station on numerous Mondays to talk about the team and their difficulties. The one constant shining light was Sean Taylor. I remember talking with him about the Detroit Lions receivers. If they were in the middle of the field they would grab the ball in the air and go straight to the ground. It was better than corralling the ball and being hit by Taylor. It was bone jarring. I couldn't imagine a hit like that. The closest thing to it would be getting run over by a mac truck.
There were plenty of times when receivers dropped balls when they heard the footsteps of this hard hitting defensive back. Football is a violent sport, but no one imagines that a young man who plays it will die at the hands of violence in his own home.

Once I was off the air this morning, Jay Mishkin our Executive Producer asked me to hit the streets to get fan reaction. We call it MOS in our business, or man on the street interviews. I have to say in most occasions I feel like it's the weakest form of journalism. Stick a mic in front of someone and suddenly they are an instant expert. But on a day like today it works.

It works because the reactions are real and raw. There is the woman with the thick accent who says "I am very, very, very, very sad." She fights back tears. There are the constant refrains:

"It's tragic!"

"It's so senseless"

"It's so sad"

Then there is the man busily walking down the street who puts it all in perspective. He says it's sad and tragic too, but then he says something most of us will forget.

"It's tragic, it's sad, but we must remember it's another young man whose life is cut short by violence."

Chances are I will report on another one tomorrow morning. A young man, or perhaps a teenager gunned down on the streets of Washington. A kid who didn't wear a jersey. A young man without a famous name, or a big salary. Their death will be reported too. It might capture some notoriety because the city is close to surpassing the homicide mark from a year ago. But chances are their name and their memory will fade fast.

So many of these young men and kids really have a lot in common with Sean Taylor. Young with so much of life still in front of them, brushes with the law along the way in their short lives. All of them snuffed out through violence. Sean Taylor was known for his hits, and his tackles. But if he can help our society figure out a way to tackle the problem of senseless violence that plagues so many pockets of our society, and takes so many young lives, then his legacy will be far more important than anything he ever did on the football field.

RICH MAN POOR MAN

I'm going to date myself. I remember the mini series Rich Man, Poor Man. The whole family huddled around the TV watching the sappy modern day Cain and Able story. It came out in 1976. Okay I was two years old at the time, but I still remember it. It launched Nick Nolte on his way.

Of course I never expected to do my own version of Rich man, Poor man. Don't get me wrong, I would never suggest I'm some literary great like Irwin Shaw. Hey I write blogs not epics! My Rich man is a poor man, in that he really isn't a Rich man at all. Confused? Let me explain. I'm of course referring to Rick Garner the keeper of the flame! The man that keeps the engine stoked! The God like figure who reigns over WUSA9.com.

You remember the picture I posted of him on Friday. It's to the left. You might think he would be annoyed at that. But OH NO!! He's mad because I didn't get his name right. Here is his email to me received Friday.

"Rich? Not once but three times? Clearly I've hit you over the head too many times if you think of me as Richy Rich.
RicK"

This isn't the first time I've done this to Mr. Garner. I called him Rich in an earlier blog too. So why am I doing this? I really don't know. Maybe it's because rich is the big catch word when it comes to the Internet. Rich Internet applications! Mention rich Internet applications when you talk to someone and you are likely to get rich! Mention I have this hideous Internet application with really clunky graphics and you are done for. But if you say that same application is rich even though it's horrid, you'll hit the jackpot. But I digress. Perhaps my Rich/Rick mess up is because the only people who are going to get rich in this new world order of journalism are the folks in the cyber world. Or perhaps I'm writing Rich Garner because I want to see if he's reading this blog. Or it could be as simple as I just screwed up. To be honest that's the most likely scenario. But hey I have to fill space with this blog you know.

At any rate I need to let you in on a little secret. Rick Garner really isn't 6 foot 10, and he doesn't walk around with a club threatening all of us. To be honest with you, he's quiet, and shy, and oh by the way this is a real picture of him. The guys a pipsqueak, but I he's the Internet boss so I have to make him happy. Have a great Monday!

The Blogging Process

I am going to let you in on a little behind the scenes glance at the blogging process. I have this goal to blog at least three times a week. It's sort of a mandate by Rick Garner. He's the WUSA9.com guru. That's Rick pictured to the left. Rick as you know is 6 foot 10, carries a club, and is quite demanding. He feels strongly that we should blog at least three times a week. Some times I'm bankrupt when it comes to ideas.

So yesterday I'm on the set and I'm thinking I better find something to blog about. So why not Thanksgiving overseas! I have a pal named Shawn Kalantar. He's living in Japan now. He used to work here at 9 News Now. So we start Instant messaging. Yeah that's right, I'm I.M.ing and blogging at the same time. Talk about high tech. Actually Shawn was sending me the instant message while I'm on the air. So suddenly I blurt out on the air, "You can't cook a turkey in one of the ovens in Japan! According to our old floor director Shawn Kalantar you can't even fit a chicken breast in one of their ovens!" I think it's breaking news, basically fascinating information everyone should know! Not so! Andrea looks at me like I have three heads. In addition our brilliant producer Dan Guzman starts hammering me about Instant Messaging while I'm on the air. It was one instant message, Please cut me some slack!

By the way this is a picture of Shawn. He likes it in Japan. So what do folks eat in Japan on Thanksgiving. Sushi? No believe it or not Shawn says the favorite food there is Italian. Make sense of that one why don't you. I think Shawn was eating Italian yesterday.

I also have a couple of pals in England, but based on the overall excitement generated by the information I relayed from Shawn I decided perhaps I should just quit while I am ahead! I did send a missive to my buddy Jeff Stinson who I worked with at USA TODAY. He's based in Britain now. He's the bureau chief in London.

Jeff ever the journalist came through with some actual information. I heard from him this morning. There are 250,000 Americans living in Britain, he's one of them.

Hi Mike:

Here in London, there are many ways for ex-pat Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving. And despite the holiday's origins after the American Revolution, the Brits are accommodating of us ...

-- London's famed St. Paul's Cathedral had an 11 a.m. Thanksgiving service yesterday. My wife, Chris, attended and said it was wonderful.
-- Here at USA TODAY's international office near the British Museum, we had turkey sandwiches for lunch and explained the origins of the holiday to our Brit, Italian and German colleagues.
-- Chris and I joined another American couple last night for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner at a little restaurant in a boutique hotel in South Kensington. A few restaurants in popular areas where Yanks live -- such as Chelsea-Kensington and Hemstead -- will cater to the roughly 250,000 Americans living in London.
-- Turkeys are more scarce and rising in price this year as a result of recent bird-flu outbreaks at two turkey farms. This has some Brits fretting, as turkey is popular here at Christmas.
-- We plan a belated T-giving meal with another American couple on Saturday at our flat. If we cannot find fresh turkey breast at a nearby farmers' market in Pimlico, I will look for pheasant or quail. We'll have all the trimmings with it, too.
-- Unfortunately, we Yanks had to work yesterday. But thanks to the North American Sports Network, we can get our football. We also can see it at Yank hangouts like Bodeans, a Kansas City-style barbeque place in Soho. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk tomorrow.

Hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Jeff

So there you have it. You now have some vital information. Of course you have also learned that you can take a Kansan anywhere in the world, but they will always remain a Jayhawk! I don't know about you, but I think all of this is pretty fascinating. Now you also know how the meanderings come to life in Mike's Meanderings. Once again Happy Thanksgiving to all whether you are here in the states or if you are enjoying the holiday overseas. I hope that you have lots to be thankful for, and that the rest of the year holds nothing but blessings.

Words of Thanks

I fire the words in rapid fashion.

"Welcome"

"Great to see you!"

"Good Morning"

"Happy Thanksgiving"

"Enjoy the meal"

"So good to see you, thanks for coming"

Some of the elderly men push their gnarled hands at me. Hands ravaged by arthritis but still capable of being shaken by an enthusiastic morning anchor. They are old, but they are happy. They are smiling, they are important, if only for a moment in time. It's a steady stream of walkers and wheelchairs. I'm one of the official greeters for Safeway's annual Feast of Sharing.

I was invited to help out by Greg TenEyck. Like me, he's also on the Board of the Capital Area Food Bank. He's committed to doing something about hunger. He had issued the invitation to come out. I answered the call. It's another reminder of how much I have to be thankful for this thanksgiving. This is a such a rich area, and yet so many people live in pockets of poverty here in the Nation's capital. The event is in it's 8Th year. It will attract thousands of the areas neediest. The line is already long when I arrive before 11 am.

If you want to see the face of hunger, this is the place to be. But as you look around you also see the face of Washington. These are people you pass on the street, bump into on the metro. They are young and old. They are black and white. They are also largely invisible. Today they are special. They are waited on, and treated with respect. It's what I call a glass slipper moment. These people will have a magical time and meal, but they won't have to wait until midnight for their carriage to turn back into a pumpkin.

By mid afternoon they will be absorbed back into Washington, taking their place brushing alongside all of us for the next 364 days. Or will they? Perhaps if you have taken the time to read this, you might also take the time to volunteer to work at the Capital Area Food Bank or you might start a food drive. Better yet, you might ask your elected officials to stop bickering with each other and tackle poverty in our country. If we can do these things then this will be a Thanksgiving all of us can be thankful for.

Talking to students

I've been fighting something. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's a pain in the neck. It's either a cold, or sinus infection or something like that. At any rate I've been running on fumes. So my apologies to faithful blog readers who have been checking in for new material and have gone away disappointed.

I do have something new to report today. But it's really quite old. It's something that happened on Monday. Which just goes to show you that I've been working on this blog for a couple of days. I wrote a little of it on Monday. A little more on Tuesday. Now it's time to finish it up.

Monday I was at the University of Maryland. I was invited by Deb Nelson. She's a journalism professor, and a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. She wanted me and some of the other members of the Dart Society to come out to the school and talk to her students about trauma. I got up and spoke about my experience on 9-11, and some of the other tough stories I've had to cover throughout my career. As a friend says, we see, we document, we photograph, and we touch our stories. The stories also touch us, because we also feel.

Gary Tippet is one of the finest journalists in Australia. He is the senior writer for the Age. He's been writing and reporting longer than these students have been living. He was the first Australian to be awarded an Ochberg Fellowship by the Dart Center. He spoke to the students about what it's like to sit in a bedroom talking to a father about the loss of his son. The students might learn how to write, and to ask questions in their classes, but they learned compassion from Gary. What you ask and how you ask those questions are such vital pieces of iinformation for young aspiring journalists. He taught these undergrads that compassion and empathy are just as important as a reporters notebook and pen. This will probably be the only time these kids will be in a classroom listenting to a Pulitzer prize winner and the winner of the quivelent in Australia the Walkley. Gary won a coveted Walkley for his reporting, he has also won two Quill's and three legal reporting awards.

Up next Natalie Pompilio. That's Natalie pictured in New Orleans with Dave Cullen. Her resume is very impressive. She reported from Iraq, and was on the ground in New Orleans before and during Katrina. Natalie helped put together the Dart Society drive to work with journalists in New Orleans on the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. Natalie is unique in that she prides herself on what she does best, crime reporting. But with that type of reporting comes the stark reality of dealing with grieving parents who have lost their children through violence. Natalie talked about dealing with one woman who lost her son. Natalie is a great writer, and great reporter, but the best thing about her is her big heart.

As we were leaving the classroom Gary confided in me that a couple of the teachers assistants had come up to him to tell him that we were the best speakers that they had seen on campus this year. College students can be a tough crowd, so I was pleased. Not bad! Have a great thanksgiving!

Day & Night

What a day. Yesterday morning I wrapped up co-anchoring the 9 am show and then sprinted upstairs. I have to hand it to Andrea Roane and Janet Terry. That's the two right there on the right. Well you already know who Andrea is. But the two of them are kind of the den mothers of the newsroom. When someone is in need, they jump into action. A few weeks ago while the rest of us were walking around in a fog, they acted. The news was about Michael Lacore, he's a courageous firefighter to you. To us he's that, but he's also the son of a good friend and colleague Madeline Lacore.

After Michael was seriously hurt following a fire in the district, Janet and Andrea went to the hospital to see Madeline. It's one thing to come and visit someone at the hospital. It's another thing altogether to come up with a solution. They put together in short order a blood drive here at the station. It was their way of responding to the needs of the firefighters hurt in the fire.

Yesterday after I got off the air I went upstairs and once again was reminded why I have so much respect for my co-workers. There they were from every department waiting to give blood to help the firefighters. I was sandwiched between engineer Joe Zentner who was on one side, on the other Janet Terry.

The Sales Department, the Engieneering Department, the News Department were all represented. Just like our news it takes everyone to put on a newscast, and in order to come up with a successful blood drive you need all of these people too. I'm proud of the people I work with.

I talk about them every morning, and last night I became one. I was a red car. We went up to Baltimore for a reception for the 2007 Dart Ochberg Fellows. It too forever, but it was worth it. It's an amazing group of journalists from around the world. I spent a considerable amount of time with a correspondent from ABC.

Lisa Millar though is a correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She's doing some amazing things to advance the Dart cause overseas. The Dart Center and it's satelites around the world are trying to change the way we do journalism. To bring sensitivy and context to our reporting on Tragedy and Trauma. We are also reaching out to journalists who have been affected by trauma. Our latest efforts have been to reach out to journalists in Finland who recently covered the deadly school shootings there. I'll be spending the weekend talking about these important issues as the Dart Society gathers in Baltimore. I can't wait.

Saying Thank You

It was the opportunity to do what all of us should on this holiday. A chance to shake hands and say thanks to the Veterans who serve this country. It happened last night in McLean at the McCormick & Schmick's.

My good friend Jill Collins extended the invitation some time ago. I told her I would love to be there. Two of my uncles fought in World War II. One in the Atlantic campaign, the other in the Pacific. In addition my brother fought in the jungles of Vietnam. So I was delighted to meet these vets. Now you get to meet them too.

First up, Johnny Restivo. He's a Fairfax
resident.

He's a retired marine, one of the early test pilots, a man who came within a whisker of having the right stuff and being an astronaut.

He's also a Vietnam Vet. He flew lots, and lots of missions in Vietnam.

Johnny spent some time talking to me and to Howard Bernstein.

One of the stories is worth repeating. He was on a mission when the guy at the controls froze. Johnny was going to pay with his life, unless he seized the controls. He did, and they survived. But he had to wrestle with the other guy to gain control of the plane.

This is Norm. He's another veteran from Vietnam as well. Like Johnny he's a Marine. He lives in Arlington and did two tours of duty in Vietnam. Thanks for your service Norm!

The evening ended up being a family affair for so many. At one table I counted three family members who were still active military, or reservists. I noticed a young man with bandages on his neck who had obviously returned from Afghanistan or Iraq. He was leaving the restaurant while I was coming in.

I will leave you with a picture of one family. They are my new friends, and former neighbors. We all grew up in Southern California together. When I asked where they were from, they mentioned the San Fernando Valley. I grew up in Tujunga, and they grew up in Pacoima. For those of you who don't know, Pacoima is just down the road apiece from Tujunga. We grew up about 10 miles away from each other. But we only met here on the East Coast.

Miriam Shields is retired from the Army. Her brother Garry is a Navy vet. Thanks to all of them, and the others vets reading this blog. And thanks to McCormick & Schmick's for saluting the vets, and providing free meals to them for Veterans Day.

What is a sticker worth?

We have a favorite place to hit in Fairfax. It's Fat Tuesday's. http://www.fatsfairfax.com/

We were in there visiting with the owners and good friends R.L. & Karen Butler last night after casting votes in the election. We are going to have a benefit for a charity I care deeply about in January. So R.L. and I are huddling to try to figure things out. I hope all you blog readers will be able to attend.

Fats is a neighborhood place, it's such a fun place to hang out. The food is really terrific, so is the atmosphere. It's such a wonderful mix of people. It's basically our audience all in one place. You might sit next to a construction worker, or perhaps an attorney. Or you might bump into Dave who works at the EPA, or the guy who works at the Giant Store in the same shopping center. It's where I first met a good friend the Mayor of Clifton Tom Peterson and his lovely wife Jean..

That's Tom pictured on the right. Fats was introduced to us by a good friend who lives in our neighborhood. She's basically in the witness protection program this morning. You'll understand why soon. We called her after settling in to see if she was going to stop by. She replied I'll be up in a few minutes.

She settled in and didn't even order a drink because Karen arrived with her white wine. That's the kind of place Fats is, it's basically Cheers set in Fairfax. Our friend filled us in her kids, her husband, her job, her neighbors, her life basically. Kim, a friend of our daughters stopped by to say hi and to give us a hug. It was basically a great evening, until panic set in. It was my sweater that produced the panic. Our friend spotted something on it, and she said:

"Oh No!"

She grabbed the sticker off my sweater.

"I have to have this, I forgot to vote, my husband is going to kill me!"

A few minutes later her husband calls. He quizzes her on whether or not she voted. She insists she did, he insists she didn't. He checked with the precinct workers.

She said it defiantly:

"You'll see I've got the sticker to prove it!"

I think she owes me one. Although I wasn't really given an option to keep my well earned stickier. She's also lucky that Mayor Peterson wasn't sitting next to her!.