Hoopy Holidays

There was a time not so long ago that anything that even resembled a legitimate sporting event in town was circled in red on my calendar. I would anticipate it for days, exhort people to attend even get a little frustrated or angry if they had no interest. I wanted so badly to live in an engaged, legitimate sports city.
I guess I’ve surrendered or something. I got a late-afternoon text message from a co-worker asking, “Hey, isn’t the the LSU basketball game tonight?” I answered, “Um, is it? Maybe. Yeah.” It turns out the rare North Louisiana LSU appearance was just a couple of hours away. I had to talk myself and, somewhat more challenging, my wife into driving across the river to go to the game. I suppose everything you need to know about it can be summed up by this: We bought tickets about five minutes before tip-off and scored these seats.



Ultimately, I said to her, “If I don’t go to that game, I will feel like a huge hypocrite.” So, to the arena we went and we really had a good time. The game was entertaining. LSU’s opponent, Wichita State, hit a big three-pointer with seven seconds left to win by a point.



The crowd, though somewhat small, was enthusiastic. We won a $50.00 gift certificate from LSU’s on-line sports shop, so if you add up the cost of tickets, concessions and gasoline we just about broke even on the evening.
We are well acquainted with a number of current LSU students, all of whom are home for the holidays and none of whom attended the game. That confuses and slightly saddens me. But since I had to convince myself to go, I guess it’s best if I keep my mouth shut about that. Nobody like a holiday hypocrite.

Sphere: Related Content

Baby, It's Cold Inside

In the mid-1990's, the idea that minor league hockey could attract crowds in north Louisiana must have seemed presposterous. Now, as we apprach 2010, the local hockey club is in its thirteenth season and is simply part of the community. It is fair and accurate to say that the beautiful arena on the banks of the Red River simply would not exist if minor pro hockey had not come to town. The availability of a primary tenant was the catalyst for the construction of the building, which has been a tremendous community asset.
As a local sports journalist, I closely followed the arrival of the team and its early days in the less-than-appealing fairgrounds venue, Hirsch Coliseum. When the team's original owner started making noise about building his own hockey facility, local goverments noticed. Bossier City's leaders brandished their checkbook and something spectacular happened.
I have spent many an afternoon and evening in the facility, so much so that I am flabbergasted when I hear people say they have never been inside. Those are people who just don't get out much, I guess. Concerts, Arena Football, big-time bass fishing, religious revivals, graduations, cheerleading competitions and yes hockey attract tens of tousands of visitors to the place every year. Did I mention rodeos and wrestling matches? How about basketball or mixed martial arts? I have seen all of these things inside that place. How can you not have found at least one thing to compel you to visit?
One of the most memorable experiences of my broadcasting career happened right there. Legendary rock band ZZ Top played the arena. I was fortunate to be assigned to interview them live on the news the night before their show. They invited me to stay for rehearsal. I sat in the arena with about a half-dozen other people and essentially enjoyed a mini private concert. To borrow a rock and roll phrase: Dude, it was awesome!
I've been all over the building: the press box, the video room, the green room, the luxury boxes, you name it. As a broadcaster, a ticket holder, even as a volunteer when the facility has been used as an emergecy shelter during hurricane evacuations, I have strolled the concourses as well as the catacombs.
But until Satuday night, I had never stood at center ice.
The honor of dropping the puck before a hockey game was bestowed upon me. It's the hockey equivalent of baseball's first pitch. They even rolled out a red carpet. For a moment, I was some kind of dignitary. I also got to sit in the penalty box with the team's owner.
There's a lot less pressure involved in a puck drop that a first pitch. You don't have to throw anything sixty feet, you just need to stand there and drop the puck. Pretty simple stuff. The trick is not to slip on the ice. I guess that's what the carpet's all about.

Sphere: Related Content

A Fish Out of Water

The 2009 Bassmasters Classic is behind us, and we are told it was a record setting week. More than 100,000 people saw some part of the event over three days, according to the event's organizers. To me that is just incredible. I read in the paper that on Saturday, the fire marshall would not let any more people into our arena, which seats 12,000 or so and holds even more with people on the floor. Although this kind of thing doesn't interest me at all, I had to see it to believe it. So, I used my familiarity with the arena to shoehorn my way in and I was just blown away.Aside from the sheer numbers, it was interesting to observe the demeanor of the attendees. They were thrilled to watch their angler heroes roll in and present their day's catch to be weighed. It was that simple: Ride in your boat as it is towed behind a pickup truck, put your fish on the scale, get the weight, get interviewed and get on your way. Next! Do it again...and the breathless thousands were having the time of their lives. More power to them. I left after five fishermen and was happy to get home.
I had also read that more than 60,000 people went into our convention center on Saturday for a bass fishing expo. So, I had to see that, too. Having been there for about a half-hour, seeing the crowd and the cars and the vendors, I believe it.
Let me rephrase: I can accept that figure as true, but I still can't really believe it.
As long as I had decided to be out and about, I decided to immerse myself in full citizen participation. I went to an affternoon Mardi Gas parade. The atmosphere was lively and light-hearted. People were having a great time. So, it was a positive day and I was about to assuage my guilt about my own abject apathy.

Sphere: Related Content

My Future Son-in-Law

My daughter went all "Beatles on Sullivan" tonight during the American Idols Live! show. She got close enough to David Archuletta to touch him. "My pictures are terrible because I was shaking so much," she said, trembling. Truly, I have never seen her this excited. It's really out of character for her, but she has been charged up about Archuletta since he first rose to prominence on the show. She has been referring to him as "my future husband" for months. It's plausible, I guess. He's just a year older than she is. On the way home from the show, I asked her if he would be allowed to sing at their wedding. She said, "Of course. We'll sing a duet. It will be so sweet!" I'm glad she enjoyed the show.
I went with her, my wife and mother-in-law. The show was nice in a bubble gum kind of way, a perfectly pleasant way to spend a Tuesday evening. My favorite Idol contestant, Brooke White, performed exactly as you would expect, right down to coming onstage in bare feet. My wife got her fix of Michael Johns and my mother-in-law just enjoyed the music. My wife, daughter and I agreed that we actually knew every song that was performed in the show, and that made it easy to enjoy.
The headliner was the 2008 winner, David Cook, who finished off the evening with a rock vibe.
The biggest surprise of the night for me was Kristi Lee Cook. I had noticed her on the show, but in person she is just stunning. With her amazing looks and a little more work on her vocals, she has the potential to be a real star, I think.
My daughter may be up all night. She was just babbling. My favorite line came moments after she returned from her close encounter with her "fiance." She said, "I had to elbow my way past a bunch of ten-year-olds."
Now, I guess we have a wedding to plan.

Sphere: Related Content

Urban Legend

Carrie
Originally uploaded by patrickgensel

For Christmas, we bought our daughter tickets to the "Carrie Underwood Concert." She came to town Sunday night, sharing billing with Keith Urban. In the days leading up to the show, we were asked several times if we had an extra "Carrie Underwood tickets." Driving to the show, we were wondering which performer would appear first. They both are Grammy winners with multiple #1 hit records.
Underwood Performed admirably, even going metal with a cover of Guns N' Roses' smash "Paradise City." Her biggest ovation came following her breakout hit "Before He Cheats." She is beautiful, exceptionally talented and has the potential one day to be great. She needs to work on her showmanship a little, but I would have been satisfied with her concert on its own merits. She went first, by the way. Now I know why.

Keith Urban
Originally uploaded by sassy_wench53

Keith Urban is unbelievable. I had no idea, no clue. Where have I been? This guy puts on an amazing, high-tech, high energy show that left the packed house breathless and screaming for more. A versatile guitarist and remarkable vocalist, it's no wonder he has become a worldwide sensation (of which I was ridiculously unaware until about midnight Sunday).
I guess he is known as a country music star because he has won awards in that format, but his show seemed to have precious few "country" elements to it.
My wife and I have seen a lot of shows together, and as the Keith Urban frenzy built in Bossier, she turned to me and shouted, "this is right up there!," meaning it was among the best concerts she had ever seen. I can't disagree.

Urban performed an encore wearing an LSU football jersey. Early in the show, he and the band performed an impromptu version of "Louisiana Saturday Night." He did it with out gettin' down a fiddle or gettin' down a bow, but he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Urban and his wife are expecting a child. A fan brought a baby gift for him, and he noticed her. He invited her on-stage and opened the present to reveal a purple and gold LSU "onesie." The place came unglued.All the while, the concert was diplayed live on a massive HD screen behind the stage.I don't pretend to know much about the big-time, but I'm pretty sure I saw it Sunday night. We came to see Carrie and were pleased. We stuck around for "The guy with her" and were blown away.

Sphere: Related Content

Was I at the Tropicana?

Michael Buble
Originally uploaded by Darrell

We went to a Micheal Buble concert tonight. I wasn't sure what to expect. The tickets were a gift and dinner was thrown in for good measure, so it defintely was a pleasant evening. Before tonight, I couldn't have told you if I had heard a Michael Buble song. Having sat through the show, I can happily report I know two songs which clearly were his.
The rest of the time, I wasn't sure if I was watching Bobby Darrin, Harry Connick, Jr. or Clay Aiken. Buble did a little Elvis bit and even a Village People gag. He's very talented and engaged the audience well. He made fun of himself and got some nice laughs from the crowd. Music writer Keith Cera of the New Orleans Time-Picayune described it this way, after seeing Buble's show in his city earlier in the week: "Buble's smartly tailored suit of Rat Pack black was sturdy enough to accommodate the occasional drop to his knees or scamper off-stage. Skinny tie loosened at the collar, the 32-year-old unleashed his mischievous inner delinquent to counterbalance his precious treatment of romantic standards."
There were people there who were charged up to see him in person and hear him perform.
I'm glad I went. I came away thinking this show would fit well in Vegas in the 60's. That's a good thing, because it seems that's the feel Buble was trying to achieve.
(Cell phone photo from CenturyTel Center. Buble is in that blinding light somewhere.)

Sphere: Related Content