Out of the blue, an old friend and co-worker posted a couple of photos on his Facebook page. They came from the mid-1980's when Daddy D was not a Daddy and wasn't even married, had much more hair, much less waistline and was having a whole lot of fun being a local TV sportscaster.
I have spent most of the evening staring at the companion photo, which apparently was snapped just moments before a newscast. I can discern that because we are all standing and appear to have a purpose. This leads me to believe we were about to walk into the studio to sit on the set for the opening shot.
There are so many memories in that one frame, it's almost unimaginable. It pleases me to say that after all these years most of them are warm and fuzzy. Sadly, our news director (standing, with his coat off), has passed away.
Our work environment wasn't the most pleasing to the eye, but we hung in there and spent five nights a week together. The anchors in the photo, Dale Hoffman and Sherri Talley, are still anchoring. He's in another Louisiana market and she's a mainstay at another station in town. She's such a fixture there, in fact, that most people have completely forgotten she worked at KTAL. Here's proof.
I was so fascinated by this that I took the time to annotate the photo. You may have to click on it to appreciate it. Enjoy the 80's.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Misty Water Colored Memories
Monday, April 07, 2008
Gosh, I'm Glad They Noticed
I was on the local TV for a long, long time. In 2004 and 2005, I toiled mostly in a management role, but occasionally anchored a newscast. For 25 years before that, I was a sportscaster. I have not anchored a local TV sportscast since September of 2003. Three things have happened in the last couple of weeks that either affirm my impact or illustrate how superfluous I really was.
I have been invited to speak to a local civic group. I wasn't sure what topic they were thinking about, so I asked. The program chairman wants me to talk about basketball, but said I can choose any topic. I have acccepted the engagement, and I'll probably talk about mid-life career change. It can happen. The man who invited me obviously thinks I'm still a full-time sports person. If they want to hear about sports, I guess I can talk about Arena Football.
Twice in the past week, I have run into guys who were once high-profile local athletes. Each greeted me warmly. The first one said, "I still enjoy watching you." The other said, "You don't see me much anymore, but I see you all the time."
Really? Are they stalking me? I appreciate their attempts at being nice. They always have been nice guys. It's nice to know nothing has changed.
Last week at The Church, a lady congratulated me on the hire of a new anchor at the TV station. It was awkward, because for thirty seconds or so I had no idea what she was talking about.
With these strange but true stories in mind, I thought I'd share something I recently ran across, a billboard circa 1987: 
Two people on this board are still in local TV, at different stations. Another is on the radio every morning. The other is anchoring in another city. The meteorologist, on the far right above the word "watch," was out of television for a couple of years before emerging on the other station.
That photo was made a long time ago. I hope everybody's happy.
We all looked happy, back there in the 80's. I had hair and cheekbones. I wonder where they went.
