Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Scattershots

I'm sitting here watching Barack Obama give a speech. I don't know what kind of President he'd make, but I do know the speeches would inspire.
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Maybe the Patriots should take a page out of Hillary's book, and approach next season like they won the Super Bowl. Just deny losing. Keep talking about having more wins than any other team in the NFL.
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Now that we're Anaheim's AHL affiliate, I wish the Ducks were still Mighty. I know they won last year's Stanley Cup, but I want all the Gordon Bombay, knucklepuck, and Flying V references I can get.
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Andy Fales sure hates the Quad Cities. Other than having five cities, and calling itself "Quad Cities", I've got no beef with those people. Well, not the ones on the Iowa side anyway.
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Sunday morning I woke up with the jitters and a horrible headache. At first I thought maybe I'd drank too much, but then I remembered I'd been to a Barnstormers game. Hey, I love it, but I don't know how they could make it any brighter, noisier, or more stimulating. It's like "Free Mountain Dew Night" at Chuck E. Cheese.
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I've heard so many different versions of what actually happened on the field after Dowling won the state soccer championship that I can't say I know what went down. I do know the IHSAA must have felt strongly about it because it is a serious step when you take away a moment from kids that they will never get back.
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How 'bout those Cubs! I'm not sure what I enjoy more: A) The Cubs winning, or B) Andy suffering.
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I lied. It's definitely B.
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Chris Hassel is going to Cleveland to do a story on Casey Blake next week. It's nice of Casey to heat up with a 7 RBI game. That was a good day for him at Indianola High.
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Iowa and Iowa State will play football through at least 2017. That's a good thing. It brings out the worst in a few people, but overall it's the biggest sports day of the year in our state. How is it they didn't play each other for decades? Can't blame that one on Bruce Van De Velde or Steve Alford.
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It's good Troy Dannen got the Northern Iowa Athletic Director's job. Shawn Terrell saw Troy at the Principal Charity Classic, and apparently he wears more purple than Prince. That's a tough look to pull off unless you're a 5 foot 2 inch musical genius or the head of the UNI athletic department.
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Big Brown will win the Triple Crown. I guarantee it.
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Well, unless he loses Saturday.
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More rain? Get the Ark ready.
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Speaking of arks, why did Evan Amighty misfire so badly? That should have been a slam dunk.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Instant classic...."four of suck, is suck!"

I think Obama might win the Cubs the World Series. Yeah, he is that good.

Boo Cubs. I'm a Reds fan, so....Boo Cards, also. But, in the end, boo cubs!!

I play softball, and have struck out once. I'm looking for a new contract.

So, in essence, I need a new job. My email is rdwmpb@yahoo.com. Just let me know if I should come in for an interview. Yeah, I won't hold my breath.

Oh, Major League. Maybe just b/c of Eucker alone. I love the card game.

Anonymous said...

By the way, I live in Ames. Andy my have to spot me gas money if I a job.

Anonymous said...

Revised....Andy might have to spot me gas money if I get a job.

(don't want to look stupid, or anything.)

Anonymous said...

Hey Keith how about the Cup game on now (6/4 after 1st period)? I couldn't tell you because I can't see the puck since we only have it without sound on 24% of the screen.

Anonymous said...

Why during the Stanley Cup Finals do you have the weather on? Are you just plain stupid. This is why nobody watches 13 for anything.

Anonymous said...

You and the other 7 NHL fans must be furious...

Damn that Ed Wilson, he should've told the weather to hold off til after the game...

Anonymous said...

I was also pretty upset about the 3 hours of solid weather coverage that interrupted the game last night. The standard response will be "lives were in danger, blah blah, much more important than a game, blah blah."

But if people's lives are in danger, they already know it and they don't need to have Ed on there constantly reviewing the same radar images over and over. In fact, those who are truly in danger are already taking shelter and aren't watching TV. Additionally, weather coverage can be found from any number of at least a dozen sources. Its one thing to pre-empt a pre-recorded sitcom, but an entirely different situation with doing non-stop weather coverage over an entire deciding game of the Stanley Cup Finals while its on live.

Back in the good old days, before the Doppler wars, Connie McBurney would come on for only about a minute every 15 minutes or so even during the worst of the worst storms. But now of course we have networks competing for weather coverage supremacy because they don't want their competitors to be able to run spots about how bad they are at weather coverage.

Unknown said...

Anyone get enough of Ed Wilson last night? How could TV13 put him on the air for almost 2 continuous hours rather than show the deciding game of the Stanley Cup? They did not even cut to the last 2 minutes of the game nor the awarding of the cup! Do you think that would happen if it was the Super Bowl?

Anonymous said...

The people who are b!tching about the weather coverage interrupting their precious hockey game would be singing an entirely different tune if the storms were where they live.

When something is happening to you, it takes on much greater importance and no doubt many people were tuned in waiting to see if/when/how the storm would move out of the area.

Unfortunately, the technology isn't available for the station to break in in only selected areas; it's all or nothing.

Sorry that your life is so shallow that you're actually devoting time and energy to complaining about a *hockey game* more than 10 hours after the fact. If missing a hockey game puts that much of a kink into your life, then I suggest finding some other activities/hobbies/etc. to round out your existence.

Anonymous said...

So if it were your "precious world series" or "precious super bowl" or other more popular sport finals that was interupted to that extent would you still have the same attitude? Of course not. WHO/ED should be ashamed of trying to boost their ratings by covering a minute by minute when the "other" stations scrolled the reports, but did break in when necessary and that is expected. Your right, Connie McBurney was the Gold Star when it came to weather....Ed take some notes...

Anonymous said...

"would be singing an entirely different tune if the storms were where they live...."

The problem with your argument is that WHO13 isn't the only medium to get weather and up to the minute Radar. This is 2008 and we have more than just a 1 station TV set.

The storm last night was a slow moving storm at 16 mph. The 3 hrs of nearly nonstop coverage during the game was unnecessary to get the word out for all those in danger. WHO wasn't saving lives they were showing off their inferior radar and exposure. Yes other stations were giving out better information and had better tech with less than 50% of screen time.

To keep everyone in the line of danger updating the changes is one thing but to whore out your weather coverage instead of showing the final game in the Stanley Cup Finals was unnecessary. KCCI didn't find it necessary to interrupt filler like The Price is Right for storm coverage let alone game 6 of the cup.

The ticker on the bottom with a radar map is more than enough info 95% of the time. I'm fine with WHO interrupting when new info is available or when new warnings are issued.

It makes me sick that WHO is so full of themselves that they have to justify their own morbid sadistic self gratification lies that they are making a difference and "saving lives." If anything they are putting some in harms way for encouraging those in the line of the storms to watch WHOTV instead of seeking immediate shelter. I fail to see how anyone with a straight face can make the claim that the nonstop coverage was/is saving lives. The programing director at WHO needs to reread the fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

I'm sure this will fall upon deaf ears/blind eyes and some will tell me that I waste my time wanting to watch important sporting events. Instead of making judgments about how I enjoy in my downtime you should reevaluate what could have been done differently because if you did you would see the programing errors if this happened during a historic game that you felt somewhat passionate about.

Anonymous said...

"WHO/ED should be ashamed of trying to boost their ratings by covering a minute by minute when the "other" stations scrolled the reports, but did break in when necessary and that is expected."


Ummm.. I'm pretty sure that KCCI had nearly 3 straight hours of weather coverage. In fact, they said they were getting calls from lots of angry viewers. Every time that I checked WOI, they were the same - even pre-empting their own news. These tornados were training directly down one of the busiest highways in southern Iowa, threatening many towns along the way. They just missed four separate towns by less than two miles.

Two more points...
1. What does this say about the state of your beloved NHL if Ed was showing radar images of a slow moving storm to BOOST ratings?

2. What does ANY of this have to do with Keith Murphy?

Anonymous said...

That reminded me of the 1994Knicks/Rockets Finals game 5, when they split screen the OJ white Bronco chase.

Anonymous said...

If you love hockey so much, then move to Canada.

Ed Wilson is the man. Don't mess with him, he could probably kick your butt any day of the week.

I think people are a little edgy after that F-5 hit Parkersburg. Yes, I appreciated the storm coverage last night. If they had to cover something like that during the Super Bowl, World Series, or even the NBA Finals, I would be okay with that. No game on TV is worth keeping people away from the information they need. How much money did you have on the game if it was that important to you?

Des Moines isn't the only town where people can get WHO-TV. They expand much farther than that.

Idiots...all of you who are complaining about the excellent storm coverage by WHO-TV and Ed Wilson are complete idiots!

Anonymous said...

If you watched the weather coverage, it looked to me like Ed Wilson was not thrilled about all of having to do that.
I don't think Ed had a choice, and criticism should go to the WHO program directors.

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone has ever died from poor Stanley Cup coverage...Can the same be said about poor threatening weather coverage?

If we had been forced to sit through coverage of a storm heading for Dubuque, I'd understand the complaints because I'd be one of the ones complaining...but not when it's in the viewing area and not when we're just 2 weeks removed from the Parkersburg tornado.

And get off of Keith's back...being the Sports Director doesn't mean you're running the station when a sporting event is on...

Anonymous said...

Shane, don't you think that if people truly are in danger in severe weather that they don't already know it when they hear the pitter patter of hailstones on the roof and can just take a look outside and see the ominous clouds overhead? Do they need TV to tell them that they are in an area of severe weather?

Additionally, are you placing blame for past deaths due to weather at the feet of inadequate coverage? That would be quite a strong statement with little evidence to back it up.

WHO-TV13 should take notes as to how to cover severe weather during a live sporting event by checking out the NBA finals on WOI. Even though WOI has not mastered the art of providing an HD picture while running a crawl (WHO hasn't either, only KCCI has climbed that mountain), at least WOI is only cutting in during commercial breaks for the most part and is allowing the game to remain in full screen.

Anonymous said...

Now if you all had a satellite dish like me, you wouldn't have been able to see the game, much less Ed on tv. Our system totally blacks out with any major impending storm. What would you say then about the precious game? At least WHO split the screen so you could still see the game - that's better when in times past they just totally pre-empted the shows and you didn't get to see them at all (I know, I have had that happen) and you know what....YOU GET OVER IT! I am glad WHO takes the severe storms seriously...

And to this person - "don't you think that if people truly are in danger in severe weather that they don't already know it" again I have a satellite...I really don't know it!!!

Anonymous said...

“…already know it when they hear the pitter patter of hailstones on the roof and can just take a look outside and see the ominous clouds overhead?”

I have to say not necessarily. Just b/c it hails doesn’t mean there is threatening weather such as tornadoes. We live in a house that does not have a finished basement, so it is helpful to know when threatening weather is getting close so that we can get somewhere for protection. If we “seek shelter” every time there is a little pitter-patter of hailstones, we would be running back and forth to the neighbors basement more than needed.

Also, I hate to admit it, but it sometimes happens that when you are watching tv, you are unaware of what is going on outside. It's sad that we let ourselves get so consumed by electronics. But it is nice to have that warning.

Our town wasn’t hit by the severe weather this time, but we live in that area and it was reassuring to be able to keep an eye on where it was in case it did move closer to us. THANK YOU Ed Wilson and Ch13! You did a great job!

I don’t think their covering the storms had anything to do with ratings. I understand it is frustrating to have your programming interrupted when the storms are nowhere near you. But you have to have some compassion for those who it does affect. Yes, we may live way down here in southern IA, but we are in the viewing area and I would like to think our lives matter just as much as someone who lives in the metro.

Anonymous said...

I have all of the evidence I need!! In 1978 my family was wiped out because Mike Lozano was slacking!!! I'll never forget the "why me" look on poor Aunt Edna's face when we found her on a neighbor's roof 2 miles away...I was only 8 and had no idea a TV antenna would even fit up there...God as my witness I thought she had landed on her feet...I remember the funeral being very awkward for everyone...

On a serious note, I really don't think I have to have "evidence" to say if someone's ever died due to inadequate warning from television, radio or EAS...What I would like evidence of, is how many people tuned in specifically for the weather coverage as opposed to the hockey...

Anonymous said...

"What I would like evidence of, is how many people tuned in specifically for the weather coverage as opposed to the hockey..."

I am curious about this as well, but we'll never know the true figures. A lot of people, like me, wanted to watch the game and had it on mute just hoping that we'd be able to get back to full screen, HD hockey in a deciding Finals game, only to be unfulfilled.

I understand the need for severe weather coverage. I really do. I understand that property and lives are lost. But there has to be a better balance to be struck during situations like that of a couple of nights ago. Again, I go back to the days before the Doppler Wars. What in the world did we do before Doppler HD and Super-Dee Duper Doppler? People still lived through storms and those who were in areas that were not effected by those storms were able to watch their programming with minimal interruptions. There was NEVER a time before about 2000 where we had a 3 hour non-stop block of weather coverage.

I hear that Marty and Miller ripped WHO pretty good about this yesterday afternoon. Just wish I could have tuned in.

Anonymous said...

Marty and Miller would rip themselves for ripping on something just to rip on something...then rip that something again for good measure...

I can understand hockey fans being disappointed. I'm sure I'd be on the other side of the argument if it was game 7 of the World Series or the SuperBowl...sorry, "NFL's Championship Game At The End of The Season"...I just think that after the Parkersburg F-5, 13 probably thought they were doing the right thing by being on the air so much...Not to mention that when the Trillion dollar Mega Doppler needs fed, it gets fed!! There's a reason why we get 7 day forecasts that change everyday and Ed gets 10 minutes or more for weather and Keith gets 2.9 seconds for sports...$$$$ Dopplers and bragging rights.

One more Doppler upgrade and Keith's sportscast will sound like "Cubs, Cardinals, Iowa and Iowa State, NBA game 7...John!?!?"

Anonymous said...

"I hear Marty and Miller ripped WHO pretty good..."

Yes. Clearly you are right, because Marty and Miller are the elite when it comes to sports coverage. PLEASE. Those guys are two hack wannabes with over-inflated egos. I say if Marty and Miller think you're in the wrong, you should keep doing what you're doing.

Anonymous said...

"Clearly you are right, because Marty and Miller are the elite when it comes to sports coverage."

Oh, OK. Clearly you are right, considering they are pretty much the only local sports radio guys who will say anything negative about the local media rather than rump-kissing to make sure they don't irritate the wrong people.

Anonymous said...

I don't know about this particular issue, but if you think Marty & Miller are mavericks who won't bow to the establishment.. well that's fine. But *please* don't try and tell me they really know what they're talking about. I can't even listen to those guys anymore. Marty Tirrell acts like he's the Second Coming of Dan Patrick to sports radio.. and he is in desperate need of a reality check.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should leave the horses to me Keith... I knew he wasn't going to win. It was just too far!

Anonymous said...

You're crazy Keith! Big Brown won't win, I guarantee it!! In fact, if my gut feeling is correct, I'd say he'll fight his jockey for most of the race and eventually Desormeaux will just pull him to avoid injury...he'll finish dead last.

June 6, 2008 9:44 PM CDT