Frenetic Friday

One of the questions I often get from both friends and strangers alike... "Who decides what stories you put in the sportscast?"  Answer:  99 percent of the time, Keith, Chris and I do. Whoever is anchoring on a given day has a three minute canvas... we get to paint it any way we choose.

Most days, we have a pretty good idea how we're going to fill that three minutes before we ever get to work at 2 p.m. We have a calendar in the sports office that we use to keep tabs on games, news conferences, etc.  On top of that, we read the paper, watch TV, listen to the radio, and check the internet in the a.m. to find out what else is happening in the world of sports.

But there are also days like Friday when unexpected stories pop up.  These are the fun days (sarcasm).  For example, at 5:15 on Friday, The University of Iowa sent out a news release confirming that Aaron Fuller was transferring and that incoming recruit Cody Larson had been granted a release from his letter of intent.  Also around that time, a Houston television station reported on its website that ISU assistant basketball coach Daniyal Robinson had accepted a similar position at the University of Houston.  At 5:30, I got a phone call from Charles Zanders confirming a tip I received last week... that he would be named the new head men's basketball coach at Simpson College.   Needless to say, I had to re-shuffle my sportscast.  All three stories were more newsworthy than anything else I planned on putting in the sportscast.  So the challenge becomes figuring out a way to make all these new "pieces" fit into our three minute "puzzle."  It's actually fun... in a weird sort of way.  Long story short, when I went on the air at 6:20, my sportscast looked nothing like I thought it would at 5:20.

Another glimpse behind the curtain...

Shawn