Republicans and the Five Stages of Grief

We bounced around Downtown Athens Ohio last night, first at Stephen's On Court, then hit the early stages of an election party at The Pigskin. MSNBC and CBS local were on the big screens, and Ball State/Toledo was nowhere to be found.

It was early and the action was slow, so I got to texting some of my conservative friends, simply asking (needling) "which stage of grief are you in?"

1. Denial and Isolation

The first response told me not to gloat yet, that you can't believe the polls. I can imagine him now in front of Fox News in his sweatsuit shaking his Magic 8-Ball until he gets the right result.

Nate Silver told us all along exactly what was going to happen, but like on climate change and evolution, deniers will just deny.

2. Anger

"I feel bad for this country, having four more years of your boy!" The truth is this friend's life (or mine) isn't truly affected by whomever was elected. And he recognized that projecting his sympathies for the country (he even mentioned the 53% - ouch!).

Donald Trump was obviously the bellweather for anger, calling the election a "sham" and calling for "revolution." He actually hit Stages 1 & 2 there, but he'd get to all 5 quickly enough if you kept an open mic in front of his piehole.

3. Bargaining

"At least I still live in a red state" was one I heard more than once, as I live in one too. Or "at least we still have the house." That's good, all of us are still bargaining with the same Executive/Legislative split, who have been unable to bargain with each other the last two years.

4. Depression

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a lot of this one yet. It was more evident during the coverage when Obama's campaign staff was appearing on every network with a bounce in their step, and nobody in the Romney camp was to be found.

It's hard not to be depressed when you work for months or years on something and then it's over. The silver lining for these retread political operatives is that we live in the land of opportunity (yes, it still is) and they're only a few months away from another election cycle and their next gig.

5. Acceptance

This one is the hardest to grasp. Mitch McConnell's #1 goal was to make Obama a one-term President, so now what? Making sure a GOP gets elected next time? That would breed the same obstructionism we've seen for the last two years. So you have to wonder whether this defeat will ever be accepted and anything will be changed. And one day I guess I'll have to accept that.

Yesterday, I predicted that 11 PM would be the hour this would be decided. Unfortunately I nodded off at about 11:05, and popped my eyes open at 11:25 to see that Obama had won. It was called at 11:12, when Iowa and Ohio were put into the winner's column. Naturally, Karl Rove didn't accept it.

What State Am I In?

I landed in Ohio last night, and it was just after Gov. Romney left town so there was no air or ground traffic in the way. I got in a Hyundai Sonata rental (there were 25 Chevys in the National lot and none of them had XM - shame on the American auto industry!) and cruised out of Columbus.

Every news network was repeating the mantra "it all comes down to Ohio." Yet when I woke up this morning in Athens, Nate Silver had no longer listed the Buckeye State as "competitive." He had Ohio as a 91% probability of going to the President. Maybe I should have brought my lawn sign here and plopped it in front of my hotel room.

It was a crisp and beautiful 38-degree autumn morning in remote Athens, 80 minutes outside the state capital and 40 minutes from the West Virginia border. It warmed up during the day, and we're going to have some nice football weather for Frank Solich's 100th game with Bobcats, as they take on Bowling Green Wednesday night.

Athens is a nice progressive slice in one of the reddest portions of Ohio. But don't let the country quaintness fool you, the sorority girls are capable of some serious mayhem.

Headed out somewhere in the Court Street/Union Street area tonight, but sure to be back in the room to keep an eye on Election Day coverage.

The key plot point of the night is 11 PM eastern, which is 8 PM pacific, which is when the west coast polls close. It was the hour when the 2008 election was called for Obama. Every minute past then means that there is still some level of uncertainty, which increases Romney's chances.

But there's no way I'm staying up all night for results. I got a job to do tomorrow, and I want to keep it. I don't trust either candidate to create one for me.

Why I Voted For Barack Obama

The plants are doing fine, but the lawn needed a fixer-upper. While my grass isn't growing, my confidence in this election is.

As a natural-born American (though I don't know exactly where my birth certificate is), it is my right to vote. And while I vote in private, I can explain my vote if I choose. I am not trying to influence anyone else's vote, and nobody is under any obligation to read any father...

First, I am a city-dweller and have been for most of my adult life. I like leaving my house and walking to get my errands done. And sometimes there's a sketchy area between Point A and Point B. Yet whether I walk alone or with my children, I feel safe.

Even those that are struggling in an urban community are invested in it. That's because of the involvement of government with programs that both bolster the safety net, help small business, and maintain law and order. Otherwise, the community unravels; the desperate turn to crime and the disillusioned bail out.

Some will say the system is failing already with rash of gun violence that has plagued cities like Chicago (and even Savannah) this year. While this is a disturbing trend, I don't see all violent crime the same. Show me that rapes, armed robberies and home invasions have spiked and I will be the first to flee to a gated community.

Until then, I believe in the path that helps the most people and strengthens communities.

Second,  the most important way to level the playing field is through education. Children in inner cities and rural areas need to have a chance at the best education available. Otherwise the inequality perpetuates itself for generations. Many children are born in bad situations through no fault of their own. Their only access to the American Dream is through the knowledge an education can bring, since in many cases they're not getting the right direction at home.

The way to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans is to start the process in pre-school. If we truly believe that the kid in a Savannah tenement has the same shot as someone who grows up in the governor's mansion in Lansing, Michigan, we need a greater investment in our teachers.

Now I am keenly aware that the system is set up to protect bad teachers. I don't know the answer to this problem. But increased charters, vouchers, and anything else that adds privatization into education only increases the chasm between the poor kids and everyone else.

Third, a President can only fulfill promises in a second term. It's unfortunate, but that's the way our system works. Like many, I've been jaded by the difference between Candidate Obama 2008 and President Obama 2012. And while change has been slow in the face of unprecedented obstructionism, a lot has been accomplished.

I look at 2012 as the campaign of real change. After Citizens United, the Obama campaign refused corporate money (I am aware that the DNC and SuperPACs take plenty of it), choosing instead for small donations from over 10 million individual Americans... citizens united indeed!

I trust that the President, beholden to no future campaigns, will not turn his back on the millions that he has incessantly hounded for cash for over a year now.

In 2008, Obama was a symbol of change. Hillary Clinton said it best when she battled him in the primaries, that he couldn't wave a magic wand and make the special interests go away.

In 2012, Obama becomes the agent of change. At least that's what I believe, I could be wrong. And if I am, it's a good thing my vote only counts once.

The Backtime Bandwagon: November 2012 Edition

After a great college football Saturday, the Backtime Editorial Department is on the bandwagon - but not with Kansas State, Notre Dame, Oregon, or even the indomitable Crimson Tide. Climb aboard with Louisville's Angry Birds: 9-0, with three to go.

No I'm not trumpeting Louisville for a shot at the title. But an unbeaten season, capped by a BCS Bowl win over a formidable opponent would set the 2013 season up. Teddy Bridgewater is a true sophomore and will definitely be back (though questions linger about his coach), and the Cards can carry the torch for the reincarnated Big East Conference going forward.

And again, I marvel at whomever takes these pictures. Bridgewater's throwing motion is flawless. He steps up in measured stride against the rush. His hand warmer and hand towel are perfectly dead center. His non-throwing hand says "stop" in diagonal symmetry like the cover of Van Halen's Diver Down.

And the results are undeniable. Bridgewater threw for 324 yards and 5 TD versus Temple yesterday, sharpening his already surgical season numbers: 70% completions, 9.5 yards/attempt, 18 TD and 4 INT.

And he's not just a finesse passer. Bridgewater takes what he has to on the ground. And while he won't run many defenders over, he'll still deliver some punch.

These are not just photo opportunities that this still-19-year old QB presents and very little has to do with luck. Unless we're talking about Andrew Luck.

Flash Backtime: Politics And Football Metaphors

Every four years we get to this point. Football is our #1 sport nationally, full of strategy and angles, and a clock that will eventually run out. So naturally we all equate the final drive of this election season to the closing of a football game.

And the blog I filed for SavannahNow.com four years ago still holds true today, taking the football analogies right in the huddle with the signal callers.

October 16, 2008

I wasn't going to watch last night's debate because I had already voted, but the dynamics of the process are far too fascinating to turn away from. I especially like how football is so ingrained in the analysis of the TV commentators.

How often did you hear that McCain needed a "Hail Mary" or that Obama merely had to "sit on his lead" or "run out the clock." There are plenty of boxing analogies too, but they aren't as fun. So I decided to take it a step further and compare the two candidates to former NFL Quaterbacks.

Barack Obama is Troy Aikman. Each came from limited means and had to overcome early career adversity. Obama lost his first bid for the U.S. Congress. Aikman had to transfer to UCLA after losing his starting gig at Oklahoma. But after some seasoning, and surrounding themselves with talented and well-versed ensembles, they exude cool, charisma, and confidence. And then they became champions.

John McCain is Archie Manning. The un-polished, over-emotive, scrappy risk-taker who gave his all. But because of a motley crew of flunkies at his side, and some terrible decisions of his own, not even his great determination could lead him to the top. His spirit will win legions of fans, but he will inevitably lose the big showdown.

Obama "took a knee" last night when the Governor Palin question came up. He could have unloaded on her the way she has on him. Lord knows, there's plenty of material. He could have expanded his lead and "run up the score" but he took the high road to win with class.

Maybe you favor the loveable loser over the collected champion. That is your right. But don't expect a monumental comeback on November 4, because your heart will be broken again.

November 3, 2012

So who is Mitt Romney in this cosmic political gridiron tapestry?

I'm going with Chris Simms. Romney, like the younger Simms, was born into royalty in his field. He had all the tutelage, grooming, and good hair one could possibly need to take the world by the balls.

Simms set records at Texas and Romney tore up the private sector, but when it was time to go pro the results were tepid at best. Simms's career NFL record of 7-9 is akin to Romney's record as as Massachusetts governor, where Romney claims to have coexisted in a bipartisan fashion with the state's legislature but had over 800 vetoes over-ridden.

Ultimately both lacked the toughness necessary to succeed at the highest level, and are resigned to live out the remainder of their careers inconsequently and on name recognition alone.

Backtime's Top Ten Denzel Washington Roles

Just saw Flight. The preview had me hooked, but it was better than the movie. The first 20 minutes was edge-of-your-seat theater that you had to watch through your fingers, but it devolved into a character study and an ugly one at that. Without issuing any spoilers, Flight has a double-meaning.

Denzel Washington's performance as the expert pilot and anti-hero was compelling and heart-breaking, but does it belong on the pantheon of his great performances? Just so happens that Backtime's Editorial Department has put together the definitive (and very unscientific) list.

10. Carbon Copy

Washington's first feature film was a comedy in 1981. He appears as George Segal's illegitimate black son, and proceeds to unravel the corporate bigwig's entire world. This was irreverent 30 years ago, but it would be farcical today.

Notice the DVD cover "introducing Denzel Washington." It is no small feat to play alongside a bona fide movie star in your first film. It springboarded Washington into a longstanding role on the TV series St. Elsewhere, before returning to the big screen in a big way.

9. American Gangster

It's the black version of Godfather II. Frank Lucas goes from being Bumpy Johnson's driver to the biggest drug kingpin in New York. It's a great period piece which recalls an entire genre in our crime history and movies like The French Connection, Shaft, and Good Fellas.

8. Training Day

Washington's role as rogue cop Alonzo Harris was strong, but over-the-top. As a narcotics detective, he had to blend in, but the line got very blurred as to who the real villains were. His Academy Award for Best Actor was undeserved and more of a lifetime achievement award. Too bad it was 11 years ago and his career was far from over.

7. Flight (see above)

6. Crimson Tide

On board a nuclear sub whose communications had been cut, Lt. Commander Hunter leads a mutiny against Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman). It's a classic tug-of-war for power in a super-charged testosterone overload situation, with an excellent ensemble (Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini, George Dzundza). Washington is super cool in his toe-to-toe standoffs with Hackman.

5. Unstoppable

The grizzled, near-retired train conductor has to stop an out-of-control train, while training (see a pattern here?) the guy who will ultimately take his job (Chris Pine). It's a little bit of a guilty pleasure flick, but the theater I was in cheered at the end. Washington's last film with Tony Scott directing.

4. Remember The Titans

A brilliant sports film with great social depth. Washington didn't play it soft as T.C. Williams HS Head Coach Herman Boone. The lines from the film are no doubt recited thousands of times throughout football locker rooms around the country.

3. Malcolm X

Not only was Washington's resemblance to Malcolm Little uncanny, but he sold all the contours of his bio. He went from small-time hood and numbers runner, to a man of vision, to radical leader, to a man who got too close to exposing the hypocrisy that surrounded him. He was knucklehead, hater, and truth-teller all in one. It was Denzel's first tour-de-force.

2. Glory

The Civil War drama earned Washington a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. A runaway slave filled with hate was the foil for the all-black regiment that was fighting to help save the Union. He was punished for desertion when he went AWOL (though he was just out looking for shoes), and took his lashes while shedding a solitary tear in one of the most powerful scenes I can remember.

1. The Hurricane

A flawless performance as wrongly-imprisoned boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who goes through all the stages of grief, but never gave up in his greatest fight - for exoneration. The Bob Dylan song runs through my mind every time I think about it.

Now I didn't see every Denzel Washington movie. Philadelphia and Cry Freedom are omissions that are inexcusable. Others I don't think I missed much like Man On Fire and Deja Vu. Re-makes like The Manchurian Candidate and The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 would never be as good as the originals so they aren't even considered.

A Soldier's Story was a great film, but essentially a play and really a true ensemble. And Washington was overshadowed by the evil Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar).

Denzel Washington doesn't have scenes stolen anymore.

The Day-To-Day College Football Fray

I have this coming weekend off, before a double-up week and a turbulent month. November is the nexus of my year. The crossover month of college football and college basketball accounts for almost a quarter of my yearly haul. Which means I'll be seeing a lot of this:

So while enjoying the calm before the storm (if you will), and entertaining the extended house guests (Sandy refugees), I thought I'd outline a typical week during college football season. Hopefully I can do this without unearthing the Colonel's secret recipe, then everyone could be a TV producer and I'd be out of a great career.

SUNDAY

Early in the season college football games are determined about two weeks out. But when it comes down to nut-cutting time in late October and November, every week is crucial to conference and national championship chases.

Multiple networks coordinate with the conferences for optimum timeslots ("windows") in what are known throughout the landscape as "six-day picks."

So early Sunday afternoon, when we're with or families or watching NFL, we learn the site of next weekend's game.

As it's family time for the rest of your crew, you generally don't coordinate with anyone except for a quick e-mail check-in. Personally, I try to take 30 minutes out ASAP to send notes to the Sports Information Directors (SIDs) of both schools to let them know contact info for the members of our broadcast team.

For the visiting SID, I query as the best timeframe for conference calls with the head coach, coordinators, and possibly the QB. For the home team, I try and nail down a meeting time on Friday for in-person meetings with their coaches and selected players.

On Sunday night I put a preliminary list together for the Production Assistant (PA), for features to edit or clips to pull for our matchup. That way when he/she gets to work on Monday, they can start their scavenger hunt for our video needs.

MONDAY

The first call on Monday is to travel. Many college towns have limited airport capacity, so you'd better call quickly and get a seat grabbed. There are certain places like State College or Baton Rouge where you've got no shot six days out, and you'd better plan your alternate airport.

The hotel situation is marginally better. These games didn't magically appear out of nowhere, and a certain number of rooms have been blocked for TV. But sometimes there aren't enough for the entire crew, so you have people staying at different hotels.

There is a 30-minute operations call, where the producer and director get on with the technical people and go over everything from equipment to crew to general logistics and schedule.

You'll want to touch base with your SIDs, and make sure their game notes are getting out. Then you go back and forth a couple of times on coaches' meetings, making sure that we can do a time that is mutually agreeable to both the coaches and our talent.

At 4 PM, there's a 60-90 minute web conference led by the Coordinating Producer (CP) of college football. At this point we go over the highlights (and some lowlights) of the previous weekends, review video clips, ratings, sales, and production initiatives for the coming week.

Attendance isn't taken, and the power point is available for the Webex conference after the fact, but if you miss the call you could be called on out of the blue to explain something from your past game. It's the TV production version of bed-check.

TUESDAY

This is the quietest day of the week. There are some follow-ups on some loose ends, but mostly it's just homework on the teams.

I dissect the game notes and articles from the team's release. I generally do one page on the team as a whole, one page on the offense (names, numbers, position, stats), and one page on the defense and special teams. So three full pages on my legal pad, and the process takes about 90 minutes.

I try to do the visiting team research on Tuesday, and usually do the home team on Wednesday, or Thursday on the plane if I'm behind.

WEDNESDAY

This is when we usually have the call with the visiting coaches. It could be early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it depends on the individuals involved. It is generally attended by the play-by-play announcer, analyst, reporter, producer and director.

The head coach gives you the big picture stuff, while the coordinators go down the depth chart. The talent do most of the talking, but I've done 90 minutes of research of my own so I'll have a couple of questions too.

The flight is Thursday, usually mid-morning, so you pack your work bag and a suitcase before you go to bed.

THURSDAY

I get ready to be gone for a couple of days: make sure the latest load of laundry is at least in the dryer, make the beds, take out the trash, water the plants, turn off the AC, and set the alarm.

The travel day usually involves two flights from Savannah. So you make your time work for you both on the plane and in ATL airport. I've learned to prefer this even over a 5-hour drive because you can't get any work done in the car besides phone calls.

So I make sure my home team research is done, I've got my sales and promos obligations all checklisted, and put together a graphics list for my Associate Producer (AP).

I also make sure I bring a book for the plane, so I can let my mind wander off for at least 15 minutes at a time on takeoff and landing.

When on the ground, there's often a late afternoon walkthrough at the stadium to go over camera positions and details with operations and stadium personnel.

Thursday night is either a couple hours on the laptop in the hotel room consolidating my format with some room service, or a night out with colleagues, or a combination of the two.

FRIDAY

This is the busiest day by a mile. When you get to site, the truck is parked and powered, but nothing is yet "patched" so the truck is essentially just office space until any production can get done - you have to hope the wireless internet is up and running. It's also a good time for face-to-face time with your crew.

Coach meetings are generally late morning. Some meetings are quick and easy, some are "hurry up and wait." Some provide food, some don't. So lunch plans are on the fly.

The afternoons are spent building graphics and completing "pre-production," which involves putting graphics and music on our video clips and photos.

And there are always some sort of technical issues, logistical loose ends, or a UPS package that didn't get to site. You find out what trouble needs to be shot and put it on your list for game day.

I also make sure my "format" is printed out, copied, and stapled. The format is everything that goes into the show: the open, pregame responsibilities, sales, promos, graphics, clips, reporter items, and schedule. The in-truck wireless printer is the greatest invention since in-flight internet and the motorized golf cart.

Friday night's plan depends entirely when your game kicks off on Saturday. If we have a day game, then we have our meeting on Friday evening. If we have a night game, the meeting is Saturday morning.

The meeting is in an antiseptic hotel meeting room with a whiteboard and a TV/DVD player. The major advantages in a Friday night meeting is that there's some hot food and bottled beer, rather than continental breakfast and hotel coffee.

The efficiency of the service and level of the food varies wildly based on the quality of the hotel. For example, the Four Seasons in Austin, Texas is a much better bet than the Holiday Inn Express in Starkville, Mississippi. That's when you might as well throw down your own credit card and bring in the Qdoba taco bar and buy a box of sangria. But it is what it is, and you get what you get.

I lead off the meeting with our base storylines, the analyst goes over Xs and Os, we review the format top-to-bottom. At that point I like to stay "the format is written in ink, but not in stone," and I accept all modification suggestions (certain announcers don't exactly suggest).  We go over the schedule, and divvy up the parking passes.

At the end of a Friday meeting, we figure out who's going out and who's staying in, and hopefully somebody else has a plan on where to gather, or they'll hear my disdain, "Do I have to produce everything?"

SATURDAY

The best is a noon game. Despite the way-too-early wakeup call, you're done in time to catch a plane home. When I lived in Kalamazoo, I was on the Big Ten noon game in 2005 and 2006. I could reasonably drive home from 9 of 11 Big Ten sites (excluding only Minnesota and Penn State) and I'd often be in my living room by 8 PM.

A 3:30 game is OK. It ends too late to fly home, but in enough time to get a nice dinner in town and get to bed at a reasonable hour. Night games just suck. It takes an hour to get out of a packed stadium parking lot, no bars are open, and there's only time for about 3-4 hours of sleep before I catch the first flight home.

But make no mistake, the game is the fun part. Everything else is just grunt work.

Live television is the ultimate mix of stress and stress release. I make more decisions in 3 hours than most people make in a month. But it's not perfect. Sometimes you make bad decisions. Sometimes you are accountable for other people's mistakes. The phone could call from HQ at any moment and take you completely off your game. Sometimes events conspire to create head-shakingly bad TV, which I can tell you is like an out-of-body experience.

Sometimes there's a suit right there in the truck over your shoulder - which generally isn't as bad as you think - they get paid to make decisions too. They can immediately answer your questions, work as a go-between with the network or the school, and can get you off the hook if there's a problem. The downside is you're not always producing your game.

It's rare that people aren't in good humor after the show. Everyone had the adrenaline rush, and now whether you had an "A" game or not, you got through it. Mistakes are usually fixed posthumously when brilliant minds merge on the ride back to the hotel. But as they say, the game is already on Mars by then. All you can do is start getting ready for the next one.