Empty The Saddlebags

There's a lot to do along the way to a 62-28 final. Every off-the-field story and far-fetched production element ran in the 3rd quarter:

> Arrests were made in the investigation into the murder of Marion Grice's brother.

> Navy backup QB Rafi Montalvo is recovering from a major car accident.

> Former Arizona State recruit Angelo Richardson being paralyzed six years ago, his scholarship honored, and now he assists with the team.

> The future of dominant ASU DT Will Sutton.

> Navy's season in review.

> The game being played at the home of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

> Numerous promos and some sales obligations.

Next time we'll have to do soundbites too, because there was nothing left for the 4th quarter, except tape of the game's opening coin toss.

Yes, while Washington sits on the precipice of a fiscal cliff (CLIFF!), Senator John McCain, USNA '58, was flipping an Oreo. I'd call this a self-serving political photo-op, except it's an awesome photo. The home state he serves in the US Senate hammered his alma mater, but guess what - he wins either way. Sorta like being in politics.

Backtime Walkabout: The Streets of San Francisco

While I always love a trip to northern California, being plopped right in the middle of downtown San Francisco isn't really my thing. I lived in New York for 6 years and Times Square is for tourists. Ditto for Union Square, SF.

You think of San Fran as a progressive city with their liberal lawmakers and their clean, green taxicabs.

But actually it's really grungy (and I don't mean that in a good way), and very expensive. The streets aren't that clean, there are panhandlers on almost every corner, and tourists from all over the world still blow cigarette smoke all over the place.

During my downtime I found a pretty good mexican joint and a grabbed a coffee and sat on a park bench and people-watched. It was a nice chance to exhale. It's got to be all downhill from here.

Outside of getting a great workout for the calves, I'm not a huge fan. Next time I'm staying in Pacific Heights, or maybe my next flight to the Bay area will involve a side trip to Napa.

Backtime 2012 Big Finish: Day 8

OK the blog streak ended at 165 days (just 200 short in a non-election year), and lasted way longer than my plants. I was just too busy working, with the responsibilities of a TV producer and digging myself out of a blizzard. Or as they call it in Detroit, "snow," a mere 4-6 inches doesn't qualify as anything more.

My 7th Detroit Bowl game was a lot like many of the previous ones, wild. The 4th quarter involved a (carried over) 9-minute drive, a 7-minute drive, a TD with a fumble upheld, a TD run overturned, a blocked punt in the end zone, and a very questionable 4th down play call. Central Michigan ultimately prevailed over Western Kentucky.

The 19 buses from Bowling Green, Kentucky all managed to arrive in Detroit for the game, and several pulled up in front of our hotel after the game. It was a mad house. Not only were there 5 inches of unplowed snow in front of the hotel but they couldn't even take may car for close to an hour. The story works better visually, but I just can't take pictures everywhere I go.

It was still fully dark when I dropped off the rental car in the slush at Detroit Metro in the morning. While I undersell the holidays, I know what to ask Santa for before my next Christmas in Detroit: a hat, gloves, scarf, and boots. Almost none of which are needed in Savannah...ever.

My seat assignment from Detroit to San Francisco, 21D, reminded me of my first day as a Delta Platinum in 2008. I was traveling from Detroit to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio and I drew 29E - a middle seat. Welcome to Platinum. Well I must have more clout now, because I was the first one called to be upgraded.

And traveling at 30,000 feet with Wi-Fi and a charger, it was a productive and relaxing experience. I didn't mind the snow so much...while flying over Yosemite.

Backtime Walkabout: Christmas Morning In Detroit

"Twas Christmas morning in Downtown Detroit. Not a creature was skating, but the trees were just the right hoit."

This is my 7th Christmas in Detroit assignment, so it's become very familiar to me. Being in the TV business, I'm not a big holidays guy.

I've worked full-time on college basketball since '93 and college football since '96, however when I wanted to break in as a MLB producer in 2000, the opportunities were rare. But there was almost always a slot for me on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, when the network would run games all day.

And for years I worked the Egg Bowl, the annual battle between Mississippi and Mississippi State on Thanksgiving Day. That's actually how I met the mother of my children - a story for another time.

So I rarely make plans with family or friends on the holidays, I try and fill my schedule. I use the time to provide for my family instead of spend it with them.

While I'm desensitized to Christmas (because I am a working professional and Jewish), I'm not exactly bah humbug. I still get into the spirit somewhat. I've seen It's A Wonderful Life dozens of times, and I enjoy Christmas music. Except for Baby It's Cold Outside, which has been described as a date-rape anthem.

In previous years we would stay at the GM Renaissance Center, which wasn't bad, but removed from downtown Detroit. It's farther away than it looks, and on the 70th floor you're practically in Canadian airspace where cell phone service is very dicey.

So this morning I took a walk. It was kind of a ghost town on Christmas morning. Even though hockey is out, the Zamboni guy was working the rink at Campus Martius. There was a dusting of snow from Christmas Eve, and no sun this morning. Having lived in Michigan for three years that's not unusual.

And if my soul was any bit empty from the dreariness, solitude, and cold, that got remedied at American Coney Island with a 10:30 AM chili dog.

OK, back to business. But first a side trip to see my sister and brother-in-law in Toledo, who are doing the holidays with his family. Everybody in the world has family in Ohio.

Merry Christmas.

Backtime Dateline: Hockeytown

Detroit is a great sports town but one of its beloved sports teams is MIA. It hasn't been on my radar much, I haven't followed hockey with any regularity since I was in my early 20s. But I know the Red Wings are a big thing around here, and for the second time in less than ten years their fans may be deprived of even a single game this season.

I know that the absence of hockey hasn't made much of a dent in the national sports landscape (which is part of the owners' point in hard-lining player salary structures), but it does affect a lot of people. That includes the mostly-local TV crew I am working with here in Detroit, who count on the home NHL team to provide 40 events they can put on their calendar - not including playoffs.

But what else is lost, is the identity of a city, and a fan base that may not return even after the sport does.

As a baseball guy first, I remember the MLB labor dispute in 1994 and what it cost my team. The Yankees were 70-43 and dominating the AL East. Paul O'Neill was hitting .359 and Jimmy Key was 17-4 when the season was interrupted and then ultimately disbanded.

What if the season had been completed? How would life have been different for Buck Showalter? Don Mattingly? Joe Girardi?

Only the Montreal Expos had a better record in 1994. But what if they went on to win it all? Could they have kept Pedro Martinez or Larry Walker a little longer? Could the franchise have been saved?

But today in the NHL, in Hockeytown, there aren't even "what ifs," only ifs.

Backtime 2012 Big Finish: Day 4

That's the street sign across the street from my hotel. No bad act ever dies, they just play half-filled theaters in Vegas.

That's why after the sports were done yesterday, I went to the show at my hotel: Jimmy Stewart and Friends starring Rich Little. But I wanted to go, and that officially makes me old and washed up.

Little is 74 now, and the impressions are still very good. The one-man act is Jimmy Stewart narrating the sequence of events of his life, with the interactions of others along the way.

Little of course nailed Johnny Carson, Andy Rooney, Cary Grant, and Ronald Reagan. His one foray into the modern was a riff from the Geico voice-over guy.

And there was some creative stuff too as Little reenacted a scene from It's A Wonderful Life with Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter and George Bailey, played by Humphrey Bogart.

The crowd, which I estimated at 250 or so, was there because they remembered how big he used to be. They were and older and whiter Fox News crowd, and Little threw some Republican bones along the way.

It was a good show that Little is trying to take to Broadway (or at least the Catskills), but he could use an infusion of some popular culture. Maybe Simon Cowell, Chris Berman, or even a little Joe Biden would liven up the act. But that's just some unpaid advice.

The advice you can count on me for in Vegas is: drink water. If you're drinking or smoking (smoking is still everywhere here), in the steam room, or just out in the desert air, keep yourself hydrated.

Now here is where you would probably be not too wise to take my advice, since I haven't made a football bet in a year:

1. IND Colts (-5) at KC

I don't generally like road favorites. But the Colts can clinch a playoff spot, their coach is returning, and they've got a goal-oriented Andrew Luck at QB. The Chiefs have folded the tent. This one will be done early.

2. DAL Cowboys (-2.5) vs Saints

A desperate team at home against the most inconsistent team in the NFL. The number that popped into my head was 41-14.

3. JAX Jaguars (+14) vs Patriots

That's an awful lot of points to get at home against anyone. And the Patriots are ready for a let down after an emotional comeback came up short last week vs San Fran. And they go on the road to the most dreary and lifeless stadium in the NFL.

4. DEN Broncos (-11.5) vs Browns

The Broncos are 11-3 and shooting for a bye if not home-field. They've won 9 in a row while only playing two home games since Halloween. This has got the makings of a late afternoon snoozer all over it.

So there you have it, three home teams out of four, three favorites out of four. Three out of four would make for a very good day.

But in the meantime, here's some exceptionally bad advice:

So there's pressure on you McElroy. My $20 to win $18.20. Not long after the Jets are a memory, I take the red-eye to Detroit to get back to work on the rest of the grind.

Backtime Memo-Random: Las Vegas

I have less than 48 hours between jobs, so I touched down in Vegas today for the closest thing to a vacation I can get.

I got a room for $59/night, plenty to eat and drink, an awesome gym, and of course it's an NFL weekend. I have two Bowl games and a New Year's Eve hoop game to prep and complete before I return home, so it's a nice opportunity to recharge the batteries.

It's only my second ever trip to Sin City as a tourist, and I have no personal experiences to share (y'all know the expression). But I have been there to work on a number of occasions, and one particular event stands out:

June 17, 1994

It was my first "season" as a 25-year old full-fleged associate producer for the network. And while I still had my hands in some MLB and World Cup Soccer, I was traveling on Arena Football.

The games rated fairly well back then, and increased that year once baseball went on strike and took the rest of the year off. But on that night, we had a fairly nondescript game between the Cleveland Thunderbolts and the Las Vegas Sting.

Former West Virginia QB beast Major Harris played for Cleveland, but there weren't any other players that anyone would remember. The coaches, however, had some history. Las Vegas was coached by former Patriots QB Babe Parilli, and Cleveland was coached by Earle Bruce (yes, that Earle Bruce). I was still wide-eyed at that point at who I was sitting with in coaches' meetings.

The game was at MGM Grand Gardens, which was extremely convenient since we were staying at the MGM Grand. I remember calling housekeeping to ask for an iron, and they said "the" iron would be brought right up. The iron? The place has over 5,000 rooms and one iron?

The thing that was important in my world was that we were going to debut an innovation in our graphics. If a flag was thrown during a play, we would flash "flag" in the upper corner of the screen. We were still using those funky espn2 graphics at that point, so it really stood out.

Some management types were alerted to this ahead of time and we were told they'd be watching. But a funny thing happened shortly after we went on the air. Remember the date of the event? What else happened that day?

A white Bronco made a slow ride down a Los Angeles freeway, and ESPN, along with every major network, broke away for live coverage. NBC even ditched coverage of the NBA Finals to cover the breaking news. We on espn2, however, were told to just keep covering the game since O.J. Simpson was already wallpapered across the nation.

So we did our game, ran our "flag" graphic innovation, and nobody said a word about it because nobody watched. In later weeks we fine-tuned it, and later it became part of what we see in today's football coverage, along with the constant clock-and-score and the yellow 1st down line.

In this business, there's no real personal credit for innovations. I'm not the Neil Armstrong of "flag" graphics, and nobody has called me to set up an exclusive one-on-one interview with a visionary. I can only be in the right place at the right time.

And while I was one of the few people in America that didn't see the Bronco chase live, I just happened to be in LA for pivotal outcomes of the Simpson case. I was there for a Reds-Dodgers playoff game in 1995 when he was exonerated.

And then I was there for a Laker game in 1997 when Simpson was found liable in the wrongful death civil suit.

Simpson later made a regrettable trip to Las Vegas, and he was ultimately sentenced to 33 years on multiple charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery. He has been in prison in Nevada for the last 5 years.

Sorry Juice, I'm only in Vegas for a quick trip. I won't have time to visit.