What A Racket I’ve Got!

Any time I get upset with work I should think back to this day and remember what a racket I’ve got!

The note was sitting in my inbox before I got out of bed. It was from our 4:00 PM producer Dana.

Hey guys –

Just wanted to let you know – Coleen would like for Geoff to do a “Travelers forecast” live from TPC today.

Travelers is capitalized because it’s the name of the golf tournament running this week in Connecticut, The Travelers Championship. Coleen is Coleen Marren, FoxCT’s news director and my boss.

If she wants me to come to work in jeans and a polo shirt and head out to the links so be it! I am not complaining.

I would have headed directly from home to the course in Cromwell, but I needed my earpiece. Without an ‘IFB&#185’ I can’t hear what’s on-the-air including questions aimed my way. I swung by Hartford then headed south toward Cromwell.

I haven’t been to the TPC in years. My former bosses didn’t want me reporting from the field. I’m not sure why?

The facility has changed a lot with time. There are more structures. There are more sponsors.

Everywhere you look there are well mannered, well dressed volunteers. Mostly their job is to say “Don’t go there.”

I didn’t.

My job was to give a rundown of the weather on the course for the next few days and a little golf science. I needed a ball!

Just below our camera position Ben Nelson was warming up his putting stroke. Without ever actually making eye contact he handed our sport reporter, Bob Rumbold a Titleist Pro V1x. At almost $4 per ball (though he’s surely not buying them) it was a nice prop.

I did my weather/science hit and explained a little bit about why golf balls have dimples (they reduce turbulence allowing the ball to fly farther while being more easily controlled), ate a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream bar from the media tent and headed back to Broad Street.

Any time I get upset with work I should think back to this day and remember what a racket I’ve got!

&#185 – IFB stands for interrupt feedback. It is most the on-air program though the producer and director an interrupt.