Back to the Future: The Sporting Life

You heard the old saying "You can never go home again," right?  Well, I don't believe it.  For example, I began my television career more than 23 years ago in Topeka, Kansas.  After 14 years as a sportscaster, I left that world behind to "grow up" and become a newscaster.  It's a change I enjoy.  Four months ago, due to some personnel changes, we had a vacancy in the KPAX-TV sports department.  Management approached me about adding sports anchoring duties to my newscaster responsibilities twice a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) on a "temporarily permanent" basis.  "Sure," I said.  I realize the need to pull together and get the job done, especially in a smaller television market newsroom.   


The thing is, I love sports.  I love being active.  I love learning new skills.  I love to compete.  And I love watching those who do the same.  Competition allowed me to learn so many personal, real life lessons:  team work, perseverance, hard word, friendship, practice, discipline, sportsmanship, brotherhood and just plain having fun. 

Following the University of Montana during its just-completed post-season run was my fifteenth year of covering a college basketball team in the NCAA Tournament.  While I did not travel with the team to Albuquerque, I have been there before.  I followed Gonzaga to the Pit a number of years ago.  I also followed the Zags to Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta, and other locations.  I traveled with Kansas State years ago in the NCAA Tournament to North Carolina.  I followed the University of Kansas to so many places that I can't remember them all, but that did include a Final Four trip to New Orleans, my birth place, way back in 1993.

I also have fond memories of football bowl trips such as the 2003 Rose Bowl with Washington State.  It was a somewhat forgettable performance for the Cougs as Oklahoma steamrolled its way to a 34-14 victory, but it was fun to visit the historic Pasadena site.  My 1997 Fiesta Bowl trip with Kansas State was a blast.  The Wildcats rolled over Donovan McNabb and Syracuse 35 to 18.  Perhaps my favorite football bowl trip was 1995 Holiday Bowl.  K-State laid a 54-21 licking on Colorado State in a game where the entire top deck of Jack Murphy Stadium was purple. There must have been 25,000 Wildcat fanatics that made the trip west.

K-State celebrates a Fiesta Bowl victory

There are also many, many other events, circuits, leagues, and teams I covered over the years.  Among them is the National Hot Rod Association.  I'm not much of a racing guy, but I loved it when the drag racers came to Heartland Park Topeka.  I traveled with the University of Kansas to the College Baseball World Series in Omaha one year.  What a great experience that was.  I went on two different road trips to Canada with the Spokane Chiefs hockey team.  Talk about an eye-opening experience.  Those kids are dedicated to reaching their goals and dreams.  (Below is a "behind the scenes" three-part series about the Chiefs.  I also took a similar trip with the Missoula Maulers.)

I had the opportunity to be in Seattle at opening night of Safeco Field.  I left there with quite a souvenir.  During batting practice the previous day, I leaned over a railing to look into the first base dugout.  When I straightened up, my brand new shorts stayed stuck to the railing.  Somebody had just painted it but there was no "fresh paint" sign posted.  I had a nice green stripe that stretched across both pant legs.  Funny stuff indeed.  I also covered the Seattle Mariners in the playoffs and attended Kansas City Royals games too.

There are also memorable NFL experiences.  My favorite was an annual trip to River Falls, Wisconsin to cover the Kansas City Chiefs training camp.  Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer allowed the media to have good access to drills and the players.  Marty was always very accessible too and remains my all-time favorite NFL coach.  During those days, there was no sporting atmosphere better than Arrowhead Stadium on game day, except for maybe Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence when the Jayhawks hit the basketball court.         

Covering the Zags in the NCAA Tournament

  

 But the trips aren't what highlight my memories.  It's the people, the things they experience and the stories they tell.  From little league baseball players to old men playing handball, just to talk to people and feel their enthusiasm for competition is what always inspired me.  And that's what I try to pass along when I sit in the sportscaster seat, especially if I can add a humorous slant to it.  (Below is a video of the University of Montana football staff using super-soakers during a special teams drill.)

There are also public appearances, serving as emcee for various events, attending roasts, participating as a "celebrity" in golf scramble events, and playing on a station basketball team to help schools and organizations raise money.  I remember playing in a 100-hole golf marathon in Liberty Lake, Washington.  I shot 97 over par with my dad as my caddie/driver.  Luckily, I finished my final hole just in time to do a live shot for the early evening newscast. 

I touched the Stanley Cup and interviewed such sporting greats as Wilt Chamberlain, Joe Montana, George Brett, Derrick Thomas and countless others.  I worked with many trusted co-workers who remain some of my greatest friends today.   

 
As a sportscaster, I was given great freedom to create content and programming.  I worked with the radio voice of the Kansas City Chiefs to create a one-minute insider report called "A Minute with Mitch," which is still in production today.  I teamed with my a co-worker years ago to gather lockers, helmets, jerseys and other apparel to build a set for a Friday night high school sports show recognized by many as the best in Topeka.  And perhaps my favorite was the infamous Pepsi Sports Challenged.  Viewers, both in Topeka and in Spokane, wrote in to challenge us sportscasters to whatever sport they had in mind.  Viewers loved it.  Newspaper sports columnists hated it.  We loved it.  We did all kinds of crazy stuff from rock climbing and rappelling to water ski jumping to running a two mile obstacle course at the Fort Riley Army base in Kansas in front of hundreds of screaming members of the Big Red One, the oldest division in the U.S. Army.  (Below is a sports challenge video I recently found on YouTube.)

I could go on and on but my bottom line is sports is real life.  It's about competing.  It's about enjoying.  It's about living.  And going back to the future to do it again is just fine with me.