After the Royals took Game Two from the Orioles at Camden Yards, I heard one of the broadcasters close out the post-game by saying "We are watching something special here, folks."
It has been such a magical post-season and the statement was uttered in a poignant way so I tweeted it.
And almost immediately, a former co-worker from WMAR, tweeted me back.
Honestly, for a second I was taken aback. It's no secret that I got fired from KSHB. And it's also no secret that I'm a Twins fan. I have enjoyed the Royals winning ways -- and although I did spend a year in Baltimore and some fun evenings at Camden Yards, I'm a Midwestern girl and decidedly in favor of the Royals winning it all.
My response:
Was that wrong?
Was my former co-worker being predictably snarky?
Should I have just left it alone?
Somewhere in a box, there are hard copies of lists of the things I miss about Memphis and Syracuse.
I posted the Baltimore list on my Facebook page. Making lists? It's something I just do. A way of counting my blessings I guess. So, on the eve of my departure for Miami, here goes (in no particular order):
Chicken Spiedini at Carmen's in Brookside.
The Westport Pioneers statue.
The LRC. And Gary Lezak.
The thrift stores on Wornall. All of them
Killer's insatiable appetite for junk food and the largest commercially available Coca-Cola from fill-in-the-blank. Purchased mostly by photographers, reporters and some producers and assignment editors. You know who you are.
Ward Parkway. Breath-taking in every season. Most cities don't have a Ward Parkway.
Talking digital with Billy Smith. Cheers!
Mack at the Hy-vee store on 122nd and Stateline. Always has a smile and a story to tell.
Buying wine at the Target stores in Missouri. For that matter, the ability to buy wine in any store in Missouri. Carrie Nation's impact on Kansas is antiquated.
The young men in suits who sell pies on Cleaver Boulevard in all kinds of weather.
Getting the "stink eye" from the anchors for talking in the studio during a newscast.
The River Market Antique Mall.
Having a treat for Stormy and running around the studio during the newscast with her hot on my heels. (Another reason for the "stink eye".)
Union Station. Especially at Christmas.
The way Russ Ptacek always entered my office. Reckless courage. I loved it!
The iconic Central Library Parking Garage made of book spines.
Playing games at the College Basketball Experience
The Grandview Triangle aka Three Trails Crossing.
Jeff Penner's willingness to try new things.
The hysterical, inappropriate telephone calls I got on the station-issued cell phone that were not meant for me. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Note to KSHB management: Change that number. The next news director doesn't need the distraction.
The Border War. Too bad one school had to mess it up for everybody.
Kansas Speedway. Saw my first NASCAR race which was quite possibly my last one too but I can cross it off the Bucket List.
Marsha Depping. And her memos.
Not shaving my legs in the winter. This luxury won't be possible in South Florida. TMI? Sorry.
Kansas City Chiefs tailgaters at Arrowhead. Always willing to share food, drink...or, in the case of the first game of 2012, some battery power after we needed a jump. Thanks to the guy with the flag made of bras. You know who you are.
Toby Tobin.
The All-Star Game and afterglow. We were so proud!
John McKenna. A rocky beginning grew into a great friendship.
Nick Dutcher. Still missed and mourned. Nobody has eclipsed his love of breaking news.
The Merry Happy Joyful food drive. The competitive nature of some of my former co-workers will always make me smile. You know who you are.
Royals games. They were not my favorite, favorite team but I loved games at Kauffman. I won't ever forget the magic of the outfield fountains.
Seeing Elizabeth Alex "call the hogs" wearing a red pig head on Funny Hat Day.
Sporting Kansas City. Especially Jimmy Nielsen and Matt Besler.
Allison and Shari. They work at the Beauty Brands on Stateline and are wonderful!
The Plaza Lights. Easy one.
The 2011 Race for the Cure fund-raising effort at 4720 Oak Street. Incredible generosity. You know who you are.
St. Joseph, Missouri.
Frank Boal's passion.
The stray cat that visited me many times in South KC.
The potential for a great park at Kaw Point. Unfortunately, the pollution issue has yet to be addressed.
Dan Mason's desire to own my rubber band ball. Sorry, guy. It's going with me.
The anticipation for Trader Joe's. On both sides of the state line.
House prices.
The weather extremes. Hot, cold, flood, drought, tornado. And more. SoFla won't have that.
Sitting on my deck at the end of the day with a glass of red wine. Somehow it won't be the same when I get off work at noon...
Being in the middle of the country. Flyover? Not really. These people matter!
Ethics questions from Christa Dubill.
Kansas City strip steaks. The absolute best.
How the area responded to the Joplin tornado. You know who you are.
The World War One museum.
The trails in Olathe.
The Shakespeare Festival.
The Bowen "farm" at Red Bridge and Wornall. We met the owner once, walking her dog. The animals: Curly (John's favorite). The Wounded Goose. Henny Penny. And the swans, turkeys, goats and pony.
Coffee on Tuesdays with Amy Hawley.
The statuary on Shawnee Mission Parkway through Fairway, Kansas.
Not hearing the trains anymore after we moved from Olathe.
The Kansas City Zoo.
How Kansas City is the REAL Gateway to the West. St. Louis = Poser.
Hallmark cards. I don't buy any other brand now.
Hearing about the old days in KCK from Mike Vrabac.
Winning at the casinos. Rarely happened. OK almost never.
Gary Brauer's cooking.
Sounds of the Holiday. I'm a sap for high school choral groups.
The impact of "The Day After" on global politics.
The Hotel Phillips.
Leavenworth, Kansas. Especially taking photos in the shadow of the sign at the prison that says NO PHOTOS.
Jack Baker.
KCI. I know it has to change but it really is an easy airport to get in and out of.
Old Shawnee Days.
Dottie's vet. Dottie was our dog. Quite possibly the saddest day of my life was when we had to put our beloved down. That woman was a saint.
Brown's Deli. Best. Egg. Salad. Ever.
Tracy Brogden-Miller. First a competitor, then a mentor. Strange magic.
The Kansas City Star. Pretty good paper with some really fine writers. Steve Kraske, Dave Helling. Wish more of my former co-workers made reading it a regular habit...
The Scout statue.
The lounger-recliners at the AMC at Ward Parkway.
A forced temporary three-month retirement that gave me an opportunity to re-evaluate my priorities.
On the way home tonight, for some reason, I was navel-gazing considering my job title.
News director.
And just at that moment the newest Sonic radio commercial played on the Royals pre-game show. (The displayed Sonic commercial has nothing to do with this post, by the way. I just like it because it starts with a Kansas City reference.)
The Sonic radio commercial I heard was a somewhat amusing riff on oxymorons. Jean jacket, relaxing fuel, etc.
My job title is a contradiction of terms. News director. Bah! I don't direct the news. I have no control over the news.
I'm a news responder.
Most days, I feel like all I've done is respond (and react) to news.
(Everyone knows that if you make a plan for severe weather, it will by-pass us to the north or south. But the second we don't have a plan, tornado warnings will strike without notice. Floods, frogs, plague. A certainty the one time you don't have a plan.)
Seriously. Today I had one of the Best. Birthdays. Ever.
I can live with being 55. Double nickles. The speed limit.
Birthdays that end in 0 or 5 are more momentous than the rest.. When I turned 50, I was unemployed. OMG!
I was fresh off of an eight-year-plus stint at WMC-TV in Memphis. Legacy station. Long time number one. Ratings leader.
Some background. I was hired in at WMC in 1998 by Bill Applegate, one of the most brilliant minds in the business. He moved on to Cleveland and was replaced by Howard Meagle.
Howard and I had a difficult beginning, to say the least. We learned to appreciate each other.
I was invited to leave (fired) after the November book in 2006. Not that it was a surprise. Howard was dispatched in July, 2006 and when the new I-want-my-own-puppet GM arrived, I knew my days were numbered. I lasted four months before hearing the words..."we need/want to make a change....blah blah blah."
Two weeks after a great 50th birthday celebration (January, 2007) in SD I traded in my beloved Mustang convertible for a Ford 500 (I am still driving the white Beast) and headed to Syracuse for a job at WSTM. Fifteen months later John and I moved slightly south to the Scripps station in Baltimore, WMAR. Forty-nine weeks later...west to Kansas City and KSHB.
I have now been at NBC Action News for two years, eight months. Learned some things. Hard things. Survived another general manager change. Learned to appreciate my strengths and to fix some of my weaknesses.
I let go of Memphis. I began to appreciate Kansas City. We bought a house here.
Most of all, though, I recognize the competitive spirit of the folks at 4720 Oak. Today, I saw evidence of a high-functioning newsroom. There have been glimpses before. Today, I saw it clearly.
I have been doing this TV news thing for a long time and still have plenty to learn but not much prepared me for the past five days.
On Tuesday afternoon, around 2:30p, Steve Kaut asked me if I had heard from Nick Dutcher. Nick worked on our assignment desk and by now, most people who read this blog know that he was found dead in his home by the police we sent there for a "welfare check."
We found out at 4:30pm that Nick was dead and just before the 5pm news, I gathered as many of the news team as were available and told them. Four hours later, we were dealing with the shocking news that Nick had been murdered.
Wednesday and Thursday are a blur as my team tried to deal with the shock of losing a sweet, gentle co-worker who was loved by many and the ethical decision-making involved with covering the story.
I told them I didn't have all the answers about what we should do and that I wanted us all to talk out our next steps.
Marissa Cleaver, Sloane Heller and Najahe Sherman were the faces of our initial stories but many more were involved behind the scenes. I am grateful for the guidance and advice of my co-workers.
Somewhat surprising has been the offers of help from our competitors. I am grateful for that support.
These are challenging times for NBC Action News. We are up to it. But we're very sad, too.
I've moved on from the initial sorrow and now I'm mad as hell at whoever is responsible.
Many from our investigative unit are in Vegas for IRE this week, including Jenn Strathman who will soon (sadly for us) be leaving Kansas City. Jenn is transferring to the Scripps station in Cleveland. A larger market and closer to her family. Jenn is an award-winning journalist and one of the hardest-working reporters I've ever known. Here's the email I sent to the newsroom to announce her departure last week:
Cleveland scam artists should be afraid. Very afraid.
It is with mixed emotions that I announce Jenn Strathman is leaving Kansas City. She's transferring to the Scripps station in Cleveland, WEWS.
For more than five years, Jenn has been tenacious as she tracked down crooks, exposed fraud and fought for consumers. Her file includes a letter of thanks from John Coughlin of Overland Park. His spelling isn't so great but the appreciation shines through. He writes "If it had not been for her effort we would still be waiting for a $2,000 refund…she did an outstanding job of putting the pressure on. She is a real asset to your organization."
I absolutely agree, Mr. Coughlin. I'm sorry to see Jenn go but I'm happy that she'll still be in our company.
In the meantime, Keith King will take over the Call for Action franchise. If you're a consumer reporter looking for a challenge please apply! (go to http://www.scripps.com/ click on careers)
Jenn will be here for a few more weeks so you can send your congratulations...just click here and scroll down to the "contact" section on the right side.
My cheese got moved AGAIN Friday morning when KSHB General Manager Craig Allison announced that he'll take an "early out." Craig has been with Scripps for thirty years and I'm a bit jealous of his ability to start living the second half of his life exactly the way he wants to.
I really love this story. I think customer service is so important and the hardest thing is to turn an angry viewer into a loyal customer. Plus Elizabeth gained a friend.
