Football Friday: Seldom a 'Piece of Cake'

Every Football Friday has its own story. And believe me, every show is its very own adventure. Seldom do we have what I like to call a “piece of cake show” – you know, one that goes just the way we planned it on Monday.

It almost never happens. Changes with personnel or games or something always come up.

If it’s not rain and lightning, it may be a photographer who called in sick or another one who was pulled off football coverage because of breaking news. There may be camera problems or forgotten pieces of equipment or crews going to an empty stadium because a game was moved to Thursday without our knowledge.

And then there’s the famous getting to the game just as its ending. That one will make me pull my hair out.

Something will always happen. But I will also tell you, that’s what makes it fun. It’s like a puzzle, and I will miss all of it when I no longer do the program.

Last Friday was a perfect example. Here’s how it went down.

Mike Joyner, who actually helped us on the show when he was a student at UNC-Pembroke, works out of our Fayetteville Bureau and was going to cover Scotland County at Westover and Cape Fear at Terry Sanford. That should have been a simple enough night, except there was breaking news. (Is it me, or does it seem like all television news is breaking news?)

About 5:15 p.m., assignment editor Kelly Riner, who is one of my favorites at the Big 5, came back to our department to tell me that there was late news happening near Vass in Moore County and that Mike was being sent there to set up a live shot for the 6 o’clock news and might not be able to make it to but one of his games.

He couldn’t leave Vass until a nightside crew from Raleigh arrived to relieve him. I was thinking this was OK because if Mike could leave Vass by 6:30 or 7, he could still make his two games.

I had just gotten my dinner and was back at my desk at about 6:45 when I heard that the news crew was running late getting to where Mike was. This was the first “uh-oh” of the evening.

The second came when Brad Simmons, who would cover some of the Hurricanes exhibition and then go to the Apex-Athens game, said that he would be running late because they were having a problem with the lights at the RBC Center and the Canes game wouldn’t start on time.

Meanwhile, Stuart Todd, who would be photographing Leesville Road at Enloe, called in to tell me that this game was going to be postponed until Monday because of another lighting issue. I was thinking, “WHAT THE HECK?”

I told Stuart to hold on, checked our schedule of games we weren’t going to be able to cover and said go to Middle Creek, where the Mustangs were hosting Green Hope. Stuart said OK, but added, “How do I get there?”

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure, but my good friend Jonathan Smith, who does our scores, had just arrived and went on Mapquest (which, frankly, I have no idea how to do) and got Stuart headed in the right direction. And bless Stuart’s heart, with the help of young Kevin Kuzminski, he thought to shoot the lighting problem at Enloe first, and we used that on the program to show why there was no game there.

I told Jonathan that I wanted him to drive a fresh battery out and meet Mark at the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 east and N.C. Highway 39. But before he could leave, Mark called back to tell me that our old friend Todd Gibson, still one of the best people I’ve ever worked with and who now does a wonderful job at WNCN, had loaned him a battery and that he was OK. That was a classy thing of Todd to do, and that’s why he’s one of the best people I know.

I had just warmed up my dinner again when at 7:45, Mike Joyner called to tell me he was just leaving Vass and would definitely just be able to make one game, if that. He said the easiest for him to get to would be Westover. Our 28-game schedule was down to 27.

Robert Meikle’s doubleheader that night was Carrboro at Northwood and Fuquay-Varina at Panther Creek. Robert had already called in the Northwood highlights and had just arrived at Panther Creek, when Kelly Riner entered our area again. I knew that wasn’t good news. There was “breaking news” at the airport, and they were pulling Robert off the Fuquay game.

“Must you?” I pleaded, but of course I knew the answer. I called Robert and asked, “Were you able to get anything?’’ I knew that answer before I asked the question, too. It was one of those nights.

I turned to my longtime associate producer Steve Purivs and we both laughed. We’d been through it before. It was just another typical Football Friday night. I never did finish my dinner, but that was OK because I eat too much anyway.

Why did I tell you all that? So that when I give you this week’s schedule, you’ll understand that this is what we’re planning and hoping for. It’s not a guarantee.

If the stars smile on us, though, we’re sending crews to 28 games involving schools from 19 counties.

Here’s what we hope to cover with staff:

Beddingfield at Fike

Northern Nash at Southern Nash

North Edgecombe at Northampton West

Southeast Halifax at Northwest Halifax

Oxford Webb at Orange

Chapel Hill at East Chapel Hill

Union Pines at Southern Lee

Middle Creek at Apex

Carrboro at Warren County

Weldon at Louisburg

Jack Britt at Hoke County

Douglas Byrd at Seventy-First

Terry Sanford at E.E. Smith

Purnell Swett at South View

Goldsboro at Midway

South Johnston at Triton

Athens Drive at Cary

Jordan at Hillside

Northern Durham at Southern Durham

Enloe at Wake Forest-Rolesville

Wakefield at Millbrook

Western Harnett at Harnett Central

Lee County at Fuquay-Varina

Knightdale at Garner

Smithfield-Selma at Southeast Raleigh

Broughton at Leesville Road

Panther Creek at Green Hope

West Johnston at East Wake.

As always, we appreciate all of you who call in your score. Our toll-free number is 1-888-472-9725. That’s the best way to ensure that your score makes it on Football Friday.

Also, the Football Friday page on wral.com will have even more coverage than what we do on television, but please tune in to us. We can use the viewers!