It looked like a round table of notable coaches: Rob Suter, Dick Sawyer, Sam DuFraine, Jon Hidorn, and Johnny Mac at the table with Kathy Jones from WRSE talking about the plan for the station's new approach to cover high school sports.
"Gentlemen," began Kathy, "thanks for accepting my invitation and that of the station to be here today and embark on this new project. My dad knew each of you and thought a lot of you. I think he used to say it meant more if his team could beat one of yours."
"Ha!" chortled Jon Hidorn, "I'm glad it meant so much to him. Personally, I would have enjoyed feeling that way against his teams." The other coaches nodded or laughed in agreement.
"Thanks, Jon," said Kathy. "We've spent some time earlier about the concept. Today, we're going to talk about the show since it starts Friday. We go on from here at Gus & Tom's after the national and local news, let's say it's 5:10. We host that hour, interrupted by commercial breaks up to 6 when we have a news break for national news and local weather and then another 50 minutes before sending it to Pete Moss and Tom Daniels for their game. This week, we have a game on each station, so we'll send it to two games.
"We are back on for half-time and then a post game show. The games may not end at the same time, so we have to pay attention. After the game, we're planning to program until 10:30 on most nights. There could times we go to 11."
Coach Suter, "That's past my bedtime!" His colleagues laughed.
Kathy outlined the plan for the first hour. It will be an overview of the local teams and the noteworthy teams from outside the area. They planned to keep an eye on the top ten teams in each class as well. "So, gentlemen," Kathy asked, "any ideas?"
Sam DuFraine spoke up, "Kathy, I think that first hour might be a good place for a regular feature. An interview with each coach in the night's featured contest. I'd be glad to work on that if you like. I think we could do them from the station during the week. In case I can't be there on Friday night, you still have a feature ready to go."
Kathy thought it was a good idea and the coaches agreed. Sawyer jumped in, "As you know, I don't keep up on all the teams, but I am pretty well acquainted with the coaches and teams west of Roseville. I'd be glad to do breakdowns on teams from that area and their opponent. It could be live here in the restaurant, recorded, or over the phone. In fact, I was thinking it might be fun to attend some games out there in person and call in at half-time and after the game.
"And, if you aren't already tired of hearing me talk, I like to do that from time to time... It would be fun to share observations about high school sports."
"Sawyer's State of the Game!" exclaimed Johnny Mac. Everyone smiled at that, even Sawyer.
"Hey, Sawyer." said Hidorn, "you have Toddville wired and the rest of that country. I expect you to have a scoop every week."
Coaches Suter and Mac will host the opening broadcast. Sawyer will be on the road and Hidorn is doing analysis with Steve on the WMJM broadcast featuring Thorp and Owen-Withee. Pete Moss and Tom Daniels have the hometown team as they play the Sparta Trojans.
"When we can," Kathy noted, "we want to get some folks associated with the feature game to come in during the first hour. Especially if Roseville plays at home. There are some other games within 20 miles of here, so we could do it with those teams as well."
Coach Suter had run the athletic teams at Roseville so long he knew just about everyone in sports in these parts. He's a living legend, but too modest to admit it. Kathy really wanted him for this show because she figured his personality and incredible stories would draw in even casual fans.
Coaches Mac and Hidorn agreed to broadcast from the studio on occasion but were also willing to go to games and call in from the road in the other sections of the listening area.
Kathy was pleased with the ideas the coaches brought to the table; they seemed excited and ready to go.
Reading her mind, Mac spoke up for the first time, "Kathy, you may not know this... but the guys and I were talking about doing something like this last spring. We may not be coaching anymore, but this gives us a way to use our skill set and be in the game, even if it's farther from the sidelines."
Program director Steve Jackson walked into Gus & Tom's and made his way to the coach's table. Gus and Tom saw Steve walk in and met him at the table.
Gus greeted everybody, "Hi gentlemen, welcome to Gus & Tom's! Whaddya have?" Orders were quickly offered and Gus turned to tell a young waiter standing nearby who hurried off to the kitchen to place the order and bring back the drinks.
"Coaches," said Kathy Jones, "this is Steve Jackson. He's the WRSE program director and does some play by play as well. Steve, these are the coaches."
"Good afternoon, coaches," Steve said as he addressed the group, "it's an honor to have you guys part of the WRSE team for this new effort. Kathy's told you about it and truthfully, we're going to fly by the seat of our pants a lot too. Maybe have to call an audible, here or there, if you will. I want to tell you the show is off to a bright start - the sales team has sold all the spots we had available for the whole show.
"Commercials for individual games will be sold each week as they get set up. We want to make sure local businesses can be part of the fun. And, if the situation presents itself we may have some additional sponsorship opportunities as well."
Told about DuFraine's interviews with coaches and Sawyer's weekly State of the Game - Jackson looked at Kathy and said he better let Arnie, the sales manager, tell him there is more to sell!
Elsewhere around Roseville, Vicki and Patti continued their road to recovery. The pain was subsiding and the two weren't scratching much anymore, but giving up red meat is tougher than they expected. They were thankful chicken, fish, and wild game wasn't a problem.
Station owner Jack told the two to take paid time off so they could rest and be ready for Friday. The two women were a big part of the broadcast behind the scenes as they were the board operators during the show and each game. Jack knew this promotion was no place for a rookie board op.
Emjay and Jeff will be at Gus & Tom's acting as producers and technicians; their primary job is making sure everything stays on air and help get the phone calls through to Kathy and the coaches.
Arnie planned to be there too to welcome sponsors dropping in on the broadcast and act as a go-between with the show, Gus, and Tom.
The hope was after a few weeks the operation wouldn't need everybody, but in week one no chances would be taken
By mid-afternoon Friday everything was ready. The studio booth at Gus & Tom's looked great and could function for the Friday show and still be used on crowded Saturday nights and during Sunday dinner rushes.
At 5 p.m. WRSE and WMJM joined the national network news. Emjay Marberg, the bride-to-be followed with the local news report and weather. At 5:10, Gus & Tom's Sports Tonight went on the air.
Kathy welcomed the listeners to the show, introduced Coach Rob Suter and outlined the upcoming fall and winter sports season on WRSE/WMJM. She paused, turned to Coach, "Coach Suter it is opening night for us - what was it like the first night you coached Roseville?"
"Well, Kathy; it was not like tonight. This evening is a perfect night for football - 70 degrees, blue skies; it's warm enough to feel like summer but cool enough to require a light jacket when the temperature drops after sunset. That will remind everyone when the football season is over; we could be watching it amid snowflakes.
"My first night as a high school coach was nothing like this; it rained. Biblical rain. It rained like Noah was putting animals into the Ark. Plus it was so humid the fog made it impossible to see across the field.
"It was so muddy you couldn't read the jersey numbers if you were next to the player. We went mainly with runs since we couldn't see well enough to throw it. So did the other team. We played to a 5 - 3 final score. I don't know how or really if either field goal was good. The safety came on a slippery pigskin that was found by Ed Jones in a mud puddle in the back of the end zone. Darnedest thing I ever saw."
"Thanks, Coach Suter," Kathy Jone told her partner, "Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for joining us at Gus & Tom's Sports Tonight - there are seats available. Coming up, we have interviews with all the coaches in tonight's games; preview other upcoming games; and talk to you. Stay with us!"
Chapter 20 debuts at 3pm this afternoon.
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