Happy Memorial Day to you! Head downtown this morning for Mayor Greg Fischer’s first Hike, Bike and Paddle event. I’ll be down there with Luke riding our bikes out to Iroquois Park and back.
Watson – Champion: Yesterday’s PGA Seniors event at Valhalla finished in spectacular fashion, and though they won’t admit it, officials were really happy that legendary Tom Watson won the playoff. When you talk about golf tradition for a place like Valhalla, you want a champion of the caliber of Watson as the name on trophy. David Eger? Most had never heard of him before yesterday’s final. Watson, who’s 61, said winning golf tournaments never gets old.
Remembering Ramey: Thanks to the NewsBlues website, we learned that former WHAS-TV news director Aaron Ramey is catching some flak because his station in South Bend, Ind., decided to do a weather cut-in during the final exciting moments of the Indy 500. Can you imagine? Here’s the report:
It was perhaps the most incredible finish in the 100-year history of the Indianapolis 500.
JR Hildebrand, a rookie, leading the race, crashed in the final turn…then slid 1,000 feet to cross the finish line…in second place.
Except, they didn’t see it in South Bend (Market #93)…just 130 miles from Indianapolis.
With a handful of laps remaining in the race, Weigel Broadcasting’s news start-up WBND-58-ABC cut away to report on several thunderstorms in the area. Not a split screen or a lower-third ticker…the station BROKE AWAY from ABC network coverage…in race-crazy Indiana.
Viewers were incensed, and a debate raged on the station’s Facebook page, which cash-strapped WBND uses as a substitute for an actual station website.
“INCOMPETENCE !!! INDIANA AND THE 500, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, BARBECUE, AND A GOOD STORM. SPLIT SCREENS IDIOTS !!!” wrote one.
Angry viewers were told to contact News Director Aaron Ramey directly, and his email address was posted. Ramey, of course, is the infamously abrasive former news director at Belo’s WHAS-11-ABC in Louisville (Market #50) who claimed “erroneous and defamatory” internet archive postings had made it hard for him to return to the TV news business last year.
Meteorologist Brian Dorman blamed his bosses, “The news/weather team did what we were told to do by our management team.”
The station later posted an apology. “ABC 57 is sorry that we had to cut into programming during the Indy 500. It is our civic responsibility to report breaking news and weather events that could result in a loss of human life. We are sorry for your disappointment and inconvenience.”
Yea, but I don’t think any station around here would break in to the Derby that way.
First-Timer: Saturday morning on WHAS-TV, Brooke Katz anchored a newscast for the first time. Ever. And survived. Actually she thrived, but says it was just a fill-in opportunity because several people were on vacation. Too bad.
The Day Music Made a City: Hard to realize it now, but the Louisville Orchestra put our city on the cultural map back in the 1940s, as explained in the wonderful documentary “Music Makes a City” which is just now available on DVD. It was released last year, produced by Owsley Brown III and others. It got some attention from the New York Times this week in a piece on the financial struggles for orchestras around the country.
Welcome Aboard: Check out Chris Ritter’s piece on the Kentucky Reggae Festival here at LouisvilleKY.com. Chris is a recent UK grad. We’re glad to have him.
