But one of the first rules I've learned working in television is that as soon as you think things will be slow and there is nothing going on.....that's when the day picks up. It happened today (Wednesday July 19, 2006). I woke up and one of the first things I did was read the newspaper just to see what's going on in the world.

Today?? Not much. So how am I going to fill my 6:00, 10:00, and 11:00 shows?? By the time I walked into work at 2:00 p.m. I was still searching for the lead story for my sportscast. I knew Churchill Downs Incorporated named its new president. But I wanted more. Then word came University of Kentucky officials were going to self-report themselves for NCAA infractions having to do with recruit Patrick Patterson. Jackpot.

Apparently some UK basketball fans posted messages on Patterson's myspace.com web-page, trying to entice the senior to be to play for the big blue nation. That kind of story sizzles. That is my top sports story of the day. So in a span of hours it went from a "slow sports day" to "o-k we have something big going on." So the day was taking shape. I had my story selection set. At 5:30 p.m. I was all ready to do the sportscast. Until another big story presented itself. (Not so slow anymore huh??) A 16-year old football player at Henderson County High School collapsed at practiced and then died. I heard the story second hand from one of our editors. But I can't just run the story based on what he says.

Now I have to do some digging. I called our Evansville affiliate for more info, but they are swamped. I call the Henderson County's sheriff's office, but they can't confirm the story. I'm told to call the police department. Bingo right?? Uhn-uhn. No answer at the police department. I know the story is true but I have to get it confirmed. So it's 6:00 and I call our Evansville affiliate again and this time a person working the assignment desk tells me they have a fax from the school and the coroner's office with all the information I need.

Time to cash in the chips, I have to be on the air in twenty minutes. I get the fax and alert the director and producer my story lineup needs to change. I have a new top story. 6:18 arrives and I'm still writing my script. I need to be on air in five minutes. I finish the script and rush out to the set...barely breathing. The Henderson County story, along with the UK story, and Churchill Downs' new president story go off all without a hitch. And I thought it was going to be a slow sports day. There is no such thing.