No Tears for JoePa

I love to brag to my friends, family, co-workers, and basically any passerby that I got to go to Super Bowl XLV in Arlington to work earlier this year. It was the experience of a lifetime, and I'll never forget it. I worked with sports directors from New York and central Pennsylvania. One of the guys I worked with was the sports director at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Just a short while ago, I saw a van with that station's logo emblazoned on the side being flipped over by a group of rioting Penn State students, following the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno. I thought about the anger they felt tonight, and as both a member of the media and a human being with a heart and conscience, I can't help but be irritated about their misplaced rage.

Coach Paterno is nothing less than a saint in central Pennsylvania (and beyond), and deserves all the accolades afforded him as major college football's winningest coach. But no one man is bigger than the tragedy that the nation has learned about within the last week.

A grand jury report lists eight young boys as victims of sexual abuse by former Penn St. assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. We now know that more victims not named in that report have come forward, saying Sandusky abused them as children. The scope of this man's (alleged) villainy may never be known. What is known is that the area of Pennsylvania occupied by this university prioritizes the Nittany Lions football program above almost everything else.

As I watch the coverage of Paterno's ousting, and watch the students infuriated by the news, I realize how much that football program is deified. And that's when I start thinking about the facts of this case. Imagine you're one of Sandusky's victims. You're a young boy, and an avid sports fan. Now, to me, being a sports fan means loving the Rangers, Cowboys, and Mavericks, but to someone from State College, Pennsylvania, it means Nittany Lions football (I highly recommend this article from grantland.com, written by a man who grew up surrounded by the culture of Penn State football, and the Paterno family itself). Many of the known victims were taken in by Jerry Sandusky, a major figure in that program, and given plenty of attention before being exposed to unspeakable acts. This is not a random criminal, or a stranger; the parents of these children didn't warn them to avoid people like Jerry Sandusky.

God only knows how many children have grown into young adults with the stigma of having been sexually assaulted by this man. I fear it's highly possible some may have taken their own lives, having never told anyone what they were subjected to. Those who lived on likely kept quiet because they have lived their whole lives knowing that everyone they've ever met unconditionally loves the Penn State football team, and that, quite frankly, the football team is bigger than them. Growing up with that mentality, it makes sense that they would keep quiet, fearing that coming forward would make them appear to be the troublemaker. My heart breaks for the victims, not for anyone involved in the football program. Even as this scandal began to break nationwide, it appeared that Paterno could not grasp the scope of Sandusky's alleged crimes; that having been immersed in a program as revered as Penn State football is, it is almost impossible to see anything else as being as important, no matter how sordid the details. Even when he announced his decision to retire early Wednesday afternoon, he appeared slightly aloof, saying that the Penn State board of trustees shouldn't spend time considering his job status. That, of course, is not his call. Paterno is named in the Sandusky grand jury report, and while I don't believe he committed a crime, the fact that he had knowledge of the scandal beforehand, no matter how little, ensures that his job status is not something he has the power to control.

It is truly sad that a man as revered as Joe Paterno had to lose his job over this scandal. But your heart shouldn't break for JoePa, or anyone else who loses their job at Penn State because of this scandal. It should break for the victims, and only the victims.

-Mark Moseley

It's a Shame

WOW! That was fun.

We got home late from a football game late Thursday night. I scheduled my last vacation day of the year today because I knew we would too late to answer the 2:30 alarm clock bell to get to work. I scheduled it weeks before the Rangers and Cardinals even got into the Major League Baseball playoffs.

I turned on the TV when we got home to see how game six of the World Series was going. I think it was four-to-four. The game was ugly with the fielders making big mis-adventures out of routine pop-ups and ground balls.

But, I'm a baseball fan, so I kept watching and trying to stay awake. I kept watching as it got later, and the Rangers got down to the last out, even the last strike of beating my favorite team....twice.

I'm a Josh Hamilton fan. His story of over-coming drug and alcohol addiction and claiming the spot of one of the best left-handed hitters in the game with his natural talent is inspiring. His homerun would have been a fitting game-winning hit for a memorable World Series.

I'm a Rangers fan. Their first title ever would be a great thing for the team and the game.

I'm also a Cardinals fan...have been for decades. Their refusal to quit was inspiring. There were no called third-strikes for those guys in the last few innings. Swing and see what happens. They did. What happened was exciting.

I'm a David Freese fan. He has his own story of overcoming alcohol and injury problems. His home-run is kind of like what little-leaguers dream about. Usually, your team is down by three, but the bases are loaded when you pop a grand slam to win it. Freese is from St. Louis. That makes it even better for him.

David Freese is a hero today. But, you can't win today's ball-game with yesterday's homerun. That's why I came up with the title of this post. It's a shame that one of these teams will lose tonight. Game six was one probably one of the best World Series games ever. Tonight, we will have game seven. The team that wins tonight is the world champion. The team that loses is just the team that lost. Go Rangers, Go Cards.

Divided Loyalty

My parents are from a small town in the Missouri Ozarks. I remember driving across the country several times from our home in Washington state to visit our grandmothers, aunts, unclues and cousins. The radio was part of the trip. The St. Louis Cardinals have a huge radio network. We listened to a lot of the games on the way. I also remember watching the 1968 World Series between the Cards and the Detroit Tigers. I skipped school to watch game seven on TV. The Tigers won four-one. Curt Flood mis-played a fly ball. Mike Shannon hit a home-run, but that was their only score. Disappointing day, but I've been a St. Louis Cardinals fan since the fourth grade.

Now, the Cards are against The Texas Rangers in the World Series. I never thought we'd see this, but I've been a fan since Dal Maxville and Julian Javier was the double-play combination. I watched the Lou Brock's chase of Maury Wills' stolen base record, the botched call and Juaquin Andujar's meltdown that cost the Cards the 1985 series against the Kansas City Royals and Mark McGuire's chase of Roger Maris' home run record.

I can't stop now even though I would be strongly behind the Rangers against ANY other National League team. I'm for the guy's who wear "The Birds on the Bat." Go Cards!!

Sometimes I Wonder

We make time available for live interviews for non-profit organizations promoting their events. We're happy to do it, and it's part of the responsibility of a TV station licensed by the Federal Communication Commission. We are obligated to broadcast in the public "interest, convenience and necessity." That means whatever the FCC says it means.

Our guests come in early for the opportunity to publicise their special events. They get here before six. They get about two-minutes of free air-time to tell us and the viewers about their projects. Two minutes on TV is valuable for their organizations.

There is a lot riding on your appearance on TV. It's a matter of respect for the viewers and for the industry. We learned in television 101 that we need to spend a minute making sure that the hair and smile look OK. It's imortant for men. It seems to be even more important for women.

We don't have a dress code for our studio guests. I know it's just a few minutes for them to spread their message, but I'm a little bit surprised at the casual ease that some have for being on TV.

Talented Seniors

I felt silly acting as a judge for The Senior Talent Show Saturday afternoon at the Abilene Civic Center. It was an honor to be there. All of those people were inspiring. One contestant recited Bible passages...and got emotionally affected by the meaning of the words. Another sang a song he performed for his daughter's wedding. A group of women sang America, The Beautiful. The most senior of the senior citizens did a harmonica tribute to America's military service men and and women. All of the contestants are inspiring. They all entertained the people there, and they all have messages worthy of our honor and respect.

The criteria on the judges' paper made the choices for the talent show clear, and the top three finishers were very deserving. But, the choices for the judges was very difficult.

I was humbled to be sitting there with the score-cards. They are all inspirational people.

You Don't See Most of Us

We're getting a new technical director for our Daybreak and Noontab news reports this week. That means we will also have a new person to operate our news graphics computer...and a new camera operator for the studio camera.
Franklin Hughes is leaving. He's the guy who has been primarily responsible for the technical side of our reports. Franklin has been a very good partner for our reports. He replaced Jake Templeton, another good director. The next director will be Sharon Henley. She is very young and talented. I'm sure that she is going to be excellent. Our news reports go quickly, by design. It's time to get ready and roll. It requires quick thinking and quick action.
Monica and I work hard on our reports, but we can't do it without the people you don't see. I appreciate the talents and the dedication of the people who set and focus the cameras, operate the audio controls and punch all of the buttons on the control panel to actually put our reports on the air. It's very much the same for the news reports later in the day.

Decision Made to Stop Airing Video of Ballpark Accident

There was quite a response via social media late Thursday from people asking us to stop airing/running video of the Rangers Ballpark accident involving Brownwood Firefighter Shannon Stone.

Video was shown during 10 p.m. broadcasts on Thursday and posted online before the extent of the injuries were known. It was during the newscast that we learned Mr. Stone has died.

Shortly thereafter, we learned more about the incident and continued to update bigcountryhomepage.com, Facebook, and Twitter. It was at that time that folks started asking us to take down the video of the accident.

I'll be honest: my initial reaction was to continue using the video. Out of respect for the situation, I don't want to dissect the reasons why. However, I initially felt it was still newsworthy.

A lengthy discussion ensued in both the KTAB and KRBC newsrooms about what they wanted to do. In the end, both stations decided not to run the video for various reasons. In some cases, the decision making process and debate lasted for hours.

Here's some of the reasoning they shared in memos to their respective staffs:

"Out of respect to the family, KTAB has chosen not to show video of the accident at the Ballpark At Arlington which claimed the life of Brownwood fireman Shannon Stone," wrote KTAB managing editor Bob Bartlett. " If video comes down showing the ambulance or paramedics at work, that would be okay. However, the video of the fall should not be used, nor anything that shows Stone before or after the accident."

"KRBC will not air the video that shows the firefighter in the stands," wrote KRBC Executive Producer Mark Moseley in a memo to his newsroom staff. "I have sat here for the last two hours contemplating this. The deciding factor for me is the fact that Mr. Stone's young son can be seen in this shot."

I'm very proud of both newsrooms for giving this situation the deep thought and respect it deserves. I fully support their respective decisions and am glad both chose the high road -- especially when their boss' gut decision leaned otherwise.

I hope you take pride in their decision as well.