Thanks For Watching

(Note: the following appears in the November 2007 issue of Unrestricted Magazine, a South Florida publication for whom I have written columns each month for over a year now. If you're ever in Miami, pick it up.)

Is anyone watching this?

Between the Orlando Magic, ESPN, and Sun Sports/FSN Florida, I've been working in front of a television camera for nearly 15 years now, and I've asked myself that question many times. Late nights, blowout games, rollercoaster ratings -- sometimes, it's easy to wonder if the time and effort is worth it. Every so often, however, I receive human reminders that yes, someone really is out there. This fall, two examples made this perfectly clear.

A few months back, I received an e-mail from a group of avid Chevy Florida Fishing Report viewers who had an idea for a fishing tournament. These loyal fans had met each other online at the Sun Sports fishing message boards, and they wanted to create a real-life fishing tournament that would allow them to meet and compete with each other. They contacted me in the hope that Sun Sports would get involved, but after much homework on my end, I reluctantly had to tell them that we lacked the resources they needed.

Rather than give up on the idea, these enterprising viewers forged ahead on their own. What they created was a fishing tournament, alright -- a "virtual" fishing tournament.

Using our message boards to spread the word, 30 to 40 viewers created a set of rules, an entry form, even their own website. Each participant fished his home waters for a specified period of time, photographed each catch, recorded sizes and weights, and then e-mailed those photos to each other. Winners were declared in several different categories. Again, Sun Sports had nothing to do with this -- it was purely viewer-driven, an organic, grass-roots effort, and it was incredible in scope. These anglers lived all over Florida and barely knew each other beyond the message boards, but they were drawn together by their common affection for the Chevy Florida Fishing Report.

In recognition of their devotion and ingenuity, I invited the winners of each category to come see the season finale of the Chevy Florida Fishing Report live, in our studio, in October. You'd have thought I invited them to the White House.

"Geeked" cannot describe the reaction. E-mails flew around the state as the ten lucky winners organized rides with each other and taunted their buddies who failed to win the "virtual tournament." When the season finale arrived, the studio looked like a carnival, as our guests posed for photos, asked for autographs, and acted like kids at Disney World. The invitation cost us nothing, but gave these loyal viewers something they'll talk about for the rest of their lives. To think I wondered if anyone was really watching.

Air Force Master Sergeant Tom Rados, on the other hand, is a college football fan. He's devoted to his Florida State Seminoles and believes strongly in the value of a playoff system for Division I football. Last year, Tom e-mailed me a detailed proposal for such a D-I playoff bracket, one that I found so interesting, and so well-researched, that I wrote several blog entries about it on the Sun Sports website. We later devoted an entire episode of Monday night's "Tailgate Overtime" show to Tom's idea, which we called "The Rados Plan."

Tom didn't see that show until several months later, however. Shortly before that show aired, Master Sergeant Rados was shipped off to Iraq. While Tom was overseas, his wife mailed him tapes of Florida State football games and our college football shows on Sun Sports -- including the "Rados Plan" episode of Tailgate Overtime, which apparently made him a minor celebrity when he showed it to his mates on post.

Tom isn't allowed to tell me where he was, what he was doing, or who was with him. He wasn't allowed to send me any photos that might indicate his location in Iraq, because, as he wrote in an e-mail, "You give the bad guys enough little puzzle pieces and they can get the big picture." I can assure you that Tom's assignment placed wins and losses on a football field into perspective, in my mind.

The good news is, Tom is back home in Fort Walton Beach with his wife and two daughters. The better news is, Tom came to our studio in late October to watch "Tailgate Overtime" live, on my invitation. We even put him on camera -- as we had done for the fishing guys – and allowed him to tell a little of his story. At the end of the night, I asked Tom and his wife if they enjoyed the experience.

"This was unbelievable," he said. "We've only been here for one night, and this is the highlight of the entire vacation."

Thanks, Tom. And thanks, "CFFR" viewers. Thank you for reminding me that someone is, indeed, watching. And thank you for making all this effort feel worthwhile.