And so it begins

Week 3 of the NFL is behind us now and its shaping up to be an interesting season to say the least. We're looking at a Tom Brady-less Patriots team (who now no longer can go undefeated), Brett Favre in an AFC green jersey and a mix of who might actually be good and who really is bad. I've been to Tennessee, Jacksonville and most recently Atlanta so far before getting a week off and heading to Dallas this Sunday for a UTEP @ SMU women's soccer game for CBS College Sports. A change of pace but then its off to Miami the following weekend to get back into the NFL mode. And that, will definitely be a great weekend.

A new road begins

With golf in the rear view mirror, its on the NFL season. Week 1 is this weekend and I can't wait to get started. It's a major change of pace and one that is very welcomed right now. The atmosphere surrounding football games is something incredible. The fans, the players, the stadium, the town, it's all something fun to just sit back and take in. Plus one of the better factors is the lighter travel schedule. Fly in to town on Friday and out Sunday after the game. So now its off to Nashville this weekend for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tennessee Titans.

Let the countdown begin

Paramus, NJ - The Barclays and our last golf tournament of the year. It feels like just yesterday we were out on the west coast with a whole year ahead of us. Now we're in the final stage with the end in sight. The FedEx Cup playoffs have begun, but for some reason, it doesn't have the magnitude or the air of importance that it was meant to have. Another Tiger-less field and a final week for us keeps us all looking ahead. We started the week off with our NFL Seminar and most of us are more pumped and excited about our week one assignments than anything else right now. It's all with good reason. The excitement and the atmosphere that surrounds NFL games brings out about something that is practically unheard of on the PGA Tour. Either way, its a good end to a fun year and we've already started looking ahead to San Diego and the Buick Invitational in January.

Lucky #13

A week off so I hit the road again. Off to San Diego to visit my college teammate and one of my best friends Joey and his lime tree. Yeah I know, but he really does have a lime tree growing in his front yard. A day at the beach in Coronado playing horseshoes, watching dolphins swim right in front of us, kicking a soccer ball around and just taking in way too much sun was a great time. Exactly what I needed as I unwind from the golf season and get ready to start the 2008 NFL season. A brief post for now but more to come as the weekend unfolds. Tomorrow holds a lot as we get ready to watch the EPL kickoff in the morning.

Glory's last shot...

So we're into day 2 of the PGA Championship and it wouldn't be right if we hadn't had some sort of weather delay. Round 1 was halted for a while yesterday because of lightning in the area, but fortunately play did resume last night. We're a little behind schedule right now (golf wise) but nothing we can't catch up to. I'm sitting here in one of our many, many broadcast trucks in our city of a compound. The 'beast' that is the PGA Championship grows every year and its incredible to see how large of a production this is. It's absolutely amazing and one of the best events on sports television to be a part of. With an uncountable amount of coverage every day, including late night shows, we've still got a long way to go.

The home stretch

So it begins. The home stretch of the PGA Tour for us. We're in Akron, Ohio this week for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. A small field, invite only tournament. Only the best are here for this event. The long hours this week are going to be rough, but nothing compared to what we're in for next week. It's off to Detroit next week for the PGA Championship and an incredible amount of hours on the air. In the end, despite all the long hours and the massive amount of work, it's great to be a part of some of the best broadcasts on TV.

The not-so-Great White North

So I've been in Toronto a little over 24 hours now and it hasn't stopped raining yet. Not so much fun. It takes a little bit of time to fall back into the habit of converting Kilometers and Meters and Celsius, but all in all it's not that bad. The people are nice, the city is great and its a totally different culture up here. Even though its so close to the American border (just across a lake), I really feel like I'm in another world. It's a nice change of pace, but I still can't wait to get home Sunday night.

Life off the road

These two weeks off have been great so far. Just what I needed. A perfect way to recharge and clear my head. I've become a bit of a beach bum but have been loving every minute of it. I've done a lot of surfing this past week, it's off to Maine this weekend with some college teammates for a little white water rafting and then next week its on to Toronto, Canada for the RBC Canadian Open. Back to the Tour and back to reality. Only four events left for my PGA broadcast schedule this summer; then it's time for the NFL.

Enjoying some rare time off

While my crew continues to work this week, out at the John Deere Classic in flood stricken Iowa, I have taken a week off for some R&R. A lot of time at the beach, keeping busy and in shape and just spending sometime away from it all has been a great time. For the Fourth of July I ran in my first 5k down in Potomac, Maryland (for Autism), and I think I've found a new hobby. It was a great feeling to run for such a great cause. Now its time to just unwind some more and do as little as possible.

Photo credit: colellaphoto.com

In the nation's capital

No better place to be for the 4th of July than in Washington DC and they just happen to be playing a golf tournament. The craziest part of the week was my Wednesday, out and about with an ENG crew filming beauties of downtown DC. The great part was I got to visit places which I haven't seen since field trips when I was younger. We toured the monuments and get some fantastic shots. It really is a great place to just wander because you really can't go too far without running into some part of history. It really is a wonderful area and despite the massive crowds, you can get around and see a lot.

Life without Tiger

What was supposed to be a strong field this week was dealt a sudden and terrible blow when Tiger pulled out of the remainder of 2008 following multiple knee surgeries. The Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan has always been a stronger field even, however, this year it is suffering without the likes of Tiger and Vijay. The only strong benefit to this week was the fact that we're a mere 45 minutes away from Oakland Hills CC, the site of this year's PGA Championship. This made it easier for us to spend the early part of the week there shooting the course prior to the madness of corporate tents and grandstands. It's been fun so far and in a month and a half we'll back, for a much more major event. But for now it was prep work and long days of shooting.

Back in the northeast...

Well, it's back to the grind. A week away in Hawaii on vacation and its back at it. Flew home only to land and go straight to work. Luckily we're close to home, well my second home that is. The Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT, just down the road from where I went to college. The TPC River Highlands is a beautiful course and really a fun one to both watch and play. After some time off and watching the US Open at a distance, I'm happy to say, a little time off every now and then is a good thing. However, it's never fun to fly home to some bad news regarding Tiger and his compounding knee injury which will hurt us ratings-wise. More people tend to watch when he's in the field.

Walking in Memphis

The home of Graceland and for one week a year, the home of the Stanford St. Jude Championship. A tune-up week for many before they move on to the US Open next week. What is a surprisingly decent field for this otherwise mediocre stop on Tour promises to be a halfway decent tournament. That is if the 90+ degree temperatures and the incredibly high humidity doesn't deter many. The big benefit for us is a week off next week as NBC broadcasts the US Open. Coming off of last week's Memorial Tournament, we could use a low-key week. It was a great tournament with extended broadcast hours. Saturday, due to an unforeseen rain-delay, we were on the air for a total of almost 8 1/2 hours. Now that is a long day. Luckily it was only 6 hours on the air on Sunday. Not your typical week, but it really drains on you.

Midwest Magic in Ohio

The Colonial ended in classic fashion with Phil Mickelson winning it with an incredible birdie on the 72nd hole. It was great to get out of Texas and get home for a brief 22 hours before it was on to the next stop. Now in Dublin, Ohio for Jack's tournament; The Memorial. Today was spent doing shoots at the Jack Nicklaus Museum and then Scioto Country Club, where Jack learned how to play. Another great tournament with a fantastic field on an incredible course.

TV...Texas Style...

Well Ryuji Imada won last week's tournament in a playoff. So what does that mean? Off to the next tournament. Now we're in Fort Worth, Texas for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the home of Ben Hogan. While the field is shaping up to make for a good tournament, our work doesn't pertain to just the golf course. Today I went out with a camera crew to shoot the sights and scenes around Fort Worth. Shots of the Stockyards and the cattle are imperative to our broadcast for those little extra scenes you see during the show. This made for an exciting and fun day getting up close and behind the scenes in real Texas; in a rodeo and experiencing the Wild West.

A little wet but otherwise on track...

Yesterday this lovely area of Georgia got bombarded with severe showers and as mother nature does from time to time, delayed the golf tournament. While we were lucky enough to avoid the tornado warnings, which were just due north of us, we were faced with a difficult task. Anytime weather becomes an issue, we work on over-drive. In order to cover our bases, we did tape some golf early in the morning so we had something to fill any potential rain delay. It worked and eased the pain of having to fill our 45 minute delay yesterday. Luckily they only had about a half hour of golf to make-up this morning and now the second round of the AT&T Classic is underway.

On the road again...

Another week, another airport, another town, another hotel and another event. Right now I'm in Duluth, Georgia (just north of Atlanta) for the AT&T Classic and another stop on the PGA Tour. Flew in this morning for some prep work as we start to get things ready for the broadcasts later this week. This is the real behind the scenes work that goes into a TV broadcast. It's when we get our graphics in order, edit our prepackaged elements and see exactly where we sit for what we have to go to air with. Despite a relatively weak field this week, the one saving grace is the warm weather. Always a plus.

A few thoughts to start with...

So after talking with a few people and beginning to explain my job and my travels, it became evident that I should probably keep some sort of journal as to where in the world I am and what exactly I'm doing. So here it goes to start with... I've finally got a few minutes to sit down and put some of my thoughts in order. Today Jim Nantz's book came out in which a great deal he talks about was during a span last year that he got to work Super Bowl XLI, the Final Four and then the Masters. While I don't have a book deal and I'm certainly not as well known, I too was there for that ride starting in a rain-soaked Miami for the Super Bowl. This is a rare off-week for me as our golf schedule keeps us pretty busy. But let me give you an idea where I've been recently. I just finished up five straight weeks on the road, starting in San Antonio, Texas at the Final Four. From there I got on a flight (just hours after the championship game ended) to Augusta, Georgia and The Masters. That was the start of the CBS Sports coverage of the PGA Tour this summer. We followed that up by a week on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for the Verizon Heritage. Then on to Dallas, Texas for the EDS Byron Nelson and then off to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Wachovia Championship. Not bad for a little over a month span. In there were parties thrown at Ross Perot's Ranch hosted by Jim Nantz, a get-together hosted by Wachovia where James Taylor performed, dinner at David Feherty's house and numerous other events of which I am fortunate enough to have been able to attend. But this is my life. This is life on the road with CBS Sports. This is also my attempt to provide a glimpse into what I do and what its like to work in sports television. Whether its the fall and I'm working an NFL game, the winter and its College Basketball or the summer and I'm off on the PGA Tour, I'm always somewhere around the country. While hotels and airports get redundant, the most rewarding part of it all is that my work is enjoyed on a regular basis by millions of people around the world. So here it goes; here's my life on the road and where I am and what I'm doing...