And, Finally, A Post About Doing TV at the Masters (Or, Pants Optional)

Beyond the white & green curtain, TV magic happens

Over the course of my life, I've had a few opportunities to be on television.  In 2001, I was on Jeopardy! (Yes, really.)  I did a local quiz bowl show a few times in high school.  (Yup, I was a loser.)  And I did one TV appearance about a local political issue.  (Ok, that was funny.)  But on Wednesday at the Masters, I was asked to do two TV appearances to promote Trailing Tiger. 

I was to do the spots within 15 minutes of one another.  One was with the Fox affiliate in the ATL, and the other was with the NBC station in Augusta.  I was instructed to meet them at the scoreboard next to the first fairway.  I got there at the arranged time for the first interview with Fox Atlanta with Buck Lanford.  We chatted for a minute while the camera dude set up his shot in front of the scoreboard.  The spot was a two-parter: one for the 6PM newscast and another exclusively for the Web.  We did the Q&A thing, just like I would when I interview others and the conversation went great.  (Did it in one take!)

After we got the shot, Buck told me that we had to walk together.  It wasn't a Nicholas Sparks book come to life, but rather a part of doing TV.  Basically, we captured an action shot of Buck and I walking opposite the camera angle so it looked natural.  We didn't talk Tiger at all.  Probably something about the weather.  We wrapped, shook hands, and I moved to the other end of the scoreboard to meet up with Jason Folk at NBC Augusta.

On the other end, I didn't see Jason, but did see a guy with a camera that was donning a NBC 26 shirt.  His name was Cameron and I introduced myself to him.  He went and got Jason - who called me, but I didn't have a cell phone there because of the ban - who came over to us.  Then something bizarre happened: Jason picked up the camera and gave Cam the mic.  He said, "Ryan, look at Cam like you're answering the questions to him.  Don't look at the camera." So, Jason asked me questions and shot the interview, while I talked to the cameraman like he was the reporter.  Surreal. 

Then we did the whole "act like we're talking about stuff, but we're not" shot.  This time, we talked about Wendy Nix and how she was lookin' good.  And well, we'll leave it at that.

That was in front of the scoreboard at one fairway.  Behind it, though, is where the networks are.  There is an area hidden behind the scoreboard where the major networks do their on course live shots.  There were three setups there - ESPN, Golf Channel, and some Atlanta station.  They were arranged in that order with ESPN closest to the back of the leaderboard itself.

Tom Rinaldi was doing his shots during the par 3 contest.  Just off camera was some dude from ESPN Deportes, nodding politely at Tom when he did reports.  Rinaldi is a pro; he wore a full suit (that's how you know).

You ever wonder how the TV reporters know just when to come back from stock footage?  They have a monitor.  Fancy, right?  I digress.

Next to Rinaldi was Golf Channel.  Manning the coverage at the time were Golfweek's Jeff Rude and Alex Miceli.  Neither was wearing pants.  They were wearing shorts.  The beauty of being a TV reporter is that pants truly are optional almost all of the time.  Not to say that Rachel Nichols is sporting bikini bottoms like the chick in that Vegas tourism commercial.  For the record, Rich Lerner was sporting a full suit and always looks suave.

Meanwhile, the people over at Atlanta were about as obnoxious as the fourth hour of Today.  Holy cow, if Kathy Lee Gifford looks refreshing and less spastic than you do, consider a new profession.

Perhaps the funniest part is what happens when the patrons get bored at the end of the day.  It's like they're moths draw to the bug zapper that is television lights.  (Monty Burns would be happy to know that the TV lights are used to block out the sun so that the unnatural light can do its magic and add ten pounds.)  Miceli and Rude were doing a shot at the same time as Rinaldi, and the patrons were trying to get in the shot.  Or trying to take photos of themselves staring at a TV camera.  Honestly, I considered doing my own version of Zach on the Set, but then I would probably never manage to earn my way on Golf Channel's air.  Sometimes restraint pays off.

What did I learn from being around TV people?

They wear a whole lot of wires, so it's no wonder that someone would want to wear shorts and sneakers if they can get away with it.

There is a lot of funny banter that will never get on TV, but really should because golf on TV could be so much more entertaining if it wasn't as polished.

I'd like to be on TV one day.  But I knew that anyhow.