Hey boss, I need the night off…..

Greg Kerr said on the WFMY News 2 sports report on Saturday evening(11pm edition) that he needed a day off and he would be out and gone on Sunday. Kerr said he had worked 27 straight days and he was shot. Kerr was on his way to a bike race and since Rick Pizzo has left the News 2 team, who would step up for the Kerrific one?

The news and sports ran late on all the local stations on Sunday night because of football and awards shows but when News 2 came on with the Sports we got a shock. The man calling the shots was Mac Ingraham usually in the Lexington or Burlington bureau. Mac sounded OK, he was fumbling around a bit which I guess comes with the new territory but you hope he will do better with more experience.

Here’s what the “Mac Man” had to say on the News 2 Digtriad blog at www.digtriad.com.

No, there was nothing wrong with your television set. It didn’t need adjusting. That was me filling in for Greg Kerr during Sunday evening’s 11 O’Clock Newscast. You may be thinking…”Well, if that’s the case, I guess they’ll put anyone at the Sports Anchor Desk.” The short answer is…”Yes, they will!”

The long answer is..”I’m not as out-to-lunch when it comes to Sports as you may think.” I covered the 1999 U.S. Open when it came to Pinehurst No. 2. I was working in Wilmington at the time. During that major tournament I pulled double duty. I covered both sports and news the entire week. Yes, Wilmington is a small television market. Small market equals small staff numbers.

My love for sports started early-on just like in any young child’s life. For me, it was basketball. I began playing in second grade. I continued through my sophomore year in college. I also played for Burlington Williams High School. If you don’t believe me, I’ve got the splinters to prove it. I didn’t say I was great at basketball. I just played it. In high school, we had a very talented team. That meant I had one of the best seats in the gym…on the bench. I didn’t give up, however. I tried out for the Junior Varsity team at the University of North Carolina during my sophomore year. I made the first cut, but my final cut came on my knee. In a bike accident heading to class several weeks before tryouts, I busted open my knee. It took eight stitches to close it up. I reinjured it during tryouts. It took six new stitches to reclose the gash. I walked away from basketball and stepped into Student Televison at Carolina.

That brings me back to my turn as Greg Kerr’s fill-in. Kerr earned a much deserved night off. I don’t know how much of a night off it was for him since he was cycling in a behemoth of a race. The man is a sports junky. He can’t stay away from it even when he’s off.

Well, now, my love for sports brought me to anchor, Sunday. I enjoyed my time on WFMY News 2 to talk about Sports as I know it. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Even if you didn’t, let me know the good, the bad, the worst. No matter how I did, it was a nice break from the news. Of course, I’ll be back covering the news bright and early Monday morning. See you at 6:00 pm from wherever you watch News 2, on-line or on tv. Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Mac Ingraham(Maybe Mac will visit with us again)

6 thoughts on “Hey boss, I need the night off…..

  1. This is what we need. More newsmen taking over the sports desk. Bring back Marty Snyder or even Johnny Phelps. Johnny was one of the best we ever had and if he comes back I’ll be watching Channel 2 every night.

    Somebody better call JP.

  2. Great call on Marty Moon. If WFMY could re-locate Hub Burton and bring him back it would turn this market upside down. Burton was the fastest talking man to ever come through here. He could put our three nights of sports work in 7 minutes.

    Forget Phelps and Snyder and if we can’t get Marty Moon or his sidekick Paul, then we need to Bring Back Burton. The BBB campaign.

  3. The difference is the people could understand Hub. It won’t matter though, I heard from someone last night that Hub had died in a car accident.

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