A couple of observations from the anchor's desk:
After enjoying my third Mardi Gras celebration since moving to this wonderful part of the world, I continue to be amazed by just how civil these huge crowds are at the parades. Dozens of mystic societies, hundreds of thousands of people celebrating and according to Mobile police, relatively few arrests. We feel very comfortable taking the family to the parades. Except for a few overzealous adults who stumble over a little one trying to grab a string of beads, the experience continues to be a very positive one.
For the second year in a row, Local 15 anchored our Fat Tuesday coverage from the second floor balcony of the Embassy Hotel and Suites on the corner of Royal and Conti. A fabulous vantage point to see all the action and broadcast the day of parades and celebration. We were on the air from 10:30 in the morning until the winter olympics took over at 2:00. We have an impressive group of professionals who made the broadcast possible, and I am very proud of the work they did to make it all happen. I hope you had a chance to see it. If not, we have it here on our website under the special Mardi Gras section.
Speaking of the olympics, hope you have been enjoying NBC's coverage. I certainly have, and apparently so have millions of others across the country. Ratings are way up this year compared to four years ago in Torino, Italy. In fact, so much so that the games are actually giving the gold medalist of television, American Idol, a run for its money. The venues are breathtaking in Vancouver, and even with a few weather hiccups, the games have been exciting to watch. A few of our olympic American Idols, snowboarder Shaun White, alpine skiier Lindsey Vonn and speed skater Apollo Ono have all represented the red, white and blue with dignity and grace.
Now to the man trying to regain the dignity and grace that we all believed defined him. For the first time since that infamous car crash on Thanksgiving night, Tiger Woods is set to break his silence. He will stand before the microphone Friday morning, but it will be anything BUT a news conference. He won't take any questions, in fact the vast majority of the news media will be sequestered in a hotel lobby about a mile away, watching along with the rest of us on TV. Plenty of folks could care less what Tiger will have to say. I, however, am not one of those people. I am intrigued and will be watching and listening to every word. I am a huge golf fan, and after watching him dominate the game over the last couple of decades I was also a fan of Tiger. Word is, he will apologize. To whom and for what remains to be seen. It should be a very interesting morning. I'm rather surprised however, that he's not shedding his tears on Oprah's couch.
We'll save our discussion on the war over electronic bingo in Alabama, and the proposed one cent sales tax in Baldwin County... for another day.
