Posted on Dec 30, 2010
Last Updated Oct 17, 2011
Posted by Dave North
John Evans tells the story: One saturday afternoon in 1991 I was working on WCBH. The new management had freelanced a "reporter" to go the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and give us time trial updates throughout the second weekend of quailifaying for the Indy 500.
The first time the reporter called, he stated he was not happy because his wife just left him. That previewed what the rest of the day would be like. We would record his report in the production studio and then play it back on air. Every time he called he kept calling minutes within the time it was supposed to air, so we never had a chance to proof the piece before it hit air. The first reports were not great, but they were not so bad that they should not be aired.
Then came his last report. It was recorded, I cued it up for play back in the production room, and told the jock who came on after me that it was ready. A few minutes later, the phone rang.
The person on the other end informed me that the reporter was smashed drunk, had been passed out all day, and kept bugging them for info on what happened. So, they decided to teach him a lesson about reporting and gave him bogus information. The person calling felt bad for us and only wanted to give us a heads up to check the tape before airing. Too late. It was half way done as I fishished the phone call.
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