Talk about racking up frequent flier miles!!

DOES MATT LAUER HAVE THE BEST JOB OR WHAT? If you haven’t seen the Today show this week, Matt Lauer is on his annual “Where in the world is Matt Lauer.”  It’s basically an excuse for him to get a lot of free trips and save us viewers some money too by showing us exotic locales across the globe.  Monday Matt was in Argentina and then moved onto Amsterdam on Tuesday.  One thing I want to ask, hey Matt, if you need an assistant…I”ll go!  

A QUICK IN AND OUT CAN’T BE THE SAME THOUGH?: While it has to be fun for Matt to check out all these neat places, think about it, he gets just a few hours in each town before they jet him off to somewhere else.  He can’t exactly hit the town’s nightclubs or visit the local art museums or simply hang out in a park for a few hours. 

KENNY MANIA GETS A LITTLE (fortunately not a lot) OUT OF HAND: check out the previous blog entry in the comments section and you’ll see a viewer who gave us a first-hand account of a drunken fan who got a little out of and and somehow got into a fight with the viewer’s mother of all people!  How can this happen at a concert of all things?  It’s not like a football game where people root for and against each other.  Wasn’t everyone at the concert all supposed to be on the same Kenny team?  Insiders tell me there appeared to be far more intoxicated people at the concert than a typical USC game. But the good news, there weren’t any major problems with fans getting out of hand.  And let’s give a tip of the WIS cap to Kenny, who performed without a break despite injuring his foot in the opening.

A PERSON TO COUNT ON EXTRA: Wednesday during our 5:30pm newscast we featured Bert Baker.  He sculpted a 7 foot statue of Jesus for the Red Bank Baptist Church in addition to making 12 matching murals.  Bert also has a band that performs vocal Christian music.  Because of the time constraints of TV, we're taking to the blog to give you more info on Bert and his group, called Voice.  Check out his website,  http://www.myspace.com/echovoice1 to learn more about this WIS Person To Count On, Bert Baker.  The site also lets you sample some of their music!!

PERSON TO COUNT ON, ADDITIONAL INFO: I did a "Person To Count On" interview during our Wednesday news that featured a woman Kay Spann-Byrd.  She vounteers visiting folks at Palmetto Richland Hospital and also has a ministry and magazine.  For more info on her magazine, you can email her at womenministries@yahoo.com

MORE PERSON TO ON EXTRA INFO: During our Thursday 5;30pm news, we profiled Karen Basso, a voluneer with Sistercare, who has given her time for more than 20 years now.  The Sistercare group helps out women with a crisis line, emergency shelter and assists with education and jobs.  Sistercare is one of the primary groups that helps abused women in the Midlands.  You may be astounded to know Sistercare helped 527 battered women with housing in just one year and had 5,598 calls to its crisis line.    If you want more information about Sistercare including volunteering or donation information, you can call 926-0505 in the Columbia area, or 1-800-637-7606 outside Columbia

 

LET'S DUPLICATE THIS TAILGATE SCENE FRIDAY FOR THE COLUMBIA INFERNO!!:

 

A loyal Columbia Inferno fan sent me some pictures of a tailgate party from this past Sunday in Charleston.  The team won its playoff series against the best team in the league, Texas, last week.  Now they’re in the middle of a series with Charleston. Unfortunately the Inferno lost game 1 of the series 2-1, despite a section full of loud and reportedly rowdy Inferno fans.  Game 2 is in Charleston, with games 3 and 4 (if necessary) on Friday and Saturday night, respectively at the Carolina Coliseum.  There could be a massive tailgate party in the parking lot on Friday and perhaps Saturday, email me if you want details.

Hopefully the Inferno keep winning, but if they don’t you could see history right before your eyes, the last sporting event possibly in the Coliseum.  The Inferno are planning on taking next season off to secure a new, far more modern, facility in Irmo.  So let's cherish the memories of the old Coliseum while we can!

WHERE IN THE MIDLANDS IS LUCAS?: Ok, we admit, NBC has a little more cash to throw around to send Matt Lauer to exotic locales.  But we’re doing our part, taking Lucas McFadden to different parts of the state this week on Sunrise.  Where do you think Lucas should go to do a report?  And points will be awarded for creativity, remember, Lucas will try almost anything!

Comments

[RicR]

I saw the Today Show - yesterday I wanted to move to Patagonia. Today I wanted to move to Amsterdam, and I guess in the morning I'll be wanting to move to Laos...

[Bill Snyder]

Saw the first and second of Matts trip. I (my wife and I) are heading to Argentina in Feb 09 (3 days in Buenois Aires(sic), then a cruise to Chile, Peru, Equadore, etc, and on to San Francisco. I have been to over 49 countries (lived, worked, etc) in my life time, and yet to go to South America. We appreciated his overview of Buenois Aries, as it gives us an idea wat we are getting ourselves into.

[Lekena Ackerman]

I've seen Lucas try some sports. He should try cheerleading. And have him focus on what those girls (and some guys) really do, like stunting and tumbling. Of course, the cheering as well. Because, contrary to popular belief, it's a sport!!