Sigma

In 1984 we were covering the Dodgers and the Phillies at the old "Vet." The producer and director from LA who showed up, soon made it clear that, over the intercom, they'd refer to most of the crew by some body part. One of the two brothers who ran Mizlou, Roger, was a replay operator on the truck that day. As a principle of a production company, why would he be working as a regular member of the crew? "I just like doing TV" he would say.

The entertainment industry is like this: If you work in the biz in New York or LA, you think you're special. Those two were in that club. At some point in the game, the director called for a replay on Roger's VTR, and nothing happened. The director's frustration grew into anger as he received no response from him. A profane tirade ensued, directed at Roger. When the director paused, Roger said, "Oh, were you referring to me?" The producer replied, "You'll never work in this business again." Very calmly, Roger started what I call the filibuster. To be clear, I am paraphrasing here: "Oh please, Mr. Producer, I have a dozen kids to feed. They all need new shoes. My car needs a new transmission. I'm behind on my rent. My shorts are too tight. And I have a short attention span." He went on in this vein for about a minute. Since he was monopolizing the intercom, the director couldn’t call the game. So, we sat on the same camera. I remember looking at a couple of the camera monitors. The shaking of a couple of them showed the crew enjoyed Roger's performance.

When Roger was finally done, he said, "By the way, you I could buy and sell you ten times over." They were a meek pair for the rest of the night. When the postgame was over, they quietly disappeared.