Wacky Friday...

...And 50 Posts! This is the 50th post of the blog through my 2 and a half months since I came out to California. Nice milestone to have reached!

Moving on, today was quite the odd day. It started when I got stuck in way too much traffic on the way down to Torrance, where I was editing together my most recent package. Mind you, this was at about 2:30 this afternoon. Why on earth is there extremely slow traffic at this time? I just don't get it!


Once in Torrance, I was able to easily edit together my story in a couple of hours. I wish I had more of a variety of shots from my camera guy, but I think the package came out pretty decent. When it gets posted online, I'll be sure to post the link here.

While editing, I received a call from my producer to answer a question of mine, but she later told me that one of my fellow-reporters was sick and couldn't cover thee South vs. Torrance High football game tonight. Considering I wanted to see this game anyway, I offered to go over when I finished my editing and do some interviews postgame. I ended up getting to see one of the best finishes to a football game.


Torrance was up 14-0 in the 4th quarter. South ended up driving down the field with about 8 minutes left and scored to make it 14-7. On the ensuing kick-off, the returner let the ball bounce off of him and South recovered it. Not long after, they had tied the game at 14. Not to mention, the same receiver (Boian Kolev) caught both touchdowns.



Torrance then drove downfield before fumbling the ball and letting South recover. They drove down the field and chose to attempt a 33-yard field goal. WIDE LEFT! South misses and Torrance gets the ball back. They drive down the field and try a 23-yard field goal on 1st Down with 15 or so seconds left. BOTCHED SNAP! They fall on top of it, but can't get back to the line and spike it before time runs out.

ON TO OVERTIME!!


The rules are like college. No clock. Each team gets a chance to score on a drive staring from their opponents 25-yard line. If a team is in front after both teams score, they win. If it's tied, they go to another overtime.

So, South gets the ball first and they score on five plays, the final one being a beautiful fourth down throw by QB Jon Concetti to hit WR Keith Mitsuucci. They kick the extra point and lead 21-14. Torrance has their chance, and they too score, except on six plays. As they lined up to kick the extra point and go to another overtime, they call time out and Coach Rock Hollis asks his team if they'd rather kick the extra point or go for 2 and the win. They choose to go for two. They run the ball, and...


...Joey Olsin is tackled at the half-yard line!!! NO GOOD!! South wins the game 21-20!

It was without a doubt one of the best football games I have ever seen and the atmosphere of the capacity crowd under the lights on a Friday night at Louis Zamperini Stadium was unbelievable. I'm so glad I decided to go help out at this game. High school football doesn't get much better than that!

Aside from that, the day ended with gridlock traffic on the 110 freeway near downtown because they closed two lanes for no reason. This traffic occurred at 10:45 PM. Again, why is there traffic at this hour? Welcome to Los Angeles!!

More Citi Cable Packages

Okay, so these are a little long overdue, but as I mentioned before, I have had some computer issues for the past week and a half. My most recent packages that I edited together for Citi Cable 3's "The Sports Desk" are available online. I think they came out pretty well, but would definitely love to hear you opinion.

Here's the episode with my package from October 13th: Episode 35.09

This package is a recap of a football game between Torrance-rivals North High and West High. It was a pretty good defensive battle. To see the package, skip ahead to 2:22 in the video.


Here's the episode with my package from October 20th: Episode 36.09

This package is a recap of a Cross Country meet featuring three Torrance high schools. This isn't as much of a highlight package like the football ones are. To see the package, skip ahead to 2:26 in the video.


I hope you enjoy these two packages. I have plenty more to come including a tennis recap from this week, some more high school football, and maybe even some water polo. I'll have a blog post on my trip ALCS Game 4 hopefully on Friday or Saturday.

Back Again

After another long delay, I am finally back and should be for good now (**fingers crossed**). Apparently the viruses on my computer screwed it up enough that it began to "Blue Screen" which we all know means death. Unfortunately, I had to completely reinstall Windows which meant downloading all my programs and such again. Fortunately, I was able to get all of my important stuff backed up.

I have a Kings game to work tonight, the first in two weeks, as the team is back from its longest road trip of the season. However, I will try to do a blog post later this evening with some Citi Cable packages, pictures from ALCS Game 4, and a lot of other stuff. Until then, bear with me as I get back on track!

Attack of the Killer Viruses

That's what my laptop just experienced this week...and why I have not been posting on the blog since Monday. On Tuesday night, my computer was running really slow and not really loading programs. Therefore, I brought it to Staples and low and behold, 67 VIRUSES!! There were 67 on my computer that had multiplied and slowed everything down. Luckily, the great people (albeit a little slow) at Staples got them all removed, and it's back up and running now. Yes, I should probably get a Mac. Graduation present anyone?

Ok, so moving on, this week was no doubt the worst since I have been in California (a little over 2 months). On top of the computer issue (which was really the worst of it), I had a sinus congestion from Sunday to Friday, it rained for two days when it hadn't the previous 68 I was in California, and I got a flat tire. Fortunately, I am feeling much better, the sun and heat are back, and my tire was easily fixed (I was able to get another car that was the same kind, but white.

However, the week was turned around Friday and Saturday night when it didn't rain in New York City (shocking, I know) and the Yanks and Angels were able to play both Game 1 and Game 2 of the ALCS. If you didn't know already, the Yankees won both games and take a 2-0 lead to Anaheim. If they win Game 3, I'll have a chance, along with my roommate, to go see them potentially clinch a berth in the World Series in Game 4 on Tuesday. Crazy Stuff!!

Aside from that, this week was really quiet for me. The Kings are on a road trip until this Thursday, so I haven't had to do anything there. Being sick prevented me from going to cover a game for Citi Cable 3, but I did edit a package that will air this week. There are two Kings games this week, so things should pick up.

Finally, I didn't get to post this earlier in the week, but my new Citi Cable package is up online. To make things easier, I will post it in a new entry later tonight or tomorrow. Until then, I'm Back!!

The Price Is Right

Good Monday everybody! Hope you are all feeling much better than I am right now. I seem to have picked up a small cold over the weekend, probably from being in the freezing ice rink on Friday night in Ontario. Regardless, just a little stuffy, and hopefully I'll be better soon. I did have a good time celebrating the Yankees win over the Twins in the Division Series and can't wait to go to Game 4 of the ALCS in Anaheim next Tuesday!


Anyway, this post is more about today. About 20 or so of us from the ICLA program got to go and check out a taping of The Price Is Right! Yes, the very popular game show that airs on CBS and used to be hosted by Bob Barker. Boy, I must say, the show beat the heck out of the Family Feud taping we went to.

First, let me get the sucky part of the experience out of the way. We had to be at the studio by 9:00 AM and the taping wasn't until 12:30. They have such a long process before we get in the studio. We had to wait before getting on a line where we got our name tags. Then, we waited again to take a picture we could get online. Then, we waited on benches OUTDOORS (it was cold and cloudy) while we filled out info cards. Then, we waited more until we got interviewed as a group. Then, we waited again after going through security. Finally, we got into the studio at about 12:15 or so.


Ok, now to the good stuff. The show started fairly quickly after we got in, unlike Family Feud. The studio was pretty big and had a very energetic studio audience. People all over made their own T-Shirts in hopes of getting on the show. One of my roommates made one that said "I paid $200,000 to Ithaca College to be here!" Pretty funny. The show was very exciting, and we were all nervous as to whether or not we'd be called down to Contestant's row. It ended up that one of the girls at the ICLA program, Ashley, got called down. While she didn't get to go up on stage, it was still pretty cool.

Another great part was that she was sitting right next to me, so I most likely will be on camera when the show airs. They told us the air date was November 10th, so make sure to watch the show or just set your DVRs. Another ICLA student won a raffle drawing at the end where she got the PC DVD version of the game and $100 cash. Pretty awesome just for showing up.


Drew Carey was also a fantastic host. He was very funny telling a lot of stories and interacted with multiple people from the crowd. It was cool to see a host and high-profile celebrity like him do that. John O'Hurley definitely didn't do that on Family Feud. Also cool was an appearance by Carl Edwards on the show. The NASCAR driver helped out with the showcase prizes and even answered questions from the audience. He seemed like a great guy!


So, there you have it. November 10th on CBS will be the air date for the show. I hope you get to watch it because it really was a lot of fun to go watch the show live. It's a fun game show where people can go and win things like a car or amazing vacation just by guessing retail values and numbers. Very very interesting!

High School Football At Its Best

Hey Everybody,

My most recent package that I did for The Sports Desk on Citi Cable 3 in Torrance is up online. I believe this piece turned out to be the best I've done so far, but I'll leave that judgment to you.

Here's the link to this week's show: Episode 34.09

My package is right at the beginning of the show after the opening introduction, but if you feel the urge to jump right to it, the package intro. begins at 1:38 of the video.

If for some reason the link doesn't work, you can click here and just click "Watch Video" next to Show 34.09

I mentioned this in a previous blog post, but this package is of South High's football game this past Friday night against town-rival West High. South was a tremendous underdog in the game after a rough start, but put up a great performance in a tough defensive battle. I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think. You can either post a comment by clicking the link below, write to me on Facebook, or e-mail me at michaelhpolak@gmail.com. Thanks for watching everyone!

Kings Season is Underway

Tonight was the second home game for the LA Kings with the season opener happening this past Saturday. I didn't get the chance to blog about it with everything else going on this past weekend. However, it was a fun experience.

I never got to go to a season opener for any pro team, so it was cool to see the videos the team created and see all the players get introduced. Kings fans are very loyal from what I have seen so far and love their hockey. They are passionate, cheer loudly for their team, boo the other team, and know the game well. Very impressive for a southern city!


As for me, I have really enjoyed being in the radio booth for the games. Nick Nickson and Daryl Evans are two really great guys who are always pleasant, love to do their job, and do it well. They are also always in the mood to talk with me about the game and ask me constantly about what I'm up to. It's great to have people in the business that are interested in what you do! I also have had the chance to meet and talk with Bob Miller and Jim Fox, the Kings TV broadcasters, as well as some other great people that are part of and cover the Kings. All of them are great and very enjoyable to converse with.

Normally, I'll get to the game at about 4/4:30 for a 7:30 face-off. I'll go up to the broadcast booth and check in with our engineer, John Traconis, to see how things are going. I'll then usually head down with Nick to the locker room to watch him do some pregame interviews, and/or I'll help out getting equipment for the booths. Then, I'll have a great pregame meal prepared by the LA Kings dining staff and head back to the booth to get ready for the game.


During the game, I'll provide Nick and Daryl with out of town scores from around the NHL as well as keep track of some statistics in case they need confirmation on a goal, assist, penalty, or the time any of it occurred. It's great to be able to watch so much hockey live. The real benefit though is getting to listen to them call a game. It helps me on many levels. I get to increase my hockey knowledge and vocabulary. I learn the best way to call a hockey game and what to look for during a broadcast. Finally, I learn the order of a broadcast and how everything is put together. It really is useful information I get just from putting on a headset and listening to them broadcast the game.

I'll usually stay after the game as well to listen to their postgame show and their talk show in which fans can call into the show and ask them questions. It's a pretty cool thing they do and provides more content for me to observe. I couldn't have asked for a better internship opportunity and am glad Nick and the Kings have me the chance to do it. If only I could broadcast the games with them!

I've Got Coaster Fever

There is no describing how awesome my Sunday was at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The park is one of the best in the country, and it certainly showed it yesterday. It could have been the fact that there were no lines at all basically (the longest I waited for a coaster was 30 minutes). However, every coaster I went on was unique and extremely fun. It was so fun in fact, that I went on 26 roller coaster rides!! That's a new personal record for me in one day.

Take a look at my total stats for the day below. If you want to see the specifics that I used to come up with it, scroll toward the bottom of the post:

Length of Track Ridden: 95,673 feet
-This translates to 18.1 miles of track-

# of Inversions: 85 (Don't Throw Up!!)

Total length of big drops: 4,578 feet
-This translates to almost 1 full mile of me plummeting toward the earth-

The park has 16 roller coasters in total, and I went on 13 of them. 3 are smaller coasters for little kids, so I decided to pass on those. I was on a mission to break my record from the beginning of the day, and I didn't even need a flash pass to do it. Here are the 13 coasters I went on, how many times I went on it, and my review:

X2 (4 times)

This was without a doubt the most insane coaster I've ever been on. Multiple times, I had the thought of "How in the world could a sane human being create something like this?" You ride in seats that are off the side of the track, and the seats rotate on their own. After going up the hill backwards, you tilt to where you face straight down as you plummet 215 feet toward the earth. It's breathtaking! The rest of the ride, you are flipped and tossed every which way and almost never have any idea where you are going or which way is up or down! Another great part is the ride has speakers on the trains which blast "Enter Sandman" by Metallica as you ride! There's also some fog and fire during the ride. It was a little bumpy and your legs take a beating on the seats, but it's still worth it. What an experience!

Want to see what my ride experience was like? Check out the video below:



Goliath (4 times)

This was my favorite non-looping coaster. At the top of the 255 foot lift hill, the chain stops and you are sitting at the top for a good 5 seconds before you drop down into a tunnel underground. You swear your head is going to get chopped off as you go in. The rest of the ride features turns with a ton of G-force and hills. Very smooth and very fun!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

The Riddler's Revenge (3 times)

This is the world's tallest and fastest stand-up coaster. Yes, that's right, you stand up the entire ride. It goes upside down 6 times and has a ton of twists and turns that keep you excited from start to finish. Definitely one of my favorites of the day!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Tatsu (3 times)
This is the world's tallest, fastest, and longest flying coaster. What is a flying coaster? Just as it says, you fly on your stomach the entire ride (sort of like Superman). This ride was intense throughout, with a ton of inversions that flip the entire world around and cool turns that make you feel like you are really flying. The best part is a gigantic pretzel loop where you basically dive head over heels. Fantastic ride!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Scream (3 times)

This is basically a mirror image of Medusa (now Bizarro) at Six Flags Great Adventure. It is a floorless coaster, which means you sit above the track but there is nothing below your feet except the track. This is a classic favorite because all of the inversions are really good, the ride is smooth, and it's overall just a good time!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Viper (twice)

This is almost exactly like Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Great Adventure. 7 inversions make this ride worth it to ride a few times. The first drop is big which is cool too. It's a little bumpy, mostly because it's an older coaster, but it's still fun to ride.
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Deja Vu (once)
This was very intense but well-worth waiting til the end of the day to ride it! You are pulled back out of the station almost 200 feet in the air at a 90-degree angle. You then are suddenly dropped back down, into a boomerang inversion, then a loop, then up another 90-degree tower to the top. Then, you get dropped again by surprise and go through the whole thing again...but backwards! Awesome ride!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Terminator Salvation: The Ride (once)

This is the park's newest coaster and is a really good wooden one. There's cool terminator theming with multiple videos as you walk in. Then, the ride is very much like El Toro at Great Adventure. It's fast from start to finish and has multiple twists and turns that keep you changing direction constantly. At one point, you zoom back through the station above the loading platform. We really underestimated this ride!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Superman The Escape (once)

I would've done this twice had it not broken down when I was next to go on. This is the first ride ever to reach 100 mph. You are launched out of the station from 0-100 mph. in 6 seconds then go up vertically about 328 feet in the air. You then fall back to earth and into the station. It's a short and uneventful ride, but the launch and height make it worth doing once.
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Batman: The Ride (once)

This is a copy of the one at Great Adventure and multiple other Six Flags parks. It's a great inverted coaster (you hang below the track) which is pretty fast and doesn't let up the whole ride. The inversions are great as well. Definitely worth doing at least once!
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Ninja (once)

This is the West Coast's fastest suspended coaster. You sit in cars that hang below the track and sway a lot as the ride goes. It was fairly tame, but had some good speed and weaved through the trees and near water during the ride which made it fun.
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Revolution (once)

The world's first looping roller coaster made this necessary to ride solely for the history. It opened in the 70's, so it's very old. The ride was bumpy and not too exciting. It had some fun drops and the loop was nice. Good to do once for the history.
To see an on-ride video, click here!

Colossus (once)

This wooden roller coaster is also very old which means it's also very rickety. The ride was relatively boring for the most part and didn't feature as many good hills as I thought it would. The only cool thing was that because it was fright fest, you could ride it backwards at night. Still, I only recommend doing it once unless you like tame rides.
To see an on-ride video, click here!

You can see all the stats I came up with below. I used the numbers from Roller Coaster Database to figure it out.

X2 (4 times)
3610 feet x 4 = 14,440 feet
2 inversions x 4 = 8
215-foot drop x 4 = 860 feet

Goliath (4 times)
4500 feet x 4 = 18,000 feet
No inversions
255-foot drop x 4 = 1,020 feet

Riddler's Revenge (3 times)
4370 feet x 3 = 13,110 feet
6 inversions x 3 = 18
146-foot drop x 3 = 438 feet

Tatsu (3 times)
3602 feet x 3 = 10,806 feet
4 inversions x 3 = 12
111-foot drop x 3 = 333 feet

Scream (3 times)
3985 feet x 3 = 11,955 feet
7 inversions x 3 = 21
141-foot drop x 3 = 423 feet

Viper (2 times)
3830 feet x 2 = 7,660 feet
7 inversions x 2 = 14
171-foot drop x 2 = 342 feet

Deja Vu
1204 feet x 2 (forwards and backwards) = 2,408 feet
3 inversions x 2 (forwards and backwards) = 6
177-foot drop x 2 (once each way) = 354 feet

Terminator Salvation: The Ride
2877 feet
No inversions
87-foot drop

Superman The Escape
1235 feet
No inversions
328-foot drop

Batman: The Ride
2700 feet
5 inversions
105-foot drop

Ninja
2700 feet
0 inversions
60-foot drop

Revolution
3457 feet
1 inversion
113-foot drop

Colossus
4325 feet
0 inversions
115-foot drop

Thanks for reading through this entire blog post. I had such a great time that I had to share it all with you. Check out my Facebook photo album from the park!

Friday Night Lights

What a great movie! One of my personal favorites. But this post is not about the Permian High School Panthers in Texas, however, it is about high school football. Tonight, I covered South High's game against town-rival West High. I can't remember the last time I watched a football game outside of the NFL under the lights at night. I think it was my freshman year in High School. It was a cool experience for sure!

As for tonight's game, it went from exciting to extremely boring to one of the best finishes possible. South was 0-3 entering the game, big underdogs to the 3-0 Warriors from West. I won't give away all of the game, as you'll be able to see it on my package this coming week. However, South kept things close with West all game long, played tough defense, and ended up coming back with two clutch fourth quarter drives. What a great end to a good defensive battle all game long. The team and the fans were going nuts!

Below is a picture that I took from tonight's game. Sorry about the quality, but my phone is not the best at taking pictures. South High has the new field turf which they installed this year and it looks fantastic. The facility is very nice for High School and the school had everything I wish my high school had: A nice field, a great crowd, a marching band, and lights.


I had a good time tonight getting to cover a high school football game and look forward to doing so again soon. As for the rest of my weekend, I have a packed schedule. Saturday morning will include editing my package in the morning then the Kings Season Opener at night at Staples Center against the Coyotes. Then, a bunch of us are spending the day at Six Flags Magic Mountain on Sunday. For those who know me, I love roller coasters. Considering there are 17 at the park, I will be set for the day! Check back during the weekend for blog posts about both events!

Another Package

Citi Cable 3 is getting much better at posting their episodes online. Therefore, I already have this week's edition of The Sports Desk. This week features a longer package I did recapping two volleyball games in Torrance. The first is between South High and Bishop Montgomery and the other is North High against Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Here is the Link to the Show: Episode 33.09

If you want to just see my package, skip ahead to 18:58 in the video.

As always, get back to me with your comments on the package either below by clicking the comments link, on Facebook, or e-mail me at mhpbroadcaster@gmail.com. Thanks for watching everyone!