The Nicest Guys in Town

Jared, Jack Harry & Dustin
Jared at "The 38 Sports Spot"

Jared watching "The Simpsons"
on the teleprompter...

Sherry, Dustin, Gary Lezak, Jack Harry & Jared visit at Channel 41/38 Studios.



Recently, Jared (our 7 year old) was invited by Channel 41 Sports Director, Jack Harry, to sit in on the taping of his live television show "The Sports Spot." (Which airs nightly on channel 38.)





We got to the station about 20 minutes before the show started and were let into the studios by Leon Liebl (weekend Sports Anchor for ch. 41). Mr. Liebl was very nice and gave us a quick tour of the studios and then found us chairs about 6 feet to the side of the set. He let Jared sit on the set for a few minutes watching "The Simpsons" on the teleprompter attached to the front of the camera.





Kim Anderson (Coach of the #1 CMSU MULES) was one of the guests on the show that night and he came into the studio not long after we arrived. We spoke briefly to Coach Anderson and talked about basketball (of course!) and he asked if the boys (Dustin and Jared) played and what their records were for the season...(He was very nice...)





Moments before the broadcast, Jack Harry arrived and walked out onto the set. He looked through some papers and then realizing there were other people in the studio, he shielded his eyes and said "Hi" to Coach Anderson and then he said "David?" to me and asked "Is this your


family?" I told him yes and introduced him to everyone and he asked if we needed anything to drink and if we were comfortable. He said he'd talk to us more during the breaks and after the show. (He was also very nice...)





The crew readied the cameras and started the countdown...on the moniter we could see the beginning of the show and then Jack began to announce who was on the show, etc... and then went on to discuss the Royals while footage of the Royals played to the viewers at home.


Mr. Harry then talked a bit about the Chiefs and then went to a commercial.





Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star arrived and went right to the set. He was to be the first guest and would be talking about that day's release of his new book "The Soul of Baseball" which is about his year of travel with the late, great Buck O'Neil. He visited with Jack briefly and then


went straight into the interview.





True to his word, during the breaks Jack would shout out "How you doin' out there" to us while he shielded his eyes from the bright lights. I was proud of both Jared and Dustin for sitting so


still and quiet during the show. I was worried that inviting a (then 6-year-old) kid to a live show


was a mistake, but he did really well.





The show wrapped up after Kim Anderson's interview. He came over and shook hands with all of us and made small talk. He told the boys good luck with their basketball teams and then he left. Jack shot a couple of quick promos for his show and then came over to talk to us, pose for pictures with the boys and then gave us a tour of all of the sets and the control room.





As we passed through the studio we ran into our family's favorite WeatherMan, Gary Lezak, and he was very kind and posed for a couple of pictures too. He even told us what the weather was going to be for the next day...(and he was right!) Jack (and his producer, Justin) then showed us the newsroom and thanked us for coming... We thanked him back and left...





What impressed me most about all of this is that having grown up in a TV environment with my Dad working at KYTV in Springfield, I know how busy TV stations can be... The fact that these guys took the time to meet with us, just because my youngest Son is a big fan... amazed me.





What started out as an email from Jared to ask for an autograph, turned into a memorable evening for all of us.





So to Jack, Leon, Gary, Justin and all of the nice people we met... Thank you! We appreciate you being the nicest guys in town!





-David