Well the big station had two big people - Cliff Hill and Jeff Raker covering the story. I did not know Cliff, but everything you hope a good news man would be - he was. To those who worked with him in the newsroom - you knew Cliff never did anything quietly - both in an investigative sense and when he was "in the field."
As with any election night, it is a fluid situation - but when Fob James decided to declare victory 30 minutes before Clifford had lined up an exclusive interview with Candidate James - I met Cliff Hill for the first time.
He was rounding the corner at the Holidome in Montgomery - Raker in tow - and both were hollering "we're f%$^ed!!!" He's declaring early!!!"
I was 21 years old, and thought it was the funniest thing ever.
They disappeared into the production truck that Donny Seymour had driven down - which was patched into a Crawford uplink truck from Atlanta. They emerged moments later and still got their interview (which we stole in Tuscaloosa thanks to the satellite) and all was well. But I learned then that "Cliffy and Jeffy" were tough customers - and I was glad to work with both of them full time less than two years later.
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Dick Clark's bloopers and practical jokes - seeing Gary Dobbs on the key wall with that fantastic shot of the bridge in the background. He's rattling off current conditions, and then the bridge is destroyed in a demolition blast! His reaction was priceless! Hope to see that clip again ... along with "picture perfect panoply prognostications."