5 On Your Side Sports Blog

By John Chandler

ATLANTA - I'm really glad I had that bagel at 7:30 this morning, and I really wish I hadn't refused the pretzels from my lovely flight attendent. Who knew it was my last chance to eat all day?

Yes, we're officially in Final Four mode down here in the Dirty South, where I'm pretty sure Ohio State has nothing on NewsChannel 5's fast break.

For all of you who watch our live reports during the day and think: wow, Chandler's got it good... well, not quite. Covering an event as big as the Final Four means running and gunning. Good thing my photographer, Tom Deau, is such an impressive guy. Let's put it this way, if one of our live shots should happen to go down, all Tommy would need is a paperclip, gum, and a salad bowl to fix it. This guy makes Mike Conley, Sr. (Olympic track medalist) look lazy.

Here's a look at our Thursday:

7:30 AM - Coffee and a bagel at Einsten's in Rocky River. God Bless them. Who knew egg and cheese on a bagel would last me until 9:00 PM.

10:37 AM - Board Flight to Atlanta. Can I tell you the two things that make for a good start on any road trip? No security lines at Akron-Canton Airport, and XM Satellite Radio at my seat on AirTran. Now, if they could just pass out some decent headphones...

12:19 PM - Touchdown in TurnerTown. Funny thing about Atlanta, everywhere you turn you see the Braves and CNN. How much is Ted Turner worth, again?

1:30 PM - Check in downtown. Wow. This event is a who's who of national media... it's ever bit the big show that the Superbowl was in Detroit. Media crawled throughout the 45 floors of the Mariott in downtown Atlanta, even helping me find my room (proof that we do, indeed, have souls, despite our place right above lawyers and just below meter maids on the "favorite people" list).... whoa, I'm 41 floors up and the view is straight down! This might be a good time to mention that I'm terrified of heights.

3:00 PM - Check in at Georgia Dome. Well, now that was a convenient process... if you've got an hour to kill in your day! But for an event this big, long lines at the credential desk of the Georgia Dome (right) are as common as bag sniffing dogs and pat downs. Thankfully, the folks here in Atlanta skipped the latter.

3:30 PM - Missed the Bus. Ohio State drives by from the Georgia Dome to who knows where. The four schools practiced Thursday at private locations, so as to avoid the crush of media and attention that could otherwise pose as a distraction. Coach Thad Matta looked comfortable, with his feet up, riding shotgun on the bus. Let's just hope the Buckeyes don't get nearly as comfortable as they did for their previous games in Lexington and San Antonio. A slow start against Georgetown could spell disaster.

5:00 PM - Hello, Cleveland. In between feeding taped stories back to the station, talking to officials at the tournament, and pausing briefly to admire the distant smell of cooking hot dogs at the Dome, I managed to climb the three stories of scaffolding at our satellite truck to join you folks Live on Five from Atlanta. Just in time, too! You'd be surprised just how close to deadline we often have to cut it in this business. Let me put it this way: I learned a while ago just how long 30 seconds can last!

10:00 PM - Goodnight, from Atlanta. Sure, I'm starving and eying the box of crackers stashed in the corner of the satellite truck--mmm, dinner--but can I tell you I love busy days like this? Everyone should get the chance, at least once, to cover the Final Four, with or without the Buckeyes.

That's a wrap on Day 1 in the Dirty South, which is really quite clean and very charming. Love the people, hate the humidity. Oh, did I mention it's 80 and sunny down here?

See ya Friday!