Amid arctic media frenzy, Chris Matthews gets frosted

The following was originally posted at The Inside Dope

Needless to say, there were thousands of members of the press from literally around the world in Springfield, IL yesterday, technicians, cable haulers, riggers, producers, and of course, the on-air "talent".

There were endless lines of satellite trucks all chugging away spewing diesel exhaust and trying to keep the important equipment from freezing, and outside, millions of dollars of camera and broadcasting equipment, the people to operate it, and those who stand or sit in front of it all in the bone-chilling temps. The spectacle of the massive press circus almost overshadowed the actual event.

The downtown and major hotels looked like the staging point for the most massive polar expedition ever mounted, with hundreds of photographers, reporters, and camera operators smothered from head to toe in every coat, scarf, and hat they owned apparently. So many times I was reminded of the little brother in the film "The Christmas Story", they were so bundled up it looked like if they fell down, they'd never be able to get back up.

I noticed that as a sort of badge of honor I imagine, some photographers sported Arabian or Lebanese style scarves as a sign they'd covered the mid-east. Now they were wearing the scarves against the perils of the mid-west.

Walking downtown or in the hotels, you could overheard news crews speaking in every imaginable language. One reporter from Tokyo was wandering around in the arctic temperatures dressed in black leather pants, not exactly the best cold weather gear, even back in the early 80s when they were last in style. His camera man accidentally leaned on my hand as it rested on a chair and he spent about 5 minutes apologizing in Japanese. Not exactly your stereotypical pushy member of the traveling press.

Even on Friday afternoon the day before, while walking around watching the crews erecting all the elaborate scaffolding and hanging bunting, and the networks setting up their live shot locations, a woman approached and asked if she could interview me. She was very pleasant, from the Canadian Broadcast Company, and even better, didn't have a cameraman. That's my idea of the ideal encounter with the press, namely, no camera, and not broadcast in the United States. It doesn't get better than that, in my experience.

After Obama made his stirring announcement speech, the race was on for most of the press to pack up and try to avoid frostbite and hypothermia, especially the so-called "talent", the people in front of the camera, who had to engage in the gargantuan struggle between looking perfect and staying warm.

But some had to stay on for live shots.

And we learn that whatever you do, don't bring up Chris Matthews' socks.

Here are some shots I took Saturday, post Obama announcement.
As always, click on images for a better view.

The Decatur NBC affiliate had a damn anchor desk sitting out in the Old Statehouse yard. It looked like something out of a Monty Python sketch.



Then there was this tent set-up. It was much more elaborate than other media outposts, most of which were in the open air. But this one even had propane heaters running.

Note the sharpshooters on the roof in the background.

Who could command such posh accommodations? None other than Tweety Bird himself, Chris Matthews.


Note the little silver disk in the lower left. It's the propane heater to keep Chris' tootsies warm.

And speaking of Mathew's tootsies, one of the spectators who increasingly gathered around the tent was taken by the fact that Matthews was wearing big, thick, hunting socks. At one point as Matthews was waiting to go on-air, this guy good-naturedly called out, "Hey Chris, nice socks!"

Matthews immediately shot back, "Go f___ yourself!", and he wasn't smiling.

Yep... dropped the f-bomb... again, only this time it wasn't on-air. (See this clip of Matthews dropping the F-Bomb live during the Don Imus program)

I had been shooting video just seconds before, but had stopped in order to take some still pictures. I will go to my grave regretting that. If I had kept shooting only seconds longer, I would have had the remark and Mathew's salty reply live on tape. I'd imagine it would have generated some traffic on YouTube.

Matthews then made a few more pleasant comments back and forth with his fans before settling in. In the meantime, the make up person was working on the next guests, Howard Fineman, the editor of Newsweek, and Lynn Sweet, the political correspondent for the Chicago Sun-Times (whom I'd met and chatted with the previous evening). Sweet has become a regular on Matthew's "Hardball" show as his "go-to" reporter on things Obama.



Howard Fineman

Lyn Sweet with Matthews

HAAA!

Matthews looks on as technicians untangle and unhook the previous guests in preparation to bring on Sen. Dick Durbin.

Sen. Dick Durbin is interviewed by Matthews. One wonders if guests have to be toweled down after having Matthews sputter at them.



Sen. Durbin greets fans and well-wishers after his on-air appearance and before going into the Old Capitol where Obama held a meet-and-greet session for about an hour after the announcement.

As I was eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant around noon, Matthews and a few others came in and sat down about 5 ft. away. The thought of speaking to him or getting a picture crossed my mind, but I think that interrupting someone when they're eating is a bit tacky.

Though I have many achievements under my belt, with his reaction to the fan earlier in mind I'm not sure I wanted to count getting cussed out by Chris Matthews at breakfast among them.

So, after getting home and looking forward to seeing the segment I'd just seen being shot live earlier, I found that I'd shut down the computer which of course meant that it hadn't recorded schduled shows in my absense, one of which was Hardball. If anyone has the segment recorded, let me know.

Coming later.....
Some random scenes of weirdness around the event... including the Obama Superman



NOTE Several more posts and many more pictures of political and press luminaries from before, during, and after the event can be found at The Inside Dope.

[Note: Slightly edited by Rich Miller for language purposes.]