The Today show was quite the production. I couldn’t believe how much preparation and work goes into putting on a TV show, and they do it every day! The Today show is a live production, so the schedule is constantly changing and the crew has to adapt on a whim. We kept getting told “30 sec, 10sec, wait nope we aren’t doing the live shot now, moving it to the next slot.” I was surprised at how small the actual set was and what the camera doesn’t show.
The actual BMX set up was kind of like a sponge molded into some rollers. It was super soft and hard to really ride, but of course KB being the rockstar he is managed to jump the sponge and do an x-up while doing it. When the big celebs roll out its kind of funny, they each have an entourage of 4 or 5 people rushing them here and there like the world just may end if they don’t make it to the mark on time. BMX scored three segments in the 3 hour block each lasting about 4min. so it was a lot of waiting around but I enjoyed watching how everything was put together for the 6 million viewers watching the tube at home. I am kind of a 30 Rock fan (NBC sitcom) which is based upon a TV show at 30 Rockefeller Plaza--right where we were--so I thought that was pretty to see firsthand and I cruised around a bit before I had to go on camera.
The first segment consisted of us riding the course. I got stuck with the helmet cam and wasn’t super psyched on that but there are worse things in the world. Anny Curry hoped on a bike and rolled down the little start but lost momentum on the sponge and ended up running the bike through the rollers, it was pretty funny.
The second segment was a fashion show bit where we put on official gear of the games. A rower and gymnast joined us for that portion and rocked Ralph Lauren garb that looked straight out of 50’s era at an Ivy league school, collars flipped up, pleated white shorts… Ralph Lauren himself was there fussing over how his stuff was worn and telling the poor nervous rower guy to keep is back flat and stick out his chest at all times. The gymnast girl poked a little fun at Ralph saying he looked like Toby McGuire straight out of Spider Man. The folks there from Nike were much more laid back and super cool. dR rocked the official BMX uniform for the games and Kyle and I wore official podium ceremony gear all designed by Nike. It’s pretty crazy but they actually put a lot of thought into what we will be wearing, like the shoes called “rejuvenate” designed specifically for recovery and walking around the village. Everything is really lightweight and comfy too! Nike comp’d us the whole kit which was a nice little present.
The last segment turned into a bit of a blunder. ABA brought in some Am’s to ride and help promote the sport which was really cool, but then two of them crashed on a live segment…. I was asked about all my injuries , and then Kathy Lee and Hoda got on some bikes and as Hoda was riding down the mini-hill her thrown together Free Agent seat broke and she fell. So pretty much the whole world thinks BMX is super dangerous and all we do is crash. In all it was a really awesome experience. The hosts of the show (Anne, Meredith, Kathy Lee and Hoda) were all really cool off camera. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from them. Al didn’t really care about BMX so I didn’t really care about him.
I feel pretty lucky to have been selected to go out there, they took really good care of us, I got to experience more of New York and promote the sport I love. Not a bad gig! Made the New York Times today too… you can check it out at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/sports/othersports/30bmx.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
