I'll always be the Rookie

 

Thanks to KMBC for hosting a great 70th anniversary celebration, which was basically a family reunion.

General Pat Patton took a chance on me and hired me right out of college to work at KMBC-TV and promptly nicknamed me Rookie. I was 22 years old with a new broadcasting degree and suddenly working for the top ABC affiliate in the country. Life couldn’t get any better.

Yet it did.

Because I discovered that KMBC was number one for a reason: the people. Everyone rocked their job. The talent, the producers, directors, photogs, engineers, graphic designers, management, and the promotions, sales, business, community affairs, news and programming staffs.

The standard was set high, and everyone was expected to perform. But not at the expense of our humanity. We were family, and that meant something.

I had a lot of friends who worked at stations across the country and quickly learned how special a place like Channel 9 was. The culture of kindness, respect and professionalism was simply unlike anywhere else in a business known to be harsh. The professionals you saw and loved during my tenure - Larry Moore, Laurie Everett Stockwell, Kris Ketz KMBC, Kelly Eckerman, Bryan Busby KMBC, Dave Stewart, Len Dawson - are just as kind and as real in person. And it showed on air.

I was only there for four short years, and if I hadn’t been offered a job I couldn’t turn down in a place I loved, I would have stayed with KMBC for a long time. It’s been 24 years, but I know I left a piece of my heart with the people and the place at 11th and Central.