Clever College World Series Story

Perhaps one of the most original and entertaining TV story ideas associated with the College World Series came from WOWT's John Knicely back in the late 80s or early 90s.

Working at the time for KETV as its sports director, Knicely sought to poke fun at a new rule instituted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association which prevented local stations from showing highlights of games in progress.

Under the premise that he would be showing "Official, NCAA-Approved Highlights," Knicely cleverly teased viewers into watching what they thought would be highlights of the game going on during KETV's early-evening newscast. What they really saw was, well, fairly entertaining.

The first night, Knicely and his camera crew were set up on a tall building in downtown Omaha. With Rosenblatt Stadium slowly coming into view as the photographer zoomed in, Knicely began attempting to describe the action on the field - except it was barely visible. (Skycams were still several years off - and offer a similar view.)

The following night, Knicely promised to actually get inside the stadium to see the game in progress. The sports segment opened with a stadium usher leading Knicely and his photographer to a seat just a few rows up from home plate. But when the camera got into place and turned toward the field, it was immediately clear why Knicely and crew were invited into the stadium - the seat was in an "obstructed view" section, directly behind a post.

Another segment was shot using a fan's mirrored sunglasses to reflect the action on the field as Knicely described it. Yet another took place in the press area, where the camera zoomed in on a small black-and-white monitor, which was recording live action off the feed from ESPN.

"At the time, I did receive a call from a competing general manager in town who told me what a kick he got out of the spoofs," Knicely said. "We were all upset about the crackdown on highlights."