Change of Pace

2005 Drinks to date:..106.....Miles: 145

It's icy and cold and I've got my hair all straight and pretty, so I'm taking a few days off from the running. I've got a lot on my mind outside of getting the miles in right now anyway, but I'll be back out in the park this weekend.

Wednesday was Dan's last night in the anchor chair. The whole day had a tense feeling of anxious anticipation about it and no one seemed to know quite what they should be feeling or doing.

As the broadcast was about to begin, people from other broadcasts and other parts of the network started to trickle past my office onto the balcony over the newsroom to watch Dan tape his final goodbye. Feeling a little awkward, I joined the crowd in the hallway during the broadcast.

I felt like we were holding a vigil of some sort, it was so quiet and somber. Looking down at the newsroom, we could see even more people assembling silently at the back of the studio. Once we got past the last block of commercials, all of us on the balcony started to file downstairs, causing a logjam in the stairwells as we went. Looking around me, I realized with annoyance that none of these people even worked on the broadcast. I tried to keep in mind that most of them had in the past, but I was still frustrated that I couldn't get closer to the anchor desk to see Dan's last few moments on my show.

As soon as the official sign-off went over the airwaves, the whole room burst into applause and a wave of emotion must have swept the room, because suddenly everyone's eyes got really wet and shiny.

Dan spoke for a bit and then he and his wife Jean watched and listened as colleagues toasted his career with bourbon and champagne. So many people had something to say about how special Dan had been in their lives - both professionally and personally.

For all the issues I have with the broadcast and my own frustrations with what I'm doing here, I did feel lucky to be there at that moment. Dan's a really good guy and I'll never quite understand what inspires such venom from his detractors. A lot of it doesn't seem at all rational. It definitely triggers a protective response for me and when I left the building and walked by a man in a ridiculous fur coat holding a "Good Riddance Dan" sign, it did cross my mind to call PETA to come over to the broadcast center with a couple cans of their famous red paint.