Dave Morris NewsOK.com Blogging Community

Some afternoons are random in our studios…

As previously mentioned, Andrew Rice led off our video efforts today. The US Senate candidate came in for a 9 am interview with The Oklahoman’s Michael McNutt.

Five sports videos came in succession. Jenni Carlson’s commentary, “Sorry Seattle, Move On,” was taped at 10 am and ranked as the most viewed video on NewsOK today. Closely followed by the latest webisode of the Thunder Girls, our wildly popular series. We’ve posted seven or so webisodes. They always rank as the top one or two videos each day.

Press Row is a show we tape every Thursday at 11:30 am and we stream it live at the same time with a live chat. Since Press Row lasts about a half hour, it takes a while to export, encode, upload and post on NewsOK. Usually it’s online by 1 pm or so.

John Rohde taped his commentary after the Press Row, which featured Rohde, Carlson, Mike Sherman and Mike Baldwin.

I taped the Energy segment at 2 pm. This is another segment that is streamed live and taped for on demand viewing later. Energy usually is a top five to top ten video. It streams live on CleanSkies.tv, an energy only niche channel based in Washington DC.

Ok, after energy we taped entertainment with George Lang and Heather Warlick. This week they provided commentary on the election coverage, a bit of a break from their usual rants about Hollywood and the local music scene.

Sen. Jim Inhofe stopped by for a 3 pm taping with McNutt. Inhofe answered the same three questions we asked Rice, Murphy and Roth earlier this week. Those election videos will be posted Friday morning.

Lang taped his first Static show at 3:30 pm, featuring local talent KC Clifford. She did an interview on cam with Lang, then recorded a couple songs in our smaller studio. We used a projector to illuminate a white board with static, placed in front of a black curtain with blue-gelled lights. Strange, but it accomplished a different look for us.

Meanwhile, Bob Rader, Executive Vice President at Capital West Securities, stopped by to tape with Ed Kelley, Editor of The Oklahoman. This was for a segment that will air during our live election coverage Tuesday night. Rader has been in our studios four or five times now. Very smart, obviously, and very gracious. Big ups to our friends at Saxum Communications for their efforts and help with our election coverage.

We taped two more sports segments at 4 pm: One on One Thundermadness with Sherman, Baldwin and Darnell Mayberry. It’s a weekly look at the Thunder, this mostly recapping last night’s season opener and debating the backcourt. Also we taped the Ford Center promo we call The Oklahoman’s 3-Pointer, Three Things You Need to Know About Tonight’s Game. Look for it on the jumbotron before each home game.

While taping around ten studio shows, we also had Tim Money and Angi Bruss in the field. Angi asked peeps in Bricktown their impressions of opening night for the Thunder. She also interviewed Bricktown merchants about their Halloween specials tomorrow night.

Tanner Herriott, meanwhile, shot today’s Thunder practice, then dropped by a Mesta Park house decorated out the wazoo with Halloween decor. He decided after speaking with the resident to return tonight to get the full effect.

I did a drive-by myself tonight. Saw someone dressed up as a butler in the front yard - complete with flying witches - talking with a family that had stopped by.

One final video - Tanner and Angi shot a wine tasting video at Gaillardia around 4 pm.

You can watch all of these videos on NewsOK.com and on NewsOK.tv, our video-exclusive site.

We managed to crank out 13 videos today from the OPUBCO Studios crew, including nine in the studio. Topics ranged from sports (go figure) to politics to energy. Our energy segment is doing very well in video traffic. That surprises me. Perhaps it’s a demo that’s been untapped. It routinely ranks in our top five or top ten of videos each day. Usually that’s reserved for sports and breaking news.

And bull elk fights.

Seriously, the bull elk video that was submitted by someone back in January ranked among our highest viewed video for months.

Tomorrow we’ll tackle wake boarding at the Oklahoma River. Tanner has already conquered this once. And we’ll cover the NBA team name being unveiled, announced and promoted. That’s a pretty big deal. I think Angi is getting a hair cut too. And somewhere in there we’ll interview former mayor Kirk Humphreys for an upcoming video/print piece.

Three things you should know about the upcoming OU football season and the OSU basketball court.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, has agreed to a takeover by a giant Belgian brewer, a union that creates a global beer leader and brings to an end one of the most iconic names in American business. The deal, still is subject to shareholders' and regulators' approval, would create the world's largest brewer and create the fourth-largest consumer product company worldwide.

Scrambling to bolster eroding investor confidence, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced steps to brace slumping mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The plan, unveiled Sunday, is intended to signal the government is prepared to take all necessary steps to prevent the credit market troubles that erupted last year with losses from subprime mortgages from engulfing financial markets.

Oklahoma City native Bobby Murcer, a longtime New York Yankees player and broadcaster, passed away at Mercy Hospital Saturday at the age of 62. A five-time All Star outfielder and three-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, Murcer was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in December of 2006.

You can find a Bobby Murcer photo gallery and virtual guest book online at NewsOK. And columns from Jenni Carlson, Berry Tramel and John Rohde.

The Oklahoman and NewsOK also rank the 50 greatest baseball players from Oklahoma, tomorrow is baseball's all-star game, at Yankee Stadium, no less.

Today in OKC: Mostly sunny. Highs about 90. Southeasterly winds about 10 mph.

Darnell Mayberry joined me on the sports desk today to discuss tomorrow night's matchup of the NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Celtics.

I grew up a huge Lakers fan and still am. No reason why, born and raised in OKC. But I still pull for the LA team.

Should be a great series. Game one of the best of seven series is Thursday night in Bean town.

And then there is this take from The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel.

Sorry if I don’t join the euphoria over a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals.

Oklahoma City officials are boasting about having the world's largest Wi-Fi "mesh” network. That means that every city public safety vehicle is tied together on a wireless Internet protocol network that blankets a 555-square-mile area with Wi-Fi coverage. each city fire or police vehicle is in itself a moving wireless router that can broadcast on the network and serve as a Wi-Fi access point if another part of the network is disabled. You can learn more about this, by reading Jim Stafford's report in today's Oklahoman or online at NewsOK.com.

Meanwhile, Steve Lackmeyer reports Oklahoma City officials are negotiating with a national real estate advisory firm to develop a master plan for Bricktown. Check out more from Lackmeyer - and no one covers Bricktown like Steve Lackmeyer - at his blog on NewsOK - at okccentral.com.

Arizona State won the Women's College World Series, routing Texas A&M last night at Hall of Fame Stadium 11-0 to win the best of three series.

Hot, windy and dry weather is expected today. A storm system will approach by late week and bring the potential for severe thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday. Today in OKC Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid-90s. Southerly winds 20 to 30 mph.

Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffery Gofton is resigning. State Health Department commissioner Dr. Mike Crutcher confirms Gofton has sent his resignation by e-mail to members of the board that oversees the medical examiner's office.

Filing period for Oklahoma is Monday through Wednesday this week. Yesterday, 185 candidates filed — 99 fewer than filed the first day of filing for the 2004 presidential election year.

General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles. None in Oklahoma. The iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued. Shuttle Discovery's astronauts prepared for the first spacewalk of their mission Tuesday and the installation of Japan's giant lab to the international space station.

A massive blaze that destroyed part of the back lot at Universal Studios was accidentally ignited by workers using a blowtorch on the roof of a movie set building facade.

Arizona State beat Texas A&M 3-0 last night in Game 1 of the Women's College World Series. The best of 3 final continues tonight at Hall of Fame Stadium.

Today in OKC: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 90s. Southerly winds 20 to 30 mph.

Jack Mildren, who quarterbacked the Oklahoma Sooners to great glory and then became the state's lieutenant governor, died Thursday night after a bout with cancer. He was 58.

Thousands are expected to visit Tinker Air Force Base on Saturday as America's air power from World War II to Iraq is put on display during the free Star Spangled Salute.

Filling up the gasoline tank of the SUV, boat and RV for the Memorial Day weekend might make you cringe, with gasoline prices up more than a dollar a gallon from just two years ago.

The Big 12 Conference office announced Thursday that the Red River Rivalry - OU-Texas - will kick off at 11 a.m. at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Oct. 11 and will be televised by ABC.

Meanwhile the OU baseball team won last night in the Big 12 Tournament. Jamie Johnson delivered a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Sooners to a 4-3 win over Missouri. OU plays Texas at 9 am Saturday. With a win, OU qualifies for Sunday afternoon's title game. OSU plays Baylor at 7:30 pm today.

Today in OKC: Decreasing clouds. Highs in the upper 80s. Southeasterly winds 15 to 20 mph. There is a 20 percent chance of storms tonight.