Friday, April 2, 2010
5:05 PM
By Chuck GarfienCSNChicago.com
In the madness that was the White Sox World Series championship run of 2005, we captured hours and hours of remarkable moments that followed one of the greatest stories in the history of Chicago sports.
Most of this video made it on the air. A bunch did not. And some you are about to see for the very first time.
Due to the sheer volume of footage that came pouring into our newsroom during the playoffs, especially on the night the White Sox clinched the title in Houston, some amazing stuff was, to use a movie analogy, left on the cutting room floor.
Doing a live World Series clinching post-game show, especially for a team that hadnt won a title in 88 years, and for a network (Comcast SportsNet) that was barely one year old, we were all flying by the seat of our pants.
Every win by the White Sox, and every post-game broadcast for our brand new channel (we were doing 2-to-3 hour shows after every game) was a groundbreaking achievement.
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Anyone today who says they knew exactly what they were doing at the time would be lying. Most of that experience five years later is a total blur.
But after finding this long forgotten tape, a good chunk of the best memories have come flooding back.
This little discovery happened accidentally. Over the winter, I was rummaging through a closet at home when I came across a tape with a label that read quite succinctly Chuck and Mike 2005 White Sox Win it.
Mike is Comcast SportsNet photographer Mike Cappozzo. He and I worked together the night the Sox beat the Astros in Game 4, and our job was to cover the victory celebration inside the Sox clubhouse.
At this point I should probably thank my boss at the time, Michelle Murray for giving me this terrible assignment. Yeah right. It was the best. Thanks Michelle.
When the Sox beat the Astros to win the Series, and the doors to the clubhouse opened to the media, it was like walking into a hurricane of mass hysteria. Everyones endorphins popped through their skulls and ricocheted off each other in a wild display of post-game pinball.
And there we were. Mike and I. He with a camera and me with a microphone, which for some odd reason was not wireless, so we had to do our work connected to each other by a long, orange extension chord that got twisted and tangled around arms, hands, feet, notebooks, champagne bottles, and Cliff Polittes neck.
At least I think that happened. Some of this is still a little foggy.
But thankfully, much of it is now back in the memory bank because of this lost tape.
Youll see Kenny Williams parading the World Series trophy into the clubhouse amidst a sea of White Sox players, and we happened to be right there to interview him the moment he fled to safety.
Theres Mark Buehrle pouring a can of beer over the head of Jerry Reinsdorf, who when I asked him if he was concerned that hed never win a World Series said, Absolutely. I was having lunch with a friend during spring training and I said, Im going to be 70 years old next year, Ive been doing this for 24 years, I wonder if it will ever happen.
It did. Although I barely remember this interview even happening. It was that crazy.
Theres Steve Perry, the lead singer of Journey, who became the teams unofficial mascot because of Dont Stop Believin. And there we are interviewing Steve in the middle of the clubhouse while Journeys Greatest Hits was blasting out of the speakers.
Talk about surreal.
I asked him what was the greater feeling, singing on a stage in front of 80-thousand screaming fans or being aboard this crazy White Sox World Series ride?
Its the same! he shouted over his own voice that was in the middle of singing Faithfully. I mistakenly referred to it as Open Arms, which for this classic rock aficionado remains one of the worst goofs of my broadcasting career.
Theres about 45 minutes of footage on the tape. Weve cut it down to around 8 minutes of the best (although theres still a TON we cut out. We may have to do a sequel). It instantly brings you back to that 2005 championship that has been rapidly traveling farther and farther away.
What made that team so memorable, so unique, and so successful? The reasons can be found here.
Can the 2010 White Sox copy it? Thats certainly the hope.
Chuck Garfien hosts White Sox Pregame and Postgame Live on Comcast SportsNet with former Sox slugger Bill Melton. Follow Chuck @ChuckGarfien on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Sox news and views.