It’s another season, another round of bars for Charissa Thompson. The FSN Rocky Mountain reporter is working the bars around Coors Field today as part of the sports network’s coverage of Opening Day.
She’s been there before.
Her job is to randomly pick fans – ones in full regalia or die-hards who’ve been to every home game – who would play well on TV. She’s wise enough to catch pumped-up fans (who doesn’t get pumped for Opening Day?) before they get too pumped up, if you get my drift.
She’s never had any trouble with rowdies, she says. “You have to use your best judgment.” Sports bars and good judgment go together.
Thompson joined FSNRM in 2005 as a reporter on the network’s “Rockies All Access.” She’s also a contributor to FSN’s “WNBA Weekly” and “BCS Breakdown.”
When we talked, she was in the midst of two frantic days of taping upcoming shows for the network. She’ll even take a turn hosting a rodeo next Sunday. She’s not rodeo savvy, but she thought doing it would enhance her résumé, which is already wide-ranging.
One more thing: If you Google “Charissa Thompson” you come up with an entirely different person, a lingerie model who definitely isn’t wearing television sports-reporter attire. Be assured it isn’t her. “A lot of people have pointed that out to me, even my father. If I could change my name, I would.”
Channel 9 on top
KUSA-Channel 9 won five awards, including overall excellence, in the regional Edward R. Murrow Awards released last week.
The city’s No. 1 station also won for best writing, best videography, feature reporting and hard-news feature in Region 3, which covers Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. KCNC-Channel 4 and KDVR-Channel 31 each won one award.
On the radio side, KOA 850-AM bagged five awards, including overall excellence, for its news shows.
Around the dial
FSNRM airs the top-10 Colorado sports stories ever in two one-hour shows, beginning with the bottom five after today’s telecast of the Rockies’ home opener. The top five air Tuesday at 10 p.m. … Channel 4 sports anchor Reggie Rivers heading Big Brothers Big Sisters’ recruiting for its Sports Buddies program … Quentin Tarantino guests on “The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet” (9 today, KDVR-Channel 31) … Actor Arye Gross hosts “Passover: A Time to Crunch,” a potpourri of interviews, music, comedy and cooking, on “KCFR Presents” (9 tonight, KCFR 1340-AM) … Quotable: “There is no sports event like Opening Day of baseball, the sense of beating back the forces of darkness and the National Football League.” George Vecsey
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
