How'd I Get Here? And Why Am I Stealing M's From Air Force One? by Dan Beckmann

Author:Dan Beckmann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Golfing With an Arnold Palmer

“It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.”

—Hank Aaron

When golfing legend Arnold Palmer turned 70, he wrote a book about it. I didn’t read it, but Matt Lauer did. Apparently, he liked it so much he decided to come to Florida to do a story.

By this time, I was a permanent freelancer for NBC. No longer staff, I was considered a “Permalancer.” I could turn down anything I wanted but, since I was getting the best assignments, I rarely did.

When New York called, they said, “We’ve got a nice, easy human interest piece for you.” Maybe, I thought. Though I was pretty sure the story was an excuse for Matt to play golf. Not that it mattered. I was going to shoot a story and a round of golf . . . with Arnold Palmer . . . and Matt Lauer.

We set up “Arnie’s” (a nickname his wife Winnie allowed me to call him) interview inside the clubhouse at Bay Hill, a golfing community outside Orlando. I couldn’t help but string out names together like clothes on a line.

“Winnie, Arnie, and Danny.”

I forgot Matt Lauer was even there at all. “Mattie” just didn’t seem to fit.

Tiger Woods was dominating the sport around this time and a new generation of younger golfers made headlines. I wasn’t much of a golf fan, but I pretended to be. What I knew were a few of the names; Tiger, of course. Arnold. Jack Nicklaus. Phil Mickelson. Payne Stewart. I am forever grateful to Matt Lauer for mentioning, during the pre-interview, that there was an Arnold/Jack rivalry. With my brain and mouth in constant disconnect, a great tragedy could have occurred right there in Bay Hill.

How strange that I always seemed to be where I know so little about whatever it is I’m supposed to know something about.

As we set up our lights, Arnie made sure we were all taken care of. Water, sandwiches, snacks. You name it. Whatever we needed, it was there for us. He was a gracious host and seemed genuinely interested in everything about me. Where I was from, how I liked being a cameraman, if I enjoyed golf. After a couple of minutes of talking, I felt as if I were the one being interviewed.

Matt Lauer is the same way. He’s a spot-on professional, a really nice guy, and is one of the best interviewers I’ve ever worked with. He has this uncanny knack for putting you at ease. And when he talks to you, you feel as if you’re the most important person in the room—the only person in the room. He’s the kind of guy you’d confess everything to. I wanted to tell him about a pack of gum I once swiped from a store as a teenager, just so I could get it off my chest. If I’d already taken the M&Ms from Air Force One, I’m sure the confession would have come spilling out.

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