From BALCO to Bonds

Aug. 8, 2007 — -- There was something symmetrical about the beginning and the end of my first three-year contract as a journalist with ABC News. I began with BALCO and finished with Barry Bonds.

After arriving in New York, in the fall of 2004, my first story for ABC was an investigation into the steroids and sports scandal. The story featured an exclusive interview with Victor Conte, the San Francisco-based nutritionist who was president of BALCO and who told me he supplied performance enhancing drugs to Olympic star Marion Jones (who earned five medals at the Sydney Games in 2000) and the fastest man on earth, world record holder at 100 meters, Tim Montgomery. I had also obtained calendars that Conte said showed how and when Jones and Montgomery used the drugs.

Marion Jones denied the allegations and filed a $25 million defamation suit against Conte about the statements he made to me. The lawsuit was later settled on undisclosed terms. Tim Montgomery retired from track after receiving a two year doping ban.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2007. It's Tuesday night and, just as the "Nightline" titles rolled at 11:35 p.m., studio director Jeff Winn told me that he would keep an eye on the feed of the Giants game from AT&T Park in San Francisco and would issue information and instructions as necessary. The entire country was waiting to see whether Bonds would break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs.

"You focus on the current lineup," said Jeff, "and I'll update you. … But I think you should know — I'm feeling lucky tonight."

Although a largely unassuming and restrained character, Jeff becomes something akin to a seasoned tank commander when the show is live. His words are always carefully judged, precise and without equivocation.

I have learned to trust him entirely in every situation, such as last week when we broke into the network's primetime programming and delivered a special report on the Minneapolis bridge collapse and when we extended "Nightline" to an hour after Seung-Hui Cho brought murderous mayhem to Virginia Tech University.

Tuesday night's show started with my report about a place called Ave Maria, a new town being built on former swampland in Florida. At the heart of the new community are a massive church and university, both of them paid for and bequeathed by Tom Monaghan, the founder and former CEO of Domino's Pizza.

As Monaghan started to explain why he had turned his back on business and invested all his money in a kind of Catholic heaven on Earth, Jeff explained that Bonds was looking hungry for Aaron's record, even though he'd doubled and singled his first two times at-bat.

"He'll be up again soon," said Jeff, "but let's keep going to Neal Karlinsky in Utah."

Tragically, my ignorance of baseball meant that I had to keep asking how Jeff could anticipate Bonds' next appearance at the plate. In cricket, a sport I played and understood, each batsman would arrive in the order as stipulated; they would score, eventually be "out" and that would be the end of their batting performance. But not with baseball …

We went to our first commercial break and returned with a live link to my colleague Neal, who was reporting from Huntington, Utah, where six miners remain trapped underground. Neal introduced his own piece, which would run for just more than three minutes. As his commentary drew to a close, Jeff, in the usual detached and measured tones, informed me that Bonds was preparing to take strike.

He also put the output from San Francisco up on our giant studio screen so that I could take a look, immediately before continuing with the broadcast.

"We'll double-box you with Neal on the 'return' and 'thank you.' … Then I'll let you know where to go," he said.

As Neal wrapped his story live, we were put in double boxes and I was due to thank him and then promote our next story before going to our second commercial. Then, just as Neal started speaking, Jeff cut in and said, "He's done it. … He's hit the magic number: 756. Go with it and I'll follow you to commercial."

Without any script, I thanked Neal and then moved from concern for the miners to celebratory tones. "And we have breaking news out of San Francisco. He's done it! Barry Bonds has hit home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron's 33-year record. We'll be right back."

"OK," said Jeff. "Good work. … Now let me tell you what I want next," he explained during a short commercial.

"We'll come to you and I want you to give me the news again and then stop. I'll then cut to the actual pictures and commentary of Bonds hitting the run and running the bases. At some point, probably after about 20 seconds, I want you to pick up again and lead us back to the studio where you can introduce David Kerley's piece about the background to Bonds' achievement. You OK with that?"

"Sure …" I said. No script, no idea of the pictures or sound quality, but I'd checked the news wires during the commercial and was ready to follow the tank commander.

The red light came on and I announced the news of Bonds' record-breaking achievement. I stopped after two sentences and could hear and see pictures of Bonds swinging his bat.

"Hold there," said Jeff.

The pictures were mesmerizing. The crowd was standing and screaming, the scoreboard lit up with the number 756 and the commentators roared breathlessly as Bonds sauntered around the bases. As he came back to the plate and was greeted by his family, Jeff came on, "Standby to go again."

I nodded.

"And go," he said. And so I picked up the story once again, speaking to the camera before introducing a piece by David Kerley that examined the way Bonds has split sports fans between those who love him and hate him.The segment came to a close and I reminded viewers that Bonds had hit the record-breaking home run and we went off to our final commercial.

On most nights we usually plan to promote the next day's broadcast toward the end of the show, but on Tuesday senior producer Michael Baltierra said, "Let's scrap the promo and go back one more time over the Bonds story. We'll come back after commercial and you can draw the show to a close, repeat Bonds' record-breaking hit and then we'll play out on the pictures. OK?"

"Sure," I said, quickly trying to think of some phrasing that would not be repetitive.

We were quickly back after the commercial. I announced Bonds' achievement and then left the audience with pictures of his hit over the fencing and the final embrace of his family. "For all of us at ABC News, congratulations to him and good night."

And so, after three years at ABC, the whole story came full circle. The debate about Bonds will continue for the foreseeable future: Does he deserve the record? Did he knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs? Should his achievements be marked by an asterisk?

These are questions for others, particularly those in positions of authority within Major League Baseball. For us, at "Nightline," it was simply gratifying to be first with the news and to deliver a timely broadcast. Thanks to Jeff, the tank commander.