AUGUST 27, 1996
| For Openers | Best/Worst of Times | No Fuzz Face |
| Injection Reaction | Suits | Tall Ones |

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For Openers
The consensus among reporters here on "radio row" is the Democrats' first night outdid their Republican counterparts' first night. The highlight was the appearance of former Reagan Press Secretary James Brady who walked to the podium with his wife, Sarah, who has since become a gun control activist. It wasn't lost on the convention that both are Republicans but have broken with the GOP when it comes to guns.

Best /Worst of Times
Our working conditions are much worse, yet much better than San Diego. At the convention center in San Diego, radio reporters wrote and produced their stories in hallways upstairs from the proceedings. It was often difficult to get a feel for what was going on. Here in Chicago, we're squeezed into the radio press box with four or five of us occupying space usually reserved for one sportswriter. It's difficult working conditions, and yet when James Brady made his emotional walk to the podium, I couldn't think of a better place to be, and I tried to soak in the emotion of the United Center. There isn't another place I'd rather be this week. Frankly, I couldn't say that earlier in the day. After a day of covering events downtown, I arrived at the United Center to feed my Wednesday morning story back to St. Paul in time to hear saxophonist Kenny G rehearse, and rehearse .... And rehearse. Thirty minutes of Kenny G playing the same song. There wasn't another place I'd rather not be this week.

No Fuzz Face
My suspicions about the profile of the Chicago Police Department in this hall have proven to be correct. There are NO Chicago police officers anywhere on the floor, or even in the walkways to the main hallways. It's clear someone, somewhere, decided that ­ unlike 1968 ­ the Chicago cops aren't going to get any face time at THIS convention.

Injection Reaction
Audrey Melzer of Hanska had to struggle to catch the beginning of the Convention. This was her first Convention but when she left her seat to get an injection of insulin, security forces wouldn't let her back into the arena for more than a half hour. She made it in time for the night's highlights, however.

Suits
Forget about the laid-back Secret Service. In San Diego, the Secret Service was bedecked in golf shirts and hats and even exhibited a personality. Nobody got hurt, no security was violated. But in Chicago, it's back to the button down, dark suit, no-smile look.

Tall Ones
Best fundraiser of the week: Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson is hosting a fundraiser for New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley at Michael Jordan's restaurant. Those are three pretty fair hoopsters! Jackson played on the Knicks with Bill Bradley in the early 1970s. Jordan plays around here someplace.

Incidentally, cooler heads prevailed when overzealous security wonks decided to cover the Michael Jordan statue outside. They were afraid the number of delegates anxious to see it would present "a security problem." Someone finally decided the idea was dumb, and the statue is drawing a large crowd, but so far anarchy seems to have been avoided.

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