Day 9

Winnipeg, Manitoba - It snowed again yesterday. And I mean it SNOWED. The city got pounded by strong winds and a driving snowstorm all day long. It's a good thing we were inside the Winnipeg Arena, avoiding all that cold and snow. It accumulated quite fast. By the time we wrapped our shooting day at 10pm there was over a foot of snow on the ground. I guess you'd call this a blizzard.

I doubt there will be a reader of this diary that won't recognize the scene we shot today at our version of IU's Assembly Hall.

There are sports moments that are frozen in time and become iconic images. With the mention of a name these images immediately rush forward, like the Steel Curtain against a weak offensive line. Kirk Gibson and the home run swing in the '88 World Series. Joe Montana and the touchdown toss to Dwight Clark that became "the catch." Wayne Gretzky, fists pumping in the air, after breaking Gordie Howe's scoring record.

When you say Bobby Knight, you think of THE CHAIR. That indelible image of Knight hurling that red chair across the floor, watching it skid past the Purdue player, bouncing and skipping as it heads for the other sideline.

That's what we shot today. From every imaginable angle. I had to hurl that poor little red seat over and over. It was much easier for Knight - he only had to throw it once.

As I repeated this now infamous action over and over it occurred to me how lucky Knight was that the chair didn't hit anyone. Upset, because his team was down early against Purdue, Coach Knight exploded when a Hoosier was hit with a questionable foul call. As the Purdue player stepped towards the free throw line the chair began its cross-court journey. How it didn't him or another player or a ref or anyone on the other sideline is a minor miracle.

It's one thing to be recreating a real person, which I have done before (serial killer John Wayne Gacy and Detective Jack Reed for example), it's quite another to be acting out a moment as famous as Knight's chair throwing. It's like time travel. Suddenly you are there - falling into a film clip and becoming the image.

And I get to do it all again on Monday in front of an arena full of people.

Until tomorrow...

Past Diaries

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8