flight risk. all right, then. thanks to chief pope, we are in business. yeah. all thanks to pope. um [clearsrshroat] since i'm here, why don't we just, very quickly, establish some ground rules, okay? okay. okay. i think, as a general@policy, fewer things will go wrong if we all agree, from this moment on, to be completely honest with each other. how about this? i swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me god. so -- so help me god.

>> announcer: this is the steele report. >> ron: this week on the steele

cover the hawkeyes at the rose bowl. of course, the outcome of the game was a shocker to so many, but the experience was unforgettable tort tens of thousands of iowans who made the trip to pasadena. the though begins right now. captioning provided by caption associates, llc www.captionassociates.com >> announcer: now from kwwl, this is the steele report. [ cnting ] >> ron: quite a sound in the rose bowl. you can hear the loyal hawkeye fans still voicing support moments after the crushing 45-16 rose bowl defeat atat the hands of the stanford card false. i thought this was quite moving, hawkeye players hand in hand showing their unwavering team unity as they left the playing field and headed back to at would be a very quiet hawkeye locker room. welcome this week's edition of the steele report. i'm ron steele along withth mark woodley to talk about the experience of covering the 102nd rose bowl. i had the prim of joining him

our crew for an exciting week of live coverage here on kwwl. >> we had a great crew. scott albanese, zach grant and brad hanson joint me and ron in pasadena. scott normally produces the 10:00 newscast and also produces in program. brad is stationed in our newsroomn dubuque and you'll hear from them later in today's show. >> ron: mark, let me ask you, first of all, aside from the result of the game itself, which was shocking to say the least, what words come to mind when you think about covering an event like this, kind of for all of us, kind of a once in a lifetime event? i know it's my first rose bowl. talking about covering thats at days leading up to the spectacle. >> mark: you mentioned it earlier, i was there for nine days. there's a lot of work that goes go something like this. people think we're on vacation, we hear it from our coworkers every single day and i mentioned, you know, if you're going to be working somewhere in december and january, southern

we dot to follow the -- got to follow thh team around to me great events. of course, i got there on christmas day. >> ron: the hawkeye team of '82 went out two weeks earlier and this team went out early, but you left -- >> i left on christmas day. they left on christmas e. a nice spot out on the west coast. i arrived on christmas day and had chance to follow coaches and team players all week long. >> ron: having some fun there at the cedar rapids airport. good or bad, the fact is there are many, many distractions for both teams in peace dena and you have to -- pass dena and you have to wonder what kind of impact that has on players by game day. >> mark: is focus is on the game itself. sunday after christmas, they paid a visit to disneyland in nearby anaheim and i asked them about these types of events and whether or not it was a distraction.

of a break and along those lines, both teams go through the same routine, both in the same boat, and those events leading up to game time, they're really a big, big part of actually what makes the rose bowl experience special. >> ron: because this is a fetime experience for those players and staff too. some of the hawkeye staff have been there before. now, the hawkeyes practiced early in the week. do you know how many times theyey actually practiced practiced, how many times in pads and how many times did you the media t toatch them? >> mark: we were allowed to be theretwice. as yououightexpect, it was the first 15 minutes before they really got into the meat of the workout and the game ptanning. i was first practicing in california on christmas dada and per the normal routine, i know they did take off at least one day before the game. they had a brief chance to get into the stadium the night before, but fob the most part, ey stuck to the normal game week schedule. that part was a little bit different. >> ron: that has worked all year long, that's for sure.

but even when they went to indianapolis, they had an opportunity to go through a walk-through on the field the day before in indianapolis, the big 10 championship. they chose not to do it. the rose bowl, they had a picture beforehand and they were kind of forced to do it thisis time around. ron: safe to say one of the busiest members of our crew was reporter brad hanson. he is normally, as mark mentioned, stationed in dubuque newsroom in the media ilding downtown, so o o the rose bowl trip, he was all over town thanks to our live reporting technology which really allowed us to go live to more than just one location. let's get brad's thoughts s his trip to pasadena. >> brad: guys, it's good to be back from california, although still trying to adjust to that weather difference. the one big takeaway that i had from this trip really is that there are no better fans than hawkeye fans. while mark and zach and ron, you guys were doing a lot with the actual footbtbl team and around the game, i got to spend my week among the fans, different places

thing about los angeles, it's so spread out, you wouldn't -- you would think it might be a little bit harderto find some fans, but that really wasn't the case. we sent some time at the santa monica pier, an absolututy beautifufulocation on monday. four days before the game, still no trouble finding hawkeye fans there. we also talked to people at a beanery bar there in downtown santa monica that's an iowa bar. a couple of fans around there early monday, but it those you the dedication that -- shows you the dedication that fans we out there that early in the week. they were able to take off that much time of work to go to the rose bowl and experience everything around it. the highlight of my week for sure had to be my two trips to the uss iowa battleship, the first on tuesday. i got an actual tour of the ship down into at one point below the water level, all the way up top as well, and all around the ship. you know, as a marine corps veteran, that was a special

i never actually got on a ship while i was active duty, so this was a pretty cool chance for me to get a look at alal of that. we also talk to some hawkeye fans, too, it's free admission for any iowa residents, so there were some hawkeye fans out there, but thursday we went back -- they had a pep rally out there and it was just incredible. by noon, they had set the single day attendance record and just about 15- to 20,000 fans out there all day long having a great time, some touring the ship. a lot of people just staying on land, just happy to be in the presence of so many others. the night before, wednesday, we had done the hawkeye huddle and saw plenty of spans out there, about 20,000 in the convention center. even tom arnold, that was a need experience. friday before the actual rose

around all the tailgating lots and what a special atmosphere that was, unlike anything i've ever experienced. people were xcited, so unfortunate the game went the way it did, but people were so excited to be out there and black and gold outnumbered the stanford cardinal fans probably ten to one and that's no exaggeration. obviously the rose bowl didn't go the way you would have like, but it was still an absolute blast to be out there. thanks to all the hawkeye fans we ran into this week that were so happy to talk to us, and not only being on camera, but the ones we talked to off camera. i spent more timethis week getting to know hawkeye fans and had a blast. thank you for such an incredible experience. >> ron: brad, thanks very much. interesting he's never been on a ship before because he served our country in afghanistan. thanks to his hard work in pass is a zeen na. brad said hawkeye spans were so gracious and fun to be around

pep rally. great job by jeff heeter and everybody at the alumni association at the university of iowa, and this had to b special for so many of you on one of those university of iowa alumni association tours. the final press conference before the game, a question came up about recruiting, and the coach delivered whwh would be a classic line, a true statement. he said when the hawkeyes go shopping, they don't get to go to the`gourmet store, so that was telling. they w we going after our- anan five-star recruits, tough to get them to come to iowa city, but that new facility is going to make all the difference in the world. you u id you thought thecoach seemed a lot more comfortable in these settings than we'd ever heard him before? >> mark: he's the newkirk, right. he mentioned earlier in the season that he wenen back and watch some of the old press

way he looked and came off and reacted. he kind of changed some things about limbs. it is the new kirk. they moved practices from the afternoon to the morning. the players seem to love it and he seems more comfortable. going back to january, he named c.j. bessard the starter right after the season. that's something he hasn't done before. >> ron: we're going to take a short break and we'll be on

program airs here on the m >> ron: d welcome back to this week's edition o othe steele report. i'm ron steele with mark woodley. we're recapping kwwl rose bowl coverage from pasadena. a tremendous experience, hawkeyes going back there for the first time in 25 years. every day out there was really special, but one day which i really enjoyed was thursday. that was new year's eve day and we got kind of an unexpected surprise that morning when an evevt came up that we weren't planning on attending. >> mark: we got a schedule at the beginning of the week and this was not on it. we didn't think the team was going to see the stadium until game day, but we found out that they werergoing to take a team photograph the day before the game. we were welcomed to tag along. of course, we did exactly that.

at the rose bowl stadium to the cheers ofhawkeye fans who were just outside the stadium with all their cameras. they had flocked to the rose bowl in droves just to see some of the sights and sounds of this very carnival like atmomohere surrounding that iconic rose bowl structure. the players and coached lined up for the team photo, really seemed to be enjoying very moment of their pre-game trip. the players getting out their cameras as well. not just getting their picture taken. they got on to the playing field fothe very first time, just a little more than 24 hours before the rose bowl kickoff, which would happen later on friday afternoon. now, among those greeting the hawkeyes, that was pass is a broghammer. he has a special connection to an iowa linebacker. he is also from decorah and a distant relative of josie's. you might recognize his name because he was a member of iowa fps 1982 rose bowl team under then coach hey deny frye. >> we came out a couple weeks

is a dena and practiced at -- pasadena and practiced at citrus college, so yeah, it was a great time. never been to california in my life prior to that, so -- and now i'm here living here. >> mark: bill says he didn'' get a chance to play a down in the 1982 rose bowl. he got to run on the field and about. certainly a lifetime experience for him and the other members of that iowa 1982 rose bowl team. bad weather delayed your flight. i was able to fly out early on christmas day. i had no problems whatsoever. as for scott, zach and brad, they had to drive. >> ron: they had to drive and they were willing to do so. they did run out of gas on the way back, i understand, but they actually drove two kwwl vehicles from here in iowa to pass is a dena, including our brand-neww satelllle truck that allows us to report literally from anywhere in the world and we

reporting capabilities and that's called the live-u. i asked zach grant to tell you about those live reporting capabilities and for his thoughts on the week inpeace dena. >> zach: that's right, our producer scott albanese, brad hanson and i drove the satellite truck to sunny california. the trip probably took around 30 hours, but who's kpting. driving the sat truck gives us the opportunity to go live from just about anywhere on earth. the first step is you put this dish up in the air and you find the satellite we're going to use. once you have identifieded the satellite, we have specific coordinates that natural up with -- match up with what they have at the station. then it's a simple phone call away ban we're and ready toto go and in business. we brought the live view backpack with us. that's a new technology that cellular signal. to transport. you plug it into the camera and

bottom and you're broadcasting. this gaveve us the opportunity to o be live at two locations in california. one of the places i went to was hollywood. we tried to hit as many toururty spots as we could. the walk of fame was something need to see. i had to for the one of my favorite rock bands queen into the stand-up. one of the other days that stood out was media day. i've been to a few, but nothing like this. the entire iowa roster was made available to the media, which is interesting because kirk usually lass -- has a policy wsh freshmen cannot talk to the medias. i've never seen a room so full of players and coaches. they say the lights are brighter at the rose bowl and there wass certrtnly a sign of that. >> ron: overall, how would you describe your experience? >> zach: i think it was easily one wf the greatest things i've ever done in my professional career. i wish the game would have went better for the hawkeyes, that

other than that, the weather, everything dn there was absotely spectacularar >> ron: : anks very much. zach ggrant. you know, there's a picture of bob brooks in there interviewing someone. i think bob has been to every rose bowl that the hawkeyes have been in and he even covered -- he's been around for a long time. he's really the legendary sports broadcaster and so great to know that he was abe to make it -- able to make it out there once again. taking a show on the oad, that can be difficult. so we took five people, all told, including a producer, scott albanese, and you mentioned him arlier, ott produces the 10:00 news and he's's producing the show right now. we asked scott to give us his thoughts. >> scott: my job was dififrent out there, being the field producer. just kind of communicating with everyone, especially back here, just trying to get everyone on the same page, so basically, you know, when we wake up in the

>> pasadena definitely turned into the west. >> scott: we decide where everyone is going to go, going to turn, and i relay that back to the assignment producer back here. if things change, we can go ahead and change those later in the dayay, but i was going wherever i was needed, kind of the floater of the group. if brad needed me to go with him, i could help him, and certain days, i helped ron, mark and zamp in the sat truck -- zach in the sat truck. my big responsibility was putting together the road to the rose bowl show, trying to make that perfect. i was working on it for weeks. it's really just trying to get that good to go. i did also put together a package for that, kind of my first big story put together, so hopefully that turned out all

jeff, i'm going to float 8-10, move up 8-11. we're 20 seconds over. >> ron: normally you're back here in the high-definition control room attkwwl, so how is that different being not here in waterloo, but out in california? are different. me. i have the computer, the directors, other people in the newsroom here, versus out there, it's out in the middle o nowhere, so just trying to work the way you caca and the cocounication is the big part of that. communicating back here with my producers, jason pope and shannon and zach who i was working with mainly, just communicating with then, making sure everything is moving smoothly and staying on the same page. >> ron: this is called the briefly. >>cott: we put everything gether, make sure, you u know, everything flows nicely, especially with the two different sources zach talked about with the live view and the satellite truck. we were able t tdo a litttt bit

stations, experimenting with ron and mark tossing over to zach or brad, st switching it up a little bit, so it was kind of cool to work with different sources and, you know, just putting everything together. >> ron: can you put into words what the trip meant to you because you're young in the business, and this is a first big opportunity for you. >> scott: once in a lifetime opportunity. i've been in the business about 14 months now and this is one of the coolest things i'll ever get to do. it was a pretty amazing trip and i'm thankful for the opportunity and i hope to do it again sometime. >> mark: of course, ron, taking a show like this with as many people as we had involved, it's definitely a challenge, but a great opportunity and a lot of fun too. >> ron: certainly is. >> announcer: and they're ready to good big time. the -- go big time. the excitement of the crowd, the cheerleaders and the university of iowa hawkeye football team,