Earlier today, Enrico posted a few pics from Charlie Manuel's Appearance on NBC's The 10! Show. Now, the great photog who snapped those and many of the Phillies shots you regularly see featured on The700Level, Serena Thaw, shares her perspectives of a fan who got to sit in the audience for the taping. Here's what Serena had to say:
After a horrible, stressful, rain-soaked ride to Bala Cynwyd during rush hour, we arrived at The 10! Show studio for the taping. They teased us with anticipation, but they were smart and saved Charlie until the end. During a few of the commercial breaks, I could see him behind the curtain, waiting to come on. He looked great!
Posing with Cholly, originally uploaded by Harpo42.
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There were quite a few fans in the studio audience, and one young boy was even sporting an awesome baseball Yarmulke. Charlie came out on the set to massive applause (well, as much as an audience of 30 or so people can muster) and was soon opening his jacket to show off the "about 52 pounds" that he had lost so far. He professed his admiration for NutriSystem, and explained how easy the program was to follow. At this point, I was praying for some audience Q&A so I could ask him if last year's Charlie Manuel bobble head doll was any sort of inspiration or motivation, but alas - no such luck.
Eventually, the talk turned to baseball, and the recent changes in the pitching staff. Charlie said he loved the moves and that is when Bill Henley interjected, while they flashed some footage of Cliff Lee on the screen.
"Wait a minute... you love (the pitching moves)?" Bill asked.
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Charlie said he had spoken to Cliff Lee just after he was traded to Seattle and that "he was disappointed about it. He wanted to stay here."
When pressed about whether or not Charlie himself could have done anything to keep Cliff Lee, he responded: "I'm just like you. I work for someone. I voiced my opinion, and I can voice it loud sometimes, but that doesn't always mean I win."
As quickly as it started, it was over and Charlie was waving goodbye. He did not stick around until the show was over, so there was no chance to ask him my all-important bobble head doll question. I did, however, get on camera for what felt like a good two minutes but was probably only about 30 seconds. It was long enough for me to point to my Phillies shirt and yell, "Woooo! Go Phillies!" and have my boyfriend come in from off camera and kiss me so I blushed. I am certain, with no doubt at all in my mind, that I looked like a complete tool.
The experience did end with free sliders (from the cooking segment), free football cookies (from the Super Bowl party segment) and free movie passes ("When in Rome"), so all in all it was a great morning. You can see the entire Charlie Manuel segment here:
(you can hear Serena yell "Woooo!" in the background a few times too.) Thanks, Serena!
Just-in-time-for-this-post video via TheFightins.