Moments After Troy Smith Won The Heisman . . .

I was chillin' at home watching the beginning of the Heisman Trophy Presentation Saturday night when it hit me that perhaps the show would be playing on one of the big Times Square screens. So I put a hat over my hair that hasn't been shampooed since Friday morning, put on the jeans that I wore most of the day yesterday and today, and jumped on the 4 to Grand Central.

Watch The Low-Quality Video Below

Underneath my Victorinox puffer jacket was a lambswool V-neck sweater over a long-sleeve T-shirt. Running from Grand Central to Times Square made me regret wearing the heavy layers, even in what's quickly becoming a miserably cold NYC winter.

I got on the set at about 8:40 p.m., and couldn't see anything Heisman, so I asked a cop where he thought I might be able to see Troy Smith become the latest Ohio State Buckeye to earn the prestigious award. He suggested I duck into Hard Rock, which I did.

I ran down the steps and saw a long line just to get in the restaurant, so I ran back up, waited for a security dork to turn his back, stepped over the red velvet rope and went down the same stairs, but on the apparently exclusive side.

It turned out the party I crashed was the media room, where scribes and TV pretties were awaiting first the announcement that Smith had won, then the arrival of the three finalists. Yes, without a credential around my neck, but with sweat pouring down my back, a frat-boy looking ski hat, four days of facial hair, dirty blue jeans and tennis shoes -- I looked like House of Pain -- I was waiting for Troy Smith, Brady Quinn and Darren McFadden to arrive.

And below is some of what I captured with my Canon PowerShot G5. If I'm going to start doing video (the one below takes a moment to buffer; please be patient!), I must get a better gadget. Enjoy anyway.



One last thing, and Dave Thomas will love this because we like to ridicule the large percentage of television reporters and anchors who have their high-profile jobs because of their looks rather than qualifications; A New York sports reporter opened his live, one-on-one interview with runner-up Darren McFadden by asking, "Darren, what are your thoughts on pulling off the surprise that many of us thought was going to happen?" Fucking moron.