"It would be an understatement to say he [Martin O'Malley] wasn't happy with the Lottery interruption that marred an outstanding live performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band," O'Malley chief of staff Michael Enright wrote lottery director Buddy Roogow this week.
"In short, our boss was not happy about the way we treated The Boss and viewers."
WBAL has said that it meant to scroll the results on the bottom of the screen, but there was some sort of mix-up, and the screen was split instead. In an interview shortly after the game, Roogow said he was as surprised as anyone.
"I'm a Springsteen fan, and I did cringe," he told me then. "I wish the drawing had been crawled."
But the governor, who fronts an Irish rock band and saw Springsteen in Washington in November 2007, wasn't taking "oops" for an answer.
As noted in the letter - obtained by The Baltimore Sun's Gadi Dechter - O'Malley was on the horn with Enright before Springsteen had even taken his bows. Enright had already spoken to Roogow by phone about it before following up in writing, the letter also indicates.
Among other things, Enright suggests doing away with the televised ping-pong drama altogether and just scrolling results.
In a phone interview yesterday, Roogow told me that might actually happen, at least on Sunday nights, the only night of the week when the lottery consistently elbows in on programming.
"I think we can generally look at that as a way to move forward, just scroll the numbers at the bottom of the screen," Roogow said.
At last, something a governor can accomplish even in the worst of economic times!
"I know this is not one of the most pressing policy issues facing either of us these days," Enright conceded, "but I would appreciate any other ideas you and your staff might have to address this intrusive practice."
In a P.S. at the bottom, Enright added: "In the interest of full disclosure, the Governor no doubt contacted me about this because I am perhaps the most passionate Springsteen fan in history."
Connect the dots
