My new friend Gray, Jesse's gift, and a heartfelt text message

I swear this is true... at a particular moment Thursday evening, I was standing on the floor of Invesco Field. One of my coworkers at Studio 08 shouted something to me, and I responded in a loud voice, "Great!" At that exact moment, embattled former California Governor Gray Davis passed in front of me. He thought I had shouted, "Gray!" so he stopped in front of me, extended his hand, and said, "Hello!"

I recognized him, and I told him that I had said "Great!" not "Gray!" We shared the laugh, and he said that had happened to him a couple of times before. Then, perhaps because I had actually recognized him, he stopped, and we had a 10-minute conversation.

Thursday night was truly unbelievable – full of one-of-a-kind moments like that. If you were one of the 38 million people who tuned in to see Senator Barack Obama's historic speech, then you already know it was a pretty incredible night. You had to wonder what it would be like to be there in person. Let me tell you – it was like being in the perfect place, at the perfect time, and pinching yourself because you can't believe you're in the most important place on the planet at that exact moment.

I almost didn't go. I wasn't feeling well all morning, and since I had spent most of the week cordoned away from the action on the main floor of the Pepsi Center, I didn't feel like I'd miss much if I called in sick. I figured we'd be stuck in the Broncos locker room and I'd be watching the Obama speech on a television – the same way I'd watched all the rest of that week's big speeches.

In spite of the fact that I had the hottest ticket in town, I had blisters all over my feet, and I was over it. At the last minute, I decided that I didn't want to make my friend Kay look bad. She had gotten me this gig, and I was afraid if I bailed, she'd get some crap for it. So, I sucked it up, and I went.

Suffice it to say, I'm glad I did. Little did I know that our "studio" was not inside the guts of the stadium – it was outside, on the press risers, less than 150 feet away from the podium. I spent the entire evening with a clear, unobstructed view of all the action. Anderson Cooper wished he had my seat. Best of all, we only did about 10 interviews the entire evening, so we (the crew) were free to enjoy most of the action on the main stage. It was the ultimate reward for a week of tough, gruelling work.

I have never cheered the singing of the national anthem before, much less cheered three times DURING the damn song! But Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson sang the most kick-ass version I've ever heard. Live, no lip sync – J-Hud is the real deal, and she's lost a ton of weight. She looked awesome.

Sadly, I think Stevie Wonder found it. The man has to be 400 pounds. Poor guy. He sang "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" but didn't look like he was having a good night.

Al Gore's speech was a lot of fun, but my favorite was from an Indiana factory worker named Barney Smith. He wasn't a great speaker – actually, he was awful – but he had the best line of the night. "I want a president," he said, "who will put Barney Smith ahead of Smith Barney." The entire stadium roared. This poor redneck guy then tried to stammer through the rest of his short speech while the crowd, including me, shouted "Bar-ney! Bar-ney!"

You can bet that was the coolest moment of his life. 80,000 people shouting the name of an Indiana factory worker.

Pamela Cash Roper, the woman I mentioned in the previous blog who nicknamed my coworker Justin "Speckled Puppy," also gave a short speech. She was a total crackup, even as she told the story of her family's devastation that followed them losing their health insurance. "I'm a lifelong Republican," she said. "I voted for Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush One and Bush Two. But this year, I'm voting for Barack Obama, because I can't afford to vote Republican one more time."

I looked back at Justin, and we both broke out laughing.

At one point, I chatted with the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson as they waited next to me for a press interview. I'm not a big fan of either, but you have to admire Al's sense of humor. We were standing there, and I noticed Jesse's lapel pin for his organization, "Rainbow Push Coalition."

I told Mr. Jackson that I used to work for a non-profit called "PUSH," and we would always get calls meant for his organization. I motioned toward his lapel pin and said, "Your pin made me smile because it brought back the memory of how often I used to have to explain that Jesse Jackson could not be reached at this number."

Reverend Al turned to Jesse and said, "Give the man the pin!"

Jesse said, "No."

"Give the kid the damn pin!" Reverend Al insisted. Jesse, looking annoyed, reached over and took the pin off the lapel of one of his aides and handed it to me.

I thanked him. In light of what Jesse Jackson was caught saying about Barack Obama this campaign season, I was going to tell Al, "Careful he doesn't cut your balls off." But, I didn't do it.

When they showed the film preceding Obama's speech, the stadium was silent. I'm not kidding – the entire place froze and watched the various jumbo-trons. When he took the stage, it was pandemonium.

I won't lie and tell you that Obama's speech, itself, particularly moved me. It wasn't what he said, necessarily. I was swept up in the entire moment – the stadium, tears running down people's faces, the feeling shared by 80,000 people at that moment that we were witnessing something unprecedented.

At the end, when the Obama family took the stage together, the fireworks launched from the top of the stadium, and a confetti cannon exploded about 20 feet away from us, my tears came. I know it sounds cheesy, but the combo just pushed me over the edge. I pulled out my phone and texted, "Thank you, Kay, for one of the best nights of my life."