NESN’s Frede savors, covers Red Sox triumph

BOSTON – Like other longtime Boston Red Sox fans, Eric Frede was living a dream Saturday as he broadcast live from the intersection of Dartmouth and Boylston Streets during Boston’s victory parade for the World Series champion Sox.

Unlike most other Sox fans, Frede had a prime viewing spot for the proceedings on a cool, overcast, misty and drizzly day.

“Hey, the weather’s beautiful,” Frede said with a chuckle. “It’s warmer than the Patriots’ rally.”

It was only 7:30 a.m. – a lot earlier than the former Bangor television sportscaster is used to being on the air – but time really wasn’t much of a concern, even for a self-described, sleep-deprived sportscaster.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but you know what? If it goes from 6:30 this morning to 6:30 tomorrow morning, that’s great,” Frede said. “We stopped counting hours a long time ago. Now we’re just savoring the moment.”

Frede was one of 3.2 million people savoring the moment as what seemed like the entire city of Boston and much of New England swarmed the streets on and around the 4-mile parade route to pay respects to the team that ended Beantown’s 86-year World Series title drought.

“On a professional level, it’s the biggest story I’ll ever cover and it’s historic,” Frede said. “It’s been an incredible amount of fun.”

The 37-year-old Danbury, Conn., native joined the New England Sports Network staff last year and now works as a SportsDesk anchor, Red Sox field reporter, host of Red Sox Rewind and a play-by-play announcer for Boston College football.

Before that, Frede worked for Fox Sports Net New England; WMUR TV in Manchester, N.H.; and Bangor TV station WVII (Channel 7). Frede was sports director at WVII for almost two years.

“I’ve been down here since 1995. The mood has been totally joyous down here,” Frede said. “And to steal a phrase from Rick Pitino, the negativity in this town is gone. It doesn’t suck.

“I bump into people, doing my fans-in-the-stands segments, who are there with their 95-year-old fathers, and I see the passion. They wanted to see it in their lifetimes and now they are. I feel good for those people.”

Still, celebratory mood aside, it’s almost appropriate that some hardened Sox fans are already talking about next year.

“I can’t believe it, but some people are saying ‘What about next year?’, but I say why can’t you enjoy this and just enjoy the fact you have this right now?” Frede said.

No wardrobe malfunctions

Don Mischer Productions, Emmy Award-winning producer of the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, has been chosen by the NFL to produce the Super Bowl XXXIX halftime show.

Mischer Productions, which also produced Super Bowl XXVII’s halftime show, also produced the Emmy Awards show last September and the Democratic Convention in Boston in August.

This season’s Super Bowl will be played Sunday, Feb. 6.

Althought Mischer’s last Super Bowl halftime production featured Michael Jackson, it’s a safe bet that the second one won’t feature Jackson’s wardrobe-challenged younger sister Janet, who got into trouble for a “malfunction” last February.

More Celtic coverage

The Boston Celtics radio network membership list is still only three stations long in Maine, but Bangor all-sports station WZON (620 AM) aired the Celtics’ regular season-opener Wednesday night and may pick up a few more broadcasts through the season, as long as the station’s broadcast schedule – and the Celtics -permit.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.