Disclaimer

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A monitor shows some trainers holding up T.J. Clay. His championship belt fits loosely around his waist, but so perfectly. Dan appears on the live feed.

Dan: (on-air) T.J. Clay, a 6-to-1 underdog, has upset Hector Rivera in what has to be one of the greatest fights in the heavyweight division. Let's go down to ringside, where Bobbi Bernstein is standing-by.

Bobbi: (on-air) Thanks, Dan. I'm standing here with the referee, Max Boudreau. Was there a point where you felt you might need to stop the fight because of the cut over Clay's right eye?

A Bobbi points her microphone toward the referee, a hand comes from nowhere and grasps the microphone.

"An unbelievable finish! Who would have thought this southpaw from the other side of the tracks could fight this way!"

Jeremy: He's not a southpaw.

Chuck "The Cut Man" Kimmel wrestles away the microphone.

Dana: Somebody shoot him!

"Cut Man": (on-air) In all my years, I haven't seen a boxer so overmatched to overcome all odds and prevail the way he has in this decision. This is boxing at its finest! Bring back Ali! Bring back Dempsey! Bring back Louis and Sugar Ray! Bring back-

The "Cut Man's" speech is cut off by a swarm of police officers. The monitor switches over to Dan's disturbed reaction.

Dan: (on-air) Okay, that was Chuck "The Cut Man" Kimmel, who I suppose we'll be seeing for the final time this evening. We'll check back with Bobbi Bernstein in a few moments.

Dan continues his coverage as Dana continues to snap pencils inside the control room.

Dana: I'm going to kill him. I swear to god, I'm going to kill him. (snaps another pencil)

Jeremy: Um, that's a pen.

Dana: What?

Dana looks down to discover black ink all over her hands. She throws down the broken ends of the pen.

Dana: I'm going to strangle him, beat him, kill him, and beat him again. Err-aah!

Elliott walks into the control room carrying several pieces of paper.

Dana: Elliot? Find where they are holding "Cut Man," and let me know so I can go down and pummel him.

Elliott: Something strange is happening.

Dana: What now?!

Elliott: We're receiving tons of e-mail about Chuck.

Dana: Great! Now I'll probably be fielding complaints about this as we turn into the laughingstocks of cable sports! The FCC is probably going to come down hard on us!

Elliott: Actually, they are positive.

Dana: The FCC?!

Elliott: The e-mails.

Dana: What?!

Dana snatches the papers from Elliott's hands. She begins reading some of them.

Elliott: You have ink on your hands.

Dana: Hush.

Dana begins to laugh hysterically. The rest of the crew begins to laugh. They suddenly stop laughing when Dana stops.

Dana: So, let me get this straight. We're getting tons of e-mail because a mad man broke loose at the arena and momentarily took over our broadcast?

Elliott: Apparently so.

Dana: Well, isn't that just spiffy.

Dana tries to hand back the ink-covered papers to Elliott.

Elliott: You can keep them.

Dana shakes her head.

Dana: Has this world gone completely insane?! I'll tell you, I'd never thought I'd see the day when a total nut ball is the toast of the boxing world! Can somebody please explain this to me?!

Dana looks around the room.

Dana: Where's Natalie?

Kim: She stepped out.

-----

Dan: (on-air) That's going to do it for me, Dan Rydell. Let's leave you with some final comments from Ted Corcoran and Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini.

The red light disappears over the camera, and Dan breathes a sigh of relief. He loosens his bow tie and slips off his jacket. He takes a look at the nearly empty arena and sees some people he has familiarized himself with this evening. He sees the father and son standing next to the ring.

-----

Dana knocks on the closed door to her office. She opens the door into the darkened room, and she can hear sobbing.

Dana: Natalie?

Natalie: :::sniff::: Close the door please.

Dana steps inside and closes the door behind her. She turns on the light to find Natalie curled up on the couch.

Natalie: :::sniff::: I'm sorry about tonight. I understand if you have to fire me. :::sniff:::

Dana walks over and sits next to Natalie. She gently places a hand on the grieving associate producer.

Dana: What happened?

Natalie: We broke up.

Dana: Oh... I'm so sorry, Natalie.

Natalie: It's okay. It's not like I really didn't see this coming. I mean, he wants to be out in L.A., and I don't. :::sniff:::

Dana gets up, reaches for a box of tissues on her desk, and hands them to Natalie. Natalie pulls out three tissues to wipe away her tears.

Dana: You made the right decision, Natalie.

Natalie: How do you know?

Dana: Because it was your decision.

Natalie tries to crack a smile.

Natalie: It doesn't feel like the right decision.

Dana: Give it some time.

Natalie: What if... :::sniff::: what if this is my last chance at love?

Dana: It's not.

Natalie: Maybe I've been looking for Mr. Right or Mr. Perfect, and there really is no such thing as Mr. Right or Mr. Perfect.

Dana: Just give it some time, Nat.

Natalie: What if this was my last chance at true love? What if I just threw it all away? I don't want to be seventy years old in my house all alone. I don't want to die alone and have the neighbors discover my body three days later because of the stench of it rotting away.

Dana: Now you're being gross.

Natalie: I'm serious, Dana. How do you know?

Dana: I don't think you know until you really know.

Natalie: What if Michael was the best thing for me? What if he was going to provide the best opportunity for me to be happy and successful?

Dana: He wasn't.

Natalie: How do you know?

Dana: Because you provide yourself with the best opportunity to be happy and successful.

Natalie wipes away her remaining tears.

Natalie: You have Casey.

Dana: Yes.

Natalie: Isaac has Esther.

Dana: Yes.

Natalie: Dan has JoAnne.

Dana: Yes.

Natalie: Jeremy has teenage naked stripper girl.

Dana: I don't think so.

The two share a lighthearted laugh.

Dana: Hey. Do you want to go grab some cake?

Natalie: What about the post-fight party?

Dana: Eh. You've been to one, you've been to them all.

Natalie: Can we get some wine?

Dana: Sure, and maybe one day we can go out and try on some silly hats.

Natalie: I would like that.

Dana gets up and lends Natalie a hand. Dana puts her arm around Natalie's shoulders and the two leave the office.

-----

Dan is walking along ringside. His tuxedo jacket is flung across his shoulder as he casually strolls along, walking by a dozen people plus several security guards. He sees the father watching his son run around the ring. The young boy rolls around on the floor.

Son: He was laying right here!

The father laughs as the security crew is amused by the son's reaction.

Dan approaches the father.

Dan: Hi. I'm Dan Rydell.

The father is surprised to see Dan speaking to him.

Father: You're Dan Rydell from "Sports Night."

Dan: Yeah. Some fight, wasn't it?

Father: It's been a great night.

Dan: That's your son?

Father: My pride and joy.

Dan: Were you two going home after this?

Father: Yeah. Why?

Son: Dad?! These ropes are strong!

The young boy tugs on the ropes.

Father: Be careful.

Dan pulls out some invitations from his jacket pocket.

Dan: With it being Friday night, and I'm assuming tomorrow isn't a school day, I was wondering if you two would like to attend the post-fight party.

Father: The party?

Dan: Yeah. There's going to be celebrities and people from sports. You can grab a bite to eat and talk with these people. You two might even be able to meet and shake hands with the new champ.

Father: That would be awesome.

Dan holds out the two invitations.

Dan: Here's the two invites.

Father: You're not joking, are you?

Dan: The invitations are legit. You two go and have a good time.

The father takes the invitations.

Father: I don't know how to thank you.

Dan: You don't. Just go and have a good time with your son.

Father: Thank you so very much.

The father reaches out and firmly shakes Dan's hand.

Dan smiles and starts to walk away.

Father: Hey, let's go! Do you want to go a party and meet the new champion?!

Son: Oh yeah!

The son hurries to the edge of the ring, and his father gives him a hand down. The father shows his son the two invitations to the post-fight party. Dan doesn't look back and walks toward a tunnel.

"Need some tickets to the party?"

Dan turns to see a very familiar face.

Dan: You got some?

Casey: Dana had to back out at the last-minute. Something came up.

Dan: Oh. I just gave away my invites.

Casey: I saw.

Dan: It's been a long day, and I'm pretty tired, so I didn't think I would be able to go.

Casey: It was a nice gesture to give the invitations away.

Dan: Yeah. They were just hanging around after the fight. I just happened to have two invites on me.

Casey: You want to go grab a beer?

Dan: Sure.

Dan and Casey start walking down the tunnel.

Casey: I heard you had a run-in with "Cut Man."

Dan: Yeah. He's some kind of crazy.

Casey: I heard he's pretty wily. He got away from security and was able to get down to ringside.

Dan: That's "The Cut Man" for you.

Casey: Yeah.

Dan: The network even called down and had security release him after his brush with Bobbi.

Casey: Really?

Dan: Yeah, and he was able to score some tickets to the party. Bobbi gave him the two she had.

Casey: Who's he going to take?

Dan: I don't know. Probably Miss Rochester.