Sports has always been a big part of native New Orleanian Fletcher Mackel's life. The son of a professional golfer, Fletcher played baseball in high school at De La Salle and was the team captain of the Loyola University baseball team during his senior year.

Fletcher arrived at WDSU-TV as a sports anchor and reporter in the fall of 2002.

Since then, Fletcher has followed the LSU Tigers and Tulane Green Wave to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series four times and covered numerous college football bowl games, including the Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl and the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Fletcher played a huge role in WDSU's extensive coverage of the 2004 and 2008 Sugar Bowls in New Orleans when the LSU Tigers won NCAA National Championships.

He also traveled with the LSU men's basketball team through the NCAA regionals and to the Final Four in Indianapolis in 2006.

Fletcher closely covered the Hornets move to New Orleans in 2002 and has repeatedly kept viewers informed on the team's moves and actions. In 2008 Fletcher co-hosted a weekly show called the 'Playoff Buzz' which was dedicated to the Hornets post-season experience.

Possibly the most important sports story Fletcher covered in his time at WDSU was the 2006 Saints push to the NFL Play-Offs.

Fletcher was with the team at training camp in Jackson, Miss., co-anchored in depth sports shows as the Saints reopened the Louisiana Superdome in September of 2006 and traveled with the Saints to Chicago for the NFC Championship Game.

The news bug also briefly bit Fletcher during his time at WDSU. As part of the station's Hurricane Katrina coverage, Fletcher rode out the storm at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in Harvey and provided live, in-depth reports in the days and weeks following the storm.

He was part of the news team that hunkered down at WDSU for six weeks following the storm, sleeping in a news edit bay on a sleeping bag.

Prior to joining WDSU, Fletcher spent four years in Alexandria, La., working for NBC affiliate KALB-TV.

Fletcher was born and raised in New Orleans and currently lives in the city.

He's the son of the late Frank Mackel. His identical twin brother, Travers, is a news reporter for NewsChannel 6.

Awards:

2006 Press Club of New Orleans: Best Sportscast
2007 Press Club of New Orleans: Best Sportscast
2007 Louisiana Associated Press: Best Sportscast