Staying Calm While It's Hot

Toph Genaro (#2) warms up before the game

It was a great day for baseball at Greenwich High School.

The Cannons were hosting Fairfield and Shawn Sailer was in town to join me for the call.

But the heat certainly presented a concern.

I worry a little about my skin -- but I made sure to to put some sunscreen on before the game. I also had my equipment bag and decided to use that as a place to hide my computer from the rays of the sun.

It worked. For a bit.

On the field, Greenwich and Fairfield gave us a good game, with the Cannons trailing 2-0. Greenwich was struggling to find offense against Fairfield started Phil Hogan.

Shawn's blog has a complete breakdown of the game.

Fairfield's Jack Hernandez led off the fifth inning with a double. Shortly after -- unbeknownst to both Shawn and me -- the broadcast went dead.

I eventually looked at the computer and saw that it was still on but that we weren't "driving levels." In other words, we weren't on the air.

Heat? Internet? Both? My guess is the heat was the ultimate villain, causing the computer to fail.

Our generator also ran out of gas later on, so we had that going against us.

These things gnaw at me. I continued to try to call the game, and keep the action going, not sure if we were recording or not.

As I take each broadcast like it's the last, I felt the adrenaline drop and the disappointment rise as I left GHS.

In the end, a couple of large chunks of play-by-play were lost. After the game, I shopped around for some smaller pop-up canopies that I can set up and break down on my own (given I'm often doing that alone).

(Note that I'm looking for something probably under 10x10. Again, it needs to be easy for one person to setup, breakdown, and carry.)

I was unsuccessful.

So, I came home and recorded segments to insert into the game broadcast that recapped the lost action.

I do my best and lament the missteps, even when they're not my fault. Still, I'll beat myself up that it is always my fault. I'm in charge.

I could have left the computer off until it was almost game time.

I could have made sure more gas was in the generator.

I...I...I...

Ultimately, there's nothing I can do, but move forward to the next broadcast.

But, soon, I'll at least have a new item to combat the sun...

I mean, honestly, what do I have to lose? I can sit in it. I can put the equipment in it. It's a start.

But I'm still looking at canopies also, given there might be a football season beginning in late September, and I see no way that Chris Erway and I will be any booth.

Oh, and here's the game broadcast from today.