Tomorrow is Thanksgiving

 

Baldwin Place, NY. Thanksgiving, 2019

It's Wednesday, Nov 25.

Normally, I'd be pouring over notes.

Have I printed my scoresheet? It's the same one I've used since 1999. I've touched it up a bit over the years, I suppose.

Enter the team names -- visitor and away -- along with any pertinent details. Senior Day? Playoffs? Homecoming?

So, in this case, it would say Greenwich Cardinals vs. Staples Wreckers on Nov 26, 2020 at Cardinal Stadium in Greenwich, CT.

Chris Erway would be my partner and Sean Kilkelly would be the studio host. I put their names on the sheet as well because, honestly, I get overwhelmed and don't want to forget. Hell, I even put my own name on the sheet.

There would be rosters to print and stories to pour over. Where is Greenwich in the state rankings? Are they in the playoffs? What are the scenarios? What's Staples' story?

By this point, I'd know all about Greenwich. But perhaps there's a statistical item to note. And the history. Fortunately I have the matchups all the way back "BR" (yes, "Before Rob") or, in this case, 1997.

I'd have to make sure the alarm was set. I'm always at the stadium -- Greenwich, Staples, Boyle in Stamford or even Danbury High School -- very early. 

For most games I tend to be 90 minutes to two hours early. Admittedly, for late afternoon games, I arrive a little closer due to time constraints and types of setup.

But special games? I soak it up. I'm there early. Sometimes three hours early.

That didn't thrill the people in the Carrier Dome that time we drove up for a Rye/Chenango Forks championship game in New York. However, I couldn't risk lake effect snow or any other problems during a four-hour drive. Plus, if I'm going to make the trip, I'm going to make it worth it. So we were there early, Carrier Dome staff be damned.

In the case of Thanksgiving, two to three hours gives me time to make sure the booth gets opened and we get out space established. That's not a problem in Greenwich, of course. Sure, I lost my corner thanks to the scoreboard installation a few years back but that's showbiz. A new booth there will resolve that anyway. I was only in that corner for 17 years or so. No big deal.

No, Brian Kennedy would make sure I have a spot. Chris and I are always taken care of. Once Ian Barto stopped joining us, we basically eliminated the sideline reporter. Not that I'm against bring the role back. Just nobody else has offered or qualified.

Gotta be on your game to join the "A-Team" of course.

Early arrival on Thanksgiving means time to set up and make sure things work. It's one broadcast that is definitely widely listened to. Then I can go to the tailgate, have an egg and cheese sandwich with chili and whatever else they have around. Grab some coffee, orange juice or even a mimosa -- virgin, of course.

I swear. 

Really.

I still remember the time that MSG Varsity -- by their choice, our competition -- decided to film us at the tailgate for their pregame B-roll package. They had no idea the plates and people they were filming were the opposite broadcasters. 

I always liked the tech people on those crews. Occasionally you ran across a jerk producer, like the one who yelled at me to turn the music down in Trumbull. Do you see the problem there? 1) I don't work in Trumbull and 2) I'm a broadcaster. Not a sound engineer for Trumbull High School.

There's a reason why I walked around a job later one telling my colleagues, "Don't act like MSG."

Indeed, MSG left Fairfield County and, gosh, they were replaced by...who was it again? A three-letter thing as I recall...H...A...what was that last letter?

Weren't they the ones that I told to not act like MSG?

Ah, it will come to me. Now it's Local Live rocking the FCIAC. I can't remember the name of the lead broadcaster there either.

Oh well. I'm sure he (or she) is terrible anyway.

All of this should or could have been in play tomorrow. The game. The setup. The prep. The early departure -- on the road around 6 a.m. and taking the picture of the sun rising on Baldwin Place Road, where it meets US 6 and NY 118. It seems like I take it every year.

Tradition.

The game would end and I'd be off to Thanksgiving dinner somewhere. It was Pennsylvania one year. Shelton another. I went back home a few times. I even stayed in Greenwich once or twice. We went to Golden Corral a few times. Don't knock it. Mom seemed really happy, as goofy as that sounds. The family thing was getting complicated so we simplified it: Mom, Sean, Stephanie, me. It was glorious, actually.

Of course, we know the reality. It's all out the window. Travel restrictions have piled back up. Football is off in Connecticut.

Stephanie is off to see her sister and mother. Mom, of course, is having her own Thanksgiving with Dad, I hope. Sean is here with me.

We're not going anywhere.

I have turkey in the house. Boar's Head.

Football will be on TV. I'll actually see the Lions kick off in Detroit for the first time on Thanksgiving in 20 years.

I'll miss high school football tomorrow.

It will be weird.

It already is weird.

But it's 2020.

Do the right thing and let's not have this happen again, OK?