The Booth is My Safe Space

 

I know I've said this before but I yearn for the booth.

See, the thing is that it gives me something to do.

Had I not offered to do the Brunswick/Trinity-Pawling lacrosse game tonight, I would have sat home.

It probably would have bummed me out a lot, given it was a Friday night and Sean left to go to his job. Thus the cat and I would have watched TV. Maybe.

It's a rather depressing, lonely scene.

But with the game, I have a voice and can hopefully guide viewers with my combination of details and stories. You know, what has been done since 1921*.

* And continues to get destroyed on a daily basis.

Having Brunswick play Trinity-Pawling is pleasant for me. Pawling, NY isn't too far away from Mahopac. The only thing about it is that there's no highway to get there. It's all two-lane roads (6N, 6, 52, 311, 22 or some other combination).

The drive takes maybe 40 minutes.

Still, I was there 90 minutes before the game and found myself basically alone. People would roll in eventually. Joe (my Local Live cameraman) and I were put on the roof for the call.

Ideal? Not always. A roof obviously leaves equipment (and people) open to the elements. In this case, that meant a lot of wind and I had to compensate for that. I had to adjust the number of notes I carried and how tightly I held them.

I'm not complaining. This is no primadonna behavior. In fact, just the opposite. I was grateful to have added the game to my schedule. I was happy to not be sitting at home.

I appreciate the challenge and accept it.

I was happy to report the details of the Bruins' 8-4 win over the Pride. 

I was pleased to see Joe's reaction when he realized that he'd be working with me.

This was exactly what I needed. 

Problems fade away when I call a game. If I can't stop thinking about something then I know it's really an issue.

But this was just joyous. Even the technical problems -- audio was apparently choppy at one point -- only made me shrug my shoulders.

In a couple of weeks, the Bruins will head to Salisbury -- at the top of Connecticut. I'd say that, unless there's an objection, I'll be there.

Oh, the loneliness returns after the game is over. That's when I had to hunt down dinner, opting for a chicken sandwich from Cameron's, a 24-hour deli near Carmel.

And now, hours after it would have been like this, I'm home watching the Yankees with The Cat.

People thank me for calling games.

No. 

I thank you for allowing me to call the game.