The Semis

 

Greetings from Robert L. Cosby Memorial Field.

On the Edwards Campus of the Brunswick School.

It's a delightful 67 degrees with the wind out of the northeast at 9 MPH.

In just under an hour, Lawrenceville -- the number one team in North America, according to Inside Lacrosse -- will play Deerfield.

It's the Big Red versus the Big Green.

Later tonight, Brunswick plays Salisbury. There is no love lost between the two and the Bruins get the home-field advantage. The two teams met last Friday with Brunswick getting the win.

These are the semifinals of the 2023 Prep Nationals. The winners meet Sunday. All four teams have played once this year already so there is a lot of familiarity.

I'm calling the semis tonight and it looks like I'm flying solo. Dan Arestia, Darien Times legend, and incredible lacrosse reporter, can't make it tonight. He'll join me on Sunday.

So we're all set. Keith, Mike, and Gustavo are setting up cameras and switchers and mixers. My audio setup is ready as well with the trusty Zoom PodTrak P4 next to my computer and my Sennheiser headset ready to party.

I'd love a new headset one of these days but it's not a priority. The Sennheisers that I have are still pretty good.

So we're all set. Bring it on! Quick setup and the games will start soon and ...

...

Oh.

(This is the SPECIAL REPORT from Robcasting News)

This just into the Robcasting Newsroom. The bus carrying one of the teams making their way to the Prep Nationals in Greenwich, CT has broken down. Repeating that bulletin, a bus with players from a school that rhymes with "Fear Dield" has broken down. Both games of tonight's tournament have been pushed back.

As of now, game one between, ahem, Deerfield and Lawrenceville will begin at 6:15. The second game -- between Brunswick and Salisbury, will begin at 8:15.

Stay tuned to your local Robcasting station for more details or follow us on social media. 

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled program.

(Play dramatic music and fade to black)

*****

I can't ignore the fact that Jim Brown has died. In fact, I wish I could have pivoted to host "Doubleheader" during the delay before lacrosse.

How to sum him up?

Well, we could simply call him the greatest football player ever.

We could call him a Civil Rights activist.

We could say he was an actor.

We could say he was once Vin Scully's partner on CBS football broadcasts.

Lastly, on this day for lacrosse, we could call him the greatest lacrosse player ever.

There are no lies in any of those statements.

Jim Brown was a bad man in every single positive use of the word bad.

Condolences to his family and loved ones.

*****

Lacrosse will happen soon. I'll be sitting here waiting for the teams to arrive.

In the meantime, congratulations to the Brunswick baseball team. In a year in which they lost their beloved pitching coach a few months before the season started and played inconsistent baseball, they rose above all to win the FAA Championship.

I would have loved to call the championship game at Hamden Hall yesterday but I had the Hunt Scanlon conference and I wasn't scheduled to call it.

You won't find me in any team pictures celebrating the title. You won't find me posing with a trophy or plaque as if I've won anything. Not that I'm against posing with the trophy or plaque. But I'm a broadcaster. I'm not part of the team. I don't work out with the team. I'm not on the sideline or field. I show up and call the game.

I've never joined Greenwich or Brunswick or anyone else for any of their postgame celebrations other than interviews. Oh sure, we stood on the field in East Hartford last December with Greenwich football and congratulated them. 

But it's their moment. Not mine.

I'm very happy for the coaches and players who become a family and now enjoy the success of the season.