Lacking Bandwidth and Digressing

 

Probably not what I had in mind but it will have to do
(Graphic: Lifewire)

As a writer, I wrestle with topics all the time.

There are things I want to write about but I don't have the energy.

Or the "bandwidth."

I suppose they're almost one and the same but either way, I lack both tonight.

As the year gets ready to expire it's the time in which everything begins to get reviewed and broken down.

Best this and top ten that and so on.

In general, I usually lack that bandwidth because I don't have the energy or recall to grab the top 10 favorite posts or anything like that. 

In fact, I just glanced at the most read, and, from what I think I can tell, the most read post written in 2023 is the one to announce the schedule for the New England baseball tournament that took place in Rhode Island back in July.

No doubt that's a big part of my story of 2023, I'll say that. From Trumbull to North Providence to Providence back to Connecticut before heading off to Virginia, the ride of the Trumbull Babe Ruth team was a special journey.

I treasured that a lot and miss it. I've glanced to see if there will be any local tournaments in 2024 and, so far, the answer is no. I'll keep my options open of course and we never know what will happen.

That is also part of why I will call more games this year than any other one since I first began calling games in 1999.

The thing of course is the constant struggle between wanting as many games as I can get versus as many quality broadcasts as I can get. I see others bragging about the number they've called and I just shake my head.

It serves as a reminder of the lean years of games when WGCH really let me (and the audience) down by eliminating basically everything except football. This was before HAN Radio/Network or LocalLive or Robcasting.

So I only did a small handful of games and put everything I had into them. At worst, I could hold my head high despite the paltry number.

I'm hoping I can feel the same way after I finish the year next week. I've picked up four more basketball games with a holiday tournament in Norwalk and I'm really hoping to snag a few others.

If not, we'll be ready and hit the ground running in January with Brunswick.

Even when I can't put everything into a broadcast in terms of preparation and so on, I put all I have into the description and details while wrangling other items on the fly. That chaos works best for me and keeps the broadcast from feeling scripted.

That's why I'm so proud of the ability to accept a request to do a game with minimal time. I've discovered there are those who would turn that work down for whatever reason. My feeling is "thank you" because I'll take it and run with it.

And that, I suppose, is at the heart of the topic I wanted to get into tonight but I still feel I lack the dexterity to discuss it.

Or I just wanted to use the word "dexterity."

But I think back to those days in Trumbull and North Providence as we danced around any fear of rain and thunder while calling up to four games a day. While I'm sure quality dipped at moments during those days I absolutely treasured that challenge of seeing if I could pick myself up even when I struggled. 

More than anything, I treasured knowing there was an audience and that they cared. On the day when Trumbull wasn't playing and all of the families were listening to my call from the beach. I mean, how cool is that?

When you do something and it actually matters? That's special.

Or when all of the families asked if I would do one of the World Series games from Virginia, so I set it up where I could do it via my phone and AirPods while sitting in a high-back chair down the left field line? It was so much fun, despite the result for Trumbull and their fans.

These are the experiences that I love. Whether it's Brunswick, Greenwich High, Trumbull, Norwalk, Waterford (can't forget about them!) or anywhere else, there's a kind worldwide audience that wants to hear their games get covered.

Huh. You mean people are interested? Sponsors might want to contribute to getting those on the air?

Who knew?

That's bandwidth for another time.

I'll find a way to discuss that other topic when the time is right.