Transitioning

 

Packed and ready for the next game

Football season is very much over.

"The Clubhouse" season ended on Wednesday night as well.

There were no last-minute phone calls to get to New Briain or Hartford for the football championships, despite the few kind souls who asked if I would be there.

I'll be in my living room watching the Army-Navy Game tomorrow.

To that end, I brought some of the game broadcast equipment inside to clean up, clean out, and reorganize.

Sadly, I won't need a second headset for some time, for instance. That will get moved to another bag to keep with me in case I do get a partner.

So the case has been whittled down to mostly the basics of a mixer, one headset, an extension cord, and assorted audio cables.

It is time for hockey and basketball and...wrestling.

Winter sports have arrived.

Of course, I've already dabbled in hockey a few times as well as getting in a Boomslang basketball game. I've talked to them and we'll get that going again soon.

The setup changes from sport to sport and is based on location as well. If I'm just doing a game on Robcasting or WGCH, I need my computer, the headset, and mixer, and the necessary cables. Then I log in and we go from there.

For LocalLive I need to run an audio cable out of the mixer to connect to an audio jack or a camera. One setup requires a mini headphone connection while the other requires a microphone cable.

The point is I have to always be ready.

So now begins the different scorecards, terminology, and everything associated with the sports.

The schedule has been assembled for now. Brunswick and I have confirmed what we have in mind between now and early March.

Once again, I'll work the home games for hockey and basketball with a couple of wrinkles. Unfortunately, there are days when both teams are in action. In a few spots, the games start either at the same time or within 30 minutes of each other. I can only pick one of those.

However, there are a couple of days in which the two teams begin 90 minutes apart. I can pull that off. I might not get the full broadcast in of both games but we'll play that by ear.

I like the challenge.

Oh, and the other wrinkle: wrestling.

I didn't expect that to happen but I'm into the idea. Thanks to the wrestling I've covered over the past few years -- especially working with Chris Erway -- I've reached a certain point of comfort.

Yes, it's still a big challenge for me but I think I have enough knowledge to make it work. The key in the case of wrestling is that it's on video and thus the picture tells most of the story. That's a huge advantage to me.

Chris and I went to a wrestling meet in New Jersey a few years ago and, in one instance, we were separated. We each had to call the action on an individual mat. While one of the towns in question wasn't thrilled with my work (they have a couple of people who are "The Voice" of their high school wrestling team) I was satisfied with my ability to tell a story.

With that said, I see no reason that I can't make this work.

I'm not as good as Chris when it comes to wrestling, and the product would be better with him working with me, but I've learned enough there I appreciate the challenge to improve.

The Connecticut Roughriders are supposed to also be back on the calendar and I'm sure they will be but we'll see.

There are a couple of other games that are in the works but I'll announce that when it's confirmed.

Plus there was another team that was interested but, again, I have to wait to announce anything.

Lastly, there is the very frustrating circumstance with Greenwich High and WGCH. GHS would be happy to have me call games for them this winter but without sponsors or some kind of financial support, it wouldn't be paid.

Thus, we wait on that topic.

The balance of December might be thin but we'll hope it's not. 

The first game is next Wednesday when Brunswick basketball plays its first home game.