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| Two pods and a lot of rain |
It's been a while.
A little over a month ago, I stopped the madness of posting every day as I headed to San Francisco for a conference.
The most recent post came after I returned from California.
Then? I stopped.
Oh, I thought about writing it but I gave myself a break.
November tends to be a busy month of work and I was somewhat occupied with another conference, a few cases in the deposition world, and a bunch of games.
If I'm being honest, I'm not working enough and it's frankly not sustainable. That causes me some sleepless nights.
Last night, however, I tossed and turned and thought about the annual Thanksgiving broadcast of high school football between Greenwich and Staples.
If the game had been at Cardinal Stadium, my concerns would have been minimal. I'd be there within five minutes. We'd have our own booth. We'd have heat and power and internet and we would be dry.
Today's game was not at Cardinal Stadium. It was at Staples where I have worked maybe three games in their press box. Ever.
Today was not one of those days. So I knew we would be out on the landing just outside of the press box door.
And it was going to rain. I had hoped the forecast would change but it did not. The chance of rain sat at 98%.
So I worried about getting internet and having working equipment. And keeping it dry.
I was up early, out the door, and on the Staples campus at 7:30. The game was scheduled to kick off at 10.
I surveyed the setup, reviewed the size of our space, and pondered what to set up.
Dan Murphy arrived a few minutes after I did and we got to work.
I opted to go with the pods that I have. One is larger than the other and I thought that was the best one to use as an anchor for our equipment. I told Dan he could use the other one.
Keeping in mind the day would be windy, we had to be mindful of anchoring the pods.
For the record, I had a canopy in my trunk that belongs to WGCH but I think it would have been too big for our space.
I ran the power from the booth. We strung the internet cable from the WWPT Radio booth. Then I promptly dropped it. So we did it again.
All was well. Until it wasn't.
The rain picked up and soaked the old MacBook that I was using. The computer began to act weird and, eventually, stopped charging.
Uh oh.
If only I was prepared. You know, like with another computer.
Like the one I'm currently typing on.
A quick text to Bob Small to make sure we could connect via a different website (yes) and we were in business.
I won't tell you it was perfect. In fact, it wasn't. We had a problem with Dan's microphone initially but he worked diligently to get that under control.
But, overall, today's game wasn't great (final: Staples 27, Greenwich 0) but the broadcast was a standout. I'm very proud of it.
Look, I stood in the rain for hours. I did everything I could to keep notes dry. At times, I just kept them tucked in my jacket. I never wrote out a scorecard because it would have been laughable.
Dan kept some stats from inside of the other pod. For the record, we never saw each other during the broadcast as we reacted to what each other said.
Dan never panicked. It's easy to overreact in these circumstances but Dan was a seasoned pro and didn't budge. He made the situation work for him and adapted as necessary. He knew we had been blessed with great weather since mid-September so, eventually, this was bound to happen.
And it did. Oh, did it ever.
Even the famous tailgate was sadly a no-go today, as the rain scuttled those plans. Starving, Dan left to go get something to eat. He tried calling me at one point and I couldn't answer it because the phone and my hand were both soaked.
The point of all of this is we made it work. It had a chance to be a disaster for the ages and, instead, the broadcast was a triumph.
Broadcasts like that make a team grow closer, especially when you rally and don't let it ruin the effort. I think that happened today.
I warned Dan that we've experienced so many things on Thanksgiving Day. We nearly fought with a TV crew, dealt with cold weather, light snow, and bad communication that impacted the broadcast. We've had classics, tension, and a few ho-hum games.
That led to today. Even as the forecast looked awful, Dan remained consistently excited for his first Thanksgiving call. For the record, today was my 23rd, only missing 2020 since I started working on turkey day in 2001.
It has made Thanksgiving Day almost my favorite holiday. Of course, now I wish we could just fast-forward to January, but that's a different story.
But seeing it through Dan's eyes -- and his enthusiasm -- gave me a boost, especially as my blood pressure was spiking during setup.
It took some time, but I made my way home to a very quiet afternoon. While I spent the day with only The Cat, I thank those who did invite me to spend the day with them. In truth, I was shot.
I came home, cleaned myself up, and put all of the soaking clothes in the laundry. Then I made a turkey sandwich and watched TV. Football, of course.
And, eventually, I fell asleep.
I also discovered we accidentally put a bag of equipment in Staples High School in my car and I have to arrange to return that.
Thanksgiving 2024 was one of challenges. But it's all in context.
The weather, as bad as it was, could have been a lot worse. It could have been snow. I can see the silver lining.
I, too, can be positive, even if my positivity is dipped in reality.
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| John Nash caught me working under the umbrella |
But I'm thankful. You bet I am.
I have friends who cared about where I spent my Thanksgiving. I have friends who were texting and making me laugh all day.
I have love. A roof over my head. The turkey sandwich.
And though he wasn't with me until just a few minutes ago, I have a son.
You bet I'm thankful.
And Greenwich has at least one more game as the Cardinals host New Britain on Tuesday night.
That means we'll be back at Cardinal Stadium.
Bad weather won't impact us.
