August 2, 2020

 

I have two games scheduled today. The first, at 2:00 pm is the Wizards taking on the Nets.  Both are horrible teams that are hoping to be out of this bubble after they play their required eight games.  They don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell of competing with the teams that are favorites to make it to the playoffs, but at least they have been provided the opportunity to take part in the restart.  Both teams are injury riddled and now relying on support players to get them through.  The game was competitive and actually fun to broadcast.

 

Brooklyn was the designated home team so their fans that signed up for the Zoom part of the broadcast were able to see their faces in the background on the LED screens. During free throws at the opposite end of the court from my camera I started to shoot the LED board that showed the fans.  These were Brooklyn fans and I noticed that if the Nets made a free throw, their reaction was delayed about ten seconds. I let Howie know that it might be fun to shoot the fans and put them on the air in the second half when the Wizards were shooting free throws.  But it would have to be two free throws and my reasoning was this.  We don’t want to show a fan just sitting there.  We want them to be animated or doing something, and like true NBA fans, they would be waving their arms trying to distract the shooter.  If we show them on the first free throw, what they are seeing in their Zoom screen takes ten seconds for them to see.  So their reactions would be late.  So here was the strategy.

 

During the second half, when Washington shoots a free throw, we will take the shot from my camera but I will be shooting wide enough to see the free throw shooter and the fans in the background.  This will allow the fans to see themselves and they will know they are on television.  And what do people do when they know they are on television?  I don’t need to answer that question do I?  Anyway, the idea of taking the first of two free throws with the fans is just priming them to do what I knew they would do.

 

Then next time a Wizard was at the line for two shots, we again took the toss from my angle, with the fans included.  Make or miss, Howie would take another camera then I would zoom into one or two of the fans making a face or waving their arms or doing whatever they would do to distract a shooter.  Because the fan was really trying to distract the first shot because of the delay, Howie would take my camera live, I would pull back from the fans then frame them out of the shot and show the second free throw being attempted.  It worked perfectly!  We took advantage of the delay and put these virtual fans on live television.  We did that a couple of times and the fans actually caught on what we were doing as I would watch their reactions ten seconds later after we actually put them on the air as they reacted to seeing themselves.  This is a tactic we are going to use moving forward because the fans on the Zoom broadcasts can really be funny sitting in front of their own computers all alone at home watching the games.

 

I need to let you know some more about out wonderful director Howie Singer. Like I said before, Howie has been involved in the broadcasts of Knickerbocker basketball for about four decades.  He is from New York, lives in New York, but is everything Boston.  He loves the Boston Celtics, follows the Boston Red Sox, but I have no idea if he favors the Bruins and the Patriots over the Islanders, Rangers, Jets, and Giants.  But I do know he is a big time Celtics and Sox fan.

 

While directing our games, if the Celtics or Sox are on another broadcast, he simultaneously directs our games while being immersed in the broadcasts of his favorite teams.  Oftentimes on headset he will respond to a play he is observing on the Sox or Celtics feed, and I think he is reacting to something that happened during our telecast.  It can get a bit confusing as he exclaims a “fuck that,” or a “dammit” over the intercom and you need to decipher whether that was directed at you or the Boston feed.  Actually, it is easy to decipher as Howie never berates the crew he is working with.  If someone makes an error, it doesn’t faze him.  He knows this is live television and mistakes may be made.  Any derogatory comments are always directed at the Boston teams, not at us.

 

When my nephew played for the Red Sox, Howie would instant message me every so often offering praise for what Joe Kelly did the night before or rip on me if Joe had a poor performance.  I thought it was extremely cool that an iconic member of the New York broadcast community would send me abstract communications now and then because of my association with a member of the Boston Red Sox.  Sometimes Howie would relay information to me about Joe that I wasn’t even aware of.  I felt a bit inconsequential if I was not in the know, so I had to immediately contact my niece Ashley Kelly for verification.  I will tell you one thing, Howie made me pay attention to the happenings of the Boston Red Sox when Joe played with them.  Normally I would simply come across the Boston results simply by happenstance.  I like baseball, but I am not a true blue blood fan.

 

Our second game was a complete blow out.  Sacramento got hammered by Orlando.  It was extremely discouraging to witness players and coaches go through the motions to complete an obligation.  At one point Kent Bazemore fouled out and left the court and went to the locker room. That only happens when a player is ejected from the game, not when he accumulates too many fouls.  To his credit he did return to the bench only to appear disinterested as his team was crushed. Head coach Luke Walton had his hands in his pockets most of the game, appeared only interested in the clock running out.  This team will not make the playoffs so I question why certain teams were invited to the restart. Sure, they were mathematically still in the hunt, but if they play the way the Kings played, they should just go home.  These kind of games are not fun to watch, the players surely aren’t into it, and it make for a very long broadcast. We get caught going through the motions.

 

There was a rather tragic event that occurred in the game though.  Jonathan Isaacs of the Magic had gained instant notoriety once the restart began by opting out of kneeling for the national anthem.  It was not that he didn’t support the Black Lives Matter movement that the NBA had sanctioned, it was his personal belief that kneeling during the anthem was not something he supported or wanted to do.  None of his teammates or other players in the league ridiculed or hassled him on his decision, nor did Isaacs attack them for their choice.  Jonathan received quite a bit of attention for his actions, from the left, from the right, from the media, everywhere.  Everything is political nowadays, and his actions were no different.

 

As Jonathan had the ball, he attacked the rim from the nearside elbow of the key.  He appeared to travel with the ball and awkwardly fell to the floor. Instantly, in my head, I knew he had blown his ACL.  The fall was too familiar.  I had my ACL rip over a decade ago and this was a brutal reminder of that occurrence.  He lay crumpled on the floor. The shots of the faces of his teammates amplified the fact.  They too knew that his season was over and what lie ahead for Jonathan which would be months of rehabilitation.  He left the floor in a wheelchair, burying his head in his hands.  I rubbed my own knee, feeling his pain and anguish.  I wish him well during his recovery.

 

Leaving the complex I was also disappointed with the weather.  Tropical storm Isaias never materialized over Orlando and I left me with an empty feeling.  I wanted wind, rain, lightning, thunder, something.  I got nothing.  All day we witnessed reporters, standing in knee deep water, warning of the upcoming deluge, and we got zilch.  And that is another thing that ticks me off. Sure, I understand that weather is unpredictable and it is not an exact science, but why do television reporters think they have to stand in water if large storm is happening.  We can plainly see the rain falling, the water rising, the waves tumbling ashore at an unusual frequency and size.  But what is the point of actually standing out in the weather when they are preaching people to take cover and prepare for the forecasted downpour?  Same with the goobers that stand out in the wind of a hurricane.  Yeah, we get it. The wind is blowing hard and you are so brave to be out in it bringing the event into our living rooms.  I think you are stupid and need to heed your own advice.  The visuals provided are adequate to tell the story.  Get out of the shot please.

 

When I finally made it back to the hotel, it was late.  I brushed me teeth and readied for bed.  My phone beeped and I was happy to see the interview that I did several days ago with the local station in Tucson had aired the piece on the news that evening and I was provided with a link to the story.  I read the web version and watched the attached video. I enjoyed how the reporter David Kelly had cut the story, weaving my comments and his commentary throughout.  I had sent him additional photos earlier in the day to add to the piece and those worked well.  I posted the link to Facebook and in minutes received many nice comments about the “privilege”

I was experiencing.  Kelly commented that I was living a “privileged life” inside the bubble.  Sometimes it feels like a sentence, but in the eyes of many, I am sure it appears to be just the opposite.

 

I jumped in bed and immediately jumped out.  Dammit, I hadn’t been tested for COVID today!  Testing was available until midnight, it was 11:53, I had to move.  Hastily I threw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, adorned myself with the credential, wrist band, proximity sensor, mask, and sprinted to the testing center with my flip flops clickety clacking the entire way.  I made it just in time to pass yet another test for the virus.