August 6, 2020

 

We have two games to televise today so I was up early completing my exercises, testing, and watched a little news.  The world outside the bubble is not getting any better. I keep hoping one of the stations will report something, anything, about the world becoming a better place to live.  However that is not the case.  So many people out of work, schools not fully open, athletic teams cancelling seasons, businesses closing, political infighting.  The list goes on and on yet things continue as normal, or as normal as can be within our shelter.  I have another battle with myself debating whether I am glad to be here or unhappy because I am not out there battling and suffering with others.  It is kind of surreal being here without incident or worry as the rest of the country lives a completely different life.  During conversations with my wife it is apparent the frustration in her voice as she deals with everything alone.  Responsibilities we used to share she now tackles alone.  Although my situation is clearly monotonous in its routine hers is worse.  I have no responsibilities really.  Other than showing up for work that is all I have.  She, on the other hand, has a plateful each day, and she is alone.  The pandemic has turned many away from casual socialness and she is clearly a victim of that.

 

As I checked in at the complex, once again my wristband read blue. Back I went to see the health monitor once again and she let me know that I needed to show two negative tests for COVID in order for my band to register green once again.  I found this strange because when I left the site the night prior my band read green.  I asked about this and was told that the doctor had waived my incident yesterday and cleared me for green.  That made no sense to me because if I was cleared for green yesterday why would I revert back to blue the next day?  So I asked that question.  I received the same response.  I needed two days of negative COVID tests.  I have started to question the protocol at this point. 

 

I know that I am not sick and have not infected anyone.  I am concerned about the logic of the wristband readings and the reasoning provided.  Does this anomaly have anything to do with the change in mask wearing requirements and the newly directed reduction of movement that was handed down to us yesterday?  Are there issues with the testing and reporting and data gathering that I was so supportive of earlier?  I am not a conspiracy guy by any means but too much has happened in the last two days.  I’m hoping that these occurrences are simply blips in the process and not major failings.

 

Our first game at 1:30pm was Sacramento taking on the Pelicans from New Orleans.  I have been pretty hard on the Kings after watching their lackluster performances earlier but they played much better today.  The Pelicans have the nearly unstoppable Zion Williamson on their squad but they play him limited minutes so the Kings took advantage of his absence whenever possible.  Sacramento exploded for 49 points in the first quarter.  I don’t like basketball when there is no defense being played.  The game is so fast paced nowadays the players seem to save their energy for offense and take a break while on defense.  Although it provides quite a few offensive highlights it can get boring at times because of all the easy scoring opportunities.  I am confident the teams that make it to the playoffs will approach the games differently.  I sure hope so because a game with a final tally of 140-125 is a sleeper in my opinion.

 

Our second game was our first on TNT since the restart and we actually had announcers.  All the previous contests were regional broadcasts where our signal was shared with the local broadcasts of the teams playing.  The matchup between the Clippers and Dallas was really going to be a real show.

 

Here is the difference between shooting a game with no announcers and one that has them.  With no announcers we simply shoot the action.  If Luka Doncic scores, we shoot him.  If Chris Paul gets fouled by Aaron Gordon, we shoot Aaron Gordon.  We follow the action and pretty much nothing more.  But with announcers it is a totally different ball game.  We need to follow not only the game but their stories as well.  We need to be quite a bit more alert and attentive during true broadcasts.  The full-fledged broadcasts are much more enjoyable.  It is easy to get lulled to sleep during a show without announcers.  And our announcers for this game, Ian Eagle and Stan Van Gundy, are fun to listen to and support.  I appreciate the side stories that Van Gundy brings to the broadcast and Ian does a great job enticing him to share his knowledge.  I learn things listening to them both.  I never stop learning.

 

The Clippers were too much for Dallas in this game.  I will say it now.  The Clippers will win this thing. They have a deep bench, experienced leadership, and a coach that has been around the block a few times.  I think mentally they are equipped to withstand the rigors and monotony of the bubble.  And I want to be able to say I fished alongside a 2020 NBA Bubble World Champion.

 

It’s a very long day when you have to work back to back broadcasts.  Riding the bus back to the compound you could hear a pin drop.  Most everyone was slouched in their social distanced seats with their eyes closed.  There will be many double headers in the future so I may as well get used to it.  While brushing my teeth readying for bed I remembered there was going to be a rocket launch at 1:07 am from the Space Center.  A SpaceX rocket with about 50 satellites was going upward in about an hour so I set my alarm for 1:00 am and went to sleep.

 

It seems like as soon as my head hit the pillow my alarm sounded.   I threw on my shorts, a shirt, appropriate NBA green requirements, and headed out towards the lagoon to stare eastward.  1:07…nothing.  1:08…nothing.  1:09 nothing…  I searched the Kennedy Space Center website to see if the mission was scrubbed.  As I was staring at my phone trying to obtain the launch information I noticed a faint red glare in the distance.  The rocket had launched. 

 

This launch was a lot easier to see than the day launch of the Atlas rocket previously.  After the horizon illumination faded the rocket broke clear of the low level clouds and the bright orange plume was easy to see.  It entered another cloud layer which caused the light to diffuse amongst the mist it had encountered but broke free once again.  I was able to observe the fading orange light until is disappeared.  The whole event took about a minute to complete.

 

Walking back to my room I encountered a Disney security officer.  I was a little stoked after what I had witnessed.  I asked her if she saw the launch.  See nodded her head and said “I see them all the time” and kept walking.  Apparently it was not a big deal to her.  I can understand her lack of enthusiasm as I entered my room.  The novelty of this bubble is beginning to wear thin but I don’t think I could ever tire of watching stuff being launched into space!