July 18, 2020

 

Woke up to the best news possible!  Well, the second best news possible.  Being able to see my wife would be the best news possible.  We get out of quarantine tomorrow at noon!  What a glorious email to receive when I turned on my phone.  A representative will come to my door sometime after noon tomorrow, provide me with my credential, complete with social distancing alarm, and an index on the backside that will tell me what areas of the bubble I am allowed to access. Anywhere outside of this room and the testing center will be a huge bonus for me.  Sure, I have to go to work at one of the arenas eventually, but I am pretty damn sure I can go to the gym tomorrow, to a dining center to eat, I can probably walk across that bridge that I see outside my window.  I’m gonna be like Lewis and Clark, exploring unchartered territory.

I don’t think I have been very clear regarding the clearance levels of access that we have.  Sure, I glossed across how some of us are green, yellow, and red.  Let me take a moment to explain.

Okay, let’s go from least restrictive to most restrictive.  Keep in mind this is mostly done to protect the players, as they are those that they television audience is going to be tuning in to watch.  And let’s keep this in perspective.  The NBA is global.  Fans across the world tune in to watch these athletes perform. If the ratings are down in the US because of political issues or whatever reason, that is minimal in regards to the overall worldwide audience that is starved to see LeBron, or Harden, or Kawhi.  I think it is appropriate that all the games are being played at the WWOS complex at Disney. WWOS?  Wide World of Sports…

Red is the least restrictive.  These are those that are not allowed to be anywhere near the players, not allowed in the arenas, can’t have access to a lot of the areas that others have.  Kind of sounds like they are the most restrictive doesn’t it?  Well, not in regards to COVID testing and freedom to what they can and cannot do while not working.  Many of the red personnel are at the Waldorf Astoria, which is outside the bubble.  They are bussed in to work each day, if they cannot perform their duties in their rooms, and bussed home each night.  When not at work, they are free to roam the grounds of the Waldorf, even use the golf course if time permits.  Sure, there is intense COVID protocol to follow, and common sense tells you that you would always want to err on the side of caution, but they have a bit more freedom than those of us in the bubble 100% of the time.  They get tested twice a week for COVID, not every day.  They are subject to the same restrictions if testing positive.  Health services are available, and quarantining will take place if they somehow get taken down by the virus.  You don’t get sent home if you contract COVID.  You will be taken care of.  But the thought is, follow all the guidelines that have been set forth, and the chance of you falling ill will be close to zero.  Sounds like a great plan, doesn’t it?

The red personnel consist of media, team support personnel, transportation people, catering employees, etc.  Think about all the support that is needed for an event this size.  Not everyone is a player, or a coach, or a referee, or a camera operator.  There are ton of people behind the scenes that make the engine run.  And a lot of the times these people are never seen.  If you have a job to do that does not require you to be inside any of the arenas, then you are red.

Then we have the yellow personnel.  Anyone with a yellow credential has access to each arena, but not at the court level.  They have clean access to the upper level of the three arenas that we will be televising games from.  The people, at least from the broadcasting perspective are  the game and tight camera operators, perhaps a high end-zone camera operator, all of the on air broadcast talent, anyone that needs to be in the arena but, in order to do their jobs, do not need to be on or near the floor. They too are tested twice a week and are subject to similar restrictions as the red group.  They are also housed at the Waldorf and bussed to and from the playing venues.

And then there are us green folk.  And that is all the people that are here at the Coronado Springs Resort.  Players, coaches, referees, team medical personnel, broadcast teams, select camera operators, statisticians, timers, etc.  Anybody that must be on the floor or nearby are those that make up the green group. We are tested every day, along with self-reporting of our temperature, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation in our blood stream. We also must answer a daily questionnaire.  And we are those that must quarantine for a week before being allowed to go to work. Once all of our tests for COVID are negative, we will be set free within the NBA bubble, and that day for me is tomorrow!