September 26, 2020

 

Could today be my last full day in the Orlando NBA bubble?  Of course it is.  At least that is the thinking I had when I awoke.  Several of the other camera operators in the green zone would like nothing better than having the series go seven.  They must not like going home.  I, on the other hand, would be on the first flight out if possible, but apparently there is a lot of protocol we must follow when preparing to depart from the Coronado Springs Resort so my reservation has me departing Orlando at 9:50 am if the Lakers, or should I say, when the Lakers eliminate Denver.

I completed my final (hopefully) NBA Health App.  It’s hard to comprehend that I had completed this requirement seventy one times since my arrival.  Then I received my seventy eighth COVID test shortly thereafter.  Before I left the testing center I unapologetically told each technician in the room that I hope I never saw them again.  They understood my humor and laughed as I exited the door for perhaps the final time.

I had really started to enjoy pickle ball and am kicking myself for not playing more pickle ball and less whiffle ball.  I think we played a lot of whiffle ball most of the time when we had our full complement of greenies as it allowed more people to play at once.  With pickle ball it was only four at a time until they provided us with more courts.  So today I went out around 11:00 am and played straight through until 1:15pm.  Me and my partner were on a roll and never relinquished our court until our designated last game.  It would have been nice to walk away undefeated but we did lose our final game.  I can see why the games had gained in popularity as it is very easy to learn and the court is small enough that novice players won’t get frustrated chasing errant balls all over the place.  The more experienced players are fun to watch as well as many a competitive rally occurs more often than not.  I swear I lost about five pounds in water weight while playing today even though I guzzled water throughout.  That’s another benefit about playing anything outdoors in Orlando.  Your body will be challenged but isn’t that what exercise is supposed to do?

The long awaited Delta Heavy launch that was scheduled to happen after our game tonight was scrubbed.  I had been really anticipating witnessing that event but apparently there were too many issues to correct and not enough time.  There was no timetable regarding rescheduling so I guess I will have to keep my eye on the Kennedy Space Center website to find out when that mission will restart and watch the event on the internet.  I sure would have liked to watch that launch in person.

On the bus to the WWOS complex I checked my surroundings and wondered if this was my final shuttle to the arena.  I sure hoped it was.  After our check of equipment and a brief rehearsal of the trophy presentation if the Lakers won, all of us walked up to the Grill for dinner.  Again, was this our last walk together to our WWOS dining area that we had utilized for the past two and a half months?  Yes I said in my head.  At least they had other options besides chicken for dinner.

Game five between the Lakers and Nuggets started sloppily.  It looked like neither team wanted to win.  Poor shot selection, shabby defense, lack of intensity seemed to be the game plan for both teams.  Jokic get in foul trouble and Jamal Murray appeared to had injured his hamstring but the Lakers couldn’t pull away from them as they should have.  Denver hung in the game until the last three minutes and then the lead appeared insurmountable.  The Lakers answered my prayers and ended the series four games to one.  I was going home and I was happy.

After the game we had to tear down our cameras and box them up then store them in a location where they would be picked up and loaded on to the various television trucks that were in the compound. The NBA Finals would start once the Boston Miami series was finished so not everything could be removed from the arena until then but we were able to remove and store much of the TNT related hardware.  We didn’t have to pull out any cables, just hardware, and that only took about an hour to accomplish once we started. 

As soon as I returned to my room I packed up all my belongings so I wouldn’t have to deal with that in the morning.  That only took about fifteen minutes to accomplish.  I looked around my room and felt a little strange that the confines that housed me for over seventy five days was soon to be a memory.  I took a deep breath, mixed a rum and coke, then headed to the pool to say goodbye to my workmates and friends that I had met during my stay.

By now it was close to 1:00am but the area was still alive with bubblers.  Right outside the gates to the pool were many of the referees and support personnel. They knew I was a short timer as they said their goodbyes and a few elbow bumps were exchanged.  It was truly an honor to have met them and many I will never forget.  Then I made my way into the pool area where a lot of the ESPN folks were congregating.  They didn’t have to work today so they had been there for quite a while. Same thing, goodbyes and elbow bumps.  Many of them had to remain until the end of the playoffs and I didn’t envy them one bit.  But they weren’t upset with having to spend about seventeen more days within the bubble.  They knew their timeline and seemed fine with it. Eventually my Turner greenies made it out and we hung out and chatted for about an hour reminiscing about our time together in this strangely wonderful experiment.  Many of them will be transitioning to San Diego for the baseball playoffs but all of us felt the same way.  We looked forward to going home but knew it was a bittersweet ending.  We missed our families, missed our homes, but had become accustomed to seeing each other each day and evolved into our own little community.  We knew nothing like this would ever occur again and were actually sad to see it end.  Personally I couldn’t wait to leave but part of me wanted to remain.  I said my goodbyes then headed to my room to catch a few hours of sleep.  Before I entered the door I gave the lagoon one last look, smiled to myself, then went to bed.