September 3, 2020
Sometimes I wonder if this diary of events is about the NBA bubble or the Kennedy Space Center because today another SpaceX launch successfully sent about sixty satellites into the Earth’s orbit at 8:46am. I awoke without the assistance of an alarm and after coffee and a couple of McVitties my wife had sent out, I made my way to the lagoon to stare almost directly into the direction of the sun to hopefully see another glorious launch from the Kennedy Space Center. I had become an old pro in figuring out how to watch the live broadcast of the event on my phone and then peruse the sky at the right moment to find the rising contrail. The launch happened at the exact moment it was scheduled and after about ten seconds of it being airborne, I glanced up, squinting tightly, and found the Falcon rising skyward. The flame from the engine was clearly visible and I tracked it until it faded from sight. The contrail grew thicker because of the moisture present in the Florida air and I paused for a moment patting myself on the back for making my way out to witness yet again another successful SpaceX event.
The guys I work
with were angry I didn’t get them up to see the rocket launch. They are correct I did not get them out of
bed. I only reminded them every day for
the previous three days leading up to the event via text and during
conversations. Apparently my reminders
were not enough as I witnessed the launch alone. And besides, 8:46 am is very early for a lot
of these guys, unless they have a call time or have to catch a flight. Nonetheless, they each spared no opportunity
for leaving them out of witnessing the launch and chastising me in the process.
I had the late
game tonight so I didn’t have to get on the shuttle until 5:00pm so I was able
to enjoy a little pool time before showering and heading over to the WWOS campus. I brought my Bolton book to the pool along
with a few cold drinks (non-alcoholic, come on man. I gotta work later!) Here we were in
September and the temperature was still as hot as it was in July. It was very difficult to read while
constantly wiping the sweat from my face that I finally gave up and just
lounged around in the pool for about an hour, conversing with the various other
greenies that were killing time in the water.
I tossed around a football with one of my friends from ESPN until he had
an errant toss that smacked a woman square on her ass as she sunbathed
nearby. It made me wonder if the pass
was intentional or not.
The game I had
tonight was the first game of the conference semifinals with the Clippers
taking on Denver, who had to claw their way to the second round with a
competitive seven game series that eliminated the Jazz. I was looking forward to this one because I
had picked the Clippers to win this thing and the more Clippers games I can do,
the more I felt I had a stake in the outcome.
Otherwise, after doing so many games, the games become a blur.
While we were on
camera shooting the players as they warmed up we could watch the conclusion of
the Toronto Boston game that was being played in the other arena. This was the third game of that conference
semifinal and the Raptors were down two games to none on the verge of going
down three to none as Kemba Walker tossed a perfectly executed pass to a
smiling Daniel Theis who slammed it through with point five seconds remaining
in the game to put the Celtics up by two. That was the play of the game…until the
next one.
Returning after a
timeout Boston brought in the seven feet six inch tall Tacko Fall to defend the
inbounds pass from the front court sideline where Toronto advanced the ball
after the timeout. There was only a half
second left on the clock so only a catch and shoot play could send the game to
overtime or propel the Raptors to a win if it was worth three. Kyle Lowry was
the player chosen to inbound the pass. When the referees count hit four seconds
he looped a long pass to the opposite baseline to a seemingly wide open Og
Anunoby standing in three point land who flicked the ball towards the rim and
it fell through for the win. It was
unbelievable. The other TNT crew
covering that game did an excellent job with the coverage as we viewed multiple
angles of the game winner through our viewfinders as we continued to perform
our work tasks. I could only hope our
game would be as thrilling.
It was not going
to happen. The Clippers had come off
several days rest awaiting this game and they waltzed through an easy victory
against the tired Nuggets. When the
fourth quarter started, most starters from both teams rested awaiting a
meaningful second game in a couple of days.
This baby was over after thirty minutes of play and we basically went
through the motions until the final buzzer.
At the end of the
game we record an interview with a player, usually from the winning team, and
tonight it was Marcus Morris, who played an outstanding game with his expectant
wife and son present in the arena. Technically
the interview was a disaster. Our
sideline reporter did not know where to position herself or the guest and our
director Matt Lipp had to scramble in order to find a decent shot to begin the
interview. For some reason, TNT chooses
to use a two shot of the reporter and the guest, then cut to a single shot of
the guest once the interview starts. The
two shot comes from one of the robotic cameras, and the positioning of the
reporter and guest, with the audio assistant holding a boom microphone, looks bad
and even worse when everyone is out of position. ESPN uses a single camera for this effort and
it comes across much cleaner.
I have another
day off tomorrow so being as tonight was a late game I am looking forward to
having an easy day and perhaps getting a little extra sleep in the
morning. No rocket launches to get up
for. Perhaps a day of rest and catching
up with personal chores is in order.
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