September 9, 2020

 

My schedule had really become quite a routine.  From here on out all my games are 9:00pm tips so I pretty much had the entire day to do whatever I pleased as long as I made the 5:00pm shuttle to the Arena.  We had another whiffle ball game today around midday. Let’s just say it was supposed to be around midday but too many of the guys I work with can’t make it on time to anything unless it pertains to work.  First pitch was supposed to be 12:30pm but the initial toss to the first batter didn’t occur until almost 1:30pm. 

 

I am a freak when it comes to being on time.  I think I am the only one in the bubble that feels that way.  I had a coach that told me if I wasn’t fifteen minutes early then I was fifteen minutes late.  That always stuck with me so I have difficulty with things that don’t start on time.  I remember when I worked at Raytheon I produced a rather sophisticated ceremony honoring the Standard Missile and its years of service to our country.  We had video connections with Generals and VIP’s across the country and I had the program scheduled very tightly so delays were not acceptable.  The schedule had to be adhered to as those that we conferenced in were on a very tight schedule.  However, the President of our division in Tucson was notorious for being late.  I couldn’t afford to not start on time as it would have inconvenienced the numerous VIP’s across the country.  I started the ceremony on time without my President in attendance. 

 

His assistant came rushing towards me as I began the event with fire in his eyes.  I said we have a schedule and we need to keep it. I moved Taylor’s remarks (Taylor was the always late President) later in the program and no one would know the difference.  I felt the needs of the 500 people in attendance who made it on time, and the various speakers I had on the agenda across the country that made it on time, was more important than one egotist that couldn’t make it on time.  The program went off without a hitch and no one knew about the battle I had with the President’s aide.

 

Wow, that was quite a rant about being on time wasn’t it?  Anyway, regarding the whiffle ball game.  That game was the worst game I played since entering the bubble.  I dropped fly balls in the outfield, made poor decisions when I was a base runner, and performed horribly at the plate.  We lost the game but all the runs scored by the other team were attributed to my very, very, bad day. 

 

The early game on the ESPN schedule was perhaps the best game played thus far in the bubble.  The game went to double overtime with the Raptors prevailing and sending their conference semifinal series to a seventh game. I had fun texting with Howie Singer, my director during the first half of the restart, as he is an ardent fan of the Celtics as you know.  He even sent me a photo of his sad face after the Boston loss. All us green TNT folk watched the game together in the dining area.  It was fun with all of us together as we knew some would be leaving soon so we wanted to make sure we could all get together when possible. The good news about the series going seven games is that we get to broadcast that deciding game. 

 

The late tilt saw the Clippers easily defeat the Nuggets and going up three to one.  Los Angeles should win this series and rest up to see who their opponent for the conference finals will be. I have a feeling the two teams from Los Angeles will be squaring off to battle for the Western Conference title.  All I know is whomever it is please sweep!