There wasn’t anything tragic or magic these last two weeks, and that in and of itself is a bit of a shock.
There have been plenty of adjustments and changes to travel and game schedule, some on short notice, but those sorts of things happen all the time.
So, I guess we can recap the comings and goings.
There were a couple trips to New York.
One was supposed to be to California, so I made something like a 2,800-mile detour. My announcer was asked by Fox to move a date for a game. He was off and then not off, so instead of my going to Los Angeles to help with games out there, we were arranging help out east.
All do-able, and with the magic help of Fox Travel, tickets from Indy to LA became Indy to NY. Just like that. Hotel rooms very nicely appeared on my agenda, and Uber rides are just at the touch of a keypad on the phone.
Production folks were hired for extra time, and except for some gnarly technical issues, doing three games in two days last weekend was smoother than I feared it might be. The biggest thing at the end was that the first game on Sunday, which I was doing for one crew, was not finished when the second game started, that was with another crew.
They started without me, and let me tell you, catching up on stats for a game after it is started is not a fun or easy thing to do. Thankfully most of the play by play is on the computer, so when we went to commercials, I just jotted down the plays I had missed. By halftime, I was caught up, and the second half went just fine.
The travel was mostly okay as well.
Speaking of Uber, there was a huge bicycle marathon through the five New York boroughs a week ago Sunday, and that tied up all vehicular traffic. I ended up missing my connection, so I had to walk the 20 minutes in the drizzle to the production studio.
Flights for the most part were on time too, another okay part of recent history. I did get to sit next to a young man who was flying to New York to start his career with American Airlines. He was not from Indy, but had been on his last training flight, and was headed to New York to join his first crew. It was interesting to talk to him about his new job.
I also had a really nice ride with an Uber driver to LaGuardia Airport this last Sunday. Amr is from Egypt and has lived quite an interesting life, from his time in the Middle East to his years in New York City. He has done a lot, seen a lot, and is a good example of what can happen to an immigrant who moves to America. He has worked hard, he has had some good things and not so good things happen, and he is a happy, productive New Yorker now. Quite impressive.
It’s one last trip to the Big Apple this weekend, and then it will be a couple trips to California before the UFL playoffs and then it will become summer.
Oh yes, there are other tidbits, like the phone call last Friday so now I’m working the first Fever home game on Thursday. That will be a scrap book day.
The NFL schedule came out today, or started to come out today (Wednesday) and it appears my crew, with our new announcer (Tom Brady) is going to Cleveland for Week 1 and his debut.
Of course, the Browns are playing the Cowboys, so our drawing Dallas every week continues.
I got to cover the Athenians winning their 28th Sagamore Conference baseball title Monday, and congratulations to them on that accomplishment. A personal congrats to assistant coach Rhett Welliever on being part of 25 conference championship teams. Quite an accomplishment.
Sectional softball and baseball tournaments are next week, and men’s summer softball starts next Monday. That time of year already.
And, nothing at the track for me again this May. Yes, I do miss it, but other duties call.
I want to wish all moms here and in Heaven a belated Happy Mother’s Day and to everyone else…
Safe travels.
Jeff Nelson is a frequent contributor to the Journal Review and works professionally for Fox Sports assisting with NFL broadcasts and the Indiana Pacers.
