My first Pressbox. by William E Fisher, 32nd grade.
Not just in my dreams, no more imagining, I was finally up there behind the glass windows of the press box, calling my first soccer game! Sure, I was calling it into my little borrowed tape recorder and onto a too-big-to-be-cool yellow legal pad, but it all counts!
I saw journalists--the noble, hardworking men and women who keep us glued to the edge of our newspapers each morning. I saw brave photographers with their baseball caps worn backwards (unless they had a ponytail) and marketing people with ties, smiles and a gentle smoothness about them.
I saw security people give me the nod, and not just before they head butted me back into the stands.
I got to walk the field and chat with famed MLS soccer player Marcelo Balboa -- who played in 3 world cups for the USA. He didn't even run away and actually seemed marginally interested in chatting! Could've been the press badge, but I like to think it was rapport from my firm handshake and manly nod and wink.
I am a Sports Writer! And that is a good thing. Ahhh, it was a glorious fantasy, and it lasted most of the game!
Sure, the writers weren't quite as beautiful as I'd imagined, and none had cigars dangling from their lips or a martini gently splashing about as they gestured. But the photographer had a Canon Dh-1 digital camera and the most enviously-sized telephoto lens I've ever imagined casually slung from his oversized shoulder.
The TV announcers had amazingly poor choices in expensive shirts and ties, but turned out to be some standup guys. I had heard Allen Hopkins and Max Bretos of Fox Sports World "call" or do the play-by-play for a hundred soccer games on television, and got to spend probably 45 minutes chatting with them. Funny guys, fun guys, nice guys. I was mesmerized for a bit. Of course, I still think they sound exactly the same. Weird. Different bodies, same TV voice.
I tried to put out of my mind the deadline which was fast approaching and just enjoy the show. Forget about the 750 words due the next morning, forget about trying to remember every detail and get it right, forget about trying to put together a comprehensive, yet enjoyable to read, game wrap-up.
Luckily, my writing partner, Jason Sweezey, will be trading off writing assignments with me to keep us from going crazy. He volunteered to do this first wrap-up since I'd done the Preview. Which was good as I had to jet home without doing locker room interviews to pick up Max, who was sharing a babysitter over at my neighbor's.
Even so, I figured I'd do a "shadow" wrap-up just for practice, but it got a little out of hand and at midnight I shut down the computer with 1200 words. All of my articles will be located at BilFish's 2004 Articles for future reference, even the ones that aren't published by Cyber Soccer News.
Posted by BilFish at April 19, 2004 06:47 AM