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| This should appear on your screen when starting my future video podcasts. |
Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while looking at the thermometer with disdain:
** Over the past few weeks, this particular brand of column has given way to various other media types as I continue to experiment with ways to further enhance the "The Owner's Box" brand. But when push comes to shove, the written word will continue to be a big part of my efforts to remain relevant as the years create a greater gap between my past life as a gainfully-employed journalist and my new incarnation as a gadfly.
"Blogging Fearlessly" was the first step in this direction -- first through the blog sponsored by my former newspaper, then in this clone for private use, which was created in 2009 and then promptly abandoned in 2010 when The Sun Chronicle agreed to separate my blog from a mishmash of various voices (informed and otherwise) and give it a prominent and dedicated place on the newspaper website.
As I've said before, I rediscovered this particular blog almost by accident. I was running through my bookmarks looking for dated or inactive ones that could be deleted, and found this -- and realized that not only was it attractive and easy to update, but worthy of continuing under the auspices of a web address all its own. With the birth of my audio podcast, "The Owner's Box," I was able to create www.theownersbox2020.com to host it.
"The Owner's Box" is currently in a seasonal break, but I expect it will return next month with new guests. But It now has a younger sibling, the video podcast "The Owner's Box After Dark," which was born a couple of weeks ago and has a bright future. Indeed, I have purchased a new webcam for my desktop computer and new video editing software to create a more professional look, a hint of which appears at the top of this column in what I hope will be the title card going forward.
With that, and with all my ventures into sports broadcasting, I'm starting to think that I'm working more now than I was when I was really employed! But better that than the alternative ...
** There is still no definitive word on how the fall high school sports season will proceed, if at all, because everyone in the commonwealth is waiting for Gov. Charlie Baker's final decision. But I'm getting a sinking feeling that football may be at risk for outright cancellation, a shift to another season, or a move to a hybrid schedule that overlaps over winter and spring.
The first would be highly regrettable. The second and third would be highly inconvenient and negatively affect other sports.
But no matter what happens, nothing regarding sports should happen unless students can safely return to their schools and be present in them for at least a majority of the days of the week.
At this time, I think it would be preferable to plan for a truncated football season in the fall, with games starting on the weekend of Oct. 2 and concluding with a shortened playoff schedule that creates sectional championships and does not extend further into the winter than it would have under normal circumstances.
Moving football into a hybrid winter-spring slot would wreak havoc with the basketball, track, baseball and lacrosse athletes (among others) that would be competing in the winter and spring. Important as football is to an an athletic program, it's importance cannot be allowed to transcend the importance of the other sports that rely upon football athletes to sustain them.
Tough decisions are about to be made. I don't envy those that make to make them.
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| Glen Farley (left) and yours truly in the King Philip press box. |
Ouch.
In the past, that would not have fazed me much; I spent the majority of my half-century of sportswriting walking the sidelines because I saw the game better from there -- and because the press boxes were either falling down, poorly located or overpopulated. But when I became a play-by-play announcer, all of a sudden those became "my turf," as it were.
I'd surely hate to see that happen here. I'm assuming there mat be restrictions on attendance at games this fall if they are allowed to take place, which means that media members whose jobs it would be to cover the games will become even more important to those that are interested in knowing the results.
So for the sake of the newspaper reporters that struggle to meet deadlines that are increasingly unforgiving, and for us on the electronic side, I really hope that accommodations can be made for all of us -- and that those accommodations don't just take into account our need to be present, but also our specific needs for typing space and Internet access or electrical power and camera locations.
** A quick note of thanks to readers (and listeners) Rick Smith and Bob Slugoski for checking in with comments via our email address (theownersbox2020@gmail.com). Both will be receiving spiffy "The Owner's Box" coffee mugs shortly.
I love emails and letters -- which is why you can now reach me also by "snail mail" at "The Owner's Box," P.O. Box 272, Mansfield MA 02048.
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| Lisa Downs visits the recording studio. |
I first met Lisa when she was a tall and talented forward named Lisa Garland, and I have followed her playing and coaching arc ever since. She started that path quite traditionally, as an assistant at Foxboro under former coach Dan Damish, but then she left coaching to start a family. She returned to the FHS sidelines for two separate stints as an assistant under Sarah Behn before assuming the varsity job when her boss left for the UMass-Lowell job.
Now, entering her 10th season at the helm, Lisa has guided the Warriors to two state championships. She's not only a terrific coach and a tireless worker, but she's also a terrific role model to the young women of Foxboro. And she's a great friend; thanks to her thoughtful and knowledgeable commentary, she has helped to legitimize my podcasts and make them a popular destination.
Happy birthday, kid!
** That's all for today, but I leave you with one political thought. I am watching the funeral service for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, and have just watched former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton give their remarks. The pastor just read a statement from former president Jimmy Carter, who no doubt would have been there if not still recovering from recent surgery. And former president Barack Obama will be speaking shortly.
With all that in mind, where is the current occupant of the White House? Cry-baby tweeting that the election should be postponed because he suspects widespread voter fraud from mail-in ballots.
That's all I need to say.
Stay safe, wear a mask, vote Blue in November and I'll have some podcasts up for you shortly.
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