If you were a Seinfeld fan, like I was, you probably remember the episode when George shouted, “The worlds are colliding, Jerry, the worlds are colliding!” He simply meant that Jerry’s girlfriend and his girlfriend were friends and, therefore, sharing secrets about the two of them. It was not good.
This week, my worlds are colliding for a whole other reason. It is the time when sports seasons begin to overlap. The collision takes place when basketball begins as football is continuing. The other two “worlds” are high school athletics and Lafayette athletics with a sprinkle of other internet work on the Lafayette campus. Trust me, I do not want your sympathy, but as a response to the many people who ask, “Do you just do games?”- Here is my schedule for this week:
Monday
- Choose the Patriot League offensive, defensive, special teams and rookies of the week and submit my ballot.
- Notify the Parkland and Liberty head football coaches that I will be doing their championship game on Friday night so I ask them to send me their starting lineups and season stats as soon as possible.
- Get the season stats off the internet for Lafayette and Lehigh. Do my stat sheets for the Lafayette and Lehigh game charts. This entails putting all the offensive and defensive stats on my game charts. I alshave to update the starters, the individual and team sheets to be used during the game. I put together a pre-game sheet for the opening and come up with Keys to the Game.
- Now it’s on to writing this blog which I will submit Tuesday morning after all the NFL games are played.
- Make a recording for ESPN Radio discussing Lafayette’s outlook for the game. This will be played prior to their broadcast of Lafayette-Lehigh on Saturday.
- Prepare my notes for a one-hour interview with Lafayette President Alison Byerly, discussing the state of the college.
- Arrive at Lafayette at 5:30PM to rehearse. Interview the President LIVE on Monday night for the internet from 7:00-8:00 PM.
Tuesday
- Make the NFL picks for next week and submit this blog.
- Begin to put together the information for the high school game on Friday night. Hopefully, the coaches and stat people will have gotten me the information requested (often not the case by Tuesday). This also requires doing all the offensive and defensive stats for these two teams.
- Begin the preparation for the Lafayette-Robert Morris women’s basketball game on Wednesday. This means filling in my game sheets with all the stats and researching pertinent information.
- Attend the Lafayette press luncheon for the Lehigh game; do an internet preview of the game; talk to the coach and a few players, and gather up the game notes (@50 pages combined for both schools).
- Spend the afternoon digesting the game notes and taking my own notes.
- Eat dinner at home for the only time this week.
Wednesday
- Complete as much of the high school prep as possible. This means profiling each team, keys to the game, starting lineups, stat charts, getting game officials and coming up with a trivia question.
- Finish all preparation for that night’s Lafayette-Robert Morris women’s basketball game and create another trivia question.
- If time permits, begin preparation for the Lafayette-NJIT men’s Thursday night basketball game.
- 5:00 – arrive at the Kirby Sports Center. Prepare the broadcast table.
- 7:00 – Tip-off for the women’s game.
Thursday
- Go over the weekly checklist to make sure all is done for the two football games.
- Complete preparation for the Lafayette-NJIT basketball game that night (another trivia question).
- Start to prepare for Sunday’s Lafayette-Cornell men’s basketball game.
- 5:00 – arrive at the Kirby Sports Center. Prepare the broadcast table.
- 7:00 – Tip off for the men’s game.
Friday
- Read all the articles in the local paper about tonight’s high school game.
- Check out all the possible individual records and numbers of significance that might be important as the game progresses that night.
- 5:00 – Arrive at the stadium and prepare the broadcast booth.
- 7:00 – Freedom vs. Parkland for the District XI AAAAAA championship in Allentown.
Saturday
- Read all the articles concerning Lafayette-Lehigh football in the local papers.
- 10:00 AM – arrive at Fisher Stadium for the game and set up the booth for the game day broadcast which is going around the world on the internet and on a number of broadcast networks.
- 12:37 – Kickoff for the 152nd game of college football’s most played rivalry.
Sunday
- Finish the preparation for the Lafayette – Cornell men’s basketball game by completing and reviewing the game notes.
- 12:00 Noon – Arrive at the Kirby Sports Center and, once again, prepare the table for the broadcast.
- 2:00 – Tip off for the men’s game.
- I should arrive home around 5:00 on Sunday afternoon from just doing the games, realizing how right George Costanza was when he complained that “The worlds are colliding, Jerry, the worlds are colliding!” Indeed, they are!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
No musings this week. Did you read the blog?
Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last week – 8-7; Overall – 86-62-2 – 58%)
Week Eleven
NEW ORLEANS
PITTSBURGH
DALLAS
DETROIT
TENNESSEE
KANSAS CITY
ARIZONA
MIAMI
NEW ENGLAND
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON
OAKLAND
