SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST

By Jamie Stuart

Eight teams...10 games...48 hours of March Madness!  We just came back from our annual trip upstate to cover the high school state basketball championships. 

Let me just say...it was pretty tiring!!

Ok...I know what you're thinking.  "This guy isn't REALLY gonna complain about watching basketball games for a living, is he?"

                  No.  Not really.  We arrived Thursday night, myself, producer Andrew Rappaport and photographer extraordinaire Dan Jacobsen.  We had a quick dinner and prepared ourselves for the ensuing madness to come.

                 On Friday we had 4 boys games to cover from 9am til 9pm.  We also had 2 girls games to cover in Troy, about 30 minutes away.  Which basically means, no dinner, a quick lunch, and lots of popcorn from the bucket they give you at the arena. 

                 On top of that, the Malverne boys game was actually ending AS I WAS LIVE at 8:20pm.  Great TV...but harrowing as I'm reading the highlights and also looking behind me to see if the game is over yet.

                 We got back to the hotel at midnight--starving but ready for bed.  We had to get up at 8am for a boys game that starts at 9.  We covered 3 more games Saturday for the boys, and then after the 5pm show...drove over to Troy for the Copiague girls championship.

                 Thanks to the Eagles, they saved the best for last and delivered our only state title.  That game ended at 10:20pm...but our work wasn't done.  We still had to do all the interviews for the next day.  And some security guy was ready to throw down with me b/c I wasn't leaving the court.   He wisely backed off.

                 Sunday we had no games to cover...but we had plenty to do.  We had to prepare a 30 min RUUUUUUUUSH show from our hotel lobby.  You know, the fireside chat that I do every year that's only missing a pipe and a glass of scotch.

                 We were able to pull off that show (a minor miracle in itself) and then finally enjoy a nice dinner.

                 Monday morning we woke up and headed home.  A leisurely drive?  Not exactly...considering I had a 30 lb laptop editor on my lap and I was editing a weekend recap for the Monday show.  

                But am I complaining?  Of course not. I got paid to watch hoops. :)

Comments

[jake]

We just aren't as good as the other areas are in hoops. :(

[disgruntled LI hoops fan]

8 of the best Long Island teams and after a weekend of basketball playoffs only one state title?

Can anyone say OVER RATED?