ON THE MARK.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

What did you fantasize about growing up?  No, I don't mean sexually.  What did you dream of doing with your life?  I always wanted to be a rock star.  Or an athlete.  Either fantasy would do.  I did not dream of being in the media, even though my job as a sportscaster allowed me to get closer to athletes than most.    When I worked for Global TV, and later the Maple Leafs radio network, I experienced firsthand what life was like playing in front of thousands of paying customers and then jumping on a bus to the airport, headed for the next game.  I didn't play the game, but I witnessed the players daily routine, and the monotony of it. As Tom Petty sang "The waiting is the hardest part".  Athletes and entertainers know it better than most.

When I traveled with the Toronto Maple Leafs, my schedule was not my own.  I was required to be at the airport for a flight, be on the bus from the airport to the hotel (or the rink if the coach wanted to get a practice in) be on the bus the next day to go for the gameday skate and pick up any tidbits I might end up using on the broadcast that night.  Back on the bus after practice, unless you wanted to spend your per diem on a cab or, god forbid, walk.  By this time it was 12 noon and the game didn't begin until 7 o'clock.  In some cities, that was OK.  Lots to do, for example, in Manhattan or Chicago.  Boston was a great place as well.  But some places, like Minneapolis, Detroit and St. Louis had NOTHING  to see or do.   Winnipeg in the middle of winter was not the kind of place you wanted to venture out into.  Imagine spending a long afternoon in your hotel room, watching TV and waiting for the 5 pm bus so you can get to the arena and waste another couple of hours before game time.

And then, before you know it, the game has started, and then it's over and the entire routine comes to life again.  Bus, wait, airplane, wait, bus, hotel, eat, drink, sleep, wake, coffee, eat, bus, rink, bus, hotel, eat, nap, read, bus, game.   Try that for 180-200 days a year and your fantasy quickly becomes reality.  Add the bumps, bruises, broken bones, homesickness, anger with coaches, teammates, media, opponents, fear of losing your job or making a huge mistake in front of thousands and you've got a life that pays very well, but is nothing like you imagined as a kid.   When I worked for Global, I hosted about 35-40 Leaf games on TV every season.  I was responsible for the between periods interviews, which in those days, lasted 5 or 6 minutes sitting next to a sweaty hockey player while trying to come up with relevant questions.   After "What did you think of your team's play in the first period?", there isn't much you can ask a guy who missed an empty net, took a stupid penalty, and is in the process of getting a divorce because his wife has been cheating on him back in Toronto while he's on the road getting his ass kicked on a team that's going nowhere. The tough thing is, you've seen the guy drinking heavily at the hotel bar and flirting with every skirt he sees.  You've seen how he's lost a step in speed and doesn't go into the corners the way he did as a young man.  You want to ask him all these questions, but you can't.  It's a hockey telecast, and you work for the station that is spending millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast these games.  You can't ask questions that are going to make the team mad.  I did it once and was severely reprimanded by my bosses.  Others, such as Dave Hodge and the late Pat Marsden didn't care what their bosses said.  They had guts.  I had a young family to feed.  

By contrast, traveling with a rock band was a lot more fun.   That story coming up in my next posting.