So it begins...
It’s the first day of the 2006 playoffs and my adventure finally begins – at the airport.
Waiting for a flight to arrive is one of the most agonizing things about being on the road.
It’s 8 a.m. and I’m sitting in Pearson Airport, Gate 120 in Terminal 1 to be exact, awaiting my plane to Ottawa.
Airport travel is nothing new to me. I’ve done it all year as an associate producer with Hockey Night in Canada.
But in the playoffs, when you’re in an airport virtually everyday, the routine can get…kind of.. frustrating. Why do I need to be in the airport TWO HOURS before an international flight? So I can buy out the magazine rack at the airport gift shop in an effort to pass the time?
Since I’m covering the Tampa Bay – Ottawa series as an associate producer/statistician for HNIC, my bags are loaded with reference material with every conceivable tidbit of information at my fingertips.
If Greg Millen asks during the game who scored the game-winning goal in Game 3 of the Philadelphia-Ottawa series in 2003, I’ll know (I’m not going to look it up now just for the sake of my blog).
Team guides, the NHL guide and record book, the official NHL playoff book…I have it all. I’m a stats junkie’s dream. Now only if I could persuade someone else to carry all of it for me.
You see, I’m a minimalist. I don’t like carrying too much or having too many things going on in my life. When my backpack is loaded with 15 books, a laptop, tapes, cords, papers, staplers, binoculars, pens, pencils, sharpeners, black sharpies, cue cards, sometimes I think it’s a little too much.
But you have to be prepared. I learned that in my very first game working for HNIC two seasons ago. The Leafs lost a big game at home to the Sabres and it turned out to be, up to that point, their worst loss in their history at the Air Canada Centre.
At that time, I didn’t have the same resources and couldn’t pass on that vital stat to my commentators until after the game was over.
So that’s why I’m hunkered down, looking like a Sherpa about to climb Mount Everest, at Pearson with all of this reading material.
Now only if I could find The Hockey News around here to pass the time.
Waiting for a flight to arrive is one of the most agonizing things about being on the road.
It’s 8 a.m. and I’m sitting in Pearson Airport, Gate 120 in Terminal 1 to be exact, awaiting my plane to Ottawa.
Airport travel is nothing new to me. I’ve done it all year as an associate producer with Hockey Night in Canada.
But in the playoffs, when you’re in an airport virtually everyday, the routine can get…kind of.. frustrating. Why do I need to be in the airport TWO HOURS before an international flight? So I can buy out the magazine rack at the airport gift shop in an effort to pass the time?
Since I’m covering the Tampa Bay – Ottawa series as an associate producer/statistician for HNIC, my bags are loaded with reference material with every conceivable tidbit of information at my fingertips.
If Greg Millen asks during the game who scored the game-winning goal in Game 3 of the Philadelphia-Ottawa series in 2003, I’ll know (I’m not going to look it up now just for the sake of my blog).
Team guides, the NHL guide and record book, the official NHL playoff book…I have it all. I’m a stats junkie’s dream. Now only if I could persuade someone else to carry all of it for me.
You see, I’m a minimalist. I don’t like carrying too much or having too many things going on in my life. When my backpack is loaded with 15 books, a laptop, tapes, cords, papers, staplers, binoculars, pens, pencils, sharpeners, black sharpies, cue cards, sometimes I think it’s a little too much.
But you have to be prepared. I learned that in my very first game working for HNIC two seasons ago. The Leafs lost a big game at home to the Sabres and it turned out to be, up to that point, their worst loss in their history at the Air Canada Centre.
At that time, I didn’t have the same resources and couldn’t pass on that vital stat to my commentators until after the game was over.
So that’s why I’m hunkered down, looking like a Sherpa about to climb Mount Everest, at Pearson with all of this reading material.
Now only if I could find The Hockey News around here to pass the time.
posted by Jason Murdoch at 8:20 AM
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