Bob Lobel: My Red Sox Dream Job
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Maybe you have an answer to this question. I have been given the honor of being one of three Public Address announcers to do the games at Fenway Park this year.. Dick Flavin, long time political satire guy , author and poet is one. Henry Mahegan, Charleston teacher and coach, is another and I am the third.
My days for the booth are Saturdays and maybe some summer nights.. The pay is very little but it does come with a parking space. Here is what I can't figure out: Why is this more exciting to me than what I did for over 25 years, ie. sitting behind a desk doing sports in local newscasts? I'm not finished with the unanswerable questions. Why do other folks feel the same way? Is it because it's the Red Sox? Is it because it's Fenway Park? The closest I can come is that it is some tucked away fantasy most of us had at one time to do that kind of public announcing at sports venue.
Actually, if the truth were known, my first foray into announcing came behind the public addressing mic at University of Vermont football games (tey no longer do the football thing). In essence, that was my first and this probably is my last. The circle of life. Whatever. I am excited about it but it basically involves reading script prepared by the staff of the ball club.. No deviation is encouraged. Not necessarily my style but I'm going to have to learn it if I want to keep the position. So for what it's worth, Saturday can't get here fast enough.
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The other upbeat news of the week is the way the baseball team is being perceived. They actually seem to have made peace with their disgruntled fans. It’s a very small sample but the heat is off at the moment. There are many reasons for it, but perception is everything and right now this team of youth and unknowns is being perceived as likable, friendly, and hard playing. That automatically makes them worthy of love in the eye of the fan, once again demonstrating that this is another part of who we are.
Pitino
Let's move to a less popular subject, Rick Pitino. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I wanted Pitino to win it all with Louisville. Being one of the very few around these parts who feels this way, I expected and received considerable backlash against what I said. I am even happier for him now that he will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this September. Hey, besides Dr. J, how many UMass alums are enshrined in Springfield? There are so many layers to this Kentucky/Louisville basketball feud. So many layers that connect the dots to Massachusetts and Pitino wannabe, John Calipari. On the surface, they seem like one in the same basketball used (preowned) car salesman. That is a faulty perception on many levels. I'm just happy Pitino accomplished the two-school two championship honor. It may never happen again. Rick Pitino is not walking through that door again. We all are thankful for that but he is probably more grateful than any of us. He couldn’t change the culture in the NBA, even if he did go about it in the right way, which he did not. His success at Louisville is a lesson for all of us who want to take the time to learn it. It's both personal and professional for him since you cannot change what people think or say.
With that in mind, you just have to be true to yourself. I'm happy that he figured out through his own pain and anguish, that it was something he could do, as difficult as it might have seemed.
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