OK, there is a good story here. About midway through the semi-finals, the light bulb went on.
Back up two days........ The Pastimes stage crew get to eat behind the stage with food that is brought in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The judges get a per diem for working tournaments. Now I fall in the former catagory. Each morning, the breakfast food of choice is bagels. Now I like bagels as much as the next guy, but sometimes you need to have a doughnut! So I ask who is local and driving in each day. Phillip Carlisle raises his hand and I asked him to stop off and pick up two dozen at the local doughnut shop. I give him a $20 and give him a broad outline of what to get (choc is really perferred). Now I ask Rashad, who is a the lead Magic official for Pastimes, if he has a request. Of course, he whispers that he would like a cherry filled with no icing. I quickly make Phillip aware and he comes through the next morning. Ironically, both dozen doughnuts are gone in less than an hour and a half. The day goes through its normal craziness... However, that same evening, I notice that two guys are doing live streams of video for some of the Magic tourneys, specifically the final matches.
OK, Since the first time went well, I asked Phillip to bring in two dozen the next day and he comes through again. This time, I see Alan Hochman himself eating a doughnut and when he sees me, he rolls his eyes and smiles, thanking me for providing the doughnuts. Maybe next year we will not have any issues with all bagels. Anyway, that morning Rashad sees me behind the stage and again, thanks me for the doughnut.
Back to the light bulb..... I am standing there watching and it occurs to me that we could stream the final. I take off back to the Pastimes stage and am informed that the video process in overseen by none other than Rashad (cherry filled doughnuts). He immediatley says yes, calls up Ray, his partner and the rest is history. Except for the part of requesting Lou to do the commentary..... Dean and Jim Wysz tell me that Lou is the perfect guy to do the play by play. We call Louie over and tell him what we are thinking. He gives us a reluctant look until he realizes I'm the Godfather and that refusal is well, futile.
Anyway, the reason we got the video live stream of the final is all due to........ Phillip Carlisle. There you have it!!!
Last edited by Moses2813 on Fri Aug 21, 2009 2:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
|