COLUMN: Exhaustion, Part Deux

A few months ago, you may remember an article that I wrote concerning the sheer exhaustion I felt in dealing with the beyond hectic schedule I set for myself at Guilford College^[1].

Four months removed from that institution and I have to say that the same exhausted feeling is alive and well. As I write this, I am currently miles above the earth on a trip back from Daytona Beach.

To most people, this would suggest the end of a relaxing vacation, but for me it spells the end of just another work week.

College football season has kicked into high gear and as a result has kicked my schedule into high gear. My company provides video replay for the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Pac-12 and several other mid-major conferences.

As a part of a new deal this season, we also provide replay to the MEAC whenever they have a televised game on the ESPN^[2] family of networks. What makes these games challenging is that the conferences listed above have systems in each team's stadium.

The MEAC teams share one system.Two of these games took place this past week (Thursday and Saturday) with one in Norfolk^[3], Va.^[4], and one in Daytona Beach, and I was working both of them.Even though instant replay seems to suggest that you show up and just watch the game, the job requires a bit more of a time commitment than that.

When I would leave baseball^[5] and football^[6] games as a kid I would always wonder why they left the lights on so long after the game. In my eyes, when the game was over, everybody went home and the team was just wasting electricity^[7].

After leaving Hampton Universitys football^[8] stadium at 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning (after the game ended at 11 p.m.) I got a pretty good idea of why the lights were on.

The routine goes like this: Move, setup and test the equipment on the day before; retest the equipment and distribute headsets, pagers, etc. four hours prior to the game, then break down and prep the equipment for shipping in the hours that follow the game.

Along the way there are a number of hurdles that have to be taken care of. Anything from broken pagers to having to take a door off of its hinges to get the console in the replay booth. Its a lot of work, but the payoff is well worth the struggle.

In the last two weeks, I have been to four college football^[9] games. That number to me is just staggering. During week one, I saw Georgia Tech^[10] take down Western Carolina and then saw Virginia Techs barnyard whipping of Appalachian State.

Then in the last week my travels took me to Clemson, a stop in Cincinnati^[11], Norfolk^[12] and Daytona Beach^[13]. Im getting worn out again just listing all those stops. Despite the fact that I am working throughout these games, there are plenty of chances to stop and smell the roses.

I will say that seeing a full football^[14] stadium go nuts when Metallicas Enter Sandman hits the speakers was one of the coolest sports moments^[15] I have ever been a part of.

The two MEAC games I took in this weekend had some of the best marching band corps I have ever heard and provided an awesome game experience. Its little moments like that make the 6 a.m. flights, 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. work days and the time away from home all worthwhile. Im loving it all right now in Week 2 ...

hopefully I can give the same answer to you guys 8 to 9 weeks from now.

Now if you will excuse me, Im off to take a nap. As you read this today, Ill be on my way to Wake Forest^[16] for the day. No rest for the weary.

Zach Daw is a2011 graduate of Guilford College^[17] where he majored in economics and accounting, minored in sports administration and pitched for the Quakers baseball^[18] team. He previously graduated from Freedom High and writes a weekly columnfor The News Herald.

References

1. ^{^} Topic - Guilford College (www2.morganton.com)
2. ^{^} Topic - Espn (www2.morganton.com)
3. ^{^} Topic - Norfolk (www2.morganton.com)
4. ^{^} Topic - Virginia (www2.morganton.com)
5. ^{^} Topic - Baseball (www2.morganton.com)
6. ^{^} Topic - Football (www2.morganton.com)
7. ^{^} Topic - Electricity (www2.morganton.com)
8. ^{^} Topic - Football (www2.morganton.com)
9. ^{^} Topic - Football (www2.morganton.com)
10. ^{^} Topic - Virginia Tech (www2.morganton.com)
11. ^{^} Topic - Cincinnati (www2.morganton.com)
12. ^{^} Topic - Norfolk (www2.morganton.com)
13. ^{^} Topic - Daytona Beach (www2.morganton.com)
14. ^{^} Topic - Football (www2.morganton.com)
15. ^{^} Topic - Coolest Sports Moments (www2.morganton.com)
16. ^{^} Topic - Wake Forest (www2.morganton.com)
17. ^{^} Topic - Guilford College (www2.morganton.com)
18. ^{^} Topic - Baseball (www2.morganton.com)