Sometimes, you work a job and a thought comes over you, “Wow, I’m getting paid for this!” That’s sort of how I felt after I was standing a foot away from Derek Rose as he received his Rookie of the Year award. You see, last night I was at the United Center working with TNT/NBA for the Chicago Bulls/Boston Celtics playoff game. Our job was to get a feel for the game which was easy when during the game, you were stationed right on the court. Check out my vantage point:
At one point during the first half, the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo fell right on top of my cameraman, Steve. Both Rondo and the Steve were a bit banged up but it was Rondo who got it worse, bashing his head against the camera’s lens. He looked straight at me like saying, “Man, that hurt!” I heard the collapse got mentioned during the game coverage.
However, the best look I got was from the man himself, Mr. Derek Rose. I know it sounds silly, but I swear that during the game when he was a few feet from me, he looked straight down at me, and then over at my shirt. I was wearing a University of Memphis shirt!
During the half, we interviewed John Calipari about his thoughts on Rose. He didn’t notice my Tigers shirt but it was a bit hidden by my Media Pass. We were having audio frequency issues at the time, so I had to hard wire the microphone for the interview. If I hadn’t been stressed at the moment, I probably would have enjoyed the experience more. I do remember him saying that his favorite Rose moment as a Tiger was during the Michigan State game in the `07 NCAA tournament. And that all the success hadn’t gotten to his head.
After the game, I caught Calipari talking with Rose backstage. The photo is blurry but you get the idea:
Unfortunately, it was not much of a game. In fact, the Celtics won the game 106 – 87. Ouch.