Groggy commentator wakes up to games

MICHAEL VILLANI

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Villani is a Costa Mesa resident and an

announcer at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He will be writing

occasional pieces for the Pilot while he is there.

Has this ever happened to you? You have a big lunch just before

you have to do something extremely important, and in the middle of

that meeting, conference call or interview you become so lethargic

you hardly carry on an intelligent, or for that matter a coherent

conversation at all.

Well, it happened to me yesterday in my venue, at my broadcast

desk, in front of, oh, probably 15,000 people. I was in the middle of

calling my second of four indoor volleyball matches at the Summer

Games here in Athens, when all of a sudden a lethargy overtakes my

entire body like a fine mist of nitrous oxide, but this my friends,

was nothing to laugh about!

I had a hard time seeing my notes on the contest between our host

country, Greece, and Korea. I started missing technical time outs,

the correct score and most importantly the right numbers on

substitutions. Of course, I panicked as my producer kept imploring me

to “get it together!” Heck, I started thinking I’ve got a terminal

case of narcolepsy and my whole upper torso is going to come crashing

down, very hard, on the microphone as I collapse in complete

exhaustion on my table top.

Thank goodness it was a very close and exciting match and nobody

in the stands was really paying too much attention to the venue

announcers. Besides, when you say anything with absolute authority

and enough conviction in a professional manner, most people will

believe you. I had substitutes looking back at me from the floor

wondering if they were really out of the game. Yes, it was a dark

moment in my career. I went sulking out of the Peace and Friendship

Stadium, feeling neither peaceful or friendly, straight to my hotel

and right to bed, vowing never to eat again!

I’ve just returned from tonight’s fare, USA versus Poland, and

Brazil and Italy and, thank the stars that aligned right, it was a

360-degree turnaround, in front of another sold out crowd. My calls

were crisp, strong and precise, I was in “good voice” and I was wide

awake. While walking home, I pumped my arm, Tiger Woods-style, a

couple of times and shouted, “I nailed it!”

Another couple of things, the USA men’s and women’s teams look

very strong, even in a couple of defeats. I got a call waking me up

at 4:30 a.m., from my youngest daughter Summer, finishing up school

in Houston, she knows there’s an eight-hour difference but obviously

didn’t do the math right, informing me that Aaron Peirsol wins gold.

Yes, the venues aren’t as full as they should be but the Olympics

roll on, if I can use lyrics from Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in

Paris,” unfettered and alive.

With the contests in my venue, moving from the preliminaries to

the qualifying matches, on to the medal rounds, my schedule is going

to be more demanding so my stories will be more infrequent, but with

no less enthusiasm as I continue to report from the games.