Denver beat Utah, a hundred and seventeen to a hundred and six, in the preseason. According to Eurohoops, it was very physical, Nikola Jokić was challenged several times, then Jaxson Hayes shoved him, Jokić shoved back, technical foul on Jokić, and they broke the whole thing up very quickly.
Very quickly. You know what I hear in “very quickly”? Thirty seconds wasted. Because if that happens in my hall, on a Saturday at half past eight, what do I do? No comment on anybody, ever. I announce. The way you announce a game.
“Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren. On the Denver side, three-time MVP, sixteen minutes tonight, six points, five assists… [two-second pause] … Nikola Jokić! On the Utah side, fourteen minutes, seven points, one block… [pause] … Jaxson Hayes. [jingle] And now, gentlemen, you each go back to your own half, and we thank the referee, sir. Make some noise for the separation.”
That’s a moment. Both of them announced, nobody is wrong at the mic, the hall applauds the fact that everyone has calmed down. Over there, the report fits in three words: quickly broken up. That’s all. Quickly broken up is not a moment.
“A technical foul isn’t announced, Dimitri. It’s written down. It’s on the sheet.”
And while everyone was talking about that, a rookie, Darryn Peterson, scored twenty-three points for the Jazz. Twenty-three. Him, I would have announced in complete darkness, if the caretaker would let me. Denver took control after halftime, first preseason win. At our place, on the sound system, the separation jingle already exists. It has never been used. Just saying.
It’s true, we checked: Eurohoops.
