Marjorie Carpréaux told La Dernière Heure about the game against the Netherlands, with the national team. Half-court shot, in. Next action, steal, Bob Cousy between the legs, in. And then she stops in the middle of the court and does a push-up. The coach calls a time-out. The crowd applauds for more than a minute.
A minute. Can you believe it. For me, a time-out is thirty seconds of me. There, the crowd did the announcer’s job on its own, and for twice as long.
So I’m redoing the announcement. Saturday night, half past eight, the hall.
The caretaker turns off half the strip lights, as usual. The school fête’s two spotlights on the centre circle. “Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren… on a push-up in the middle of the court… the number for Belgium…” The two-second gap. “Marjorie!” [jingle]. “Make some noise.”
And here’s my problem. My jingle lasts twenty-two seconds, I cut it myself. I’m thirty-eight seconds of music short to hold her ovation. I tried looping it at home, the sound system has an opinion, and it gave up on the second go-round.
She also says she tried to keep the room laughing when the team was struggling, to bring back some energy. That’s a job. It’s mine too, minus the twenty-one years and the two EuroBasket bronzes.
A minute of applause during a time-out. The table is waiting.
For our neighbours from the Netherlands, that night, I’d have said “our guests”, and I’d have thanked them. The noise is the same. There are just fewer people to hear it. I need a longer jingle.
It’s true, we checked: Basket Europe.
