Like most of you reading this, for the last month or so I've been working from home. I've done my morning or afternoon segments on WGR from the office space I set up in my attic years ago. I've spent hours watching and reading about draft prospects, going over the Buffalo Bills' current roster, needs they have, what they might do in the draft, and just trying to create content to present it to you.
In other words, really no different than what I'm always doing this time of year.
Yes, this pandemic and subsequent quarantine situation has changed my life in a lot of ways. My six-year-old son is home every day. We can't go out to eat at a restaurant, or even to the local playground. My wife is working from home every day, which she usually isn't. We're all in pretty much the same situation, as far as all that goes.
But as far as work? I'm used to this. In fact, I like to think I've perfected knowing the exact amount of time I have to work on a story while waiting for the next load of laundry to finish. It's much more habit and routine than departure and disorder.
Things won't really change too much for me until there are no on-field workouts to watch and cover. Even then, not until it's on a more regular basis, like minicamp, and of course, training camp.
Next Monday, April 20 was supposed to be the start of the offseason program for the Bills. They'll still do it, but it will all be virtual. No coaches or players at the facility. That also means no media.
There's nothing to see and no one to talk to, and that's what I'm missing most. The people. The human interaction.
Not with the coaches and players I cover, sure there's some of that "welcome back, good to see football again," feeling, but with my fellow media colleagues. The camaraderie of the group, most of us who've been sitting in the same room together, covering the same games, and going to the same press conferences for years. We spend a lot of time both in Orchard Park and on the road together.
Make no mistake, we're all rivals in the business. We compete for listeners, readers, clicks, sources, and stories. We get mad at others for being too loud while we're trying to concentrate and work. We keep to ourselves if there's a story we're working on that we don't want anyone else to know. We jockey for spots near players' lockers to get the best sound or video. We bicker and sometimes say things we shouldn't and later regret.
We also make fun of each other for asking a question that gets a cold stare or "I can't believe you'd ask that" response from Sean McDermott, knowing we've all done it at one time or another.
Is everyone best friends? Of course not. Some people aren't there enough to really get to know, and others simply have personality clashes and don't mingle. But, for the most part, that's not the case.
Many of us have been to each other's houses and spent time with their kids or wives or husbands or girlfriends or boyfriends. We've been to each other's weddings. We show videos of our pets doing crazy things. We compete in fantasy football and survivor leagues, tell jokes, and talk smack about our each other's college alma mater. We help each other professionally, appearing on podcasts, radio shows, and TV segments. And we lift each other up personally when someone in the room needs it.
I miss sports, but I miss my friends more.
Follow me on Twitter @SalSports
