Eating At Restaurants

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

COVID-19 has it’s way of changing the way people do things.

By now, I’ve established that I’m becoming much better with Zoom Calls and living life in the Virtual World. I’m embracing technology much more and not intimated by it.

I don’t miss the extra miles that I put on my vehicles. I don’t miss the gas I have to put in them. 

During a holiday weekend, I’m not dealing with the spike in gas prices because it’s too dangerous to go anywhere.

At a networking referral meeting on Wednesday with the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, I was in a small group that was talking about whether they’re going to restaurants. 

I couldn’t say anything because yours truly committed a gaffe and had his mute button on. 

That little gaffe gave me the desire to write about eating at restaurants.

After the meeting, I spoke to my attorney Ron Renzy and he told me he wasn’t going to restaurants yet and I certainly could appreciate where he was coming from. He wasn’t ready to eat out because he wasn’t comfortable.

During our conversation, I told him that my wife and I do eat at restaurants periodically. 

I wear my mask inside the restaurant and we go at low risk times as we do when we go shopping at the supermarket. We like to go to the supermarket when it opens up.

Depending on the state, restaurants are operating between 20-50% of it’s seating capacity. They do a great job social distancing keeping the tables farther apart.

My wife and I will go out to dinner two Friday’s a night when I’m not broadcasting. We try to go between 6-6:30 at a place where the crowds aren’t going to be too high.

Nowadays, our date nights don’t have to be later. 

They can be earlier.

For instance, we like to go to restaurants when they open up and we’re either the first people in the establishment or one of the first. 

We can hang out for approximately one hour at the most just before the others arrive. I echoed this to Ron and he seemed intrigued by this.

There was a time that I used to go to restaurants for lunch. 

One of my favorite lunch stops was at Subway. 

I would eat the meal and have free refills on my caffeinated cold beverages. That was my fuel as coffee is to other individuals and then I went to work.

There are times when an owner made such a big deal about the refills that I never went back. 

But for the most part, I went to a restaurant where the owner appreciated me coming back and never made a big deal.

Enter COVID-19 and I stopped going out for lunches. 

Instead, my wife and I would stock up on Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. This solved a couple of problems. 

I reduced my chances of getting the virus by staying away from people and social distanced.

I eliminated any potential conflicts with restaurant owners. No need for refills. 

Now when I go out to eat, I use it as a treat to spend time with my wife to appreciate a date night regardless of the time of day.

Now I don’t miss lunches on the road. When I do eat lunches on the road, it’s a novelty, not a necessity. 

As the year has progressed, I have changed my way of going to restaurants by not becoming too dependent on them and also appreciate home cooked meals. 

I find my meals more relaxing in many ways. 

It just took a little time to change my mindset. They compliment my life and not dominate it and as a result, times are much safer and less riskier.

It’s amazing what a global pandemic can do to you when this unprecedented situation has in some ways turned into a life changing permanent acclimation period.

I can only imagine how much more I’m going to learn for the duration of without question, a very tough 2020! 

While 2021 won’t come soon enough, at least we’ll be smarter getting through this together. 

They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going! There is a reason why this is a cliche. It’s true! 

The moral of the story is you can turn a negative into a positive. 

In addition to the restaurant situation, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve learned from the Zoom and Virtual Calls. 

Two valuable lessons and I’m anxious to write about the third.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

The Mute Button

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I’ll never forget the joking comment my father-in-law made when I was studying for the Florida State Health and Life Test and going for my 215 license.

He said, the only way to shut you up was to lock yourself in a room and put duct tape on your mouth then you can concentrate. As drastic as that may have sounded, he wasn’t totally off base.

But that was before either of us knew anything about Zoom Calls.

Nowadays, as we depend on Zoom Calls. We do them in group and individual settings. There is that button called “Mute.”

I’m involved in lots of networking meetings and it’s commonly used. There is even a button to raise your hand. I’ve gotten familiar with that one.

I go on Miami Marlins Zoom Calls and have gained a lot of content for my broadcasts as I work with fellow media members. We all know that the hosts control “The Mute Button” to make sure everyone participates equally.

During a Wednesday networking event with The Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, we were placed in individual groups. 

Everyone was talking about different subjects but I couldn’t get a word in.

It wasn’t until the end that Mike Del Pozo asked me to end the session if I had any positive things to say. 

It was then that I finally realized that I inadvertently had the mute button on and used my 40 seconds to say what normally would have taken me a few minutes.

I have to admit that this mute gaffe didn’t seem funny when it happened, but it was a light-hearted teaching moment.

After that session, we had another small group session during that meeting. I quipped about it. It was neat that a few other people could see the humor in a mistake that if we aren’t aware of what we’re doing, this could happen to anyone.

Today, I had so much fun with my gaffe, I talked about it with another networking group and to see them smile was neat.

The moral of the story is that Zoom Calls are going to be a way of life thanks to COVID-19 and I’m fortunate that these networking events were small potatoes compared to what could happen if I were in a virtual classroom or an important seminar and not be able to ask important questions, thus costing me a learning opportunity.

The hosts usually tell you to us mute yourself, but thanks to Del Pozo, I was able to get a few words in.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

Power Of Meditation

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If there is ever a person that believes in “The Power Of Meditation” it’s me.

One of my biggest passions is listening to music and taking long drives. 

Living in Florida is the ideal spot for me. 

I have the ability to take long drives up the ocean in South Florida whether it’s driving towards South Miami Beach or going as far north of Fort Pierce. 

There are times I like going around Lake Okeechobee seeing what views I can see since it’s surrounded by walls that prevent flooding during a hurricane or going to restaurants.

Since I don’t like flying, but will when I have to, I enjoy taking long drives to travel around the country. Whether it’s taking a ride to see family in Nashville, TN, Milwaukee, WI, or to My hometown of Detroit, MI.

My wife Candy gave me the nickname “Crazy Man” because I enjoy driving in the middle of the night as I get stronger to get to places. While there are times I miss some scenery in the middle of the night, what I don’t miss is extensive traffic. 

My late mother-in-law was worried about me when I did this but she acclimated to it as I made it look easy.

But there has been one constant through the years. 

I’ve been writing for 41 years. Covering sports has been great as I’ve met lots of people not only as a writer but a broadcaster.

During COVID-19, not only have I enjoyed the challenge of building the South Florida Tribune and the broadcasting side from scratch, I’m having a blast watching it develop.

Now, it’s time to get spend time with an old friend. 

That’s being a writer!

But this one will have more friends. 

I’m not limiting myself to sports anymore. I plan on telling more life stories both past and present. 

It’s time to talk about other subjects as I prepare for the big prize and writing a book which is on my bucket list.

Unless you’re out covering events, you don’t have to pay for gas or use miles on your vehicle to write. 

Being able to meditate can only lead to therapeutic relaxation. 

During these unprecedented times, we need to release our tensions a minimize the stress.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to stop driving because that’s been a part of me that I’ll always enjoy doing. 

One of my favorite drives of all time was taking the breathtaking Pacific Coast Drive from San Francisco to San Diego when I turned 30. It must have taken me about 15 hours, but with the scenery of looking at the mountains and ocean, I didn’t care. I would rent vehicles that had cassette players and listened to tapes and listen to radio or just have a quiet drive and embrace the scenery.

During a family Zoom Call, My brother-in-law Steve Ebling once asked me if I ever thought about being a truck driver. I told him, if there were do overs, I would go after My Commerical Drivers License.

But at 57-years old, I’m not physically able to do that anymore on a consistent basis. Any type of driving job with COVID-19 would be risky and that’s not a chance I would take. It’s also important to keep watch the expenses and wear and tear on a vehicle.

The moral of the story is “The Power Of Meditation” is important. My ways of doing it are through writing and driving.

But if you can find it through dancing, yoga, etc... more power to you.

Regardless of the times, it will always be therapeutic and that piece of mind is priceless!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

Seeing Sports In A Different Way

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

I have to admit that I never thought I’d see the day where sporting events would be played in front of no fans. 

In this industry, we often kid around about a team that plays in front of sparse crowds because of a losing record. There are cases where a stadium location also leads to smaller crowds.

There are fickle sports towns where if you win, they’ll support the team. If you don’t win, they won’t support. There are others where they’ll support no matter what.

Here in 2020, I remember when Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James scoffed at the idea of playing in front of no fans during the beginning of COVID-19. 

But as the virus kept cancelling and postponing events, each sport had to make a decision to permanently stop or hope to find a way to salvage a season.

Early in the process, I began to watch Korea Baseball Organization Games on ESPN. I enjoy baseball so much that it was interesting to watch it in another country with no fans. 

Then, it became more interesting to see remote announcers call the games and that has developed into a current trend. The KBO also had cheerleaders which I don’t see happening in MLB.

NASCAR started the remote announcers and no fans.

MLB used piped in noise at games and remote announcers. Teams got clever by selling cardboard cut outs of fans in the stands. 

What’s interesting in MLB was since there are no fans, players could be heard and as a result, there were some ejections as players would argue balls and strikes or questionable calls with the umpires. There was an instance where a player got tossed from the stands. 

Because it looked bad, empty seats were covered up with canvas advertising to create additional advertising revenues.

The NBA and NHL Bubbles were well thought out and planned as tarps covered arena seats and there were virtual fans in the stands.

As we enter football season, it appears that there won’t be fans in the stands for the first game or two. When fans are allowed in the stands, I wouldn’t expect stadiums to have crowds of over 25% due to social distancing.

When will stadiums have larger capacities to give a team home court, ice and field advantage? 

There wasn’t any in the NHL and NBA. Without fans, the team that should have had an advantage of fans was negated. 

The Indianapolis 500, The US Open Tennis Tournament in New York as well as other events certainly aren’t the same without fans. But for now, at least there are events going on and champions will be crowned, even if some of these titles are going to have an asterisk in the history books.

Will fans decide to stay away from sporting events because it’s more convenient and less expensive to stay home? 

Some of this will determine where they live. 

In colder climates, they’ll go back quicker since there is a lot less to do. In the warmer climates like Florida, California, Arizona and Southern Nevada, I’d see less urgency.

I predict that the crowds will never be the same after what we’ve seen this year. As a result, owners of these teams are going to have to get real creative with their marketing departments to entice fans to come back.

I know as a member of the media, the way we do things will be much different with remote reporting as Zoom Technology takes over our landscape. Will there ever be a press box that’s near it’s capacity? It will be interesting to find out in 2021.

For those media members that retired early, they’re probably glad that they got out at the right time.

But how things have changed in this unprecedented time we live in.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

Adjusting To New Times

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Earlier in the day, I had a conversation with a young aspiring broadcaster Damon Knight as to how things were like when I broke into the Media Business back in 1979.

I told him when I did radio shows, the way we researched the broadcasts was by relying on our local newspapers, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.

We also utilized The Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI), along with the Sports Tickers. 

Back in the 1980’s, George Eichorn, Phil Guastella and I created the Sports Exchange and it aired on multiple stations. On one station, we would do a two hour broadcast while on another, we went from 6-12 Midnight on Saturdays.

Week in and week out, it was great meeting the challenge on making each show better.

Nowadays, the game is much different. 

There is still terrestrial radio which is viewed as local radio and is governed by The Federal Communication Communication that heavily regulates the industry. I have done terrestrial radio in numerous markets around the USA.

Two years ago, I was exposed to Internet Radio, working with Peter Wein of the WEI Network. I really enjoyed my time with Peter, who is a father figure and we launched the Sports Exchange. 

I had complete say of the guests and produced the show, while he operated the board. 

Unfortunately, that run ended with the passing of his wife then he went on to have a stroke shortly after her death. Perhaps, one day, I would welcome a reunion. 

The Sports Exchange on his network would get between 4-5000 listeners. Our best show was with my Detroit Tigers idol Mickey Lolich where we had 5,300 listeners. Lolich won three games in the1968 World Series leading the Detroit Tigers to a title.

When Peter’s health declined, it was time to get into podcasting and I met Jeff Adelman at a Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce Referral Group. We were planning to do a Hockey Show and he got me registered on Spreaker. Adelman is a personal injury attorney but because of his busy schedule, it was tough for him to commit to a regular schedule.

But thanks to Jeff, I got involved in the Podcast Movement. 

We started the South Florida Tribune Podcast and our first guest was Frank Lodato, who is a renowned sports psychologist with the Canadian Football League and the National Hockey League.

Adelman introducing me to this was the beginning of a new challenge to combine the broadcast side with the editorial as there are currently six shows. 

We have the Sports Exchange, No Limits, 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, Real N’ Rare, A Fantasy Football Show with Myself and Ryan Skolrud (Skullking Sports) and the South Florida Tribune Podcast. There is a nice mixture of sports and non sports related broadcasts.

The main places you can subscribe to them is Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Spotify, I-Heart Radio and and Google Podcasts, plus wherever you get your podcasts.

When I talk about adjusting to the times, in this industry, I’d would be in trouble without LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, as these have been great a great source to get guests. 

As I continue to build my audio resume, I never know whether this would lead to another potential opportunity in addition to keeping The South Florida Tribune and Broadcast Division growing.

Social Media is a love and hate relationship.

One person who has not only been helpful on the broadcast, but social media is Rudy Reyes. We’ve done broadcasts together and he’s helped me adapt to the promotional side as well. Reyes social media prowess if off the charts!

When I put things in their proper context, these days, I hate dealing with e-mailing and text messaging when a phone call was all I needed to communicate with people. 

If there is anything that makes me stir crazy, it’s technology. 

But again, either you adapt or you don’t last in the business which I’ve reluctantly done.

If it were up to me, I would rather have a flip phone instead of a smart phone.

But thanks to the smart phone, I can access websites like The Score, ESPN.Com, FoxSports.Com, Sports Illustrated, etc... to get my information. This is what I explained to Damon and if he’s going to be successful in broadcasting, he’ll realize that he has more tools in his box than I ever had.

Being old school, I’ve participated on numerous Zoom Calls and have learned a lot by being a part of The Miami Marlins listening to other media members questions, in addition to slipping one in occasionally.

Because of COVID-19, I have to realize that meetings with sponsors will be virtual.

Sports coverage has seen remote broadcasting in many ways as announcers haven’t traveled to games. It’s a new experience plus it’s cut down the cost of the networks.

What will press boxes look like in the future? Will teams have a 50% capacity in the future? Time will tell but my prediction is yes until we get COVID-19 under control and a vaccine is created?

For those media members that have retired, I have a feeling that they’re relieved they got out at the right time. And for those of us still in this business, we can just wonder how much more difficult it will be to provide the coverage that we hope we can. 

If you’re a PR Guy in this business, it has to be extremely difficult as to what requests they’ll approve and which ones they deny.

In the meantime, we just have to roll with the mind boggling changes of “Adjusting To New Times.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

My New Best Friend, Zoom

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When it comes to technology, I feel like I’m in the majority when it comes to the 55 and older club.

I’m tremendously challenged.

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has changed our lives forever.

Enter social distancing, wearing face masks in public, staying at home like a bunch of caged lions, cooking at home much to the dismay of going out to restaurants and not being able to have face-to-face meetings.

When will the time come when we’re comfortable enough to meet in person?

Who knows?

If I had the answers, My wife and I would be comfortably retired in Maui, Hawaii.

But there is perception and there is reality.

If you would have asked me what the word “Zoom” means, I would have told you since I’m an adrenaline rush junky that it’s driving fast.

Another life-time ago, I might have pursued a career in motor sports. I’ve taken rides at race tracks around the country. Every time we go on the interstate, we travel speeds of greater than 70 miles per hour.

Today, “Zoom” has a new meaning to me.

I belong to a few networking groups and since face-to-face has been eliminated, the only way I can stay in touch and grow my business is by attending these meetings remotely. I have to admit, it’s grown on me.

I broadcast an average of four to five days a week.

I don’t finish until around midnight.

It would be quite difficult to get to a meeting at 7:30 am at an office setting.

Warren Drucker, the head of one of our groups is seriously considering implementing them permanently and down the road setting up mixers because he’s pleased that his attendance is reaching between 30-40 people per-meeting. I told him that I would attend those gatherings if they’re on Friday nights or over the weekend.

He figures that these Zoom Meetings will lead to a one-one meeting.

The way things are going, it’s hard to debate with his thinking.

Zoom has been quite handy with spending time with family members around the country as we celebrate birthday parties, and get weekly updates with how things are going with my in-laws.

Face-time has been very helpful as my wife and I communicate with my terminally ill mother.

Covid-19 has made it impossible for me to visit her in Michigan and the way the virus is spreading especially living in a hotspot like Florida, there is no trip planned. But at least I can see her and I’m fine with that considering what the alternative would be without the technology.

But if you really want to get me psyched up about “Zoom” then the easiest way to do it is by me doing these calls with a team or perhaps teams that I cover.

These past couple of days have made me feel like a kid in a candy store.

I’ve been involved in two Zoom calls with the Miami Marlins.

I’m as old school as it gets.

I’ve been covering sports for 40 years and I’m used to interviewing the newsmakers in the arenas, stadiums, etc... and because of these unprecedented times, that’s not happening in 2020.

On Wednesday Night’s Edition of “No Limits,” I couldn’t stop talking about this to my Co-Hosts Candy Ebling and Ron Renzy.

To be able to do my job and get the same information with taking risks of getting COVID-19 and saving money on expenses was neat.

I’m fine with it until I’m able to return to the way that I cover events.

The Marlins Public Relations Staff is fantastic and I’m getting to know my fellow members of the media since this is our first year covering the team.

Manager Don Mattingly has been great to work with!

He was an excellent player and seems like an outstanding person!

The Marlins have told me that it appears that there will be very few people allowed in the stadium because they want to conform with large gatherings.

So for the foreseeable future the regular media will just work from the friendly confines.

Hopefully, we’ll go back to normal in 2021.

You can rest assure that around the country, announcers are doing games remotely in all sports. We don’t have the pre-game routine of talking to the newsmakers.

This season it looks like the teams announcers won’t be traveling to road games.

Therefore, MLB Clubs are doing what the Marlins are doing and we’re making Zoom our best friend.

So if you’re a retired writer and don’t like this, you got out just in time. Keep living off that retirement and chill out. This is what you’re missing or not missing.

I actually did a Zoom Broadcast with Rudy Reyes on our show Motor Man and RudeDog and it’s on the company You Tube Channel.

I really enjoyed because he’s living in California and I’m in Florida but it seemed like we were in the studio. A much smoother broadcast. That I can get used to.

I haven’t figured out how to utilize Zoom when doing broadcasts as Rudy supplied me with the feed. But I’m determined to figure it out.

I will not use Zoom to cut corners on local broadcasts because I will not wear a mask sitting across the microphone from another person so I have to do additional editing to get the sound right.

Thus, I’d rather keep doing these broadcasts by phone until someone is comfortable to come in the studio.

But in the end, I make no bones about it that while I’m technologically challenged with the way things are changing, I’m fine with it.

This is one old dog that will gladly learn some new tricks since I view technology as my new toy!

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Social Media, but I’m smart enough to know these days, that’s the only way that will last in the crazy society.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

To Be Or Not To Be

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Will we actually crown a real champion in 2020 with the Sports World in flux?

I have to really wonder as COVID-19 has reared it’s ugly head the past 90 days.

I have a feeling that the second wave is approaching.

As we speak, the worldwide death toll has exceeded 500,000.

You talk about luck.

How lucky was the NFL when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49’ers 31-20 on February 2, in Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, FL.

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 casualties range from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, March Madness, College World Series and the delay of MLB.

We’ve seen the the NBA and NHL get regular seasons delayed, while postseasons will start this summer, so we hope.

As we deal in the present, will MLB’s 60-game season come to fruition as the second Spring Training is about to begin tomorrow.

How many players will choose not to play and decide they have enough money to stay safe with their families?

Will the abbreviated season look more like a bunch of prospects auditioning for jobs in 2021, while they gain earlier service team to inch them closer to free agency?

How legitimate will the records be and will there be awards winners? Time will tell.

At what point will MLB pull the plug and how many games will be played?

Will there be fans at any point?

What new rule changes in 2020 could actually be incorporated in the future?  Will purists be disgusted that the grand old game isn’t the same?

Ah, the questions.

Will the NBA’s Bubble burst at Disney in Orlando, FL leading to no champion?

How many players will test positive for COVID-19?

Will a marquee matchup be compromised if a superstar player is sidelined while another is playing?

Will the NHL crown a champion?

Will there be college or professional football this fall?

Who would have imagined that on The PGA Tour that the golfers would pull out of events when on the surface, this sport should have the least amount of problems social distancing.

If I were a betting man, the only two sports that I could see crowning a champion is NASCAR and the NHL.

The drivers are heavily protected by their fire suits. They don’t have to worry about sweating with other drivers in their vehicles. NASCAR seems to be rolling along every week while other sports seek answers.

I’m intrigued that their television partners announcers are doing remote broadcasts which could provide a glimpse into the future as to whether other sports would follow suit.

NHL players have their uniforms and they play in colder arenas. They appear to be fully protected.

At what point will we finally say that “Sports Are Not Important” in 2020?

If I had to venture a guess, I would predict by Labor Day.

If you’re a media outlet like us, that’s when you find out what you’re made of trying to create presentable, meaningful content.

But I have to admit that on our broadcasts, I always enjoy the guests that we talk to because everyone has various opinions.

What have I gotten out sports in 2020?

I never knew anything about the Sport of Cornhole other than the fact that you can play it out at Cracker Barrel while you’re waiting to be seated.

I’ve learned a lot about the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and that if you love this sport, it doesn’t matter where it’s played.

I’ve been fortunate to enjoy baseball on many levels as a player in Little League and growing up as a Detroit Tigers fan.

I’ve enjoyed covering High School, College Minor and Major League Baseball, therefore, the KBO has been a pleasure seeing them play in front of no fans and with cheerleaders. Who could have imagined that?

I’ve enjoyed seeing the connections between the KBO and MLB.

You have a lot of good players that went on to play MLB from Korea.

Former MLB players have used this as an avenue to resurrect their careers. The one that stands out was former Milwaukee Brewers slugger Eric Thames.

Now former Washington Nationals Manager Matt Williams is managing in the KBO.

I’m quite pleased that ESPN as given the KBO some worldwide exposure. Then again, they’re desperate for programming. But we’ll take it.

But in the meantime, the only way to summarize the Sports World is “To Be Or Not To Be.”

Stay tuned.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com or on Twitter @TribuneSouth.