The spectacle that is modern day sports is brought to you by some sponsor or other, that's how it works these days, which means that we often have to sit through a speech from one of the corporate guys about how great their product is, and why it's tenuously related to the sport. They're rarely this entertaining, though.
"Remember", Rikk says to himself as he gets ready to present the San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner with the World Series MVP award after the last game on Wednesday night, "he's just a regular guy, just like you." He adjusts his shirt, checks that he's got his notes on a card just in case, and gets ready to walk out to the field and do the presentation. Then he bumps into Bill, his 'pal' from the office. He's always hated Bill and they both knew it, mainly because he's been gunning for Rikk's job as Regional Zone Manager. Bill's not ready for his own zone, but maybe the guys at the top have been thinking that he could be. They're not in the office every day, they don't know how much Rikk is covering Bill's ass, day in, day out, to make sure that their zone doesn't go down the toilet. He smiles, keeps up the charade.
"Hey, Bill". A transparent, false grin greets him back.
"Hey, Rikk. You must be getting pretty nervous, right? Going out there, in front of all those people and making that speech on live TV, eh?"
"It's a great opportunity to let people know about our brand alright".
"Yeah, true, I'd just hate to mess it up! You don't wanna let those lights and cameras get the better of you, you'd never live it down, not in this day and age with the internet sharing all these things on social media."
"I hadn't really thought about that, I suppose".
"Yeah, just focus on that positivity. I'm sure Steve and Frank from the 5th floor will be watching, they've been talking about this all week!"
Steve and Frank had the final say on everything. They even crafted the speech that he had to give meticulously. He actually hadn't thought about how they'd be watching. How they'd warned him that this was the biggest opportunity for their branch of the company to get some exposure and really prove to head office that they can handle the pressure. There might be jobs for all three of them in it if this goes well.
"See you, Rikk, best of luck!". Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't even see Bill leave. "Just keep it together" Rikk says to himself, "just keep it together. Wait, what am I supposed to say about the car? Focus on the technology right? The technology and stuff...wait, where are my cards?". It was too late, the camera was on. It was rolling.
Via SB Nation