A few years ago I wrote this piece on the passing of another New York sports character, Robert Elkin, which to this day still gets responses from people who wander across it. I was thinking about Robert, and all those others who are part of that unique fabric of sports, both this past week when I saw some of them at the US Open, and then again Sunday night when I heard that Bob Trainor, another face and sometimes a voice we encountered during our daily work in the industry, may have passed away.
While sometimes we look askance at those who were “in the scrum,” wondering what the heck they actually do, it is when someone like Bob Trainor passes away that those who take care of the little things…capturing and editing video, sending sound out to platforms far and wide, writing for hometown or weekly news sites, get their due.
Official scorers, scoreboard keepers, stats teams, they are all there, especially in a time when data is so key for casual fans and media outlets, to help us all complete the sports and media picture, just by doing their jobs. I also found it interesting to compare those in the trenches and the scrums and on the sidelines to what we are seeing in the new era of Quiet Quitting, where Hustle Culture is becoming something that is passe. It is interesting to note that those people who put the time in, often for little money but because they enjoy the experience, the camaraderie and the activity, often do so because of hustle culture, not in spite of it. Maybe that’s why there are so many jobs in colleges open today on the sports and media side…it is still a business which yes, has to pay the bills, but is still just as much about the people, the places and the events than it is, at least at the start, about the dollars.
On Labor Day, a time when work is being talked about ad nauseum, it’s nice to take a second to those like Bob Trainor who were, and are, essential faces in the crowd, doing their job, sharing their experiences with others, and helping get stuff done.
Bob probably would appreciate the acknowledgement, and then go right back to holding the recorder.
