Chapter 40 Interviews
Olchea shares the sentiment of the team's media director, Rob Riccelle.
Summer is a bad season for him, the hot weather makes him sweat a lot every day, because he is so fat, sweat often makes his chest and back soak, even if the air conditioning in the room is full, once he is busy, the sweat still can't stop rising.
He always wears a modest suit and shirt to maintain his good media image, and even if he is soaked with sweat, he still doesn't take off his coat, but just takes out a tissue and wipes the sweat from his forehead and neck to make himself look better.
In addition to the heat, the test of the summer was also the fiery public opinion from fans and the media - unfortunately all negative, since the Clippers airborne a Chinese general manager, the trouble in public opinion has not subsided.
Orchet increased his salary by 20 percent and reduced his workload by 50 percent, while RachelΓ© added 20 points to his salary and doubled his workload.
From selecting Griffin instead of Curry as promised in the draft, to the inaction of the free market and the trade market all summer, as the mouthpiece of the team, Riccelle had to be at the front to give an explanation and explanation to the media and fans.
At the end of September, the preseason is approaching, and the teams are about to start forming preseason training camps, but the Clippers' 15-man roster has not yet been assembled.
Riccelle was invited to participate in a local Los Angeles radio station on Friday night for an interview with the host and fan Q&A, giving some commentary on the current situation and operations of the Clippers.
In the face of the host's cross-examination of the team's squad and the team's transactions and signings, Riccelle sweated like a pulp and kept wiping his sweat with a tissue, fortunately this is a radio show and not a TV show, otherwise his embarrassment will definitely be ridiculed.
'Mr. Smart isn't very happy with players on the free market and we're carefully selecting people who can bring improvement to the team.
"Why didn't you trade away from Randolph? Belch...... Because... Because Mr. Smart is bullish on Randolph's development in Los Angeles......"
"Uh... Affected by the financial crisis, Mr. Smart believes that the team should still be cautious and conservative in terms of player signing and trading, and I think it is the first priority for many teams......
"Why did we all get a raise? This one...... This, this is because, Mr. Smart, considering that our previous wages were too low, ...... I lifted it up..."
"Making a documentary? Oh...... This, the documentary is still being planned, and it is still being planned...... 10 million? No, no, it's just a budget, and it's actually hard to use so much money for a documentary......"
Riccelle used his experience to barely withstand the attacks from the presenters and fans, his collar was already soaked, and the whirring cold air couldn't stop him from sweating.
In the end, the host let him go and ended the talk show, after the show, the host said to Riccelle privately: "Rob, there are not many fans of the Clippers, the Lakers won the championship this year, and signed Artest in the summer, their ambition is to defend the title, what about you?" You've been Smart, Smart...... I bet he's going to make the Clippers worse. Angelenos love only the Lakers. β
Riccelle wiped his sweat, lifted his glasses, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Bob, this is a job, the boss listens to him, what can I do?" β
"By the way, what time is it? I have an important appointment in the evening, and I'm going to get over right away. β
"Seven-thirteen."
"Oh, I'm leaving, if you have any comments and opinions from the audience, please remember to forward them to my mailbox, thank you Bob!"
With that, Rob Riccelle dragged his heavy body out of the station and drove to his next appointment, a black restaurant near the Staples Center.
If the attacks of public opinion have left Riccelle scrambled to respond, the preparations for the documentary shoot have killed him.
It's not hard to find a director, a film crew in a place like Los Angeles, but it's Hollywood.
But it is simply difficult to find a director and film crew that satisfies Min Congda.
In two months, he has carefully selected 7 directors who are quite prestigious in Los Angeles to recommend to Min Congda, but all of them have been denied, and he does not give any opinions, just said to continue to look for them.
Among these directors are two well-known people in the industry who are willing to take on this terrible assignment not for the money, but simply out of love for basketball and want to try something new.
Riccelle listened to their ideas and felt that there was no problem at all, from a documentary point of view, even if the Clippers and Curry could not succeed in the end, it would be a good basketball science and propaganda film.
As a result, Min Congda read the plan and threw it into the trash, without even seeing anyone, and directly vetoed it.
If it weren't for Min Congda's reimbursement of all his business trips and entertainment expenses, and the addition of a special allowance of $10,000 a month, Riccelle would have wanted to give up.
"This team is going to be finished, it's going to be finished!"
Riccelle muttered that he had arrived on time at the date's restaurant, Barbur, an African-style restaurant that he was going to meet with a black director to talk about a Clippers documentary.
When he walked into the dining room, the man had been waiting in the window seat for a long time, and Riccelle put down his briefcase and stuffed himself into a somewhat narrow chair with difficulty, took out a tissue to wipe his sweat, and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, you are... Belch... I'll take a look..."
Because of his busy work every day, Riccelle forgot who he was meeting today, and had to take out his memo to take a look.
Sitting across from him was a round-faced black man who hurriedly introduced himself, "Jordan Peele, my name is Jordan Peele, I'm a Fox TV employee, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Rob Riccelle." β
Riccelle finally flipped to the memo entry and said, "Oh, Mr. Jordan Peele, an actor and writer on Fox TV, huh?" Let's get straight to the point, what do you think about the Los Angeles Clippers filming a team documentary? β
Jordan Peel took out a planning book from his backpack, which was full of his thoughts and ideas for documentary filming, but Riccelle waved his hand and said, "Forget it, our general manager won't look at these things, and he will end up throwing them in the trash." Let me ask you a few questions. β
"Have you ever made documentaries or feature films before?"
Peel shook his head and said, "I haven't made a documentary, but I've been involved in a few films, and I wrote on my resume, "Crazy TV", "Chocolate News", "MadTV", "Crazy TV", "Chocolate News", "MadTV, ......"
Riccelle interrupted him with a wave of his hand, saying, "I know, I know, it's all some vulgar comedy...... I just don't have any experience in shooting and writing documentaries. β
"Second question, do you know enough about basketball and the NBA?"
Peel hurriedly said: "Of course, the NBA is a black sport, Kobe, Iverson, Jordan, Lakers, Celtics, I know ......"
"So do you know the Los Angeles Clippers?"
"Uh... Clippers, Brand? It seems like... Belch... I don't know very well. β
Riccelle sighed and said, "I haven't made a documentary, so I don't know much about the NBA and the Los Angeles Clippers...... Can you tell us how you want to shoot this documentary? Don't show me the plan, to sum it up in one sentence, I have limited time. β
Jordan Peel scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "I... I think it could be made into a fun skit..."
"Okay! Okay, I see, funny skit, hehe, funny skit. I have learned about you, Mr. Peel, go back and wait for the notice, leave your phone number, and we will contact you if needed. β
"Okay...... Don't you eat some? β
"No, no, I have other things to do...... Oh my God, it's so hot here, how can it be so hot......"