TV as Its Meant to Be

Every once in a while, I've written here about a cousin, Andy Elisburg, who's the General Manager and Senior Vice-President of the Miami Heat basketball team in the NBA.  He also comes from the wing of the family that (for a reason too long to get into) changed the spelling of the family name.  I had a theory that perhaps they were embarrassed by the rest of us and wanted some plausible deniability, but since we're still in contact I've had to dismiss that idea and go with the truth.

(By the way, Andy's position at the Heat are even more impressive than they appear -- which is saying a lot because they appear pretty impressive.  But he started at the team as an intern.  So, to go from that to GM and Senior VP is not shabby.)

Recently, I posted a video here of his speech when he was given an honorary doctorate from his alma mater (something which almost bookends with his sister who is the kind of doctor who, by law, can practice medicine).  And also wrote about some tributes that the team and local paper did about Andy being one of the handful of "35 Yearers" who have been with the Heat all 35 years of its existence.

This today ratchets that up.

Bally Sports Sun is the network that broadcast the Miam Heat games.  And after games, they have a half-hour show, Inside the Heat.  And the other day, the devoted the full program to Andy and his 35 years with the team.  It includes some wonderful comments about him from team president and Hall of Famer Pat Riley.  Though my favorite part is that it includes several segments with his parents, Nancy and Don.

The way Bally Sports described it on their website when promoting the show was -- "Host Eric Reid gives fans a closer look at the career of Elisburg, a true HEAT Lifer who started as an intern in the public relations department and has since risen to become the team’s general manager and senior vice president of basketball operations.

"The episode tells the history of the HEAT through Elisburg’s lens, and he spends time with some other original members of the franchise, reminiscing about special moments."

I should add one clarification of sorts.  At the very end, as the host wraps up the show, you'll see behind him an old photo from 2013 of Andy and a young fellow Nick Arison, who is the son of the owner and now is the team COO.  Both are holding up three fingers to celebrate the Heat having just won their third NBA championship.  I mention this because they way Nick is denoting the "three" is, today, on occasion used by white supremacists as a white power signal.  But lest anyone get the very wrong impression, that usage didn't start until 2017, post-Trump, and the photo here was taken years before that, as I said in 2013.  (I asked to make sure.)  So, rest assured his "three" just means..."three."

All that out of the way, I don't expect many people here to watch the whole video.  But you might enjoy some of it.  And ultimately, as I'm sure you can understand, there's no way I am not going to post the show here.  It falls under the heading of Personal Privilege.  And is one of the rare benefits of having a website and posting numerous articles every day.

I also believe that the show should be nominated for an Emmy next year as Best Program of the Year.  Though I'm admittedly biased.

However -- as a service to folks here who don't want to watch any of the video above out of concern that they'll love it far too much and will get sucked into watch the whole 24 minutes, this instead is the one-minute trailer to Bally Sports posted for the show.
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