Player Puked (Hokie Hurled) - Crew Choked?

Sports By Brooks posted a clip yesterday from Wednesday's Raycom ACC basketball game between Virginia Tech and Maryland.

Virginia Tech's Dorenzo Hudson, (far side, top of key) could be seen struggling to keep himself together from the game camera. However, Hudson's pregame meal of steak, mac 'n cheese, and mashed potatoes (mixed with Gatorade) was hurled onto the court during the second of two free throw attempts.

A lengthy and rather humorous delay ensued as the affected area was given the hazmat treatment.

Brooks though was unhappy with the camera coverage of the incident. It sounds as if he wanted something a little more graphic than what was seen from the game cam angle.

We got a chuckle as several cam & tape ops agreed that they have seen more than enough of each other throwing up so there was little incentive to put forth great effort to document anyone else doing it.

We do know of a clip that may be more to Brooks' liking. It may take a while to dig up, but we'll post it when we do.

Taxed By Kings, Flyers Hand Ducks Bill

When a team from Philadelphia makes "VENGEANCE" their slogan, believe it. The NHL, Anaheim Ducks and FSN West all do.

As is the custom when a West Coast or small market Canadian team plays in the east, the visiting broadcaster relies heavily on the home show for cameras, often employing only two of their own. Weekday games that begin at 4:00 PM don't usually generate much in terms of ratings. Broadcasters will likewise increase budgets for games within their local time zones when the audience is naturally larger.

Normally, a two-camera visiting NHL show will set up a tight (or iso) camera and a hand held. If the home show only uses one HH, the visiting show will put theirs at the near side corner opposite the home show's camera. The home show then adds the visiting HH feed to their compliment for replays and live cuts during action.

Back on January 29, the LA Kings took on the Flyers at Philly's Wachovia Center. CSN-Philadelphia was televising the game locally, with FSN West sending it back to Los Angeles. The Kings' show controlled two cameras and had individual feeds of CSN-Philly's.

However, the FSN West show opted to use two hard cameras instead of one hard and one HH. CSN-Philadelphia didn't appreciate giving all their camera feeds away without getting anything they felt was useful in return.

The game on the ice needed overtime to be decided and so did this new game being played in the offices.

And four days later on February 2, CSN-Philadelphia got their vengeance when the Anaheim Ducks came to town.

Although the Ducks were nothing more than innocent bystanders, their games are broadcast by FSN-Prime Ticket. In Southern California, FSN-Prime Ticket is to FSN West the equivalent of what ESPN2 is to ESPN nationally. Same company, different channel number.

CSN-Philly balanced the scales by only giving FSN-PT feeds of their game camera and the NHL-installed overheads above each goal. Caught in the crossfire, the Ducks' production team was left to make the best of what they had: the home show's game camera, their own tight, their own HH and two goal overheads.

Additionally CSN-Philly's actions were backed up by the NHL, which essentially means that two-camera visiting shows around the league will be sure to give a little back to their hosts.

BOMBED BACK TO THE STONE AGE

The US threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age following 9/11.

KJZZ-TV in Salt Lake City threatens to do the same with our industry.


This was discovered on Craigslist:

Part-time Summer Video Work

---

Reply to: see below Date: 2008-02-15, 2:59PM MST

The Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees are looking for individuals to fill the following positions: Camera Operator Instant Replay Operator Editor Techinical (sic) Director Utility/Grip

We are looking for creative individuals with experience and knowledge in shooting sporting/other events, video editing and interviewing. If interested mail your resume and demo reel to: Human Resources 301 W South Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84101

• Location: Utah Jazz/Salt Lake Bees
• Compensation: $50/event
• This is a part-time job.
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 575282979

Oh my lord, where to start?

Despite what your common sense is telling you, this ISN'T for a scoreboard feed in a minor league ballpark.

THIS IS THE REAL THING! Or as real as Salt Lake City gets, anyway (we kid, we kid).

We can look beyond someone's Utopian ideal that camera ops, tape ops, editors, TDs, and utes all deserve the same pay, as long as the rate is whatever the highest position normally gets.

Paying a utility TD money is fine and generous, but it wouldn't work in reverse. Can you name a TD that would work games for accepted utility wages?

But KJZZ takes that issue and goes about one hundred steps further. The pay is FIFTY DOLLARS per game for ALL positions! These games will be broadcast over-the-air in SLC with approximately 60 translator stations relaying the signal to viewers in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho. And that's not counting cable and satellite viewers in the region.

This ain't no public access channel. A quick look at the KJZZ line-up reveals that they have syndication deals for "Friends", "Scrubs", "Entertainment Tonight" and everybody's favorite self-promoting fraud, "Dr. Phil".

But they're going to pay FIFTY BUCKS to freelancers working on their baseball games?

We can't wait to see how that looks.

But if you can imagine, the future may look even worse.

Kim Jong Mil, leader of rogue regime threatening sports TV workers

KJZZ is owned by the Larry H Miller Group Of Companies which controls a vast array of retail, food and entertainment businesses, financial service institutions and automotive dealerships in seven western states. The Utah Jazz and the EnergySolutions Arena, plus the aforementioned Salt Lake Bees baseball team (AAA - LA Angels) all fall under the Larry H Miller umbrella.

Conveniently, KJZZ also broadcasts 40 Utah Jazz games, which includes 22 home games this season. SLC's freelance pool continues to work these games, but what about next season? What if KJZZ offers their FIFTY DOLLAR A GAME crew the home package for 2008 - 2009? Who's to say that FSN Utah wouldn't eventually follow suit for their games?

There's nothing to stop them. Utah is a right-to-work state, and while KJZZ's actions will no doubt result in a grass roots IATSE movement, there's no legal remedy against anyone not wishing to join.

According to the their web site:

The vision at KJZZ remains, "To enhance the quality of life in Utah."

Except perhaps, for the quality of life of Utah's TV freelancers.


(By the way, companies that can't spell "technical" correctly in their help wanted ads shouldn't expect to find many Mensa applicants knocking on their doors.)

222 Reasons Why We Miss The Montreal Expos

Olympic Stadium: First the fans, then the team. Now even the turf has left.

Talk to anyone who travels regularly working National League baseball games. Chances are they miss the Montreal Expos more than they had expected.

Washington DC has it's advantages, but it doesn't have Youppi or over-the-counter codeine available in every pharmacy. Americans working Expos games were always doing favors for friends, bringing back as many bottles of "222" as they could squeeze into their bags.


For the uninitiated, a "222" is a pain relief pill made by Johnson & Johnson - Merck. It contains 375 mg aspirin, 15 mg caffeine and 8 mg codeine. While perfectly legal in Canada, any product using codeine in the US requires a prescription.

When the Expos left Montreal for Washington, TV folks and sportswriters alike were faced with a shortage of "222s".

Accordingly, Toronto has become more popular than ever among us TV types.

So why are we bringing all this up?

Ampex2000 has posted "Chris Berman and how to smuggle Canadian 222s", on YouTube. Of his fourth posting, Ampex2000 writes:

"Chris Berman explains how to sneek 222's in the US and the pop he gets from it." (sic)

Although they've gone up in price as the US dollar tumbled, "222s" continue to be a big reason many are quietly saddened by the loss of baseball in Montreal.

Carolina 'Caines All Locked Up By FSN South, Sonics' Escape From Seattle Takes Shape

Good news for Ya-Man & friends: Carolina Hurricanes games will be seen on FSN South for at least the next five years. The new contract calls for an increase from 55 telecasts to a minimum of 65 per season. A minimum of 35 road games will be televised each season, as well as all playoff games exclusively available to local rightsholders.

The contract includes multiple options that could extend the agreement beyond five years.

Time Warner Cable and Baltimore-based MASN were said to be interested in acquiring the TV package as well, but couldn't even make a proposal to the NHL team because FSN's exclusive negotiating window hadn't expired.

Meanwhile the news isn't as good for Seattle's freelancers. Far from it in fact. Supersonics Chairman Clay Bennett gave a ringing endorsement to Oklahoma City's $120 million Ford Center improvement plan yesterday, another big step towards moving the NBA franchise.

On March 4, Oklahoma City residents will vote on a one-cent sales tax to pay for the improvements. A trial will begin on June 16 to decide whether the Sonics can buy out the remainder of their contract with the city of Seattle or if they have to play there until the deal expires prior to the 2009 - 2010 season.

The NBA would also have to approve of the relocation, which Bennett applied for last November after no new arena plan was offered in Seattle. "The goal is to come to Oklahoma", Bennett said yesterday according to the Daily Oklahoman.

For those keeping score, Seattle is the 15th largest market in the US while Oklahoma City ranks 45th.

That says plenty about Seattle's desire to keep the team and/or Bennett's judgment on where he can make more money.

Redefining Lights Out Coverage

UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS POST

Under a glare of skepticism regarding arena lighting, ESPN2's coverage of Monday night's St. Mary's - Gonzaga game began as scheduled at 11:00 PM EST.

Play By Play announcer Terry Gannon immediately called McKeon Pavilion dark, resulting in a "really unique setting."

The tip was delayed because of lights, but not the arena's. One of the shot clocks was so dark, it looked like it wasn't working at all.

But that made sense because it wasn't.

The delay wouldn't have been very lengthy, but arena personnel aren't very well versed in over and under. Uncoiling an AC cable took longer than it should have.

Now back to those arena lights.

It was obvious earlier in the day that the sheets of opal gel didn't quite do the job on their own. So when ESPN met with campus officials to discuss the problem, the only solution available to reduce the intensity and glare was to physically remove some bulbs from fixtures.

In order for a cherry picker to reach all the lights that needed removal, the wooden stands had to be pushed back and folded against each wall. That meant that the cameras had to be taken apart and brought down. And if that wasn't enough, the announce table had to go too.

We don't know where the blame lies, but forget about the glare on the court for a minute. This place had no chance from the start.

Removing the same number of bulbs from each side of the court decreased the light level, but didn't improve how players looked. Why? The near side of the arena didn't have the same number of fixtures as the far side. Something like a 25% difference.

You go figure that out. We've given up.

The net result was that the court was hit with much more light from the near side than the far.

The ESPN2 production team felt compelled to at least mention the unusual conditions. With this view shooting back toward the near side, Gannon all but said, "Don't adjust your sets at home."

But the pictures spoke in terms far stronger than what Gannon chose.

We were actually rather taken with the images of shooters from the line, and felt we had somehow seen this look before.

It took a while, but it finally came to us:

So the lighting wasn't unacceptably awful then. It was an homage to a classic work of photography.

Pity anyone who saw it differently.

Monday's final tally:

- St. Mary's officials and Musco probably have some things to work out.

- McKeon Pavilion did not burn to the ground. Campus personnel were assigned to look at the lights all night just in case.

- The St. Mary's theater department did not get the assist. But at least they now have to beg for funds to replenish their stock of opal gel.

- And Keith Buttelman, the V-1, left Moraga, CA no more insane than when he arrived.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHTS

Those of you who hadn't planned on checking out tonight's Gonzaga - St. Mary's hoops game on ESPN2 (11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PST) may want to reconsider.

.

At least for a minute.

.

St. Mary's College has recently installed new lights inside McKeon Pavilion, home of the WCC's Gaels. None other than industry leader Musco Lighting did the job, per St. Mary's College's specifications.

.

Here's the result:

Uh, not exactly TV friendly to put it mildly.

We're told that when St. Mary's complained to Musco about the glare, Musco washed their hands of the project, saying the work was done as ordered.

So, with a national audience tuning in to see the 23rd ranked Gaels host the rival Zags tonight, the St. Mary's staff turned to the college theater department for help.

The hope was that gelling the lights with sheets of full opal would cut the glare while maintaining an acceptable light level.

We haven't heard if the Moraga, CA Fire Marshall has been clued in.

.

Will McKeon Pavilion burn to the ground?

.

Will the theater department be credited with an assist?

.

Will the V-1 go insane?

.

Tune in tonight and find out!

Sun-Soaked Super Sod Slides Inside

Here's a quick video of the Super Bowl field returning inside the University Of Phoenix Stadium after catching some rays.



It's tough setting up low end zone cameras when there's no low end zone.

Space Squeezed As Super Sod Seeks Sunshine

The field at Glendale's University Of Phoenix Stadium is elevated from the actual arena floor and can roll completely out of the building. Despite having a retractable roof, the stadium itself blocks direct sunlight from hitting all parts of the field, especially at this time of year.


During the NFL's regular season, the TV compound is adjacent to the area the field occupies when outdoors. However a Super Bowl compound is several times larger, and in Arizona additional mobile units and production trailers are forced to line up single file along the perimeter.
Space is so tight that several trucks have to remove their stairs when the field is outdoors. Hopefully nobody takes a step outside without looking first. We've seen that before and it's usually followed by a trip to the nearest emergency room.

But imagine life if the trucks were always this close to the field!