For the vast majority of the 316 sports broadcasts I’ve done on the radio, I’ve led off with the phrase “we’re comin’ to ya llllllllive from (fill in the location)…”. Today, we’re comin’ to ya…well, not so much live as “whenever you get around to reading this, but it’s comin’ to you from the press box in the Metrodome as I’m covering my first Prep Bowl for Examiner.com. It’s a pretty sweet press box too…nice Cambria countertops, a gigantic popcorn machine, unlimited Coke and Sprite…yeah, it’s a long way from covering a game in a cramped press box with the cold rain blowing in through the open window.
So far (and it’s the third of four Prep Bowl games today), the games haven’t been all that exciting. I’m writing this in the middle of a 33-0 game…the first two contests were 37-22 and 42-21. A lot of the semifinal (and quarterfinal games were a lot tighter than this, which will only fuel the argument that the state tournaments should be seeded to help avoid a day of blowouts in the finals.
But that’s an argument for another time. Some of the other perks of being in the press box:
- The best thing? Right after halftime and after the game, someone comes around and hands you stat sheets and a play-by-play breakdown of every drive in the game. I can’t tell you enough how handy that comes in, especially during radio broadcasts. I just love being able to drop in things like “that third down conversion makes them 3 for 7 on third down conversions during the game”. Keep track of that when I’m writing down stats by hand? Fat chance.
- There’s a bunch of flat screens above us that are on about a 5 second delay from the action on the field, so if something crazy happens on the field, you just look right up and BOOM! That’s what I call instant replay.
- There’s a speaker system that’ll tell all the writers the instant stats right away as well as let you know of any records that might be getting set. Very, very handy.
- Wireless access so one can load up the GameCast of, say, Alabama/Auburn just in case the live action is a blowout…I mean, so I can post the game recaps right away.
Yes, I could certainly get used to this…but there’s also something fun about doing a broadcast when you’re sitting right next to the clock operator, the visiting defensive coordinator and the students filming the game. Maybe it’s experiences like that which makes marble countertops and free popcorn that much more fun.
Speaking of which, it’s time to go get another bag…
