Sunday, April 20, 2008

Broadcast wrap-up: 2008 All-Star Series

I still have a long way to go when it comes to announcing, but at I had Tony Geer alongside me this time for the 2008 All-Star series; the announcer I got last year was a complete disaster.

I got into a little too much "bar talk," especially at the end of the game. Both of Sunday's games were absolute blowouts, which doesn't make for very compelling television. However, I can only control the broadcast and not the game itself. AAAA took 3rd place while AA won the title.

Today also marked the first time I interviewed players from the U of M women's basketball team. I was a little nervous having never spoken to any of them before. I think it's going to take some time to establish confidence with bigger names. What kept me from going after them earlier was the internal debate over whether or not I was another journalist treating them like celebrities. With more practice and experience, I should get over that problem, and I'll keep climbing the ladder. I'm convinced everything will click sooner or later and all my nerves will be an afterthought.

Can't say when the games will be uploaded in their entirety with finals coming up, but I did upload some interviews that took place to keep you interested until then.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Mercy rule approved

The Star Tribune reports the Minnesota State High School League will adopt a mercy rule for basketball and football. For both sports, if a team is ahead by 35 or more points, the game will shift to running time. For basketball, they will use running time at the 9-minute mark of the 2nd half while football will run the clock at the beginning of the 4th quarter. In both sports, if the trailing teams cuts the lead to 30 or less, the game will return to regular time.

Kevin Anderson said on my post-season show (going through delays with issues getting the 4A title game on 45, argh!) that a mercy rule will penalize teams for trying too hard. It makes sense, it's not the winning team's fault that a Harding-type team can't hang with them.

Will it change the game? The only thing coaches may do is have their players move the ball a little quicker with running time. Powerhouse teams like Central and South make easy work of their conference games and may face this situation a lot next year. Both teams are thinking about fine-tuning their game for the state tournament as they have realistic chances, so they may be a little more aggressive knowing the clock won't stop.

As far as broadcasts go, I don't see the new rule having any effect on the games I choose to televise. I look for games that feature two strong or equal opponents that generally don't get blown away by 35 or more (South vs. Central, Kennedy vs. South, Johnson vs. Humboldt, most Cretin games). There is at least some uncertainty over who the winner will be.

It may speed up future games that are broadcast on SPNN, the station I work for on a part-time basis. They err on being politically correct. As such, constructing a TV schedule from St. Paul City Conference games is difficult to balance with competitive games. There's too much disparity among teams, leaving just a few "toss-up" matches to choose from. Blowout games of this nature don't happen as much with football.

In short, SPNN could get some extra time to fill with programming they usually prefer to air.

Programs available for DVD purchase

Autism Part 1 DVD cover

Autism: The Wall That Knows No Limits - Award-winning documentary series providing insights on autism rarely seen in contemporary media. Produced by someone on the spectrum, this series is a wealth of information for anyone seeking to learn about autism.
$15 for one episode, $50 for the complete series (4 episodes)

What Are You DVD cover

What Are You? A Dialogue on Mixed Race - Originally a school assignment, this one-hour documentary explores a population that existed for many years but didn't get much focus until recently. This program examines how a small but growing segment of the population could shift racial and cultural identity. Screened at the 2009 Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival and will be screened at the inaugural Critical Mixed Race Studies conference at DePaul University. $15

Vices to Verses promo

From Vices to Verses: Featuring Voices Merging - From Vices to Verses: A New Era of Hip Hop and Action is a biannual conference held at the University of Minnesota. The goal is to promote the culture and history of hip-hop, which is often lost in the corporate mainstream representation. In this program, you'll see how the Voices Merging student group absorbed what they witnessed and how their experience will transform them as a group and as individuals. DVD copies come with 14 minutes of bonus footage not seen online or on TV. $15

Machine 2010 highlight promo

Minnesota Machine: 2010 - Geared for Greatness - Join the professional women's football team in their historic 2nd season. Despite several injuries that depleted the roster, the Machine finished 2010 with a 6-3 record and their first division title in franchise history, edging the Iowa Thunder in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. This highlight reel includes clips from the 2010 season and their interview on the cable television show Rollin' and Tumblin' - $15

Photobucket

Silhouettes by RZI Couture - The inaugural breast cancer benefit fashion premiere took place in St. Paul and was met with a fabulous response. All the models were breast cancer survivors or relatives of someone affected by breast cancer and all the clothing was designed by Rosalyn Smaller, owner of RZI Couture and currently fighting breast cancer herself. The TV version features testimonials from the models and co-host Miss Georgia of KMOJ. $10 of every purchase will be donated to RZI Couture to help the breast cancer fight! $15