Broadcast wrap-up: Inner City All-Star Classic

My performance left more to be desired as a sleepless night reared its ugly head and affected my focus. I could have spent some more time doing prep work for the event as far as the CG graphics, but at least I unveiled a new feature that I'll use for ensemble games. Tayler Hill and Royce White got the MVP trophies for what it's worth, although the scorekeeping and officiating was pretty loose. It's always a laid-back game. I already discussed what I think would help improve the event. Overall, I thought I could have turned in a better performance for the network, but I'm sure they'll enjoy the production values I offer for the event.

Things will go back to normal for a while, although I don't have any projects coming up for about a month that come with a paycheck attached. I suppose it's hard to pitch yourself when you're new to the game. I will be making my hockey debut later this month (I know, somewhat of a disconnect, but it's good to get that first one out of the way in time for the big games). Hopefully I'll find something to kill time soon.

Broadcast preview: Inner City All-Star Classic

A little late, although I've been busy working on pregame videos for the event. Arlington will likely get a little warm tomorrow without air conditiong in the building, which usually makes for a bad sign as far as the crowd goes; seeing them wave flyers around isn't exactly the best way to market the game. I do miss not having the event at Concordia's Gangelhoff Center, which I thought was a better venue than Arlington. Just my two cents; I'm not familiar with what goes on to set up the event. The only problem I had was finding stats on the players for introductions; some coaches don't do very well posting stats. I bring up a suggestion from Kevin Anderson last year that they should offer the spot for people looking to volunteer; there are many bright, young mathematicians out there and would make the players' bios less empty (favorite food doesn't cut it when you're on the verge of adulthood, unless you're marketing the game to 10-year-olds).

Three players who participated in this year's All-Star series will be in the girls game: Kara Elofson of Hopkins, Brittany Zins of Kennedy, and Brianna Edwards of Minneapolis North. In all fairness, there should have been six. Katya Leick was scheduled to play but had other commitments and won't be at the event (Leick was in the all-star series), Theairra Taylor would have been a lock had she not suffered her ACL injury, and Tayler Hill would have been a lock for the all-star series but used up her eligibility with two national all-star games. One of the stranger years, but this will be the final high school game Tayler Hill plays. Three players from the legendary Hopkins boys team will also dress for the game.

There is some history this year. This is the first time that both the Mr. and Miss Minnesota Basketball award winners will play in the same event. Given the level of basketball talent in the last few years, this statistic was inevitable, but still worth highlighting. I'll probably include something tomorrow to use for my in-game graphics.

Time to do a little research on past players who took part in the event (there's often a lot of dead time). I'm going to a grad party after the game, so a postgame report won't come until at least Monday.

Sparks-Lynx recap

I'm happy that Tamara Moore doesn't like to see her "shadows" sit around, she had me dive in with some post-game interviews tonight, although I did it with another colleague I met at the game. The Lynx defeated the Sparks 87-76 as four Lynx players scored double-digits, getting some help from the Sparks when Lisa Leslie fouled out with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.

I co-interviewed Leslie along with Sparks players Betty Lennox and Vanessa Hayden, who was with the Lynx last season. On the Lynx's end, I talked to Nicky Anosike and Candace Wiggins. Throughout the post-game interviews, I never felt uncomfortable, which I attribute to interviewing several Gophers players and personnel in the last few years and doing more sideline interviews overall last season. That said, I definitely took a cautious approach to tonight's game as I became familiar with the process. I feel relaxed enough about reporting a game when I'm assigned to cover one and with a little fine-tuning, it should bolster my resumé as I start to move up the ladder.

Don't have much time to rest though. I begin several days of work for the upcoming Inner City All-Star Classic, which will include pregame interviews and player introductions. Nothing I haven't done before, but interviews are always a challenge. I'll provide a pregame report on Saturday.

My first Lynx game and my new home

As far as updates go, I will no longer be working with Keystone Productions. An incident early in the spring combined with creative differences makes working with that organization no longer feasible. I'll be broadcasting high school hockey games with Ty Productions next winter and am working to move my basketball coverage under the Ty banner. I'll be calling a game later this month as a "test run" to see how everything will work out and I may do the same with basketball to see how my new co-worker fairs. So far, I like what I see from my new colleague and I definitely know ways to ramp up the quality of his broadcasts. What this likely means is I'll be reducing the number of basketball games I televise to accommodate hockey, but I won't leave altogether. There are quite a few basketball names in the community who don't want to see me leave, and if I want to advance my announcing career, that's probably a good idea.

In other news, I'll be shadowing former WNBA player Tamara Moore for tomorrow's Sparks-Lynx game as she reports for Community Hoops, where I'll do some freelance reporting later this summer. The Lynx come in at 2-0 with wins over Chicago and Indiana while Los Angeles is 1-1 after splitting a home-and-home series with Detroit. The Sparks picked up Tina Thompson from the dispersal draft after the Comets folded, and her presence reduces the impact of Candace Parker's absence as she recovers from giving birth last month. The Lynx's strength is still their one-two punch of Seimone Augustus and Candace Wiggins, but the interesting storyline will be the development of UConn alum Renee Montgomery as the season progresses. Still early, but this should serve as a barometer game for the young Lynx and the veteran Sparks. Post-game report to come tomorrow night.