The Sports Brain returns...and so will the hoops.

About six months ago, I wasn't sure if I would continue covering basketball as my old producer and I parted ways and I lacked support to go forward. This was also the reasoning behind my lack of participation on this site. After covering two football games in October and holding a few chats with my new producer at Ty Video Productions, that concern is no more. I'll be returning to televise the 2009-2010 basketball season.

There will be two big changes this season. Given the whirlwind taking place on the girls side for 2009-2010, we'll be expanding to the boys side for the first time this season. We won't be abandoning coverage of girls basketball altogether, we're just leveling the playing field in terms of coverage.

Change #2 is where the games will be broadcast. We'll still broadcast on SPNN for cable viewers in the St. Paul area, but we'll be expanding in that area too. My producer worked a deal to broadcast games on the Metro Cable Network (channel 6), whose range includes the entire Twin Cities metro area. You don't need to be in St. Paul or wait for the online broadcast to watch your favorite teams in action if you live somewhere else in the metro region.

A TV schedule will be posted when it's finalized. Expect us to televise some major events, but it's the single games that will be more challenging to pencil in.

Broadcast preview: 3rd annual Urban Bowl

I'm on crew again to televise the 3rd annual Urban Bowl at Griffin Stadium (Central's field) Saturday for SPNN. If you're new, it's an all-star football game meant to recognize the best players in the Minneapolis and St. Paul City Conference. Given the weak performance of both conferences among current teams in the last few years, this is probably the best exposure returning players are going to get all season. However, this one has a little more meaning than its spiritual sister, the Inner City All-Star Classic, because Minneapolis players will play against St. Paul players instead of a random jumble. The game is still an exhibition and nothing more than a structured pick-up game, but there are some bragging rights at stake.

The game should look a little more slick than last time as I have rosters and players to watch with me to use for graphics, along with some promotional images. The only real concern I have is the game starting later than its scheduled 3:15 kickoff. Last year, the game started 30 minutes late with no warning, which I thought was disrespectful. However, once you start televising games, it doesn't take too long for the beneficiaries to understand the process behind making a broadcast successful. I'm the graphics designer this time around, so you'll have to wait a little longer for my play-by-play.

The game itself will be tape-delayed, so you'll have to visit http://www.spnn.org to find out when the game is airing. Unfortunately, if you don't live in St. Paul, you won't be able to watch the game.

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.

Broadcast wrap-up: Alumni Basketball Classic

While AAAA won the all-star series without the class' top players and AA taking home third place, the Alumni Basketball Classic in St. Paul proved to have the climax of a Timberwolves game; non-existent. Then again, so was the Miss Basketball ceremony as Tayler Hill got what everyone and their dog saw coming since spring of last year. She certainly had the stats to back her up, and Ohio State will likely welcome her explosive play. If anything, the other nominees may have lost out in this for no other reason than having to graduate the same year as Hill. By no means are they untalented, but they didn't have to reach state tournaments (and win in some cases) by themselves. They were just simply overshadowed, but they'll get their chance to make a name too as they join their respective colleges.

As far as the alumni classic, the quality of play is virtually non-existent. You can tell most of the high school alumni who participate have aged considerably as they get tired pretty fast. Mechanic Arts and friends beat Central 63-51 for what it's worth. The most dramatic moment didn't come from the game, it came from the crew. The director fell ill at the end of the game and had to step out. He had another shoot to work on later that night and I didn't hear anything about his condition. Our producer offered to have him checked out, but he refused. You'll notice a throwback graphics design if you watch the broadcast on SPNN channel 19. Find out when the game will be on by visiting http://www.spnn.org.

For now, the next sporting event I would be involved with in the near future is the Inner City All-Star Classic in the summer, another exhibition event that carries little significance as far as the game is concerned, but will be the last chance to see most Minneapolis/St. Paul players in action before they head to college. The odds for AAU are still not in my favor and other spring sports are virtually impossible to televise, so I may not see play-by-play action again until next basketball season. Something may spring up, but given my luck, I doubt it. I'll post again when the next sporting event I'm called up for comes.

Broadcast preview: Alumni Basketball Classic XVIII

I'm hired to broadcast the 18th annual Alumni Basketball Classic on SPNN, where high school alumni meet once a year from different schools to play each other in a friendly. The level of play is OK; the older competitors don't have the stamina they once held in high school, but what I do enjoy about the broadcast is the chance to do old-school graphics. Since I started doing this a few years ago, I always have at least one game where I use throwback graphics. Because of the change in the event in recent years, I switched from an '80s motif to a '90s motif this year. In fact, I'm using the template and style NBC used for their sporting events for the 1992-93 season.

However, this means I won't be able to televise Saturday's finals for the girls basketball All-Star series. I'm not as disappointed as I normally would be because several players are unable to participate, including Tayler Hill (ineligible), Theairra Taylor (injury) and Megan Nipe (injury). Needless to say, the '09 rendition will have a little more Pro Bowl look to it, although some of the top players in other classes will be playing tomorrow. My guess is they had trouble getting Schoenecker Arena again and had to move their finals from Sunday to Saturday.

I'm not sure what to expect next season. The situation with one of my co-workers is rockier than before; we haven't contacted each other for a month. Considering he had several resources I used for these productions that I currently do not have, it may put the future of broadcasting games in doubt. What this means is up in the air, but it's created an awkward situation as a result of the month-long stalemate. The solutions are few, but I consider this a moment where I find out who my true allies are.

Recap to come soon.

Broadcast wrap-up: 2009 state tournament

I still have yet to view the post-season show, and I still have a few hurdles to clear as far as slowing down and being more conversational (I think having additional people might help that aspect as fewer things will rush through my head). Initially speaking, I was far more comfortable being there than I was last year, even without Heinz leading the way. It was a bit of a hindrance as far as interviews go (I was hoping to get Centennial on the way out), but I guess you can call me committed. I had gone through too much to just say forget it. Despite our bare bones equipment, we made it work. I also successfully recorded the AAA and AAAA games to my computer, so I'll be using as much footage as I'm allowed from 45.

St. Michael-Albertville won what will be their only state title in class AAA; they're moving up to AAAA next season by beating a Minneapolis North team who was rather young; many players still have yet to attend high school. 63-50 was the final. North is scheduled to go to class AA, but they're requesting to stay in AAA, so we'll see what happens. In any case, at some point, the experience can be overwhelming for players who aren't old enough for driver's education. North looked lost after jumping out to a quick start and could never find that spark in the second half. St. Michael-Albertville wasn't supposed to be there either as the unofficial 7 seed (they were technically unseeded) and ended up as the surprise of the tournament. However, North may return to the powerhouse they were at the beginning of the decade.

Things finished as expected in class AAAA, but the final score was closer than expected. Minneapolis South won 68-61 over Centennial with 47 points coming from Tayler Hill alone. Hill was the only player to score double-digits for South, except they didn't lose this time. Megan Nipe scored 22 points for Centennial, but this game was won from the free throw line. South was 25-30 (83%) while Centennial was 17-26 (65%) from the charity stripe. For those who think free throws aren't important (they generally don't provide many points by percentage), they really do make a difference that can't be attributed to how the other team plays. Hill tied the all-time tournament record for points in a single game and easily broke the all-time single season scoring record. She finishes her dream season with 1,053 points. More astonishing is that Hill didn't score below 20 all season. Not even Sadiqah Jihad fouling out or Tyisha Smith leaving the game due to a knee injury would stop South from winning what was supposed to be theirs last year, the class AAAA state championship.

You'll see us again at the All-Star series, but looking back now, some goals I will try for next season (should I return) are:

1. Create an emergency plan in case one of my co-workers goes AWOL for three weeks and fails to respond to any form of communication. I almost got burned today.

2. Expand the coverage area. We went to Becker, but it was to televise a game featuring Minneapolis South. You may see us head for the Lake Conference or Suburban East as St. Paul looks rather weak for 2009-10.

3. Focus on just play-by-play, whether I call games solo or with a partner.

4. Find a few more faces who are willing to call games with me. The sources I have now are reliable, but they're often swamped with basketball schedules of their own (coaching that is). Guess you can't take people away from the thing they love most.

5. Be more careful when conducting interviews with college players. I almost landed in hot water, but cleared up the issue before it boiled.

Exhausting as it was, and frustrating, I'm glad to close the book for 2008-09. You'll see the post-season show soon. I don't expect to televise AAU this summer given the logisitical concerns, but you never know.

Broadcast preview: 2009 state tournament

I've visited the Target Center a couple times this week to clear a few hurdles; the place isn't as intimidating once you get used to the layout. I'm not sure how this year will turn out compared to last year. Heinz is on another shoot, leaving Bob and I left to televise the tournament. Bob wasn't able to secure a DSR 250, so we'll see how the 300 handles the lights of Target Center. I'm bringing a camera from the U of M, which does a pretty solid job on its own.

I do kind of wish Heinz would have gotten to us sooner; I've tried unsuccessfully to contact him for three weeks and his other commitments is one reason why I'm considering to not continue after this. I don't question his work ethic, but a girls basketball schedule is too exhausting with parts of the operation at different places. Several DVDs have yet to be published and it's getting to the point where it may not be worth broadcasting them on SPNN. Combine that with the lack of sponsorship support, and I feel that I could get some practice some place else. At times, I feel like a lone man beating a dead bush. In any case, there's still some post-season action left with class AAA and AAAA.

Minneapolis North, while ranked in AAA themselves, have taken down two teams ranked above them to reach the final with St. Michael-Albertville, the unofficial 7 seed. Analysts suggest North will steamroll STMA, although North's last win was part skill and part sheer luck with a missed New Prague free throw. With several 8th-graders on the team, I'd expect them to be a force again if they can't pull out a win against STMA. North also has the state assists leader: Chelsey McGee, who happens to be an 8th-grader. Faith Johnson-Patterson has also won five state titles in her tenure with the Polars, which means she has another hand to fill.

Everything has gone as expected in class AAAA as many thought South and Centennial would be the potential match-up from the start of the season. Centennial's damaged as Megan Nipe has played with a bad knee all season. South is at full strength and proved they can win even after "goofing off" for a half as they erased a 14-point halftime deficit Thursday to beat Eastview. South was the heavy favorite coming in and some said their section final was essentially for the state tournament. So was the thought last year, except Central pulled off a minor upset. Centennial's team doesn't have the depth like Central did a year ago. However, South has lived and died on Tayler Hill. If Centennial shuts her down like Central did, other players will be forced to step up, which isn't something they're used to. This year will likely be South's last chance to win a state title for some time. Centennial will have some rebuilding to do, but they have some good players coming up.

QUICK RELEASE

1. Tayler Hill's scoring total has yet to be finalized, which is essentially a waiting period to find out how many points will someone have to score to break her record. Speaking of records, Hill easily won the scoring title this year, passing the 1,000 point mark in her game against Eastview. If Hill's previous season high? 857 in her sophomore year. She also will lead the state in another category: free throws made and free throws attempted (250/327). Do the math, and that's almost 25% of her scoring total from the charity stripe.

2. Hill posted seven double-doubles this season, also a career high while playing at South.

3. Bridget Schuneman stepped up this season, placing second in the Northwest Suburban Conference in scoring and leading the conference in rebounds.

4. Megan Nipe, while hurt, averages over 16 points per game this season. For many players, that would be a dream statistic (especially at places like Arlington, Harding and Como Park).

5. Centennial lost twice this season, once to Osseo without Megan Nipe and once to Hill-Murray with Nipe. South also lost twice, once to Hopkins when not at full strength and an upset loss to Maple Grove at full strength. In other words, full rosters doesn't necessarily mean an automatic win.

By the way, if Hill scores 17 points or more today, she will break the record for most points in a single season.

If you go today, you'll see Willie Taylor there. Not because his team is in, but because he's on the selection committee for the all-state team in class AAAA.

Time to throw my NCAA bracket out the window. Didn't see the Wisconsin upset coming.