March is THE busiest month of the year when it comes to sports. Spring baseball is in motion, the NHL is getting hot as teams vie for a spot in the playoffs, the NBA competition heats up, teams start making moves in the NFL, the AAF fired up yet flopped recently and college basketball begins what is (in my own personal opinion) the most exciting sporting tournament of the year.
It is not only the athletes, coaches and teams in each sport that are burning the candle on both ends during March. In order for you to enjoy this month full of exciting sports action, there is also an army of sports production professionals that are busting their ass all over the country to make sure you can experience each sporting event from the comfort of your couch, bar stool or phone when your boss isn't around.
Personally, I'm still trying to catch up on sleep after traveling all over the state for gigs...gotta pay the bills somehow, right? From basketball to hockey to baseball, I've been all over the place trying to make a buck. I haven't done a 'Behind the Scenes' post in a while due to this, so I'll just make this one covering the past month or two.
Instead of detailing the production aspects of each gig as I have done previously, this will be more like a gallery of photos from some of the shoots I've been on lately. To start, above you can see a picture from the NCAAW Round 1 of their tournament. By the way, I HATE being in Miami! Why people chose to live there is beyond my comprehension.
Next up is some NHL action with the Tampa Bay Lightning...here are some pics of what the fans normally do not get to see. I believe this was in February, matches against Vegas and Pittsburgh.
So that pretty much covers my NHL productions lately, at least the matches I had time to take some pictures while working. Currently my Tampa Bay Lightning are doing well in the playoffs approaching another shot to bring the Stanley Cup back to the bay area, GO BOLTS!
Besides hockey and college basketball, the majority of my time has been spent driving TOO many hours to help cover the Grapefruit League Spring baseball around Florida before the recent Opening Days for the MLB. The bulk of my time was spent working Red Sox, Phillies and Rays games but I also worked a Pirates and Yankees game, I think...it's all a blur. Honestly, I kind of enjoyed watching Bryce Harper not get hits for the majority of Spring Training. He's killing it now in the beginnings of the regular season though. Who saw that epic homer against DC with the bat flip?
During one of the Phillies games, a team of Special Operations military personnel parachuted down to the field. I always enjoy watching this whenever I'm at a game. Every year or so I happen to be working a game when this occurs. I think last time I got to witness this was during last year's USF Spring football game. The fans always really seem to enjoy it as well!
Way down in Ft. Myers, FL I worked several games for NESN and the Boston Red Sox. As a Tampa fan, I had to hold my tongue quite a bit while working. However, I did get to meet a former Rays star who ended up playing for Boston eventually and called a couple games as the color commentator....
My buddy that runs the low 3rd camera on this crew actually caught a foul ball straight to the face during one game. He was working with his cam focused on a base-runner and took a foul ball to the head. Eight stitches above his eye and a big shiner was the result but he was back working the next day like a trooper. I ended up having to run his camera for the remainder of the game, it's been quite a while since I've had to run a camera position, I'm usually strictly audio.
Carlos Pena worked a few of the games I did, but Jared 'Salty' Saltalamacchia worked the majority as the color commentator (which is always a former player or coach to provide insight into gameplay). Even the great NFL quarterback Doug Flutie joined us in the booth for a few innings. Apparently he's a huge Red Sox fan.
Forgot to add this pic relating to the Phillies games...Tim Tebow showed up with the Mets. So much fanfare follows this guy around and he's not even that good. During his one at-bat, he hit a soft grounder right to the first baseman. A child could've fielded that grounder, but the fans (mostly the ladies) seem to love him. At least having him on the roster will put some asses in the seats I guess. He was at least very good when it came to signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans, polar opposite of Bryce Harper. I was waiting for him to 'Tebow' kneel but it never happened, lol.
I only worked one Pirates game during Spring Training just to fill in for a friend that was ill. Of all the ballparks I've worked at for Spring training, this is near the bottom of the list. In a shitty hood, horrible ballpark food...I guess it's fitting for the team (sorry Pirates fans, lol).
Almost forgot I also worked one (DAMN) Yankees game as well. It was a welcome gig that I didn't have to drive several hours to work!
And then there were the Rays games down in Port Charlotte where the likely favorite game I worked lately went down. We got on air during a light rain, within only 10-15 minutes it became a torrential downpour and the game was called. Gotta love getting paid for a full day without having a full 3 hour (average) game. The rain even stopped in time for us to break down all the equipment and cabling in the park....perfection for us production folks.
While we did get lucky with the one rainout, we still had to work several games. All of this work leads up to one of the biggest events in the MLB, save the World Series of course...Opening Day. It also led up to a new and exciting opportunity for me with my hometown team!
My usual work is in audio for broadcast game productions, the end product you watch on TV. This year I got tapped to join the in-house production team for my hometown Rays! Instead of working on the broadcast aspect of live sports, I'm on the in-house team to help create the best experience for fans when they come to watch the game in person. Some enjoy a nice corner office with a great view outside through windows. I might not have a window in my office, but it's hard to beat this view while working (imho at least).
It's been a new experience for me but fun. The team and stadium has also made some great strides in improving the fan experience. New turf on the field looks great, but the LED roof lighting is just amazing to me and adds so much to the fan experience. I won't divulge too many details, you'll just have to come experience it for yourself (we need butts in the seats - worst attendance in the MLB I think, lol - also bring your debit/credit card too - I think it's the first sports venue to go cashless). The poor attendance is mostly due to the location, people don't want to make the drive from Tampa to St. Pete and deal with the horrendous traffic on one of three bridges traversing Tampa Bay, it's really bad. Here's a peek at what the roof looks like after a Rays homer, so cool.
If you've made it this far...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this peek behind the scenes. Finally I can play some poker at Scorum Poker again and get some much needed sleep. I'm excited for this season with the Rays, we look to be contenders finally. Cy Young winner Blake Snell may have looked dismal on opening day but he came back to life and shut out the Rockies in his second start looking like the top-notch talent he was awarded for last year. GO RAYS!
Thanks for stopping by!
Comments