Directing Live Golf TV, or Hitting a Straight One-Iron...

Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to be the director, and/or the technical director on live sports events. As a technical director (or "TD") I've worked every sport involving a stick, ball, or motor. As a director I've worked NFL and AFL football games, professional tennis, college basketball, football, and baseball, boxing, and a few other shows here and there. I have to say - the more PGA Tour golf events I work as a technical director, the more I marvel at what the folks who direct live golf tournaments can do. It really is an art.

Think about it: directing basketball involves using cameras that are positioned around a rectangular court, free from major obstructions. Compared to other sports, the ball is mammoth in size and it's fairly easy to anticipate the path of the ball and players sling it up and down the court. Now consider golf: instead of one court, you have eighteen. And they aren't rectangular...they are oddly shaped and vary in length, width, and even height! There are obstructions everywhere, and the ball is microscopic and could travel in just about any direction, depending upon lift, wind and other factors. Oh - just to make it more difficult, there are NO timeouts - it's all going down out there simultaneously, all over the course!

"Great golf directors never get caught without cameras on key holes, to capture key moments. Somehow they see the whole course at once, and know how to get cameras and operators moved all over the course in time for the perfect shot."

In golf, instead of having stationary cameras positioned on all eighteen of those "courts" - there are typically certain holes with no cameras, some with one, and perhaps some with two. To cover the entire course, the director must dispatch cameras and camera operators throughout the day, from hole to hole. They need to stay on top of every nuance of the tournament, who's up, who's down, who's out, who's making a charge. The director must then reposition those cameras to the most suitable locations around the course - taking into account camera cabling, operator logistical moves, lens lengths, hazards on every hole, and where the story lines are most likely to unfold. In effect, they are directing eighteen basketball games at once, darting in and out of each game on the fly (with the producer's help). Great golf directors never get caught without cameras on key holes, to capture key moments. Somehow they see the whole course at once, and know how to get cameras and operators moved all over the course in time for the perfect shot. "Tom, move from three tee to fifteen fairway. Your camera will be moved to thirteen green for Liz to operate. She's moving from four green and dropping Rodger off at six fairway before she gets to thirteen. I want you at fifteen in time for Adam Scott to tee off there."

I honestly don't know how they do it. If all of the cameras are already at a hole, I can direct it as well as anybody. But that's not the real art or talent in golf directing. That's the easy part! True golf directors have that innate perception to capture every great moment while making fifteen cameras seem to be a phalanx of one hundred. The next time you watch a golf tournament on television, sit back, relax...and try to imagine the artistic swaths of camera moves across the entire course, that bring you those pictures and story lines. It really is a beautiful thing to watch unfold.   

What We All Lost Yesterday

Yesterday, just as the Boston Marathon starter's pistol was fired, my flight was landing in Jacksonville. From a frequent traveler standpoint, everything was business-as-usual. I've run countless marathons over the years, and qualified for and completed the Boston Marathon 3 times. At one point almost a year ago, I harbored aspirations of re-qualifying for this year...but then real-life got in the way and I figured it best to wait until I can give it a proper effort. You see, roughly 5% (give or take) of those that run marathons are fast enough to qualify for Boston...it is every American marathoner's holy grail.

Yesterday afternoon, as the horrific events at the finish line unfolded, my inbox started lighting up with pings from friends, asking if I was running it this year. Later I read posts and comments from some people online who dismissed the bombings as if to say "Hey, it doesn't really affect me, that's just a bunch of crazy runners up north...what do you think of my new hairdo?" To this I'm here to tell you: it will affect EVERYONE.

Do you remember taxiing to your gate, and seeing the bubbly faces of your children through the gatehouse windows, jumping up and down in anticipation of their dad coming home? I do. Do you remember not having to worry about "liquids, gels, and aerosols" and the 3-1-1 rule? I do. Do you remember strolling into concert venues with a tote bag of snacks & supplies, without security personnel demanding to rifle through the contents? I do. These are but a few of the freedoms we lost after 9-1-1. Now we can't buy a cup of coffee or bottled water in the main terminal and carry it through security, because it somehow presents a risk.

Think the Boston murders (let's call it what it is) of innocent bystanders at the marathon yesterday won't have any affect on your life? Think again. Security measures will perhaps get tighter, even at simple local events. Insurance premiums could rise for those events, meaning the entry fees of your next softball tournament, charity walk, or fishing tournament could rise significantly.

In contrast to yesterday's simple, routine flights - today's were a whole different matter. News crews were noticeably on-site at 2 of the 3 airports I flew through today. Security was tighter; it took much longer to get through the screening area, as everything became more thorough. Whether you are an athlete or not, the heinous bombing of innocents yesterday at one of America's most storied events - on Patriots Day no less - will have a ripple affect that will impact every one of us. We all lost something yesterday. We all lost another measure of our freedom.

Now You See It - But...

There are a lot of moving parts to a live sports television broadcast; under the hood, you have camera operators, utilities (cable wranglers), statisticians, graphics operators, graphics coordinators, a technical manager, a technical director, a score box operator, replay operators, engineers, and on and on and on. To the viewers, all of the effort of these folks put forth live on the air in a frantic television truck somehow funnels out through a couple of announcers and the visuals that are presented.

What is often overlooked, but one of the most vital components of any sports broadcast - is the audio. You might not realize it as you see it...but how you hear it can make a dull broadcast an Emmy winner. When that linebacker collides head on with the league's top running back, you can see the hit in live, HD color right there in your living room. But with a talented audio engineer on the mix, you'll not only see it...you'll feel the impact!

Home theater continues to improve; in this day of affordable digital surround, viewers expect bigger audio. Notice I didn't say "louder" audio. Just bigger. Bigger as in mic placements in new places (like that linebacker's shoulderpads). Bigger as in stereo surround, dropping the viewer directly into the middle of the basketball court (not just the shoe squeaks, but the pushing and jostling & 'pass me the ball' comments). Bigger as in a solid thud you can hear and feel in your gut as that heavyweight fighter lands a haymaker to the jaw.

Next time you're watching the big game, think about all the audio elements happening live, on the fly. Think about how many mics it took to get that sound, how somebody had to dream up those mic placements and wire up the stadium, and how a person stands over the massive digital audio console, pulling faders up and down to make sure the right channels are open at the right moments to deliver that audio to you - always fresh and piping hot! It's truly an overlooked art that puts the viewer on the field, in the huddle, in a way that no camera can do alone.

A Sigh of Relief

The great NFL labor dispute is no mas. In a much-publicized, sometimes contentious debate over profits, free agency, schedule structure, and many other vital points, both ownership and the NFL players union came to terms in time to salvage the entire 2011 season. Well, unless you want to get technical and count the Hall of Fame preseason game which was scrubbed.

Had the entire season been lost, as had been feared, surely there would have been much hoopla about the numbers: tallying up the massive losses - league revenue, lost merchandise sales, player salaries, individual team profits, etc. However, it's quite likely that you would not have read much about a very significant group of professionals that would have been permanently impacted by a lost NFL season: the talented men and women who work hard to televise each game, bringing all of the hits, bombs, and blitzes into your living room or sports pub.

Those of us who work to televise live sports events are primarily paid by the game, on a freelance basis. It's a "no workee/no eatee" business...and most of us like to eatee.

Had the entire season been lost, some of the more fortunate television pros would have picked up other work on other sports events. The greater portion of us might have struggled to pick up part time work or drained our savings accounts, with those funds being lost forever.

So on behalf of all of my fellow sports TV pros, thanks to the players, league, and owners for working out a compromise and saving the 2011 NFL season. And thank you, the fans, for supporting your favorite teams and watching our hard work each week.

A Waste of Good Air Time

Ever find yourself watching the final round of a golf tournament, and see clubhouse interviews of the tourney leaders, prior to their title round starting? I see a pattern here, and it usually goes something like this:

Announcer: "What are you going to try to do out there today?"

Golfer: "Well, you know, I'm going to try to go out there and 'shoot a low score' and see what happens."

Announcer: "Well, good luck today. Folks, there you have it - he's going to try to shoot low!"

Not exactly riveting commentary, is it? I mean, doesn't every golfer want to shoot low? Isn't that the point of the game? Wouldn't it be more entertaining (and insightful) to hear a golfer share something with the viewers that we don't already know? Here's how that same interview might sound, if the viewers were to be treated to some actual inside secret:

Announcer: "What are you going to try to do out there today?"

Golfer: "Well, I've got to disrupt his game anyway I can. So for breakfast I ate a plate of Brussels sprouts and broccoli, along with a giant bowl of baked beans. If he isn't thrown off by the smell of methane, I do a mean impression of Rodney Dangerfield. Maybe I can bust a few lines from Caddyshack on him during his back swing. "Last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it!" If all else fails, I'm gonna try to get the gallery involved in singing the Coke song, "I'd like to teach the world to sing..." as we make the turn. He might beat me, but one way or another it's gonna be the longest round of his life!"

Now THAT would be entertaining.

The Blog is Back, and in 3D

After a time out, the blog is back! And there's been a lot of sports television happening since the last post. Amidst the great games, drama, and back stories, there is a new technological development in the works - and it will be here for everyone before you know it - 3D.

At the Masters at Augusta this year, ESPN treated us to a 3D broadcast of the tournament. They had piles of glasses on tables in the media center, and anyone could stroll up, don the glasses, and be mesmerized. Or nauseous. Or ambivelant. 3D golf actually looked pretty cool, although not perfected just yet. Certain objects featured a very pronounced 3D look, such as overhanging tree limbs, deep bunkers, and grandstands - while others were barely noticable. Graphics were kind of wacky to watch as they appeared on screen, seemingly floating in space about 100 yards in front of anything else. And they wiggled up and down very slightly, which would get old pretty fast, especially after viewers were a few pints deep at their favorite sports watering hole.

Still, 3D is the future of sports television. Rumor has it that the technology is also being developed to eliminate the need for the goggles at all. Before you know it, we'll all be watching our favorite sports in full, vivid, in-your-face 3D. Except for Texas Hold 'Em. For the love of God, we do not need to see poker in 3D.

Serena's Worst Side Overshadows 2 Great Champions

I worked the U.S. Open tennis tourney again this year; upon flying home, several friends asked me about the tournament. Sadly, no one wanted to know about the "REAL" storylines that unfolded in this year's Open (inspiring wins by Juan Martin Del Potro & Kim Clijsters). Instead, everyone - - and I do mean EVERYONE only asks one thing: "So were you there for the Serena incident?"

The answer to the question is, yes...I was there. But how and why did THAT become the story of the tournament? Let's not forget that she was about to lose that particular match anyway. Let's not forget that Clijsters was unseeded, coming back from retirement, childbirth and honestly - probably just hoping to make a respectable showing on her way back to competitive tennis. Instead she became the first mom to come back from maternity retirement and win the U.S. Open. Awesome story right there. Let's not forget that Juan Martin Del Potro blew Cilic off the court, then knocked out Rafael Nadal, then had to go through Roger Federer to win the title. Awesome storyline right there. Playing so many stout matches in one tourney proves that his win was no fluke - it wasn't as if he got lucky and let someone else take out the big guns before him. No, Del Potro did it the hard way - and fully deserves his big fat paycheck and crown.

It is really sad that a great tournament with two great champions, both fighting long odds to win their titles, is completely overshadowed by one person's tantrum. Serena is a great tennis player in her own right, but let's keep the focus where it belongs - on those who rolled up their sleeves and played the best tennis in Flushing.