 "Photo: Brian Tedder/Collegian")
Secluded from all the usual erratic noises and delirium of the ice-covered surface in the Mullins Center, the video board room crew is hard at work. This narrow room, garishly lit by a myriad of screens, computers and complex equipment, has the leaden responsibility of turning a sporting event into an art work.
Consisting of seven working members, the crew that runs the three-year-old program includes a director, an instant replay operator, a streaming video worker, a graphics machine controller and three cameramen stationed at three different positions throughout the arena. Six of the seven positions are filled by UMass students. In addition to broadcasting the game on both of the Mullins Center's two video screens and online, the team is constantly busy rolling back replays, queuing up commercial reels and holding the aesthetic presentation together.
Finding new and interesting ways to keep avid UMass fans informed and entertained is what this group is all about.
As one of the chief overseers and advocates for the video board, Todd McDonald, the assistant athletic director based out of corporate sales and marketing, lent his synopsis on the video board.
"[The video board room] has been unbelievable," he said. "It has really allowed us to add a lot to each game, and the more experience we get with the program the more we can continue to add to the presentation."
Sponsors, vital elements to any form of broadcasting, have also seen more and more air time on the video board.
"The video board adds a lot of value to our sponsors," said McDonald.
As the video board's relevance continues to grow, so do the number of sponsors. Advertisements ranging from Big Y supermarkets to local car dealerships to UMass's own Alumni Association can be seen streaming from the two screens during Mullins Center events.
Marketing value aside, the video board has been a big hit with spectators as well. "It's really encouraging to see fans reacting to themselves on the screen," said McDonald. "It's a very positive feeling, and the fans have been great."
In attempts to give a more intimate view of the inner workings of the video board, director Bob Allen, smiling with one hand clamped over his headset microphone, pondered what it is like to be in control of what 9,000 screaming spectators see during a game.
"It's not so much about worrying what everyone will see, but rather taking what I've got, evaluating it, and picking the shots people want to see," he said. A veteran director of 16 years, Allen finds the video board experience different than a normal television broadcast.
"After working professionally for so long, this job is quite an adjustment. Here I'm in more of a teaching role, showing [the student crew members] the trade," he said. Justin Hicks, in his second year studying at UMass and working in the video board room, said that "it's cool to be behind the scenes and see the game from a different perspective.
"Learning about how a game is broadcasted is really interesting," said Hicks. "It's also important because we're trying to enhance what the crowd sees, and that's what I like the most about the job."
Originally a manager for the men's basketball team, Hicks was drawn to the video board room by chance.
"I was at the Mullins Center for a men's [basketball] game when one of the [other video board crew members] came up to me and asked if I wanted to run one of the cameras," he said. The rest is history, according to Hicks, who now finds running one of the video room's three cameras as his favorite position. "[Camera is] a lot pressure, but it's something I really enjoy doing," he said. "It's really cool to see your work up on that screen."
Tonight, Hicks is seated in front of the graphics machine, charged with both building and updating different still pages and titles to be presented on the video board throughout the game. In response to whether or not he found his job to be hard work, Justin simply said, "No. It's a great learning experience and it's a lot of fun." When posed the same question, Allen admits that being in charge of the room can be easy at times and difficult at others.
"I've been used to working with professionals most of my career, so trying to execute a show while teaching students with little to no experience in this field is sometimes tricky," he said.
However, Allen said that "[the video board] is much more relaxed than real television because you don't have to worry about missing some things that you absolutely can't miss on TV. You can show the mascot or the crowd while play is going on, and viewers will still love it."
He smiled again when the question of his overall experience working in the video board room pops up.
"I love my job and I really enjoy working with the students," he said. "To me, there's nothing better than seeing these kids having fun and growing in the environment."
Chase Wheeler can be reached at cwheeler@student.umass.edu.
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