FB: Northwest Conference

[D O.C.]

+ K to speedybigboy and Bubs1856   

[criswyly]

It's pretty  tough to "pull out all the stops" when half the field is "on the dark side"

[Bearcat Press]

Bearcat Press, you may want to pass this on to the coach, could be Willamette's next kicker.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/09/22/sports/doc4ab84b1b11a75660104513.txt

You know, Mitchell Rowan has had three PATs blocked in the last two games . . .

I find it remarkable that no Linfield people have gone and commented on the story yet.  Where's GHC when you need him?

Rumor has it she can kick a ball to Russia

+K

[wildcat11]

I was curious on why we haven't heard from Menlodaddy13 but I just checked out the Oaks roster and I didn't seen Tony Rehn on the 09 Oaks roster.  Too bad.

[Gig Harbor Cat]

In due time,  In due time.  You guy's aren't even close to being on our radar !!  When you are you will know it

GHC

[Snapper_45]

I just hope we can keep our travel bus from going up in smoke on the way down to sou...

[Andy Jamison]

WC11 - I thought that Zach Anderson from YC had transferred to Linfield.  Did he decide to stay at OSU?

[wildcat11]

WC11 - I thought that Zach Anderson from YC had transferred to Linfield.  Did he decide to stay at OSU?

He did but he decided that he didn't want to play anymore.  It happens

[speedybigboy]

Rumor has it she can kick a ball to Russia

+K Bubs

[tigersports]

The Oxy camera person was atrocious, we missed the end of the play. I noticed they didn't know what fourth down meant a few times, they forgot to include the punter, so we saw the ball being hiked out of screen!    

First, it's not Oxy's broadcast, it's KadyTV.com, which broadcasts local high school and Cal Lutheran sports, and added Oxy to its schedule this season. Second, I checked out a few minutes of the replay of the broadcast, and I thought the video looked darn good. The game announcers were pretty bad, however.

OxyBob

Especially that play by play guy?

Hey, I think it's unfair to judge the announcers of a streaming video game the same way you would judge Al Michaels at NBC. I do have play by play experience, and those guys had no where near the support of games you watch on the networks. Here are some of the disadvantages they had:

* Minimal experience working together, at best.
* Probably did not have opportunity to see video of each teams first game, and limited time to talk to each head coach. The amount of game information was much smaller for these announcers to draw from, unlike D1 football.
* That field did appear to be dark, and they may not have had a spotter, or someone to quickly identify players in the mass of humanity that happens with each play.
* The KADY-TV broadcast, which did not have replay capability from what we saw. That's huge, and even the best announcers would struggle to describe each play accurately. We forget just how fast this sport is from the countless super slow motion replays we get from countless angles each week. Don't forget, having just a single camera up near the press box hurts, even a hand held single camera on the sideline would have improved everything.
* The person running that single camera had problems following the action, which does affect the performance of the announcers. One of the tell tale signs of an inexperienced camera person is tracking problems and being afraid to zoom in and follow what the announcers are saying.
* We also don't know if the announcers had a separate person doing stats, if they had to keep stats themselves, that would detract from on air performance, too.
* Production support, we don't know the skill level of the KADY-TV people involved. That's key, because the overall production is every bit a team game, just like football. I don't believe the announcers for the game had the benefit of the constant flow of game information coming from the director and other personnel.

Comparing the level of support Pat Coleman and the other announcer received to ESPN broadcasts is like comparing the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle. I have years of announcing experience myself in a top 15 market, so this is the truth. If Brent Musburger was dropped into that situation, you would certainly see a big difference in his performance, because of the differences I've mentioned above. Let's cut Pat and those Oxy announcers some slack, they did a fine job.        

As the "other announcer" and one who has actually had OB work color for hoops games, I can say (hope?) that OB, once again, had tongue firmly planted in cheek.  We're just a bunch of shmoes that get together and announce the games because we enjoy it.  It was our first ever video-cast (after ten years of straight audio -- Pat was the only new member of the team) and the audience reception was shockingly positive.

As for your points, yes, it would be nice to have this as our job where all we do is prepare for the game for an entire week and yes it would be nice to have had more bells and whistles on the video side.  Yes, the lights aren't great (a fact we make fun of at least twice a game and compounded by the apparent use of car wax as a window cleaner).   But, you know what, we've rarely had more fun broadcasting than we did that night.  Great game, great atmosphere, great reception for us.

Thanks for watching/listening.

[Gig Harbor Cat]

bubs--You crack me up

+K from up north my man

GO CATS

GHC

[BearcatFan]

Breaking news from Willamette.  Ryan Whitcomb will have surgery on his left ankle and is done for the season.  As Speckman said, "It's really unfortunate and you just feel awful for him."

Of all the rotten luck! Sad news for Ryan (and the Bearcats). I know he was looking forward to finally being able to play after last season's "season-ending" injury.  Two years in a row? Man oh man...

[Proud Papa Joe]

Hey Hey Wildcat Fans. And all others. Whats up? Things are good in NorCal. We will be coming up to Ashland for the game. So hope to see all you fellow posters. It will just be the wife and I, so see you all there and go Wildcats, lets get number 3.

Pound the rock

PPJ

[coco]

The Oxy camera person was atrocious, we missed the end of the play. I noticed they didn't know what fourth down meant a few times, they forgot to include the punter, so we saw the ball being hiked out of screen!     

First, it's not Oxy's broadcast, it's KadyTV.com, which broadcasts local high school and Cal Lutheran sports, and added Oxy to its schedule this season. Second, I checked out a few minutes of the replay of the broadcast, and I thought the video looked darn good. The game announcers were pretty bad, however.

OxyBob

Especially that play by play guy?

Hey, I think it's unfair to judge the announcers of a streaming video game the same way you would judge Al Michaels at NBC. I do have play by play experience, and those guys had no where near the support of games you watch on the networks. Here are some of the disadvantages they had:

* Minimal experience working together, at best.
* Probably did not have opportunity to see video of each teams first game, and limited time to talk to each head coach. The amount of game information was much smaller for these announcers to draw from, unlike D1 football.
* That field did appear to be dark, and they may not have had a spotter, or someone to quickly identify players in the mass of humanity that happens with each play.
* The KADY-TV broadcast, which did not have replay capability from what we saw. That's huge, and even the best announcers would struggle to describe each play accurately. We forget just how fast this sport is from the countless super slow motion replays we get from countless angles each week. Don't forget, having just a single camera up near the press box hurts, even a hand held single camera on the sideline would have improved everything.
* The person running that single camera had problems following the action, which does affect the performance of the announcers. One of the tell tale signs of an inexperienced camera person is tracking problems and being afraid to zoom in and follow what the announcers are saying.
* We also don't know if the announcers had a separate person doing stats, if they had to keep stats themselves, that would detract from on air performance, too.
* Production support, we don't know the skill level of the KADY-TV people involved. That's key, because the overall production is every bit a team game, just like football. I don't believe the announcers for the game had the benefit of the constant flow of game information coming from the director and other personnel.

Comparing the level of support Pat Coleman and the other announcer received to ESPN broadcasts is like comparing the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle. I have years of announcing experience myself in a top 15 market, so this is the truth. If Brent Musburger was dropped into that situation, you would certainly see a big difference in his performance, because of the differences I've mentioned above. Let's cut Pat and those Oxy announcers some slack, they did a fine job.         

As the "other announcer" and one who has actually had OB work color for hoops games, I can say (hope?) that OB, once again, had tongue firmly planted in cheek.  We're just a bunch of shmoes that get together and announce the games because we enjoy it.  It was our first ever video-cast (after ten years of straight audio -- Pat was the only new member of the team) and the audience reception was shockingly positive.

As for your points, yes, it would be nice to have this as our job where all we do is prepare for the game for an entire week and yes it would be nice to have had more bells and whistles on the video side.  Yes, the lights aren't great (a fact we make fun of at least twice a game and compounded by the apparent use of car wax as a window cleaner).   But, you know what, we've rarely had more fun broadcasting than we did that night.  Great game, great atmosphere, great reception for us.

Thanks for watching/listening.

I enjoyed it myself. I was glad to get to watch the game at all, and you folks had it for free. You can't beat that. As I mentioned earlier, you called the game in a straightforward manner, too, not as a homer job for Oxy, which you certainly could have.
Hell, it's not your problem if the field is dark.

[wildcat11]

Catdomealumni.com's ADvantage Catdome has just posted up our Linfield @ SOU preview.  Running a little late on the blog entries this week.  Been busy.  Will have my pick 'em post (w/ Mack and Maddy) and a trip around the CatdomeO'sphere up tomorrow.

ADvantage Catdome:  Game 3 Preview:  Linfield @ Southern Oregon