University of Oklahoma Athletics
Mossman: OU Baseball, Softball Coverage
April 08, 2010 | Athletics
 Mossman Prophecies |
April 8, 2010 | Mossman Archive |
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Allow me to explain.
Remember a couple years ago when new boards were installed at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and the Lloyd Noble Center? As awesome as they were at the time of their installation, we watched the installation with one, somewhat scary thought in the back of our minds... we had no way of programming the High-Definition-capable boards in High-Definition.
The equipment at SoonerVision, part of which still included an MS-Dos computer, was inadequate to push those boards to their optimum level. In fact, pushing them at all was going to be a challenge.
It was at that time that the purchase of the boards triggered the acquisition of infrastructure to support the boards. The Dos computer wound up on the scrap pile and the new video boards went from hot to sizzling.
And that was all well and good. The atmosphere at the sports venues changed, the entertainment value for the fans went through the roof and the attractiveness to sponsors glowed like a neon billboard.
Stopping right then and there would have been safe. And dumb.
Brandon Meier, the still-fairly-new executive producer of video production for the athletics department, looked at all of this and reported that we weren't yet maximizing our resources. He and his SoonerVision staff were about to change all of that.
Before long, we were live-streaming events, but not with a single camera perched on top of a press box like you so often see in the college ranks. No, these were three-camera operations that also appeared on the video screen at the baseball venue, and didn't look all that much different from what you might see on television.
Television?
Yep, television. Sooner Sports Properties General Manager Eric Barnhart went to Cox Cable and said, paraphrasing here, "Hey, we've got these professionally-done telecasts that we'd be willing to provide if we can find a channel for them."
Cox, a good OU partner for many years, said yes, and the Sooners went from 2-3 baseball and softball telecasts per year to 30.
Is it perfect? No, not yet. Fans, some of whom have long since forgotten that it wasn't but two-three years ago when NO games were on, will clamor for more games, better camera angles, etc. And that's fine. OU fans have come to expect things on a high level and that's how we want to deliver, too.
But this thing, even in its infancy, is still very cool. Meier and his team, the one's with their tongues hanging out for all the work we throw at them, have not only expanded video production in this innovative way, they have done so with a workforce that is largely comprised of OU students. There was one basketball game last season that featured a 17-person crew for video board production. Sixteen of the 17 were students.
Last Sunday when Norrelle Dickson and I called the OU-Missouri softball game, the producer in my ear for the game was a student.
The implications of all of this have not only resulted in a substantial increase in the number of games that are on several different platforms, they carry an educational component that fits nicely with the university's mission. I believe they call that win-win.
And to think, it all started with the purchase of the video boards. That Castiglione guy has some pretty good vision... in this case, television.
Related Links: OU Athletics Webcast Schedule | OU Baseball | OU Softball
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Monday, September 01
The Huddle - 8/25/25
Monday, August 25
Joe Castiglione Press Conference
Tuesday, July 08
