A New Video Era



Matt from Iowa alongside Big D and Ryan from Wisconsin

 Many of you have already heard of the recent tragedy at Notre Dame involving a video student losing their life when the scissor lift they were shooting practice from tipped over in winds totally 50mph. My sympathies and those of my video staff are extended to the family of the student as well as the Notre Dame Video Staff.

Much of what I wanted to say has been covered in a recent article on ESPN.com. Being a member of a college video staff can at times be anonymous. We are those who hide behind the cameras, rarely being seen in front of those. While many have their eyes on the on-field action, there are those recording every move of the players, seemingly non-stop throughout a practice or a game. That footage is edited and shared out to coaches and players on your own team, and games are exchanged with teams throughout the conference and country.

While many eyes constantly play, replay and review each play over and over, it is a small group of people that watch their footage. Coaches and players are the target audience for this video, but fans rarely get a glimpse of this behind the scenes world.

This tragedy strikes very close to home. While I did not know the young man who lost his life, I do know his immediate boss. He has been at Notre Dame for as long as I've been at Iowa--around twenty years. All of us in the profession have been atop those lifts getting everything a coach would want to make his team better. And whether or not we continue to get into scissor lifts, boom lifts or other shooting towers, we send other students up to capture every step, route, punt and hit. When I began working at Iowa the saying was, "Whatever the Hawkeyes are doing, we're shooting it." Big Brother we became.

The unique part of the job is the comraderie that binds video staffs across the county. Coaches may like one another, but they also want to beat their fellow friend. But in our profession our rivalries must be put aside as it is important to help one another out. We need our opponent's video as they need ours. And in the process of helping one another out, we become friends with each other.

This two-week period on the schedule features Wisconsin and Michigan State. Our team goal is to win the game, but at Iowa we share a booth as well as assisting each other to ensure they can do their job quickly, efficiently and correctly. And at the same time, we form a bond of friendship. Some greater than others, but for these consecutive weeks we host two staffs we consider friends and not opponents.

For those who follow this blog know Wisconsin's and our video staffs meet in Dubuque every Summer for a friendly, yet competitive game of golf. A lot of fun is had on that day, and that continues over to a great time in the booth during a game. Michigan State will also provide a fun experience within the booth on Saturday regardless of the outcome of the game.

Tomorrow when Iowa and Michigan State put their cameras atop their tripods, nothing will have changed. I will be standing next to MSU's Tom and our students will be in the end zones side by side. That is our normal. We will be thinking of what those in South Bend must be going through as their normal will never be that again.

How an All Star Uses Video

The use of video can be found in all of sports. In order to improve oneself as well as their team combined, video is the best tool to teach from and make an athlete better. Below is an example of how an all-star continues to improve themself every day. Chase Utley plays second base for the Philadelphia Phillies and was instrumental to winning the Wolrd Series in 2008.

Big Ten Video Meeting

Indianapolis is the center of the professional football world this week as all of the elite college football players congregate to demonstrate their talents in front of the NFL coaches and player personnel for the annual NFL Combine. Prior to the start of the combine the NFL Video Directors have their meetings to discuss their rules, technology and handling everything from college video transfer, game week video transfer as well as seeing the newest technology.

Indianapolis is also the geographic center of the Big Ten and it is where the conference video coordinators met for their annual meetings. On the college level the discussions are much the same as the professional, but the colleges tend to push the envelope with innovations and technology. Among the topics the Big Ten addressed is the shooting, editing and networking of HD video and the roadmap for it to happen. With almost half of the conference operating off a software that will not allow this to happen, the Big Ten looks to be 1 - 2 years away.

Jay Reid, Video Coordinator for the Big Ten Office is in charge of coordinating the needs of game officials. Jay spoke of upcoming changes and modifications to the current system. Big Ten teams send Jay their game once it posted to the internet, from there he pulls controversial plays for Bill Carrolla to view and match them up with the television copy. Jay also sends out copies for all of the game officials to view off their home computer.

Matt Harper and Tom Shepherd of Michigan State earned the Big Ten Video Coordinator of the Year award. They are now eligible for the naitonal honor awarded in May. The two day event was filled with meetings and vendor presentations. Below Jay updates the video coordinators on improvements the conference is making with HD Replay.

Practice Day 1

I am the Video Coordinator for the University of Iowa Football team. As the days go by, you'll have a better idea what that is. Today is fall practice #1 for the 2008 football season. The temperature reached into the 90s and the area was in a Heat Advisory.

I oversee four students who shoot practice for me. It is shot from four lifts. Two were in 60ft lifts and the other two were in 40ft scissor lifts. Although we use the lifts and cameras, as well as most of our equipment on a daily basis, I am always concerned that something will not work on the first day.