A few feet of snow can tend to wreak a little havoc on my job.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s a taste of some emails I got last Saturday as the East Coast was getting dumped on:
 
7:00am – “The update I am hearing Ross is that the truck is still a question mark on making the game at DuQuesne”.

7:30am - "The good news…Looks like the truck is now en route. The bad news…it is currently still 2 hours away.”
 
9:00am – “The good news…the truck is on site. The bad news. The truck is stuck in a snow bank about 3 football field from the arena, more to come".
 
9:40am -  "The engineer cannot open the satellite dish so we may not be able to put the show on the bird for the Division II game of the week".

10:30am - "Steve (Lappas) may not be able to make the game as his hometown is being hit very hard with this storm. Got any ideas Ross for a backup analyst for today's game at 4? It is is 10:30am now…Thoughts Ross?”

11:00am – “Anyone know if Steve has been picked up by his car service yet to bring him to the game yet”.
 
11:02am – “Yes. He is en route and will be there by 2pm.”

11:15am - "Here is the latest...the truck is being pushed up a hill and should be here within a half hour, more to come".
 
11:30am – “Ross can we contact the site in El Paso and ask if we can push back kickoff so we can see the game in its entirety, as the early game may start late”.

11:40pm" - Looks like the truck has made it, but it is very cold. We will need about an hour to get the truck warm. Just keeping you posted".

11:50am - "No engineers from the truck will be able to make the game. All the crew members are jumping in to help, and Ross, we will get this game on the air".

12:00pm – “We are on the air, on time for game 1 of a long day of programming. Ross, please tell football we do not need to slide kickoff we will go at 2pm ET”.

The hard working men and women that we had in key positions out in the field on Saturday enabled me to do my job and keep pushing forward to get these shows in place, staffed and on the air.  The internal operations team we have here is sensational all the time, but when things get tough they get even better at their jobs and deliver in crunch time.  The master control folks were excellent on this day as well and really a day to be proud of.  A team effort all around and as we always say in live sports TV "you are only as good as your last show.”  Well, if that is truly the case, we are in great hands as these shows were not only miracles getting on the air, but were pretty darn good productions, too.

To the team: Congrats and thank you for your efforts.

"All Access" rules.  Remember in Wayne's World when Garth and Wayne excitedly headed backstage at the Alice Cooper concert?  Well, it's also pretty cool in college basketball, too.  That's why I push our production teams on a weekly basis to get ACCESS. I challenge them to bring our viewers closer to the teams, the players, the coaches. CBS College Sports producers are always up for a hearty challenge, and recently, they've dared to go where no camera crew has gone before: The locker room LIVE at halftime.  And I gotta say, it's been pretty awesome.  Check out what happened when our crews got into Marshall's locker room:



Pretty sweet.  For that, I'd like to offer up a few accolades to to the people who've made segments like these happen….Here are my "In the Bonus":
 
Duquesne at Fordham Women’s Basketball on January 17th – Pre-game and Halftime Coaches speeches
Producer – Mike Molinari /  Director – Mark Ballard
 
Division II Men’s Basketball Bellarmine at Northern Kentucky on January 23rd: Coaches Microphones during the game
Producer – Jeff Strauss /  Director – David Newman
 
St Joe’s at Charlotte Women’s Basketball game on January 23rd – A Pregame speech with St Joe’s Head Coach Cindy Griffin
Producer –  Brian Williams  /  Director – Gary Nicholas
 
Memphis at Marshall Men’s Basketball game on January 27th – Clip Attached in this Blog (Live halftime inside Marshall’s coaches room & Locker room)
Producer – Steve Scheer /  Director – Andy Goldberg
 
Cincinnati at Louisville Women’s Basketball game on Feb 2nd:  A coaches corner segment with Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
Producer – Jonathan Segal  / Director – Andy Goldberg

UNLV, to the NBA to Network College Basketball Analyst…
CBS Sports & CBS College Sports Network’s Greg Anthony takes you inside his mindset prepping for a game and how similar it is to his playing days.

At CBS College Sports I’m fortunate to work with some really talented people behind the scenes: Producers, Directors, Associate Directors, PA’s and the like. What creates an interesting dynamic is that each of these individuals has a unique style. They’re kind of like officials.  It’s not always as combative as it might be between officials and players, but at times it can be.   Just as the officials have a job to do, CBS College Sports’ crews want the same outcome that I do except they don’t always see the game the way I do.  I don’t mean that as criticism.  It’s just that we may be watching the game in a different way.  So if I’m focused on a particular player and want to make a point for the viewer, it doesn’t always jibe with what and where the Producer and Director want or need to go. Maybe there’s a promo they have to get in and it doesn’t mesh with where I am.  I said earlier that they’re like officials.  When I played I always wanted to know who was officiating because each one had their own style some are prone to call offensive fouls, some allow more contact when you’re guarding.  Some allow rougher post play etc. So it’s your responsibility as an analyst/player to make the adjustment.

I’ve found that game day as an analyst is a lot like game day as a player.  A lot of it has to do with your preparation, mindset, and your ability to react to what’s going on in the game. When you go into a game as a player you have to be ready for what the opponent does.  What are their strengths, can we affect what they’re doing both offensively and defensively?  How do your strengths match up and ultimately are you mentally ready to compete, in essence what’s your energy and confidence level like?  You don’t know that until the game starts. As a player there were times I felt horrible.  Maybe I had the flu or didn’t sleep well the night before or had an argument with a girlfriend.  And just when I felt like I was in store for a nightmarish performance I performed terrifically. Then there were times when I could not have been more mentally prepared and physically fit and let’s just say the results didn’t add up.
 
I’ve often said that sports are what reality TV strives to be. No one - and I mean no one - knows what’s going to happen. In any given game, something’s going to happen that was totally unexpected. Maybe a kid who’s a walk on has a career night or someone who averages 4 pts goes for 25. Maybe your best player is in foul trouble in the first half and that changes your strategy. 
 
As an analyst, much like as a player, my objective is not only to analyze the situation but develop a course of action to bring about the best result.  I have to keep viewers in tune with what’s going on why it’s going on and what has to happen, to change that course.  As a player, whether you have your “A” game or not you have to find a way to win.

So if you thought preparing for a game as a producer is tough, try being a network analyst. This week I take you inside our very own Tammy Blackburn’s world as she dots the I’s and crosses the t’s before calling a game. Tammy was a standout player on the women’s basketball team at San Diego State and knows how to bring her A-Game to the court both on the floor and at the announce table…have a look at this work week.

        ——————————————————————————————————————————

I sit down in my home office in front of my laptop with my grande cup of Starbucks decaf coffee and I realize what's ahead in two weeks. My challenge? To provide the color analysis of a women's college basketball game.

I log-on Sunday evening to find emails from producers, font coordinators and occasionally the veteran sports information director (SID) from "X" university. Some emails solicit advice on game story lines and graphic ideas while others consist of game notes and statistical reports. My task ahead doesn't feel like cerebral calisthenics from the American Mensa Society. Rather, my "To Do" list is more in-line with a mundane task of day-to-day life, a task the average person might simply regard as "getting organized." But because every game is the championship game, it takes time, demands attention to detail and requires sacrifice.

So I am happy to take you inside my huddle as I "get organized" for the most important game of my life.

Sunday:

·      Visit website of each team, specifically looking for "game notes.” The average game note packet is 25 pages.

·      Research and print "game recap" (6-8 games each team) looking for notables on players.

·      Watch coaches press conferences online from previous three of four games.

·      Create "Game Roster." This is the most important document I prepare, my Crib
     Sheet.

Monday:

·      Send producer (carbon copy play-by-play partner) list of graphic ideas/story lines. Review game format with producer – discuss the on camera open and other important elements.

·      Reach out to SID’s to schedule calls with coaches. I use this time to ask the SID questions       and solicit human interest stories not in game notes.

·      Watch highlights online of each team or watch tape of previously televised games.

·      Watch CBS College Sports including: Courtside with Seth Davis and Inside College Basketball. It’s incumbent upon me to know men’s/women’s basketball around the nation.

Tuesday:

·      Prepare my version of "game notes" for each team. This is the second most important document because I have color coded and titled each story line and graphic. The producer needs to have the same copy so we can communicate during the game.

·      Contact conference SID to discuss conference story lines as it relates to conference big picture.

Wednesday:

·      Talk to each coach. Given my college athletic experience, I am fortunate enough to have established relationships with many coaches. The stronger and more trusted relationship, the more information I will receive. I have a good understanding of what a coach expects me to keep private and what I can share on TV. For example, in the first round of conference play, many coaches would prefer that I don't share their weaknesses on TV, even though they have shared those with me. They don't want other coaches in the conference to have easy access to that information. 

·      Develop a graphic titled "Keys to the Game."  These keys are not always what the coach and I talk about on the call. Often times I decide the keys while other times the keys come from coaches. It's very important that during the game I pay close attention to whether or not the teams are executing the keys to the game. The producer and I will work together to show the keys early in the game – I often say during play “Hit me with the keys to the game.”

Thursday:

·      Online research - what’s going on around the nation: scores, upsets and important games.

·      Collate and staple research packets, game notes and game recaps.

·      Touch base with producer and SID's again. Make plans to meet up at the hotel.

Friday:

·      Travel day. Review notes thoroughly on the plane - names, pronunciations, updated stats, etc. With the invention of the internet at 34,000 feet, my job just became more efficient. Yes, I am on the internet during flight getting updates.

·      During the flight I begin to organize in my head some important points about the game, each team and a few players. It is my final alone time before things ramp up.

·      After I land, I get rental car and drive to the hotel. Contact producer and play-by-play partner.

Saturday:

·      Attend shoot around for each team, final questions for coaches and SID’s and final review of format with the producer.

·      Game On and I am organized! I arrive with my folder in tow at the campus site two hours prior to tip. I organize my notes on the table and on average use 30 pieces of tape to keep my notes in place.

·      5-4-3-2-1 and go! Red light turns on and I muster a big smile for the camera because I know I am organized for the biggest game of my life. What happens next? My hope is that you will tune in and see.

Stay Tuned for next week’s blog: Former UNLV standout and current CBS College Sports Network & CBS Sports Basketball Analyst Greg Anthony, provides a behind the scenes look at what a game day looks like for him as he prepares to call a game from his announce position.

Admit it: At some point in your life when watching a game, you've yelled at the TV, convinced that the network producers have no idea what they're doing.  "How could they miss that angle?" you'd scream.  "Why aren't they telling me more about what happened on that last play???"  I thought this week I would bring you inside one of CBS Sports and CBS College Sports top producers' daily schedule preparing for a game, so you can see exactly what goes into it all.

What does the T-Mobile High School Basketball Invitational have in common with the final round of a golf major, the Olympics, the Super Bowl pre-game show and March Madness?  Elite talent and long, long hours of production time.

When you cover an event that entails producing 4 straight games, never getting off the air at halftime or between games, if you don’t have a killer team working with you, you’re in deep, deep manure.  Keeping an audience engaged for 7 plus hours straight on back to back days is quite a challenge.  But once again, the CBS College Sports guys rose up to the challenge.
 
Here is glimpse in to what went in to that show:
 
A set day where our mobile unit was stuck in the mud (literally) and delayed our production and technical teams from getting going.  Once we got the truck out of the mud, we were back on track.  And all it took was 2 producers, 2 directors, 2 associate producers, associate directors...

[deep breath]

...1 tech manager, 6 cameramen, a full staff of engineers, audio and video personnel, gfx operators, tape and Elvis operators, 2 sets of announce teams (Jason Knapp and Pete Gillen for the boys and Ann Schatz and Tammy Blackburn for the girls), a sideline reporter from MaxPreps, a Host (Adam Zucker) and even a TD who had become a dad the day before the show and still managed to work the event – now that is dedication!

14 hours of Live TV with no relief in site = A job well done by our production and announce team for hanging in there and delivering our viewers a terrific event. If you enjoy high school basketball, this is a good one to see. You can catch a look back at the event - on CBS Sports January 16th at 2:30pm ET.
 

In the Bonus for this week:
 
Villanova at Temple men’s hoops from December 13th – Excellent work on getting off the air after the BIG upset by Temple with live shots and not forcing a taped roll-out when the action on the court told the whole story…as fans ran on the court to celebrate with their Owls.
 
Vandy at Notre Dame women’s hoops from December 31st – Very cool beauty camera with wide angle lens was put up on the catwalk high above the floor and gave a unique look at the sold out arena for the Irish.

During the very entertaining Michigan at Utah men's basketball game Wednesday night, our announcers Dave Ryan and Greg Anthony alluded to “history in the making here tonight.”  It got me excited...and I even knew what was coming up!

Have you ever wondered what your favorite coach is saying to your team after a bad half or period?  Of course you have.  You wouldn’t be a fan if you hadn’t.  "I hope he gets all over them and fires them up to come out and compete harder, win every ball or puck", are a few things that go through my mind when I am watching my favorite teams, but I am just guessing of course (or hoping).

Well, for those of you who took that needed trip to the rest room at the half, or grabbed that next cold beverage, here’s what you missed: A seat inside the locker room as the coaches addressed their teams.  LIVE.  Unedited.  Unfiltered.  NOT ON TAPE.  You heard it at the same time the players did.  What’s the saying? “I wish I could have been a fly on the wall...”

Coaches’ meetings at halftimes are a sacred place. They’re not very long, but they are very productive and enable the coaching staff to quickly dissect what has gone right and what has gone wrong in the 1st half and how they expect to convey to their team changes in the coming minutes that should be made for the 2nd half. Nowhere, I mean nowhere, have you seen this meeting, LIVE and uninterrupted  in your living room other than last night inside the Utah Coaches meeting room and locker room.

Last night's invite in to that sacred space, set up well in advance by veteran producer Steve Scheer and head coach Jim Boylen, showed everyone what a meeting like that is all about. This was set up between Steve Scheer and Coach Boylen in late October and from reports from inside the production team, a walk though was done on Tuesday night just to make sure everything would look and sound great. I was even told coach had a vending machine moved so our cameraman would not be obstructed getting from room to room. We thank the Utah staff for allowing us that access and I for one could not have been more engulfed in what went on from the coaches meeting to the meeting with the players.

In The Bonus for this week:

Simple as you just read it. Great work Michigan/Utah crew for a terrific idea, excellent execution and for trying something that viewers just don't get to see EVER! Hopefully we will bring you more of this throughout the winter. Also a nod to having Tom Izzo on the phone during the first half of this game as well. Good suff!

I kicked off our basketball season in Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge (yes, I did say Mexico).  In a potential foreshadowing of March, these games were played in a ballroom that is usually used for dancing.  But on the two days before Thanksgiving, 5th-ranked Kentucky, a pesky Stanford team, along with Virginia and Cleveland State put on shows of their own.  An OT game between the Cats and Cardinal decided the championship south of the border and I did not even return with a tan (the production trucks don't have sun roofs, maybe I should look in to that).

We’ve gotten our first look at 3rd ranked Texas in a showdown with Rice, Pitt win their 14th in a row vs Duquesne in the City Game (last hoops game every played inside Mellon Arena and it took 2 OT periods to decided it) and an entertaining matchup between Cal and New Mexico from one of my favorite venues in college basketball - "The Pit". It really is as loud as Tom Hart says it is folks!

For college hoops I will go with call my new shout outs “In the Bonus.” Without further ado...

This week's In the Bonus:

-Texas at Rice: Really like the way this production team and announce team gelled together. Teasing elements to break, following through with elements teed up in the open. Nice support and flow to this one.

-Pitt vs DuQuesne: solid open. Documented the great history of the City game. Terrific effort by Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen for all of regulation and 2 OT periods keeping their energy high and keeping viewers tuned to their sets on how this one will end. Also loved the halftime guest. Anytime you can have a Harlem Globetrotter on who has played in over 6,000 games, that is just cool.

-Cal vs New Mexico - Smart halftime segment by production team on this one, really setting the big picture scene for the season. Always love to get my fix on who to watch. Well done.

The smoke started to rise around me, the fans began to erupt and my job was simply to hold the 4th-ranked team in the country from storming their home turf in front of a raucous, record sell-out crowd for a few more seconds before cueing them to take the field.  Not an easy job.  But definitely one of the high points of my time here at CBS College Sports.  Being in the TCU tunnel Saturday night as the 4th ranked team in the land, lead by Coach Patterson and Jerry Hughes was either a thrill of a lifetime or just flat out CRAZY!  I had requested this role from game producer Jon Norton and his response was “Sure. You really want to do that?”  Abso-flutin’-lutely, I replied.  I had not experienced something like this in a game of this magnitude since I was 17, when I cued Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions on the field at a Pigskin Classic for ABC  Sports. Put simply: Nothing that happens in the truck or in master control can top it.  It was everything I remembered from that late August day many years ago and more.

What a way to cap off an incredible Saturday that had kicked off in Orlando at UCF, where fans were treated to a C-USA showdown between Heisman hopeful Case Keenum and his high flying Houston Cougars against a much improved UCF team we saw weeks ago fall to the Miami Hurricanes on our network.  Unfortunately for the Cougs, UCF spoiled the party with an upset to start a day of college football our network is now growing use to. Great games, big time players from sold out stadiums!

Tom Hart, our pxp announcer calling the #16 Utah at #4 TCU game Saturday night put it best when he opened the show from Fort Worth, in front of 50,000 plus screaming Horned Frog faithful dressed in purple..."This is College Football on THE CBS COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK".  Well you got that right Tom.  Sometimes there is just no need for overly poetic words to describe a scene.

I’m telling you, I’d put our games up against anybody’s out there. Major national storylines, programs on the rise, big time coaches and shows that are entertaining, well produced, directed and always feel like the folks in the booth are having fun do it. Little secret...they are having fun.

I spent the weekend in Fort Worth at the TCU game and from the time I arrived on campus to the time I left Sunday morning there was an electricity in the air that something special was brewing in "Cow Town". The battle on the field, the new Nike Uniforms for TCU, the excitement in the stands outside the stadium all day to the focus behind the scenes from the men and women working on the pregame show and the game was outstanding.

I think the nation got a look at a team that really has arrived on so many levels. Their play on the field. The hospitality the coaching staff, SID, venue folks (especially Mark Cohen and Ross Bailey) showed us and our friends at ESPN was outstanding, to the support Fort Worth, alumni and now the media has toward to TCU is something special. It was a pleasure being there and we look forward to returning.

First Downs this week...

Big East Soccer
Outstanding work with Shep Messing and Jason Knapp showing the art of the penalty kick, timely and effective with games going to PK's.

VMI at Army
Using a new thermal infrared camera only used by the military in combat to seek out the enemy made by Flir. Effective and very cool showing a replay and having Jason Sehorn pointing out what the cold and warm parts of the body are.

Utah at TCU
The whole production. From the excellent pregame show, to the game coverage, to the halftime and post game coverage. The production, announce and technical teams nailed a big night.

Extra Points...
Keep an eye on #19 BYU hosting Air Force this Saturday Live from Provo. You just may see our first "snow game" from the season.

When I watch a game, no matter what the sport is I ask myself the following questions…
 
1)       Do the announcers have chemistry today? Are they conversational when appropriate x’s & o’s when appropriate?
2)       Does it feel like the truck and the announce booth are working as one unit today?
3)       Are we Documenting, Clarifying and Punctuating the game?
4)       Do we back up all storylines we tell the viewers are major items to be on the look out for in this game?
5)       Do we balance graphics and video elements well and do we execute all sales items?
 
Those are just a few of the questions I have in front of me when I sit down to watch a game and work on my notes to send to the production and announce teams. The only way a production team can really take something away from a game is to hear some feedback on what someone who was not at the game felt about the telecast. That is where I come in. “Feedback, Feedback, Feedback…give me more!” I hear this weekly if not daily from our guys that truly want their show to be the best on any network that day. My role is to provide that…provide some encouragement on the items that were done well and provide some notes on what we may have done better or ways we can do things better in the future.

10/31’s First Downs:
 
-Temple at Navy – Excellent get for the open of Head Coach Ken Niamatolo’s pre-game speech. Fantastic!
 
-A live rendition of the late Michaek Jackson’s Thriller dance by our own Akbar Gbaja-Biamila at the New Mexico at San Diego State game Saturday night…BTW, this was a very good telecast and a great game!
 
-Soccer Memphis at Tulsa men’s. Excellent segment showcasing our own Shep Messing. Always effective showing our viewers who the folks speaking to them are and what they have accomplished on and off the playing surface.
 
This weekend…a live pre-game show from Utah at TCU and then a classic BCS Buster game in the Mountain West on our air at 7:30pm ET between the Utes and the Horned Frogs.