“What do you do when the kids are out of school?”

Ah the age-old question.  But for me, it takes on two meanings.  First, it’s the same question that millions of parents around the country ask themselves every June.  But second, people assume that since college students are not in class that I’m kicking back and playing 18 on Connecticut’s finest courses every day.  I wish.

Without fail, I get asked this question literally a dozen times in a dozen different ways at the beginning of every summer.  

"So what does prepping for the fall really mean? Heck, it starts in 3 months from now"

"What could you honestly be doing 3 months out for college football?”

"Are you working harder now because of the shake up in college football's landscape?”

"If you know the games and your schedule, where the games are, who is playing and when, what else is there to do?” 

So here’s my answer to all of them:

I am busier prepping for the fall as I am during the middle of the season, when kids are in school and competing on the various playing surfaces we cover them on.  Go figure.

Boy I love those kind of questions because what it shows me is that when those folks are sitting back and watching one of our events, they really don't know how much work has gone into that event before hand to make it great. I tell my teams at the start of each season that we will out work our competitors. We will put as much effort in our preparation as anyone in the business. It starts with putting the right people in the right place and having them commit to the product and our standard of not leaving one stone unturned or one story on the table. If you have that commitment from the talent to the producers and directors on down the line through production with ADs, PAs and researchers to operations with Tech Managers and technical crew members...the product will be special and the viewer will get what they are hoping for which is simple in my book...A solid on air product that they will remember for a long time and keep coming back for more.

So what kind of work goes into making our games great?  Here is a snapshot of a typical summer morning in 2010:

7am

-Read everything related to college conference re alignment.

8am

-Line up our coverage for every live event the fall - nearly 60 events, with close to 8 production teams assigned to every game.

9am

-Talk to production and talent teams about how they’ll work together as units 

10am

-Meeting. Discuss how we will enhance our shows to get to that next level in the fall

11am

-See a demo on new technology that will take us to that next level we want to get to in the fall

11:30am

-Work on the Annual College Football Seminar for August. What will be talked about, discussed, analyzed and gone over to put the teams in the best frame of mind for their first game and for the season.

12pm

-Eat lunch at desk, hop on a conference call to discuss the college football manual and its different sections. What is new, what does not make the cut

12:30pm

-Jump on a call to discuss a possible new idea for a show 

1pm

-Go over new graphics that we’d like to see incorporated into our fall games

Ok, so you get the picture and that is simply, 9am until 2pm. The afternoon gets better, but I will spare you that rundown.

So in short, the summer is a time for most to catch your breath.  But for me, the energy I put into my work of the summer will be critical to the success or failure of a season.  It’s still a rush, but it’s a different kind of rush because there are no live games to watch, analyze or enjoy.  But each decision, each call, each meeting all means something in the larger scheme of how this fall, this upcoming season will take shape.

There have been moments during my time here at CBS College Sports Network where I have either been producing an event, been in our master control or in the back row of a production truck on a remote where I have said outl oud to someone “this kid is going to be a star.”  And sometimes – amazingly – I am right.

Covering over 300 to 400 live events a year over the past 7 years has given me a lot of opportunities to witness great athletes before the rest of the country catches on.   During this unusually jam-packed week - NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Playoffs, The MLB Draft, US Open Golf - I I’ve been reminded of some of those special players that caught my eye when they were still in college: 

Stephen Strasburg – San Diego State Baseball  

Washington Nationals 

14 Ks in his debut

Chris Johnson – ECU Football

Tennessee Titans 

Led NFL with 2,006 yards rushing

Jonathan Toews – North Dakota Hockey

Captain of the Chicago Blackhawks that just won their first Stanley Cup since 1961

Angela Ruggiero – Harvard Women’s Hockey

US Olympic Team Gold medal winner

Derrick Rose – Memphis Basketball

Chicago Bulls

NBA Rookie of the Year 2009

Sometimes a project comes along that stands out just a hair above the rest.  They’re the ones you believe in so passionately.  The ones you get to see go from an idea, to a plan on paper, to shot on camera, edited, mixed and played out on national TV for millions and millions of people to enjoy.  The NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships is one of those projects.

The idea came to me in early February.  One morning, after some early morning Molloy family time (throwing the lacrosse ball with my son Thomas), I headed into work with family on my mind.  I was taking a look around my office and deciding what would go with me when our company moves to a new office in August.  My office has a lot of memories in it, but two that stand out are replica NCAA National Championship trophies for Men's and Women's hockey.  As I held one of these blocks of cherry wood given to the nation's best, it hit me: Family and The Trophy.

About a week later, I was watching a re run of an old Wimbledon final. Dick Enbeg had the call. I asked myself..."How cool would it be to have Dick do the voice over of this idea?" With permission from our friends and colleagues up at CBS Sports, I reached out to Dick and he graciously accepted my request and challenged me to make it great. He would see me at the Final Four and do his voiceover then in early April. I better get to work.

In late February I was able to call on someone I knew would help take this idea and make it great. A very talented writer named Greg Jennings signed on.  He was very intrigued about the idea and about a sport he knew very little about.  When I spoke to Greg for the first time since working with him on an Indy 500 tease for ABC years ago,  he was fully engulfed in writing scripts for Terry Gannon at the Olympics in Vancouver. He accepted my request and came up with the scripts.  Now it was time to make this thing real.

By early April, Dick Enberg has laid his Hall of Fame voice to a piece of tape.  One shoot has already been done in High Definition in Oklahoma City and now one shoot to go in Darien, CT with the family.

In early May, the shoot in CT is complete and now the editing begins. Shots assembled from hours and hours of footage. Music is chosen, audio gets mixed and in the end...I get that jolt that everyone in my business gets:  The feeling of seeing the final product after all the hard work is done.

This idea would have never been possible without the help and hardwork of so many people. Kyle Meek, Marla Keethler, Carter Cole, the Klingman family, all the good folks in Oklahoma City, Darien High School and Youth program, Dick Enberg, Greg Jennings and so many more...

Here is the final product you have just read all about. 4 months of work for 2 minutes of Television. The Tease for the Division III Men's Lacrosse National Championship.

Hope you enjoy it....

NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tease

You know those weeks at work or at school that are just great weeks?  Well folks...this is one of those weeks for me. “But won’t you be be working the entire holiday weekend?  In Baltimore???” you ask.  Absolutely.  And I couldn’t ask for a better place to be.   We’ve got 16 live games going on our air this week and I’ll be in Charm City for one of my favorite weekends of the year: NCAA Lacrosse Championships.   I kick it off at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson for the women's D-I Final Four.  So many storylines:  Can Northwestern pick six, and take home the title...again??  What about hometowners Maryland?  Or Syracuse who have upset two teams on their way to Towson?   And that’s just Friday!  On Sunday I’ll have my eyes all over Baltimore as we start the day with the men’s D-III and D-II finals, followed by the women’s title game at 5:30.  Local boys Salisbury are back in the finals again against Tufts in Division III.  In Division II, it’s C.W. Post and Le Moyne – two stalwarts of the sport.

Of course, in between it all, we’ve also got NCAA Division II Baseball and softball, the Mountain West Baseball Championship simulcast with the Mountain Network and the Conference USA Baseball Championship.  I am so pumped up.

The production teams, technical teams and announce teams have all been hand picked and there could not be a more impressive lineup out there getting the job done for our network this week. And these guys could not be more excited to do their thing...this was very apparent on our Monday conference calls. There was a pep in everyone's voices. They want to be great this week and end the 2009-2010 season on a strong note.  

We are ready for a perfect week! Are you?

We have all studied for a big test at one time in our lives, but have you ever pulled an "all nighter" cramming for a test only to find out when you arrive to take it, the test has been cancelled?

Well thanks to Mother Nature, tests are canceled often in this business, which can leave our production, announce and technical crews ready for a final exam...that never happens.  Over the weekend, we had two games affected by the weather.  The first was set to be a great battle on the diamond between Southern Miss at Rice.  The second, C-USA's softball championship game, was delayed THREE different times before our cameras rolled.

As a viewer, you may say, "Bummer" - and go about your day.  But for us, there is a lot more that goes in to it. Here is a glimpse of what we do behind the scenes.

Step 1:

Our crew on location at the game contacts me along with the other department heads to get the ball in motion we may have a situation. Programming, Master Control, Production, Operations, Traffic, Sales and our GM are now all informed and brought up to speed. Like Jack Bauer bringing CTU up to speed on the show 24 - except for real, and without Kiefer Sutherland.

Step 2:

We contact the home school's conference and begin a dialogue on various scenarios that can take place.  We'll talk about when the game might start, how long the delay will be in their best estimation, could we have a longer delay that would push the game outside its regularly scheduled live TV window and few other items which I won't bore you with. This is a critical step as the conference holds many of the answers we need to plan our next move.

Step 3:

Roll back-up programming on the network that makes sense for the audience that has tuned in. Example: if a baseball game is in a rain/lightning delay we would choose to roll a baseball game from an earlier airing.

Step 4:

Wait.

Step 5:

Sometimes wait some more.

Step 6: 

As soon as we are in the live TV window where the game should be airing, it is our job to tell the viewer why they are not seeing the game. Some simple steps go in to action. At the bottom of most networks there is a ticker, a crawl, a place where news, notes, scores and other info is placed for the viewer to digest. On the ticker, as we call it, we simply place a scrolling line of text: "Weather Delay: UCF at ECU is currently in a weather delay."

Step 7:

Now you have alerted the viewers on the situation. You have back up programming rolling seemlessly on the network. Life is good, right?  You'd think so, but you'd be wrong.  Now you request that the talent on location get dressed and ready to go to tape a 90 second to hit every 15 minutes to tell viewers what the status is on the weather delay.

Step 8:

You get your answers from the conference. You discuss all options with remote, programming, operations and you decide on what the best case of action will be. Usually one of these will work.  In the end, you are faced with one of these scenarios:

1) Game is cancelled

2) Game is postponed until tomorrow

3) Game will resume at a specific time that we can still record and play back on a tape delay later that night

4) Game will resume at a time that is just too far away from when we started our day that it does not allow us to stay and record the game

Any one of those situations can occur.  Each one has occurred.  And each one will occur for us again.  I love the competitive element of, well, "the elements," but games inside sure make my job easier.  Unlike most people, I actually like to take the test after having studied all night.

One of the hardest things in our industry to handle is the loss of someone we cover. The loss by a team or a player in an athletic contest quickly loses its importance when the loss of a human being occurs. The story of Yeardley Love, the senior UVA women's lacrosse player, whose life was taken far to soon hit the news wires on Monday, May 3rd. With a UVA men's lacrosse player accused of first degree murder and presently in jail, it has made for a very difficult time for the families involved, the university and the players and fans. The story has been documented at great length and she has been laid to rest.  This weekend the fans in Charlottesville will come out in great numbers to show their support as the men's and women's lacrosse teams at UVA try to get back to playing the game they hold so dear.

In my career I have experienced some great losses when it comes to those athletes and coaches we cover. The loss of PGA Tour golfer Payne Stewart in a plane crash before the Tour Championship while I worked on the ABC Sports golf team and the loss of Scott Brayton, an IRL driver at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while I worked on the ABC Sports Indy Racing League series come to mind instantly when I think about loss. Those affected me dearly.

My hope is that those of us in sports television will never have to cover stories of loss, but I know there will always be loss involved with sports. I wish for the best for the Love family and our friends at the University of Virginia and I hope this weekend will bring a smile to their faces as they get back to competing on the field where they once laughed and played with Yeardley. 

They say that every dog has his day.  I’m a lucky enough dog to have my day more often than most other dogs.  Recently, I had one of my days.  Let me set the scene for you:
 
Monday –

Our production team gets together and works out the plan for a men’s lacrosse game being played between John’s Hopkins at Navy. What’s at stake on this noon showdown in Annapolis on a Saturday in April? A lot. Hopkins has made the NCAA Tournament for 38 straight years.  38 years.  In basketball, Kansas has the longest streak at 21 years.  And the only school to have even sniffed 30 years is UNC.  The Bluejays are close to 40.  On top of that, Hopkins’ streak over Navy was at 36 in a row.  For the Mids, they were going in to the Patriot League Tournament wondering if they could right the ships after some recent struggles.
 
Tuesday to Friday –

Non stop prep by our team and talent to get ready for the tilt with coaches calls, editing, research, graphics builds and planning for how this show will look and feel by Producer Scott Brandwein and Director Rick Becynski. Play by Play Dave Ryan and analyst Matt Danowski get set to call the game and all is falling in to place as the crew arrives in to Annapolis.

Saturday –
 
The early crew call at 5:30am sure got the folks up and ready to cover this game, but I feel sometimes those noon games get everyone on task and squared away better than the late games for the simple fact that it comes faster and you have to be ready. With all the streaks on the line…the game truly started off with a bang…literally.  Hopkins up 5 nothing before you blinked.  What we were not ready for was how this game will turn 180 degrees in the 2nd quarter and lead to one of the most amazing college games since Duke and Butler. If you have not seen how it ended in OT, check out Dave Ryan’s call.

March 2010 was one of those months when my amazing job morphs into dream job status.  Indianapolis is a terribly underrated sports town.   Larry Bird’s home state loves their Pacers.  They love their auto racing.  And, of course, they love their college hoops.  I have worked that auto race they hold at the Brickyard every May, but this was my first Final Four in Indy.  I was blown away.

In Indy, my job was to oversee the Salute Show, hosted by Jim Nantz, on Thursday night.  The annual event with all Final Four teams is such a fun atmosphere and serves as kind of a “calm before the storm” every year.   I also oversaw the tournament’s World Feed for the 2 semifinal games and the Championship game.  So what exactly is the world feed?  Glad you asked.  You see, in addition to the feed you saw with Nantz and Kellogg, there was also a different mobile unit outside the Lucas Oil Stadium with a separate announce team.  So instead of listening to Jim and Clark, fans around the globe had the privilege of listening to Ian Eagle and Coach Pete Gillen in China, Mexico, Canada and abut 150 other countries world wide. It was a terrific way to experience my first Final Four and one that I don’t think I will ever forget.

So you’d probably think that two feeds would suffice for CBS?  No chance.  This year, CBS Sports threw in a 3D feed, too.  The games were broadcast in 3D to  movie theaters around the country, mainly in NYC and California, and to anyone else who owns a 3D TV (a list that probably begins and ends with James Cameron).   Overall, the 3D production was a HUGE success.  Hang on to your seats - and your glasses - because we are on the verge of a whole new way of watching – and producing – live sports.

Well folks, the NCAA Final Four has arrived in Indy.  Butler, Michigan State, West Virginia & Duke have arrived in Indy.  And I have arrived, too.  For me and my team, though, this week will be just as much the Indianapolis 500 as it will be March Madness.  CBS College Sports is cable’s home of NCAA March Madness.  So we’ve been revving our engines, preparing for Indy since the day after last year’s National Championship victory by North Carolina (where are they this year, by the way?).  We’ve kicked it into fifth gear with daily and almost hourly meetings and conference calls with the NCAA and CBS Sports to make sure everything is just right for our “One Shining Moment.”  Each year we try to top what we did last year.  And in 2010, we’ve got more content, more access and more in depth analysis than any other cable network.

Exhibit A: K-State Confidential.  Working with CBS Sports and the NCAA, we were lucky enough to tag along with the Wildcats for their great run to the Elite 8.  The footage is amazing, so check out the clips on the Shows page.
 
You might be saying to yourself, “You don’t carry the games, CBS does that.  So what does your network actually do during the Final Four weekend?”  Glad you asked that (even if it was to yourself).  Here is a short list of what we’ve got going on:
 
Thursday
The 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four Salute Presentation - Live
 
Friday
Live from team practices at Lucas Oil Stadium (always a fun event and your last look at the teams before the national semifinals
12pm-4:30pm ET
 
The Reese’s College All-Star Game – Live from Lucas Oil Stadium (the best of the best who are not playing in the Final Four go head to head)
4:30-7:00pm ET
The truck we’re using for this show is the CBS Sports game truck, so expect to get a first look at some of the enhancements that will be used on Saturday and Monday
 
Georgetown at Navy Men’s Lacrosse – a break from the madness
7:00-9:30pm ET
 
Saturday
WNIT Championship Live
2:00-4:00pm ET
 
We will be producing the world feed telecast for the National Semifinal games in HD for over 240 countries.  It’s a first for our network and a very exciting project to be handling and producing for the NCAA and the millions of basketball fans worldwide.
 
NCAA March Madness Central Studio Shows Live from Indy and NY
8:30-9:00pm ET
11:00-11:30pm ET (Live from Indy)
12:00am-12:30am ET

Deep Breath, refuel and pit stop

Sunday
NCAA March Madness Central Live
12:00pm-2:00pm ET

Monday
NCAA March Madness Central Live featuring a performance from the Goo Goo Dolls
6:00pm-7:00pm ET

AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show
7:00pm-8:00pm ET
 
National Championship Pre-Game Show Live from Indy
8:00-9:00pm ET
 
The World Feed telecast for the National Championship Game
 
NCAA March Madness Central Studio Shows Live from Indy and NY
11:00-11:30pm ET
11:30-12:00am ET (Live from Indy)
12:00am-12:30am ET
 
I will post again later in the week from the heart of the Final Four…stay tuned...

If the NCAA Tournament is the year’s main course, then conference tournament week is an appetizer of mussels from one of Boston’s finest establishments.

I serve up more plates of succulent shellfish in a matter of 3 days than I do all season long (it feels that way).  On top of all the games to produce, and the integration and coordination with our friends at the MTN Network, Versus, C-USA, A-10, Mountain West Conference and our friends and co-workers at CBS Sports, the week is one intense, fun and DELICIOUS journey each and every year.

We were able to really utilize some amazing personnel and facilities that we had not used before and boy did our shows reap the benefits.  I give our shows the equivalent of a 5 star Michelin rating from top to bottom on all 4 tournaments, including the women's C-USA semifinals and championship, the men’s C-USA quarters and semis, and men's A-10 and Mountain West semifinals. The studio guys whipped up some tasty plates, too, with integration as good as any out there. 

Inside the kitchen, I had pots going on all the burners, keeping an eye on one game that led into another, which can always be a dicey situation.   Weaving live games in and out of conference quarterfinals from Tulsa, OK, into live studio shows, into conference quarterfinal games in Las Vegas, NV, I felt like Mario Batali cooking a meal for millions of people.