Collegiate Times

"We try to build what we think we need. There's a very fine line between building and overbuilding," said Holeman. "You want to have stuff that's pertinent to the game, and you want to have good big picture information."

A couple hours before tipoff after most of the pre-production work is done, the production team holds a comprehensive meeting in which they discuss all of the important aspects of the camera coverage.

"Before the game starts I give them headshots of both rosters, and go over storylines," said Reagan. "Most of these camera people are basketball fans and ACC fans and pretty up to speed on who the main players are, but there might be some stories or storylines that they're not as acquainted with."

The suspension of Tech's Jeff Allen after he bumped a referee at Georgia Tech is one such storyline that is discussed in the meeting. Knowing where he will be sitting, showing the replay of the incident, and noting that he is the Hokies' second leading scorer and leading rebounder is key to everyone being on the same page.

While the immense pregame preparation ensures a smooth operation, there is no shortage of stress in the trailer once the broadcast goes live.

During the game, the tape operators are responsible for instantly cueing up replays and putting together packages of highlights from earlier in the game, while audio mixer Sheldon Smith is responsible for making sure the 17 microphones located around the court pick up the right sounds at the right time.

The production crew also looks for developing themes and storylines and begins to piece together packages and graphics that can be used later. Every possible piece of graphic information has a numerical call code that makes it easy to instantly pull up on the screen.

The challenge of the job is keeping viewers interested and tuned in, even if one team runs away with it, as Duke did in the final minutes. Reagan relates that part of the job through a philosophy of his former colleague and former NFL quarterback Gary Danielson, who now works as a broadcaster for CBS.

"He said 'As a quarterback you prepare for a close game and if it's a blowout the game takes care of itself. As a broadcaster, you prepare for a blowout and if it's a close game then it takes care of itself.' And that's really true, you prepare for a blowout every game you have all this stuff, but you hope that it's a close game and you never have to use it."

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