|
 Like any badass student which found themselves at the Spanos Center on Saturday night observing our baller’ basketball teams kick both Santa Cruz and Chico State off the court, you might have noticed the obscure camera crew which propped themselves beneath each basketball hoop. Who are these people and why do they spend their time working at such a magnificent event?
The camera crew at the Spanos Center is made up of students under the direction of Dr. Alan Ray, a communication professor here at Pacific. Each night that there is a game in the Spanos Center and the video board is running, a Pacific student is most likely involved with its operation.
The system that is in place allows the men and women working the cameras to be able to communicate over a closed circuit system to the producer who sits in a booth above the Spanos Center. Everything that the camera crew sees with their cameras, the producer in the booth can see on monitors in front of him. The producer has supreme control over what appears on the board. The system which I have found to be the most fun is the closed circuit intercom system.
During a volleyball game a few weeks past, of which our lady Tigers were not doing so well. The camera crew found a need to entertain themselves; so a burping contest ensued over the headsets. Steffan Johnson, Reggie Vezia and I all had a grand ol’ time. Luckily for Steffan, he was in the booth with a pretty endless supply of soda, so he was able to continually burp one out. You might think this is disgusting but it gets better (or worse).
Burping is fun and everything, but rating burps on a scale of 1 to 10 made the time pass more quickly. Long and “manly” burps usually garnered the upper reaches of the scale while short and pathetic burps received a lower rating. Laughter and comments followed each individual burp which made things much better.
Burping isn’t the only thing in which the camera crew does during games. There will always be someone in the crowd doing something strange and quirky, and it’s usually a little kid or some star athlete picking their noise. These embarrassing moments usually get attention and are placed up on the video board for all to see.
However, because the Spanos Center supports positive family entertainment, we as college students must exercise proper restraint when we place video on the board. Should there ever be a time this year where someone decides it is a great idea to go “streaking,” the crew isn’t allowed to show this manly man or woman (ladies can go streaking too) up on the video board for all to see. Keep in mind, the Spanos Center is a public place so be careful what you do.
But camera crew aside, there is more to the livelihood of the Spanos Center then I can write about in this article. Some things aren’t just print safe. You’ll just have to use your imagination.
As many may have figured out on Saturday night, going to the games wearing your Orange Army shirts will always be a pleaser, but showing up in a different slightly drunken state of mind is a surefire way to prove that you will be rowdier than usual. Screaming and yelling at bad calls by the ref or talking smack to a player on the other team is bound to happen.
Just be sure you don’t do what a student did last year. He doesn’t remember going to the game but his friends do. This student whose name shall go unmentioned drank in excess before a basketball game and ended up sitting in a roped off area. Stripes tried to take him back to his room but he ended up jumping out of the cart and bolted. By the time he was back at his room Pacific’s Finest were there to arrest him. He spent the night in the drunk tank. This story is as accurate as those whom I called remembered it.
Just remember, if you’re going to be drunk in public, you have a strong chance of being on the video board, and if you’re stupid drunk in public, you have an even stronger chance of being arrested (as per last years seemingly policies). So go out, git your buzz on and head out to a basketball game. Get as rowdy as you want and remember to have a good time. Because if your not, the camera crew might end up having more fun than you.
Views: 299
|
Perspectives 
