Today, a few techie notes about how we do things here at ESPN, Johannesburg.
but first- Soccer. Today is the Semifinal match-up between The Netherlands and Uruguay, ESPN 11aPT. Watch out for the Dutch #10, Wesley Sneijder. He's on a tear! - on the field and off. His view of national team coaches: "I'd rather have someone like Van Marwijk as coach rather than two idiots like Maradona and Dunga." Well, he's not far off base here (can I use a baseball term in this blog? nah! that would be sacrilege) Dunga was just canned as Brazil was welcomed home to a hostile crowd. Maradona may be gone also, he is quoted as saying: "That is it, my time has finished. I have given all that I have." Bye, bye, crazy little troll!
WC Digits for yo Noggin.
There are about a gazillion audio channels, including, a 12 mic stereo 'field mix', a 5.1 Surround Sound mix, individual camera mics on Steadicams and Skycam, plus a live commentator in English as guide track. In our world, Chris Allan mixes on this fancy new Lawo board. comes standard with that New German Audio Board smell!
We now break for this random note:
From the book, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan (contributor to NY Times Mag)
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." is the first line of the book. Brilliant. He goes on explain how the 'Western Diet' is ruining us. Too much has been taken out of our diet by the efficiency of Corporate Farming. He also touches upon social issues of eating. A few tidbits of advice-Do all your eating at a table. Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does. Try not to eat alone. Eat slowly/consult your gut. Plant a garden/ cook your own food. Anyhoo. I'm off my soapbox. great book. go get it. Now, back to TV production.
There is much more going on here than you see at home on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 online. Via fiber optic we feed from here to Univision,CBC, ESPN Brasil, DirectTV Chile, ESPN Deportes in Mexico and Central America. We also have return feeds of both ESPN networks. So, if I screw up in live TV, I can watch the mistake come back to me in just a few seconds!
Our ESPN transmission peeps oversee 42 individual feeds. 36 of those are HD. That's a boatload of bandwidth on one giant fiber line! from Joburg, the cables head south to Capetown, then split one heads North, along the West coast of Africa to Europe. From there it heads across the Atlantic to NY, where it is redirected to Bristol, CT (Mickey Mouse's Northern command post). Once the live fed hit's EPSN massive digital center, it's processed, flipped, char-grilled and sent on to your local cable outlet, then through a 30 year old signal reducing RG 58 coaxial cable to the wall of your home. It boggles my mind that there is still any sort of picture left after all that travel. Wait! there's more. heading East from Capetown and up the other coast of Africa is fully redundant, repetitious, extra, spare, redundant back-up fiber link. This one bisects the Indian Ocean, through the Philippine islands, to Japan and on to LA. It gets lost somewhere on Sepulveda, no one has seen it since Mexico got trounced by Argentina. If you'd like a better visual than my banter, check this site to see undersea cable routes around the world- wow.
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/02/01/SeaCableHi.jpg
Behind him is our 'bullpen' of Producers, directors, PAs, Production Managers, internet crew and about 30 people who I haven't met and have no idea what they do!
There are well over 200 ESPN-ites here. I probably knew about 40 going into this, met another 20 or so the first week. During my 41 days here, I'd have to meet a 3.41 new people each day to know everyone!
Name Dropper!
As we get close to conclusion, our troops are dwindling.
With a parting Shout Out to to the Dutch, director Mike 'Shwabbbie" Shwab, bows out and heads home. Other peeps you may know in no particular order: (if not mentioned in earlier blogs) Ty Frison, Mike Feinberg, Bill Amin, Linda Shultz, Joe Ferretti, James Lytle, Tim Scanlan, Bill Graff, Geof Mason, Erick Valdes, Suzy D/Amico, Brian Clark. Chris Rivieso, Chris Alexopolous..and many more.
remember this from the Munich IBC?
aim well and hit the little ball of soap hanging on a string to score a goal!
(thanks DB for sending this, I couldn't find my picts)
Our IBC hasn't been quite as creative, yet our Andrew McConneville found this updated version while on the road in South Africa.
please use the restroom early, we are on the air at 8p. that's 11a for my Left Coast peeps.
..and don't forget to wash your hands!
i agree eating healthy is an imperative. therefore, i always listen to my doctor's advice! GREEN EGGS AND HAM!!!!
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