Adjusting

One of the most interesting aspects of this profession is the amount of adjusting one has to do between each and every venue on the road. Yesterday we televised from San Francisco which is one of my favorite places to direct baseball in the National League. I am so impressed with the San Francisco "road crew" that I write about them in my book Cutting the Game, Inside Television Baseball From the Director's Chair. Indeed, the telecasts from the bay area were clean, the crew worked hard, and the shows were a success. Our telecast from Phoenix tonight was also a success. The truck "worked". The crew worked hard and was very good. When travelling on the road for television sports and I believe that this is true for every sport - the TV production team MUST adjust to three things. 1 - the mobile unit. 2 - the crew. 3 - the venue. Every truck is different. From the monitor wall to the intercom system to the layout, each and every remote television production unit is unique. Every crew is different. In fact, every member of each crew is different. The TV sports director MUST adjust to each crew member in order to insure a quality telecast. Each and every TV director in each and every sport must adjust to the venue that the event is taking place in as well. For example, it is completely different televising out of Wrigley Field in Chicago than it is to televise out of Minute Maid Park in Houston. This is interesting because quality television is much easier to accomplish in Wrigley Field which was built in 1914 (BEFORE TELEVISION) than Minute Maid park which opened on 2000. But that is a matter for another blog. The TV sports director is adjusting to the truck, the crew, and the venue during each telecast. As the director is performing this "juggling" act he/she is also "cutting the game" which requires adjustments continually throughout the contest. It is the adjustments that each game requires that make directing TV sports so demanding. Adjusting to the demands of the game to insure quality television is also what makes our profession so rewarding.