In the Broadcast Booth - Part 3

September 4, 2007

(I’ve decided to break this into parts so it doesn’t get so dreadfully long that people stop reading partway through)

Kings and Queens of Multitasking
Accompanying VIDEO | PHOTOS | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Television Booth (4th through 6th Inning)

When I initially pitched the broadcast booth idea to the Nationals, I said I’d be “quiet as a mouse - no one will know I’m there”. I held to that in the radio booth once they went live. Staying in the background was easy with the elevated counter space behind the broadcasters and room for me to spread out and type notes into my laptop as I observed. Plus, I had plenty of time prior to the first pitch to scope out the area and get familiar with being in the booth during my extended stay. In the bottom of the third inning, I saved my text file and packed up my laptop into my bag, planning to take it out again and do the same thing next door, while hanging in the background observing. Lisa arrived and I waved goodbye as she ushered me out one door and into the adjacent one, blind to the booth itself as we entered behind the MASN curtain blocking the view inside. I really had no idea what to expect. Joe, a man in a headset guided me to the front of the curtain where I saw sideline reporter Debbi Taylor and a high school student sitting in stools directly in front of the MASN curtain. I waved hello to Debbi who seemed to remember me from Mother’s Day. The setup here differed from the radio booth. No rear counter existed. A large TV sat on the floor between Debbi and the backs of Carpenter and Sutton. Joe directed me to place my bag against the wall with other bags, ushered me past Debbi and the student, handed me headphones, and sat me in a chair at the front counter directly in between Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton. Whoa! That was a surprise! I expected to be seated somewhere like the student interested in broadcasting was - in the background, but wow, what a treat, if completely unexpected (and thus unprepared for)! I suddenly realized I was not going to be able to type my notes and had not one scrap of paper on me to write things down. I slipped the headphones over my ears and was plunged into a completely new sensory world that consisted only of crowd noise from mics in the stands while the sounds of the booth around me completely disappeared. I clumsily put my video camera in my lap and held onto my camera for dear life, wincing at the volume in my ears, fumbling for the box the cord appeared to be attached to up on its side next to a small monitor directly in front of me.

I can’t begin to describe the sensation of the headphones and how disorienting it is to lose the ability to hear what’s going on directly around you. Plus, it was LOUD! I then understood why the official scorer booms over the PA system. I saw Don Sutton’s lips moving, but couldn’t hear what he was saying. He was looking at me, so I slipped the headphones off and asked, “what?”.

“Do you hear a buzz in your headphones?”

“No, just crowd noise. But it’s very loud!” I replied. Joe to the rescue! He flipped my little box down and pointed to the volume knobs. I had no idea what “Interrupt Volume” and “Non-Interrupt Volume” meant, but I twisted both of them until the cheering in my head subsided to a tolerable level. I later noticed that Carpenter and Sutton did not have the headphones entirely over their ears like I did, but left a little space. Aha! I slipped mine back off my ears slightly so that I could still hear perfectly fine, but also allowed some normal audio sensory perception in. Ahhh, much better. Of course, it took me a while to figure that out.

Also slightly disorienting was the small monitor directly in front of me, placed where my eyes naturally tried to rest. I can say with confidence it was not showing the MASN feed that is sent to your tv at home. It appeared to be a test feed or one of the editing/search feeds. Players were constantly running at high speed forward, only to backtrack at the same breakneck speed. I swear, I was getting dizzy watching it, mesmerizing as it was, and had to force myself to look away.

Suddenly a voice that was not Bob or Don spoke to me. “Hi, this is Chip, the voice in your head,” (actually, the producer out in the MASN truck). I looked around quizzically. “Hit your talkback button,” the voice instructed me. I pushed the white button above TALKBACK and said, “hi!” after flipping my microphone down. Carpenter and Sutton laughed and said that was the only thing “MissChatter” had said so far. Chip responded with, “not very chatty for MissChatter, is she?” Suddenly play resumed on the field and not wanting to interrupt what I had come to realize is a very fast-paced multitasking environment (at least to me!), not to mention being petrified of hitting a wrong button or doing something to end up on the broadcast, I went back to miss-non-chatter and wished I had something to take notes with. As they began their play by play, I tried to wheel my chair over toward my bag to grab my scorebook and a pen, figuring I’d take notes on a blank “notes” page of my custom scorebook. I was tethered to the audio box and barely reached, but apparently I knocked the television on the floor behind me that Debbi Taylor and the student were looking at. Joe kicked it back a little, I retrieved my book and a writing utensil and scooted back to my spot in between the two television broadcasters feeling much more comfortable and no longer paranoid I’d forget the details I really wanted to remember.

Carpenter and Sutton appear slightly more organized than the radio broadcasters. Well, maybe that’s not the best way to put it. They just have less *stuff* all over the counter. Carpenter used a Word document up on his laptop screen for the same type of player notes that are probably contained in Jageler and Slowes’s notebooks. Sutton used the Giants media guide several times, once to relay managers/coaches of the minor league clubs in the organization (from what I gathered - I actually didn’t see the tv broadcast). He also thumbed through a well-worn Nats media guide several times. Carpenter used his laptop and paper scraps of paper handed to him by Joe. I asked what they were and he said the pitch counts on the pitchers. I glanced down the left field line to see if the pitcher’s scoreboard was in view from there since that’s what I use to check the ball/strike/total pitch counts during games. I suppose with watching every pitch and play, it’s easier to hold a piece of paper up where he can still see the field or the television feed than turn and look down the line and remove his eyes from the field. I should have asked, so instead I’m making assumptions. He also showed me that while on the road, he uses Yahoo! Sports box scores because at the bottom it shows the ball to strike ratio for the pitchers. He also read scores from other games using the same site. I got a kick out of that because I also use the Yahoo! Sports live stats both at home and at games in case I miss any plays, although it is slightly delayed (as Carpenter also pointed out). I even have the site bookmarked on my iPhone and in the sidebar of this site as a shortcut way for me to get to it (the bottom of the “Quick Glimpse” page). Interesting - yet another way the broadcasters use the same tools us fans use.

Ok, tech-geek time! Where were the cool techno-gadgets? Seriously? Slips of paper? Old school is cool and I actually find that rather neat, but I knew they weren’t writing on cameras with chalk to make the football-like markings on the screen. Surely, there was technology here somewhere that I was not familiar with? I had noticed the computer monitor sitting in front of Sutton minus the computer. No keyboard or CPU appeared to be in existence and the handwritten word “CLEAR” was taped to the lower left corner. Earlier from the radio booth, I had noted that “TELE” was written across the screen and the writing was no where in existence now - just the MASN feed. In between innings, I asked Don Sutton if he would demonstrate how the “writing on the screen” works. He asked how to spell my name (Cathy, not MissChatter) and using his finger, wrote “Hi Cathy!” on the monitor in front of him. Very cool! He tapped his finger near the Clear -> sticky note and it disappeared (don’t worry - it was during a commercial break). And hey, I spoke!

Naturally, I needed proof “MissChatter was here” and Debbi Taylor kindly obliged to work my camera for me, even handing me her MASN microphone to pose with. Awesome!

Time for the Teddy Race on his big boblehead night. I sprung up from my chair and turned on my camcorder, lost in the excitement of the moment. As Teddy motioned to be set down, I noticed Sutton jumping next to me with a “Let Teddy Win” t-shirt and realized the cameras were probably on him. Mortified, I shut off my camera and sat down, peeking over the ledge to continue watching how the race played out. Hey, he might have won and I didn’t want to miss history! Unable to resist, I fired up the camcorder again, I believe from my seated position. I thought Teddy won - it looks too close to call on replays!

Back to the game, because, you know, the night wasn’t all about Teddy. I heard Carpenter comment on all the people leaving through my headphones and looked up and sure enough, people were streaming out. I’d like to think just to go to the restroom or concession stands now that the race was over. Like the radio booth, the tv broadcasters read promotional copy off papers. The only difference is someone is coordinating and handing it to them in the television booth.

A foul ball hits near the radio booth. Ok, that’s just bizarre that it hit the tv booth when I was in the radio booth and then vice versa!

Both carry on in a conversational tone and also turn to each other while volleying back and forth with the commentary. I thought maybe I should move back a bit so they could see each other without me being monkey in the middle. But how do the cameras know which angle to show? Carpenter noted Ryan Church in the on deck circle and simply hit his talkback button to relay “Church on deck”. I watched the feed and sure enough, it switched to show Ryan Church in the on deck circle while Carpenter flowed into noting Hanrahan was likely done for the day and giving his final pitching line. The view on tv went back to the current batter. Flores! (who had a great night!) I was amazed how tuned in to all facets of the goings-on in the stadium all the broadcasters are. I’m accustomed to only seeing a small portion of the game with my eye glued to the narrow field of vision offered through the view finder of my camera (that’s why I need so much help with scoring information). Watching the broadcasters attuned to everything going on both on the field and off was fascinating.

Wow! I suddenly realized it was the sixth inning already! Once again, three innings flew by faster than I had ever experienced. Carpenter and Sutton graciously offered to let me remain longer, but I had a date lined up with the MASN production trailer outside the stadium I didn’t want to miss. The between-inning entertainment consisted of a break dancer on the Nats dugout. “I just pulled a hammy watching that,” Carpenter groaned. So that’s what they say during commercial breaks!

Lisa arrived and as promised, took me to the trailer outside the stadium where all the TV production and coordination really occurs. Aha! This was the technology mecca, hidden from the view of fans. I met Chip in person, the voice in my head earlier. Casual dress is definitely the code in the dark windowless cramped room full of equipment and a front wall covered in tv monitors. Wow! I spotted MLB Gameday on a computer screen again. The game action experienced a lull, so people started commenting and guessing what would happen next. “I smell a walk,” one said. The inning ended and the conversation turned to Teddy, now smelling a conspiracy. Lisa wasn’t swayed into divulging any details, if she had them.

I’m curious what the Marilyn Monroe doll represents? She did have a phone number at her base. Maybe it’s her way of saying “call me!”

About the only functional information I gleaned from my quick trailer trip was that there is a person dedicated to graphics who types names into templates and sends them to the “Canvas” and then they appear on the screen. I bet the woman with her hand on the knob is responsible for my dizziness earlier watching the monitor in front of me! They roll breaks in two different times that are off by about a second. I wonder how long it takes to learn to count down a different number at the same time someone else is counting down? Chip is large and in charge. He picks what player receives a certain designation and when to fit it into the broadcast. Felipe Lopez happened to earn the Valero energy award during this particular game against the Giants Saturday night for his diving smothering defensive plays.

This is where the multitasking takes the cake. During an exciting play (example in video), they are constantly flipping the cameras and displays, keeping track of how far a runner made it in the video and cutting to a graphic right before the feed ends, etc. The amount of information to keep track of must be astronomical and everyone has to be on the ball ready to flip feeds around, etc. Color me impressed!

And that ends my adventure into the broadcasting world. I actually ended up with more questions than I started with, but during live-action didn’t seem the most opportune time to be quizzing people. I do have a better understanding of how things work putting together both the radio and the television broadcasts. Now when I watch, I can imagine Chip talking to Carpenter and Sutton through his headset saying, “okay, now the upcoming schedule,” as others in the trailer cue the graphics, the music begins, and the schedule appears during a brief lapse in game action while one of the announcers reads off the upcoming information. I returned to the stadium in the 8th inning to watch the Nats finish out the game with a win and wished I could see Charlie Slowes yelling “Bang! Zoom! Another Curly W is in the books!” That was the fastest game I have ever experienced. I hope I’ve done the adventure justice here and again, want to express huge thanks to everyone who let me peek into the baseball broadcast world for one game!

(and I have to say, that picture turned out awesome considering I did not use a flash in the trailer! My expertise! :-) )

Posted in Media, Washington Nationals