Bless their little hearts but... (RW77 Rant)

Student Organizations should not be allowed to run cameras at fast-paced sporting events.

Seriously, thank goodness for the UAA announcer calling the game very similarly to that of a radio commentator... or maybe he was the radio commentator overlaid with video?

In any case, I cannot tell you how awful it was watching the games this weekend where we'd see closeups of players while the puck is off screen (and the player close up didn't even have the puck!), or when the puck is shot into the zone and the camera focuses in on the ref... or the best? In Saturday's game Aaron Dell makes two great, close in saves.... BOTH of them off camera. Heck, apparently Aaron Dell had a fabulous glove save. I'll take the announcer's word for it.

It was a downright MIRACLE that Kristo's goal was on camera instead of perhaps one of the 50 fans on the bench side of the ice.

Look, everyone learns sometime but it was beyond unbelievable how poorly they were able to track the puck! It's almost as if they were trying to disguise their $10 Gear Head Webcam they bought from a discount online retailer by trying to be creative with zooming in every minute or 2 and on every faceoff. It also seems like they had no idea where the camera was facing at times and while checking on its position, lost track of the puck.

The most important thing on the ice isn't the players... it's the puck! The game cannot be played without a puck!

So, here's what I'd do to help them out: First, lose the zoom button entirely. Forget it exists. If you wish to have zoom capability, buy a second webcam and have that zoomed in all the time. Then, if they capture something while zoomed, go to it on replay. With the camera zoomed out permanently, there will be the best chance of keeping the puck on the screen. Second, run a fundraising campaign to purchase decent equipment. Namely a web-broadcasting capable REAL camera like the ones that almost all other schools use. Look at the webcams UND uses at the Ralph.... or maybe those are web broadcast directly from the TV feed. If that is the case, perhaps they can outfit a real video camera with a similar system. It will improve the quality of the broadcast big time.

There are more drastic suggestions I have, but they defeat the purpose of a student run broadcast.

Best of luck and remember: If the cameraman can't follow the puck, he ain't worth a F***!