The University of Notre Dame continues their #BiggerThanBrick social media campaign providing relatively short informational articles into the design of the Crossroads project. Recently, the school published an article that went quite in-depth into the content about to be unveiled on the school’s new football video board.
Some quick highlights:
44-year old Mike Bonner is the executive producer of live events for Fighting Irish Media and is responsible for producing and programming the video board.
Bonner worked for the New York Yankees from 1999 to 2013 (operating the video board during Notre Dame’s 2010 game in Yankee Stadium), then for the Denver Broncos until 2016 before working at the Rio Olympics and signing to work for the Fighting Irish. He’s been preparing for the video board debut for a whole year.
Per Bonner:
“I can’t stress that enough. Replays, replays, replays. Notre Dame has all kinds of great traditions in football. Those are going to continue and now they are going to be enhanced by our ability to show them visually at a high production level.”
There will be no advertising. Think of it as the “PBS approach” to a video board.
Bonner sat in the stands during the 2016 season taking notes on what could work with the new board.
Bonner again:
“At both places
[Notre Dame and the Yankees] there’s a lot of history and maybe a little bit of a conservative nature. I never ran a ‘kiss-cam’ at Yankee Stadium or in Denver–and I’m never going to run one here at Notre Dame.”What will they show on the board? It’ll be “football appropriate content, highlight driven videos to pump up fans and players, features on players and their families, and a feature called ‘Irishography’ on why Notre Dame was a fit for players.”
🏈 Ever wonder what it takes to show a replay of a touchdown on the video board?
We’ve got the scoop.#NDBiggerThanBrick pic.twitter.com/q1HLkSQ0dH
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 1, 2017
Bonner will coordinate a 40-person staff including Notre Dame staff and students, plus broadcast freelancers.
He has 3 simple philosophies for in-game content: entertain, inform, and engage.
There will be 9 manned cameras for the video board, 2 of them wireless handheld cameras that will go into the stands among the students and fans.
Long-time PA announcer Michael Collins will still call the game, although some of his segments particularly during timeouts will be made into prepackaged videos.
Bonner is bringing a DJ with him that worked with the Broncos who will work the early season games and then train local DJ’s to be able to carry on their philosophies.
There will be features on academics, campus activities and events, and the “What Would You Fight For?” spots that are normally seen during halftimes on NBC. And yes, they will be doing faculty and other sports recognitions incorporating the video board.
Bonner will be working in tandem with NBC to show the football team during their pre-game prayer and walk down the locker room stairs touching the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign as they funnel into the tunnel. That will be used to segue into a 75-second intro video to build energy for the crowd before the team runs out on to the field.
A post-game show will be produced from the South Club and feature a reporter on-field for interviews.
Sgt. McCarthy’s famous safety messages will continue, although they will be seen on the video board and be told by a rotating cast of Irish legends.
Recap
We’re still a few weeks away from this whole enterprise debuting but for right now Notre Dame is certainly talking the talk with the video board. What more could you ask for at this point?
Certainly, for the folks who never wanted the board in the first place there will be crutches to fall back upon. That it’s a “distraction” should be the most popular one for sure. If what they are saying is true the implementation of the board is bound to be extremely popular and if so there really aren’t too many ways to criticize it. It’s the same thing with Crossroads as a whole. It should be well-received by the vast majority but still called ugly as a way to dislike the project.
Something not really mentioned and I hope it’s covered really well is the use of stats for people at the game. The ribbon boards should display plenty of them but I hope the video board isn’t ignored either. I’m also curious to see what they do with the board during the action. Will we see a relatively frozen screen with monogram or something along those lines?
Weigh in with your thoughts and concerns. It’s crazy to think this new era is almost upon us after so much talk of it over the years.
I know at Jerry world they show the action live, and that actually was a distraction since I was the first row on the top section, could not have been closer to it. I also know that playing it live is common in the NFL, and many players have mentioned looking up at the board to see if they were going to be chased down from behind.
However, I can not think of any other college experience where I have any idea if they played the action live or not. Does anyone know if it is normal?
As to the DJ, they do that at Clemson and the students (well I only know former students) love it. Could be a really fun thing for the younger crowd, but I imagine will get some harrumphs as well. Can’t wait to hear DJ sticky boots on the ones and the twos.
I just do not understand this comment that I hear so often. I have been to about 20 games at Jerry World and I have never ever ever once been distracted by the video board. I dont understand how you cant be focused on the game on the field. I’ve sat literally all over the field(and done 5 games ON it) and the only time I look at the board is after a play for replay purposes.
Like I said, I was the first row on that level. It was right in front of me. And, it made it way easier to see what was happening, so my eyes naturally went there. Also, don’t mean for that to be a bad thing, it was more of a neutral thing. Didn’t love it or hate it. It was distracting, but so are beautiful women. My point of that is more that it is the only college game where I even remember if the game was played live on a video board.
I think my preference is for boards that are on the sides/ends of fields, rather than those hanging in the middle. I also get distracted by them at basketball and hockey games. But I would still way rather they be there, even hanging in the middle, than not.
I still can’t believe in the year of our Lord 2017 when we have self-driving cars on the roads and the ability to order a pizza by sending an emoji that there is a vocal segment that can’t accept or would have concerns about why there’s going to be a giant television screen at Notre Dame Stadium. Obviously it’s the same as those upset that lights were installed, or the blessed grass is gone but it’s a shame that Notre Dame always has to be the last in upgrades like this.
In utmost irony, that same segment also laments how the football program is struggling or behind the 8-ball, yet they insist on wanting to handcuff the program to lag behind others for upgrades and modern conveniences that have simple morphed into normal life. (Seriously, what other major pro team or collegiate football program doesn’t have the same?)
Which isn’t to say the best prospects are going to make a decision based on lights or a jumbotron, but if a program has a reputation or perception as not being up on the times, obviously that’s not a favorable factor.
Not trying to spit in the face of the importance of traditions, many worth protecting or holding onto, but enhancing in-game experience is important too. Human nature isn’t to always embrace change, but it feels tiring to drag some into modern times whether the fight is over lights, field surface, etc. I’m hoping what I think someone here in the comments said that trepidation will turn to enjoyment for many once they get a chance to enjoy the benefits of seeing replays and the like.
I dont know if I made this argument here or on the old site, but it’s not that recruits sign with us because we have a jumbotron or field turf, I think it’s more they come to ND and they saw that we DIDNT and it didnt feel like real bigtime football to them. It’s not that they went somewhere else purely because of grass and no video board but you just get that vibe that this place is old and boring.
This is probably the top argument for the changes.
I view it a lot like books in education. There are still tons of people throughout the world who love and prefer holding and reading a book printed on paper. Just like there are people who would prefer to sit in Notre Dame’s previously unadorned and simplistic stadium.
The analogy would continue if beginning in the 1990’s when other universities starting incorporating computers, laptops, smart boards, and other technology in order to teach Notre Dame then decided they were old school and wanted to remain strictly book based.
For a while, people bought into the use of books-only being a “tradition” that made Notre Dame “special.” Then, the academic side of things started to struggle a little bit and the leadership realized three very important things:
1) Adding technology might actually help improve teaching, or at least improve the lives of students.
2) In the near future all prospective students would be expecting to have all this technology and ignoring this would be foolish.
3) The tradition of paper books was never strong enough or old enough to override points 1 and 2 above.
I think that’s where we are today with the video board and Notre Dame.
Everything about Crossroads sounds great so far. I worry about seeing toooo many replays, but so long as they’re different angles and they don’t do it for mundane plays, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m really glad they’re bringing in a DJ so that we don’t hear Crazy Train 4738290432 times during the same game.
I really like the intro flythrough of the Main Building, Basilica, and Hesburgh Library to the “Welcome to Notre Dame Stadium” screen. I would be 100% satisfied with an almost static, or pulsating, version of that during the action, so as not to distract from the play on the field.
I think I have mentioned before how the video board at OU gave me chills with all the stuff they played. It was arguably one of the more moving football viewing experiences I have ever had.
Off the top of my head, it is probably top 5 moving experiences for me. Along with entering the NCG knowing that there was a small chance (didn’t realize just how small) that I could be about to witness ND win an NC. Then there was 37-0, pure catharsis. Then there was rushing the field as a JR when we beat* USC (which was almost immediately negated in the hardest way ever). Then there was my first under the lights game against USC in 2011 or whenever it was. Then it is probably OU, largely because of what they played on their huge jumbotron (I was right in front of it).
I am pessimistic about things, but I don’t worry about the bad things I assume will happen. I don’t understand why people at ND always want to focus on the negatives. Even if they play ads, who cares, we are bombarded by ads all day every day (admittedly the NC game was miserable with ads). But isn’t that worth it to see clips of the team walking to the stadium, or sweeping views of campus and Alumni Hall the most beautiful dorm in the world, or our players celebrating victories in 60s, or clips of our highest highs in the 2000s, games we may have been at?
I am admittedly overly nostalgic when it comes to Notre Dame, and my breath gets caught just walking onto campus. I am getting choked up just imaging what they might play. And if the video board gives me one great experience like that, then it’s worth anything hokie, lame, or annoying they might throw at me. Those powerful emotional moments will be the things I remember, especially if I am at a game against Temple or Purdue.
You just got me thinking about how ND could incorporate those “125 seasons” videos into the stadium experience. Oh man, I’d love to see Samardzija break UCLA’s back again, or watch the replays of Rocket or Tim Brown, or the goal-line stand against Stanford, or any of the iconic plays that were well before my time.
I have absolutely no idea how that could do anything but enhance the experience during all of those terrible NBC commercial time-outs.
Downvoted for “Alumni Hall the most beautiful dorm in the world.” Otherwise awesome, would order again.
BLACK AND GOLD TO VICTORY.
Don’t hate on Alumni Hall, bruh, it’s the only dorm with gargoyles!
ALUMNIIIIII. Brendan, glad to see you are carrying on Burger’s legacy of being wildly jealous of the blessed men and brothers of Alumni.
Hm, yes, well, whatever helps you sleep at night… Just so you know, the Manor is very well represented on the 18S staff – I think there are 5 or 6 of us handsome, athletic, erudite, charming rakes in here. So don’t bring that weak secondary South Quad dorm garbage…
Of course, the one thing we can all agree on is that Zahm sucks.
Yup, Zahm sucks.
Just back from a business trip to Normandy. Missed all this, and no doubt this will not be read – but just to say, I spent a few excellent hours with Mike Bonner last week. IMO he is the real deal. We have a fighting chance to get some serious help in getting our crowd to be noisy in a good way, and at the precise moments when that will count. Plus help make the whole game day experience more… ND-like, and more enjoyable..
We shall see.
Thanks to all above for the comments, and to Monsieur Murtaugh for the article.