Thoughts on ESPN College GameDay

My wife and I had the fortunate experience to attend a VIP event for ESPN's College GameDay this weekend in Auburn. I know a lot of you watch this pre-game show every Saturday morning as I do, but seeing it from behind the barriers and up close brings a whole different experience. I have a new respect for the show, as well as the on-air personalities.

Having never seen a TV broadcast up close, I was amazed at the number of crew members and staff involved in the production of this show. Everything begins each week on Thursday afternoon when the GameDay bus rolls into town with the production team. As soon as everyone arrives, the support equipment, fences, and sets are set up along with the monitors, cameras, speakers and miles of cable necessary to transmit the show. 5am on Saturday, everyone is on the scene reviewing stats, scores, news and prepping for the show. Over 100 staff and volunteers are on hand to aid in the logistics of producing the show.

We were shown around the tour bus driven by a great gentleman named Bobby, who is a veteran and Georgia Bull Dawg. He drives the GameDay bus for 14 weeks during the fall in addition to the college basketball season, and he seems to know everyone on the staff. He is a great guy with a lot of little stories from his travels, and was so well respected by the staff. Amazingly, he gets to take his wife and dog on the road on the bus in between games.

A Dawg helps bring GameDay to your city.

We were also shown the production trailer. Pulled behind a semi, this trailer expands to hold the entire production team of roughly 15 people, 137 monitors, and the security and satellite equipment. From here, all the TV feeds from the site, from the remote reporters to the live feeds coming from Bristol, are combined to form the seamless show you see every Saturday.  The staff in this trailer spend about 18 hours every Saturday coordinating the broadcast from GameDay to kick-off. The amount of direction and coordination we saw while the show was filming was intense. 

This was one section of 5 in the production trailer. 137 monitors in total!

Bringing everything together are the on-air personalities: Erin Andrews, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso. The biggest thing I noticed was the amount of security on hand. Each broadcaster had two officers escorting them between the set and the bus, with Ms. Andrews having three or four. They are constantly on the move between the main set, the "practice field" and their tour bus. Make no mistake, they were in the heat of the Auburn Plains the majority of the time but still managed to keep their professional cool.

Kirk and his police escort

Desmond Howard making his way to the set.



Erin Andrews

After the taping, we had a chance to take a photo with the crew on the set, in addition to a meet-n-greet. Chris Fowler is very professional and almost stiff, much like you'd expect from a broadcast news anchor. Kirk Herbstreit is very fan-friendly, taking time to sign autographs and going out of his way to see fans outside of the fence line. Out of the 5 broadcasters, he stuck around the longest. Desmond cuts the most jokes around the set. Erin Andrews was very elusive and did not stick around. But the most interesting of the crew is Lee Corso.

Kirk Herbstreit



Don't worry Josh, I passed your message along to Chris. A restraining order is pending.

 Watching Lee on TV, you can see that he has come along way in dealing with the effects of his minor stroke. In person, it is a bit more noticeable, but I admire how well he has persevered and also how approachable he is to those around him. I had great conversation with the coach discussing Auburn and our traditions, the rolling of Toomer's corner, and the game that day. He also let me in on the lapel pin he wears each week. For those of you who are curious, the pin he wears is a B-2 stealth bomber with an American flag on it. It was given to him at the Air Force Academy by the former B-2 wing commander, and its a rare pin to receive. He wears it in honor of our service men and women. It was great to talk Lee and see his passion for college football.

Lee is the man.

Getting up each Saturday going forward will bring a new appreciation for my favorite fall pre-game show. I'm in awe at the logistics, team work and coordination it takes to produce College GameDay each week. It will be hard not to think about the cameramen out in the heat, the statisticians feeding endless numbers, and the guys in the truck for 18 hours on Saturday who help bring it all together. While I won't always agree with the on-air personalities and their picks, I will appreciate their hard work after seeing it in person.

3rd Annual BNE Pick 'Em: Week 2

I have to say, everyone did pretty good last week. With the exception of the Techs losing (Va and Ga), most everyone had a winning record for the week. Don't forget to have your pick in by this afternoon. This week features some good match ups between GaTech and UNC, UGA and Arky-saw, OU and Air Force, BYU and FSU, Texas and Texas Tech and the game of the week, Clemson vs. Auburn.

Speaking of Auburn, there have been rumors floating around the blogosphere of a total "Blue Out" at Jordan-Hare Saturday night to combat the all-orange uniforms of Auburn By the Lake. Specifically, a photo of a very authentic-looking Under Armour helmet in navy blue has popped up, leading to rampant speculation of the Tigers wearing all blue, from the rumored helmet down to the pants, much like UGA has done for their "black out" games.

I'm all for having the stadium decked out in blue and I appreciate the jolt a new look can bring, but Auburn has one of the best looking uniforms in college football and its a classic look that should not be messed with. Making a uniform switch can bring you luck; look at Notre Dame and their green jerseys. On the other hand, making a switch from tradition can bring you bad luck; look at Notre Dame and their green jerseys. While the black uniforms for UGA worked in 07 and for the Sugar Bowl, making a huge statement and pumping up the fans, using it too often can result in an embarrassing black eye...

First UGA, then VaTech, then Texas Tech and now we might see Auburn making a switch? Come on folks, let's leave the uniform gimmicks to the experts over at Oregon...

For the BNE Pick 'Em Top 5, we'll be presenting the top performers of the week and the overall standing. So without further delay...

1. AUMav's Picks with 237 points and a 20-2 record. Yeah, suck it bitches!
2. allyugadawg with 225 points going 17-5
3. BLACKOUT (18-4), woof woof (16-6), G.D. (17-5), and Dawgfan17 (20-2) all with 221 points
4. WarriorDawg (16-6) & FelonWaites (18-4) with 220 points
5. and finally, Dawgsman81with 219 and an 18-4 record

Overall leaders:

1. woof woof: 566 and 37-12 
2. Dawgsman81: 561 and 39-10
3. G.D.: 560 and 38-11
4. AUMav's Picks: 557 and 40-9
5. HayDuke: 554 and 39-10

And now for out Bottom Feeder of the Week, sponsored by my favorite time-wasting website, www.cakewrecks.com. Once again, BFotW will throw out those who did not make picks and those who seemingly don't understand how to make a pick. So, with this in mind, this week's Bottom Feeder of the Week is LostinAlabama with a whopping 95 points. The entire group managed to average 436 points, but you couldn't break 100? 11-11 for the week picking Vandy over LSU, Tennessee over Oregon and Penn State over Bama, and with such high confidence? Come on now, I thought we went over how to make picks when our friends from last weeks BFotW helped us with counting. You know what, I'm a sport. I'm willing to forget this whole mess. In fact, I even got you a cookie cake from our sponsor, www.cakewrecks.com to show there's no hard feelings and to help you enjoy your football Saturday...

Oh lord, the horror, the laziness, the blue icing...just don't hold it in front of your crotch and take a photo...

Get your picks in by the end of the day on Friday. Saturday morning, get up early and look for me and my lovely wife on ESPN's College GameDay, built by The Home Depot. Maybe if I'm lucky I can wrangle my way onto the set and meet up with Fowler, Howard, Corso and Herbstreit.

WAR DAMN EAGLE!