I was inspired to write this after I began reading a book on the Super Bowl...not the game itself, but about the set up of it, the money and planning involved etc.
It mentioned security tags briefly.
I'm not sure if people realize just how tight security can be at athletic events. I was quite surprised when I was greeted at the Greensboro Regional with airport type security. They made me go through a metal detector and also looked through my bag. I arrived at one of the games for the regional extremely early. I mean extremely early. I got there just as the UConn bus had arrived. I was shocked that the very team that was playing also had to go through security. Every Player and Coach...the reasons for the event itself...had to take out all the metal they had in their pockets and have their bags checked. All approved bags were given color tags that were put on the bag marking it as approved.
In Tampa for the 2008 Final Four I had to be photographed when I got my press pass. Yes, like a driver's license. I kept it, even though I was clearly not ready to be photographed at the time...It was raining that entire day too. It also rained on our season that day.
People in the press also typically get free gifts at big events. Nothing amazing, but a small thank you gift like a Big East luggage tag and a Final Four pin. The amount of food that you get can be amazing. Life was pretty good when I got to watch a football game from the press box and get as much food as I wanted. Hot Dogs, Pasta, Popcorn, water, soda etc. I loved Greensboro because they had candy bars and Fried Chicken...two of my favorite foods. Unlike some members of the media I don't go over board in terms of eating. I also work off what I eat!
There is a room in the arena that usually is designated a dining area for staff and media. Basically in this room are all the movers and shakers of the entire event. There are athletic directors, conference and NCAA directors/workers/commissioners, game announcers, and media members in the same room. There was also me. That was pretty cool. I saw Trey Wingo in Tampa with all of his make-up on. I also saw Mike Patrick in Greensboro. I saw Jackie MacMullen at UConn. Often former athletes are also announcers so you run into them a lot. I've passed Rebecca Lobo and Kara Wolters on many occasions when reporting on the team and when working games.
The amount of materials that are provided to the media is also amazing. Some programs, like Louisville provided note pads that had a picture of their best player, Angel McCoughtry on it. Teams also provided their media guide to anyone in the media who wanted one. Literally there were piles of media guides for every team. Game programs are usually provided too. The big schools also had game notes from the entire year. In it were press clippings, and box scores and notes from the entire year, updated to the last round that the team had played. Most big programs update these game notes for the media before every game. The smaller schools provided up to date stats and maybe the box scores from the last game or two. On top of that all of the quotes from press conferences, (after games and on off days) were printed out for the media. On top of that every media timeout means that a printout of the box score is printed out and given to every member of the media. The amount of sports information that I have from women's basketball when I reported is insane. It's almost too much for your mind to handle.
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