World's Coverage

Did anyone else think that the PDGA's coverage of Worlds was lacking to say the least.  Even the daily video highlights was just a bunch of random shots and showed nothing of the competition.  USDGC and Memorial were covered much better IMO.

[mark ellis]

I thought Crazy John Brooks was great as a commentator.

We get spoiled watching ESPN coverage of Pro Sports. Imagine how good disc golf would look with multiple state-of-the-art cameras and the resources to put together coverage like a major ball golf tournament.

While we can't afford that kind of coverage what we might be able to afford is bloggers and twitterers. Maybe we should seek volunteers for next year.

[Brandon Swanson]

I agree 100% and I would be content with some hyperactive twitterer giving me the play by play of action on the lead card in the semis and final nine as well as sporatic updates in the other divisions. I really enjoyed the dot technology at the USDGC in the past, but even just having updates every 1-10 minutes was sufficient for me. The live comments this time around were few and far between.

I do want to see more of Crazy John Brooks. Despite the name, he seemed pretty poised and professional. I kept waiting for him to sport a beanie and do an Irish jig or something. Terry Miller satisfied the desire for more substantial interviews of the top competitors with his video blog. Thanks Terry!

[Chris Fair]

Art and Film schools are great to approach with this kind of idea. Instructors love walking into their classrooms and saying "Guys I have an opportunity for you. It probably won't pay but its a live event and they need people to cover and edit." They would probably look at some of the current videos and then give it a shot if there are any willing. As a graphic designer we relished people asking us to create flyers, books, and all kinds of stuff for free because it was something we could stick in our portfolio. Shoot.. once I get moved and my schedule figured out I could volunteer but there are a lot of people better than me at video... I mostly do print and web.

[Trevor Smith]

David Yager is Dean of the Arts for UC Santa Cruz and his email is [e-mail]. If you can pitch the idea to him, I'd bet he'd do it.

Also, the general email for the Teledramatic Arts and Technology department at Cal State Monterey Bay is [e-mail]. They might be up for it.

[Socsavvy]

I agree that the focus and quantity of the coverage itself could be better. But the quality of the coverage from this year's Worlds is a big improvement, IMHO. Check out a similar conversation I started about that here:

http://www.discgolfersr.us/forum/topics/2010-worlds-media?xg_source...

[Marcos Castillo]

Crazy John is a fine commentator, I just wish he had the opportunity to host a significant highlight show so those of us who follow from afar can get a feel for the daily competition.

[Chuck Kennedy]

Poor cell service and no internet except an air card for the scorekeeper restricted the coverage. The staff workers used radios with headsets to keep up with water and course issues. It's potluck which provider will have the best (if any) service at each Worlds venue. I had no T-Mobile at the Am Worlds host hotel, 5 bars at the Tournament HQ at Pro Worlds and zero bars just 1500 feet farther south by Blue holes 4-8. I was a player at Pro Worlds and not involved trying to provide any event coverage. You can't expect the PDGA to have contracts with all providers just in case, and the volunteer scorers have a mix of providers also. Much of the coverage you did see had to be uplaoded when people got back to their hotels.

[Trevor Smith]

2011 Pro Worlds, Verizon is best with AT&T coming in at a close second for all of the courses. There are a few "outage" spots along the drive to and from, but nothing ridiculous.

[Chuck Kennedy]

Verizon is what PDGA HQ staff uses but not necessarily what the marshals have who might be doing the live scoring.

[Bill Burns]

I thought that the daily highlight show during the week was pretty good, and I agree with Mark that Crazy John Brooks was an excellent commentator. I'm glad he introduced himself, because I would not have recognized him at all - he never used to talk in that lower register "commentator" voice, and what happened to his big glasses and curly blonde locks? I first met him 30 yrs ago, and that moniker may not be applicable now, but it was back then.

[Marshall Scribner]

I agree , he looked and sounded so "adult".
Hey Craz ! Let's see that ol'' spark of lunacy !

[Senior]

I thought Crazy did a great job too. As for the other media it was lacking. It seems like the Am worlds coverage was better than Pro worlds this year.

I miss the excellent coverage that used to be given by Disc Golf World mag articles.