A university will often invest a lot of money into their stadium. The stadium represents not only a location where everyone can gather, but also added revenue for the various sporting events and entertainment that can be held there. In an era of high tech, it’s not enough to have a classy stadium, you must also have an electronic scoreboard that will wow the crowds. This isn’t the case at the Patriot Center at George Mason University; and no one is very happy about it.
If you take a look at the kind of entertainment that appears at the Patriot Center, one will be incredibly impressed. Well known stars of stage, screen, comedy, music and drama. The list is a who’s who of the entertainment world. The sports events that are held at the Patriot Center are also an array that would knock your socks off. With all of money invested in the art of getting these shows, why in the world do they have a 1980’s electronic scoreboard that is an embarrassment to both teams and school?
Americans have some fairly odd traditions, or at least they might be considered strange in other places. As a nation, we are devoted to our pets, spending billions of dollars every year on everything from their care to their finery. Texas A&M University is also very serious about their mascot: a dog named Reveille. Since there have been many mascots down through the years with that name, they have an honorary burial area and it has an electronic scoreboard.
In 1931, a stray female dog was found by some of the students at Texas A&M and every time the bugler played reveille, the dog howled. The name Reveille was given to the dog and a school mascot was born. Over the years, many female dogs have taken the mascot position and were given the same level of respect as she is considered of the same rank as a five star general. Almost all were Collies. As each of the succeeding mascots passed, they were interred with honors and given a burial position to face the scoreboard. Texas A&M played a great role and assisted the U.S. Army during World War II. One of the ways that the Army showed its appreciation was to give Reveille an official Cadet General (five diamond) ranking.
Charles Page High School (CPHS) in Sand Springs Oklahoma is home of the “Sandites” and proud of it. This is a school where the sense of dignity and good old fashioned Americana runs deep. When the plans for their sports Memorial Stadium started showing budget cut backs, everyone came forward to help out.
The original stadium for the school was built in 1949 and it was not only showing it’s age, it was falling apart. School officials knew that a newer stadium was needed and they put a well-planned budget together. The demolition of the old and loved stadium was crowned with a last game and a ‘farewell rally’ with part of the expenses being allocated for the removal of the old stadium. Unfortunately, the economic situation of the country took a turn and didn’t play along with the budget. Additional funds were needed for a number of unexpected expenses and the project began to pull at the seams with little money left over for the desperately needed press box, scoreboard and lights.
Ridgefield High School in Connecticut is very familiar in being the recipients of gifted scoreboards. In the past, the ‘gifts’ included a contract for advertising and promotion and this caused problems. That’s why they were pleasantly surprised when the school received a new electronic scoreboard with no such strings attached.
One of the local residents, Larry Langois, just so happens to be the Nestles Waters North America senior manager of sales. Larry’s daughter, Ashley, attends Ridgefield High School and plays on the varsity softball team. Langois recognized the need for a good electronic scoreboard for both the players and the fans and came forward to make the offering to the school.
If you have ever wondered what is important in life – just ask the kids! Anything and everything that they see and look up to, they want in their toys. From a visit to their local fast food restaurant to attending a sports game, the kids want a miniature toy version of the same thing. In today’s world of electronic scoreboards, the pizzazz and wow factors light up the kids eyes. I guess we shouldn’t wonder that there are now toys that try to emulate the same effects of the live game.
Take any child to a baseball, basketball or any sports event and their eyes will focus on the electronic scoreboard. Today’s scoreboards are designed to not only enhance the game, but give the fans the extra special effects that make a game a true entertainment experience. When the kids get back home, they want to continue that fun and thus enter the world of the electronic scoreboard toys.
The 1961 Rose Bowl on January 2nd was between the Washington Huskies and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Over 100,000 fans were in attendance and, with the live television coverage from NBC, millions were glued to their sets for this momentous game. Sports bars and restaurants were filled to the brim with spectators. This was before the era of electronic scoreboards, so a common way to cheer a team on was to arrange various specially seated people to hold up flip cards at specific times. What happened on this January not only went down in sports history but proved the ingenuity of a plan gone well.
In this game, the marching band from the Washington team was involved with a coordinated effort along with students that were seated in the flip card seats. Once they heard a signal, they were to hold up their cards. Each student had an instruction sheet to indicate which card and which side should be displayed. When all of the cards were seen together, they would convey a message. This was quite an elaborate plan, as they coordinated fifteen different images to be flipped and displayed.
Anyone in technology knows that sometimes things happen, and there is no reason or rhyme of explanation for it. In the world of technical support, a ‘glitch’ can occur, never happen again and the conversation usually ends with “well, it’s a mystery”. While there are actual reasons, it would usually take too much time to figure it out. Sometimes things happen on electronic scoreboard displays. The manufacturers take every situation seriously and will always fix a problem.
We rely on technology in every aspect of our lives. You have to admit, technology is mostly pretty good, with only a few things happening that will try to ruin our day. The importance of an electronic scoreboard in any venue is pretty obvious and this technology has to run perfectly from the get go. Whether it’s a big game between two rival teams or a music concert, today’s electronic scoreboards attract the attention of every attendee and the special effects keep their attention. Any little ‘glitch’ is not only irritating but down right embarrassing.
While some schools are having a debate as to whether advertising and marketing should be included on sports electronic scoreboards, Michigan Stadium seems to be completely oblivious to this argument. The stadium has instituted a new program to offer electronic message displays. Anyone can participate, for a price.
You have to give credit to the University of Michigan. They know that their games are some of the most watched games as well as most highly attended. They are taking full advantage of that fact and offering the general public the ability to post a message, in full view of thousands of attendees and millions that view on broadcast.
The U of M is encouraging people to post anniversary, birthday, and even proposals for marriage. The price is pretty reasonable. For a $200 fee, you get up to fifty characters (including spaces). They guarantee the message will be posted twice during the game: the first display will be between the first quarter and the second quarter and the second will appear during halftime ending. Each message will last a total of five seconds and there is a max of fifteen messages per game. All messages are previewed for content prior to acceptance.
For the first time in history, the higher tech electronic scoreboards are offering the ability to create whatever look and feel you need for every event. The digital technology combined with the intense color sections and graphics have an incredible flexibility. Every event has a unique look and feel and the scoreboard design should reflect the need. With a little background, you can even take this high quality visual and create a standard sports scoreboard look.
The importance of the electronic scoreboard has increased exponentially over the last ten years. Most fans of any sports venue now use the scoreboard as part of the continuation of the game. We view the board for information on our teams, but also for additional information, streaming video, ad hoc play-by-play. Most of us are accustomed to viewing the scores in a digital view, with each team on its corresponding side of the board. The board is part of the story of the game and we, as fans, look to the scoreboard for the information we need. Today’s technology in electronic scoreboards can offer the same type of standard view and be customized to the attending team colors.
When Mike Trout joined the Angels baseball team as the youngest camp player that year, he didn’t expect to be welcomed with a prank. The Angels are known for their sense of humor and made sure that Mike didn’t forget the first time he walked onto the field to play.
At only nineteen years of age, Mike Trout should have expected something from the Angels team. As the youngest player and listed as number eighty five in the Baseball America ranking, Mike was simply ripe for a prank. It seems that one of the Angels team members arranged for Mike’s cell phone number to be posted on the electronic scoreboard during mid game. A message accompanied the number encouraging fans to call and ask Mike their personal baseball questions. Jim Duquette, MLB radio network host was quick to ‘tweet’ the prank and the message was soon escalated to ‘viral’ status.
