AD BLOG - February 12, 2010
Teamwork. You expect to see it on a basketball court. When the Tigers hosted UNC-Wilmington at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, a game that was rescheduled from Wednesday due to a 20-inch snowstorm with high winds, the teamwork was also evident off the court.
Several members of the athletics staff stayed overnight on campus or in nearby hotels on Tuesday, trying to keep the facility open for the Wednesday night game. During the late morning, it became evident that Mother Nature had won. The game would not be played Wednesday. The staff shifted plans and began working to make sure we could play the game on Thursday. After all, UNC-Wilmington had left its campus on Friday and was "living" in the Marriott on the Towson campus since its reschedule game Monday afternoon at Delaware.
The high winds had caused snow from the roof to enter the handling units, and it began "raining" in the Towson Center. As the staff scrambled to address that leak, another one shorted the building's only elevator. In addition, athletics staff, university staff and contractors worked to clear the sidewalks, roadways and parking lots around the Towson Center. It was a lot of snow to move!
The gameday staff began assembling around 11 a.m. in the Towson Center. Surprisingly, many of the staff members had dug out and were able to make the trip to Towson. However, several key staff members already had called to indicate that the roads in their neighborhoods were still not passable. That's when the teamwork really kicked in.
It was great to watch the staff in action. The official scorekeeper and public address announcer were unable to make it. Pete Schlehr, the assistant athletics director for media relations, filled in as the scorekeeper, while Tom Brush, senior associate athletics director for external relations, handled the public address duties.
Another issue was the radio broadcast, which was critical since many fans would not be able to travel to the game. The game was originally supposed to be on WBAL, which was in snow coverage and could not carry the afternoon game. WTMD was unable to get staff into the studio to engineer the broadcast. Therefore, we opted for an Internet only broadcast. Our normal play-by-play announcer, Spiro Morekas could not make the afternoon tipoff. Therefore, media relations assistant Eric Rhew volunteered to handle the play-by- play responsibilities. Golf coach Brian Yaniger arrived at the arena and volunteered to help in whatever way he could. Since he was a former high school basketball coach, he was originally assigned to the game clock. But, when all the clock operators arrived, he shifted to analyst for the radio broadcast. Come to find out, he had done some radio work when the Baltimore Bullets were in town. He did a great job.
With the elevator down, staff began carrying the courtside supplies (water, towels, boxes of t-shirts to give away and the video equipment) up the stairs since the elevator was not functioning. I did not hear one complaint.
Thanks to the great job done clearing the major roadways overnight, all three officials arrived without delay. We even had two official members of the working media on press row.
As game time neared, every member of the cheer squad arrived. The pom squad had 14 members make it to the game. Towson student Andrew Ames made it and sung the national anthem.
The crowd of 401, including 178 students and a few paying customers, many of which were invited to sit courtside in open seats, were treated to a terrific basketball game. The teams traded leads 17 times, and the game was tied at 57 with nine minutes to play before the Seahawks went on a 13-4 run, taking a lead that Towson was unable to answer on this day, falling 80-72.
As the game ended, there was disappointment in the loss - and in the lost opportunity of a TV game with a great crowd expected the previous night- but there was satisfaction in watching as staff work together to put on a good show. I heard from several of the fans that dug out and made it to the game that they just needed to get out. For them, and for the Wilmington team that finally got to head back to North Carolina, I'm glad the teamwork of our staff, and those that cleared the roads, plowed the parking lots and shoveled the walks worked.
We won't have long to rest on our laurels. While campus remains closed through the weekend and others can rest at home, the athletics staff is pulling together again - to host a rescheduled women's game on Friday afternoon, then prepare for the Saturday afternoon's regularly scheduled game with Georgia State. Plus, others have dug out and are back at work practicing gymnastics, swimming, lacrosse, softball, baseball and track. It's terrific to work with such a great team! Go Tigers!
