(soft piano music) LARRY: More than 60 years ago, Nebraska Public Media began broadcasting high school sports across the state.

Last year, we broadcast more than 200 hours of college and high school sports.

But the work that goes into these state high school championships and broadcasts starts long before the first kickoff.

From camera operators to directors & network engineers, our team works behind the scenes to bring the game to you.

But now we're pulling back the curtain to show you what you don't see on TV.

This is Behind the Scenes of Nebraska Public Media Sports .

ANNOUNCER: ...kicked back out to Ailes knocks down another 3-pointer and Ailes!

...sends it back over and a dump!

Crafty move there!

...near side, look out!

GAVIN: We do a lot of sports programming here at Nebraska Public Media, over 200 hours.

This amount of sports programming at a public media station is not typical.

One of the challenges we don't have in Nebraska is media coverage, and that starts with Nebraska Public Media's coverage of our championship events.

JUSTIN: Nebraska Public Media has been doing it so well for so long, that I think a lot of people think, "Well, this is how it is everywhere," No, we are special.

We are different.

♪ 1980s sports music with lots of horns ♪ ANNOUNCER: The Nebraska Educational Television Network presents... ♪ (music continues) ♪ Sports Nebraska!

DONNA: I've done NSAA events for 39 years.

My very first one was state wrestling at Bob Devaney.

Back then, we were only doing state wrestling, state volleyball, state swimming and diving, and then it expanded to state football, state bowling, state speech, and on and on and on.

State baseball, state softball, state soccer.

So we do quite a few state events.

JOE TURCO: When I took over in 2000, NET Sports, at that time, did a total of 20 events a year.

When I retired, we were doing over 80 events a year.

JOE MCMULLEN: The number of productions has gone up.

The complexity of the productions has gone up.

The kinds of productions has expanded over the years.

We just keep finding more things that we want to cover, that we want to share.

JEFF STAUSS: The production quality continues to get better and better, adding different camera views or higher quality cameras.

The attention to detail, and then even the talent that you guys bring in to be the play-by-play and the color analysts for any of those activities.

RALPH: I think we're unique in the sense that we have our own truck and facility that we can take to the different venues to do these championships.

A lot of states don't have that.

DONNA: When we first started doing productions, when I first started, they were pretty basic.

We didn't have a lot of cameras.

We didn't have a lot of replay.

Over the years, we've added cameras.

We've added super slo-mo, we've added excellent graphics.

JOE TURCO:We were one of the first in the entire country to have high definition, and we were the first to have super slo-mo anywhere around here.

We had it even before the networks did.

to have a high school game with super slow motion... I mean, think about that.

I've been a full employee here since 2011.

So we're going on, you know, 14 years of of me being able to witness firsthand the relationship between Nebraska Public Media and the NSAA.

And it's been nothing but positive and done nothing but grow over those years.

(drum line music) ANNOUNCER: Nebraska Public Media Sports, Nebraska's home for championship sports, is live from Memorial Stadium in Lincoln for the 2024 NSAA State Football Championships.

GAVIN: The scope of these football productions is, I would say, the biggest that we do within Nebraska Public Media Sports for our productions.

It's just a massive undertaking to be able to do six football games across two days with a number of cameras and resources that we have put into this.

AUSTIN: We don't just show up and, you know, unpack a tripod and plug in a camera.

It takes days, weeks, sometimes even months of planning for some of these events.

As a producer, I'm working weeks in advance on, you know, lining up a rundown which is basically the bare bones skeleton of what the show is going to look like.

We're storytellers first and foremost, so we're not only covering the game as it unfolds, but we're trying to tell the stories about the players and the individuals who are a part of those teams.

DENNY: My job is to coordinate with the producers, ask them what they want for a show, and then just work with the crew or fill in positions of need, whether it's camera positions, utility positions, truck positions, whatever it is.

It's always a conversation with the producers.

We're trying to tell a story.

So it's like, how many cameras do we need to to effectively tell the story?

SCOTT: Coordinating where everyone goes and having every one of those positions filled, it takes a lot of doing, and there's a lot of things that can fall through the cracks.

JOSHUA: So usually a few days before the show, we will get kind of like our facs sheet or our tech book that gives us all the information it is we need to know as far as parking, when to meet, where to meet and stuff, contact numbers that we may need and everything, as well as our camera assignment and positions.

♪ (drumsticks cadence) ♪ GAVIN: Walking on to the truck, You've got audio when you first come on to the truck, who is basically helping to make sure that everything that the audience hears is not only broadcast quality, but just sounds really good.

As you progress through, you come into the production part of the truck which features in the back bench, our score stripe, obviously showing off in game what the score is for the game, popping up just a little bit of information flag, time out... In the front bench in production, you have the technical director who is listening to the director & actually punching the cameras that the director is calling out.

Ready 3, take 3!

TOM: Inside that truck, you have the technical director, director, producer, sitting in the front row looking at all these monitors, And the director is the one calling for which camera he wants to see on the air.

Pan left a little bit, Ready to wipe out to seven.

GAVIN: The director right in the middle, who's really the eye that they have is what the audience sees.

TOM: The producer is really the, He's the mastermind behind the show.

He's always looking at the replays as to what replays you want to go to.

GAVIN: As we move through the production part of the truck and move into what we still refer to as "tape", even though there are no more tape machines and we're tapeless, it's still something that, we call our replay operators, and they're the ones who are responsible for looking at all of the camera inputs that are going into the replay machines and finding those really good replay angles.

So we're funneling in our broadcast feed to the folks inside the stadium so that they can see replays.

As we move further through the truck, we get into the engineering aspects.

We have a video shader who is sitting there looking at all of the cameras and depending on the size of the production, particularly with football, there's a lot of inputs going on and they're spending their time trying to match every camera in terms of color and wavelength to the exact same specs.

At the end of the truck, is really the heart of engineering, where you've got the EIC, the engineer in charge, and he is responsible for those technical resources that are part of the truck and a part of the production on game day.

So if there's something wrong on the truck, if there's a camera that goes down, or the score bug is not receiving data, the EIC is running to put out fires.

- All fixed?

- Yep!

GAVIN: As we walk off the truck and move into the stadium, we've got a couple of audio engineers who are either out on the field or inside the garage, where we've kind of manned everything.

They're helping to coordinate frequencies or wireless mics.

Inside the stadium, where all of our cameras are, we have multiple camera positions, not only on the field, but up in a crow's nest in South Stadium.

There's two "up cameras" that we flip-flop during the production to become "game camera".

On the third level of West Stadium at Memorial Stadium.

We have a handheld camera on the field that after every quarter, will hop to a different side of the field to get coaches interviews or to get, you know, other dynamic angles of the play that's currently happening.

With that handheld, there's a utility that's helping to wrangle hundreds of feet of cable, which is a job in and of itself.

That is a particular skill in how to coil a cable.

For these NSAA high school championships, we have six manned cameras.

That does not include GoPros that may be mounted somewhere within Memorial Stadium for a beauty shot or something like that.

There's parab operators out on the field who are holding basically, a giant dish, and they're collecting the sound that makes it into the truck that that A1,that audio engineer is helping to pipe into the show.

Our sideline reporter is on the field, and one of those A2 audio engineers are out there helping to coordinate with them, not only their wireless mic, but batteries and making sure that they're all set up.

Up on sixth floor at Memorial Stadium is almost like another production department where we have our talent: play-by-play and our color analyst who are up there watching the game and calling it.

but we also have a stats individual that is working with Larry and Damon or Matt to correctly understand the right stat, where we are on the field, what may be coming up next.

We have a camera operator up there to help record not only the open of every show, but we have NSAA halftime interviews with associate directors that we do.

That camera is there to shoot that.

We have another audio engineer to take stock of of what's going on there.

So there's just this, other production hub that is upstairs that features almost a pared-down version of what is scattered throughout Memorial Stadium.

Different sports require different camera complements and camera placements.

What may be a handheld on the field of Memorial Stadium may be a camera on a pair of sticks down in the dugout at a baseball game or a softball game.

♪ (cadence ends with a cymbal crash) ♪ One day out is our set day.

So, we arrive the Sunday before the state championships at Memorial Stadium, park our truck, power it, and then start to offload cameras and equipment to set those cameras throughout the stadium, lay cable and get everything set up.

SCOTT: Our engineers are the first ones there, and they've got to bring the truck, park it, get it set, pull out a majority of equipment.

We have cables that run everywhere, power stuff and get all the signals.

(truck warning beeps) AUSTIN: Obviously, we don't need a whole crew to help direct our truck driver to get it out of the driveway... Need a lot of help opening the truck.

2...3!

(wall clicks into place) Day 1 is the hardest day for me, and pretty much all engineers because we are parking the truck, opening a truck, running cabling, patching up, sometimes running up and down stairs and throughout, you know, miles of building hallways and stuff, trying to get to position to position for issues that come up.

Okay, let's go to mixer 16... could be 32 as well... CHRIS: One thing we usually do before all events that involve running cabling is we'll test the snakes, which is the name,the slang for the cabling that we run everywhere.

We have cable testers and we'll just pretty much go through every single one.

We hook it up, we hit some buttons and it tells us that all the lines are working.

If there is a problem with that, you'll notice it when you test it.

JERRAD: Alright, solid light, we're all blinking.

That's, that's good.

Number two is good... Three is good... Four is good.

JOSHUA: When I get there, it's my role to make sure cameras get pulled out of the truck, everything gets organized as it needs to, and cameras can go to their positions.

♪ funk music begins ♪ JUSTIN: Getting the cameras into position can be an ordeal in and of itself.

We have massive crates that are on wheels that are stacked.

We wheel them into position, and then you open the crates and you take everything out.

And now you've got to get it up a ladder.

And that takes a little bit of effort.

A lot of the small stuff you can crawl up yourself.

Typically what we do is the camera operator will get up on the platform, and then everybody starts handing stuff up and you just kind of put it aside and it can be a little scary when you're lifting and trying to cradle up a large, heavy lens.

The most expensive thing you'll ever hold in your arms.

And you don't want to drop it.

And it's heavy and it's difficult.

Thankfully, we have a lot of tall people on the crew that kind of help with that situation, but we get all that stuff up to the platform, and then you begin the process of assembling it all and making sure it's all dialed in the way it needs to be.

And that can take a little bit of time.

♪ funk music ♪ AVERY: Setting up our cameras, we're very fortunate here at Nebraska Public Media, we have some very high quality cameras.

So we set up our tripod, get it to a height that we like, and then they put on what you call the head, which will mount to the tripod.

These are essential!

This guy... TOM: This is what gives you range of motion with the camera.

AVERY: And then we mount the camera on it which is the camera body, And then we mount our very nice zoom big box lenses on top of those.

KYLEE: We have different kinds of lenses that determine like how far our camera can go.

This is our C lens.

It's a 111x, meaning, this is our lens that can zoom in the furthest, and get really, really tight close shots.

So if someone's crying, let's say... most likely we can taste the tears on this camera specifically.

JUSTIN: It's all about the lens.

The lenses we use for live sports are huge.

They're ginormous, & they often sometimes cost north of $100,000.

They're massive because you can be half a mile away and still get a really good shot on something.

JOSHUA: So, after he gets the sled put on the pan head itself, we go ahead and attach our arms to our actual pan head.

From there, we connect basically everything.

We kind of need to control the camera with all these, different mechanisms here, if you will.

It'll be for focusing.

All you do is twist that.

On the other arm is where we'll have this.

This is our zooming mechanism as well.

You go in and out just by that right there.

A majority of the stuff that we use to control the camera is actually through these right here.

JUSTIN: When you're on the crew or helping the crew, you're not just running camera, you're running cable, you're setting up platforms, you're setting up the booth for the announcers, you're putting up lights.

It's sort of an all hands on deck situation when we're setting these things up, because the more people we have doing those things, the faster it's going to go and the more efficient it's going to be.

DEREK: The booth for all sports is usually where your play-by-play and color announcers are sitting.

That's where they're calling the games.

Football, it's the same room where we're doing interviews.

The first thing I usually do is kind of work on the backdrop, 'cause it's the biggest thing in there.

I can kind of like, Right, that's where my front's going to be, and then I can kind of work around where, okay, the camera will be here, lights can go right here out of their way Basically kind of go from front to back.

Mostly, I'm just trying to get it lit so that they're not too dark or light and stuff, especially football, which takes a full day.

So the sun's right in the windows at the beginning of the day, and at night the sun's down.

So it's really, really dark.

We don't want any of that change while they're doing those interviews so it always looks the same.

Once it's kind of set up, folks from audio department and all of that will have most of the booth set up.

JOSHUA: And as soon as everything seems to be good and we're good to go, then we have what we call is a "facs", which is pretty much checking over, making sure stuff is how we anticipate for it to be.

CHRIS: "Facs out" is the term we use when we are completely ready to go.

AUSTIN: I'm making sure all of my signals are coming from the truck or from the house, and they're reaching their destinations with no problems at all.

And we're checking tallies.

We're checking returns, some audio stuff, communications... Music's tracking... AVERY: The importance of having the set day is, you know, everything works before you go home.

And that way when you come in on game day, you don't need to worry about "Do we have this camera feed?

Do we have this audio feed?"

It's just, everything is set up and ready to go.

so you can just worry about the production of the game.

(light switch clicks on) (water running) DENNY: Well, good morning!

It is currently 4:29 a.m.

in the morning.

We have a 5 a.m.

call at the station.

5:15 if you're meeting on site.

KAYLA: Getting drinks for the crew.

(cooler thumps) It's going to be a long day!

(noises as crew packs) JUSTIN: Before every sporting event, we have a camera meeting with the director.

JOSHUA: And the director talks to each camera operator and each camera position individually to say what they want from that specific angle.

Just look out for Larry if he wants to do it... KYLEE: What am I going to be doing on this side of the field?

What are my main angles?

If they swing through it, stick with the batter... JOSHUA: That's also where we kind of get the rundown for the show, too.

Where we talk about what's going to happen throughout this broadcast, how pre-production's gonna go and everything, how we're going to get into the show and how we're going to get out of the show.

So that really does set the framework for the day and the framework of each show.

So it's that camera meeting that really drives us through the day.

...just find what feels natural there.

If it's somebody on second, there's a hit... JOE TURCO: Television is one of those fields where you can't do anything by yourself.

You have to have all these people to help you get through this.

You know, we all work together to make it happen.

It's not a lot different than than the athletes on the field.

Heeeyyyyyeah!

KYLEE: My title here is video production specialist.

You can usually find me running a camera or else doing graphics.

CHRIS: I am an audio engineer DENNY: Assistant production supervisor here at Nebraska Public Media.

AVERY: Video production specialist.

DEREK: Uh, I do a lot of things here... I do graphics.

TOM: I'm mainly the technical director DONNA: Senior camera operator DEREK: I also do lighting... JOE MCMULLEN: I am a multimedia graphics designer AUSTIN: Broadcast engineer.

I work on the remote trucks SCOTT: Studio and remote production supervisor.

JUSTIN: I am a videographer and editor here at Nebraska Public Media.

I run camera, and I'll pull cable every now and then.

So I want to do, first half highlights and stats.

GAVIN: As a producer, you're, you're almost driving the bus in terms of the overall show, but also the narrative.

If I've done my job correctly in the days and weeks leading up to these events, it should be a relatively stressless morning leading up to the shows.

So when I'm sitting in there in the producer chair in a live remote, I'm really just kind of navigating everything that's going on.

...unbelievable performance last year.

SIDELINE REPORTER ON HEADSET: Got something for you on Cox.

GAVIN TO ANNOUNCERS: Doug has a little bit extra on Cox.

ON AIR ANNOUNCER: Let's go down on the field to Doug... SIDELINE REPORTER: Yeah guys ad unfortunately for Kyle Cox to end his season, he got injured... GAVIN: You know, I'm wearing a headset, and I'm listening to seven other people talking to me, all potentially at the same time.

(Gavin talks on phone) (phone rings again) GAVIN: When I'm on headset, I'm talking to primarily Master Control, coordinating those breaks so that they know when we're going to go to break or I know when we're going to come on air.

Master control, can you add a minute on to break #5?

TIM: Clear!

Two minutes!

GAVIN: I'm also talking to our replay folks on the other side of the wall and lining up what we're going to see in terms of a replay.

I'll take a offense package from, these folks.

For #3, Zaden Wolf GAVIN: I'm talking with the timeout coordinator, having conversations with graphics to line up graphics that are either pre-produced or as a game goes on, and a player is racking up some really impressive stats, Talking to audio and making sure that they know that, hey, I want this kind of music for a rollout.

I'm also talking to talent.

That constant collaboration and back-and-forth between them and finding the right moments to get into their earpiece to talk to them about, hey, let's talk about this player.

Hey Larry, grab Promo #1 Promo #1 is high school football tomorrow.

GAVIN: Just make sure that everything that you're seeing and hearing is carefully coordinated.

Ready 2, take 2!

SCOTT: A good director is someone who can just tell everybody where they're going in a very clear manner.

And then you have a producer that is sitting next to you and they're navigating.

They're telling you what's coming up, but you're the one in the... that's holding the wheel, sayin, "we're going here," or, "we're going there," and, "I need you to do this or do that."

A good director is just very clear on what they want.

So everybody is typically wearing a headset on the truck.

And this is to stay in communication with everyone else.

It's like having a walkie talkie on your head.

and it's there so that everybody can stay in communication very easily.

I'm listening to the announcers, I'm listening to my other camera operators or whoever else in the truck that has information, but I'm usually the one primarily talking.

Camera cues is the most common thing you'll hear a director say.

Ready 5, take 5!

Ready to replay to Blue.

Wipe Blue.

Roll it.

SCOTT: A ready command is really just kind of kind of a "set" for everybody to know: This is the plan where we're going to go.

And then "take" is literally We're doing that now, basically telling the technical director and the camera operator and everybody else in the truck, the next plan is to go to this camera.

Ready 2, take 2!

Ready 1... Take 1.

SCOTT: Whoever's running that knows their camera's going to be on air coming up next.

Technical director knows that's what button they're gonna push.

The audio person knows that we're going to go to that camera.

Maybe they have a microphone set to cover that.

Our video shading person knows that they have to make sure that camera looks right.

Ready blue.

Everybody has to know what's going to happen, because there's a whole lot of people taking part in what's going on.

And...kill PA, open our mics!

All right, let's go to break, and music... - and wipe Gold.

SCOTT: Producer's gonna sit next to me, and they're going to guide what they want.

It's my job to to put that into action.

The director takes everyone's efforts in and combines that to make a story, and hopefully something that's compelling to everyone watching.

TOM: So this is a lot of, where I spend my time on our, like, sports productions and studio shows.

This is what we call the switcher.

I'm mainly the technical director, so I'm sitting next to the director & producer of the show listening to what they're calling for.

"Alright, ready Camera 5, Take 5..." You know, if we're doing a replay wipe.

The way I like to explain it to people is, anything that you see on your TV screen when you're watching is coming from me pushing a button.

During a broadcast, The the front row on the truck, So, the TD, the director and producer are looking at all these monitors.

The director is looking at a screen that has all the cameras.

So each of these buttons down here has a different function.

They're all labeled something differently.

You know, camera... might be a font... But each of these has a different function that could come in handy throughout your show.

A "cut" is just going from camera to camera.

So I'm on one.

I'm going to cut to camera two.

A dissolve is used for like, more intense moments (Sounds of the national anthem, ref's whistle, announcer) TOM: I love doing the high school championships There's nothing like football here in Nebraska.

I mean, the state loves it.

It's such a rewarding experience, too.

You know, getting there six hours before isn't fun, but you know, it always makes it that much sweeter in the end when you know that you had a good show.

So there's really no other profession, I would say that can compare to it.

AVERY: For our games, we have two EVS operators, and we have one that we call the lead.

They're recording six cameras at a time, and their job is to save everything.

R.O.

is basically just replay only.

When a big play happens, I will roll back my machine, take it back in time and see what happens.

I will play it a couple times to myself just to see what the best angle is.

And then, if we're looking at who has the best angle, I'll chime in to our director and producer and say, "Hey, I have something on Gold, I have something on Silver," Wipe Silver... Red right after that.

AVERY: So we use our instant replays for not only our productions, or our broadcasts, but we use it for the refs as well.

So that way they can make a review & make the correct call.

Copy that.

I need the interception, please!

The previous play is under further review.

AVERY: When it comes to a ref replay, we just give 'em everything we have because it's not our job to make the call.

We just give them the video.

After further review, the rulig on the field is reversed.

AVERY: You always want to be ahead of the producer.

Plays start to happen and a player starts to score a couple of touchdowns.

Then I start building a package of those highlights of that player.

And my goal is when the producer goes, "Hey, can you start building a package of player X?"

Hey, are you building packages for #12 & #11?

AVERY: I go, "I already got it."

That's the goal - is to be ahead of the producer.

Here is the completion, brother-to-brother the Van Dykes!

...and then punched in there.

CHRIS: My name is Chris Johnson.

Any and all things audio, me and my coworkers take care of that part.

So when we do a larger production, like a football game at the stadium, we usually have at least three audio people and two parab operators, and we'll have one audio engineer will be on the truck mixing the show, dealing with directors, producers, all that.

And then we'll have another person, usually up in the booth with the announcers, which is usually where wireless stuff is also at.

And then we'll also have somebody down on the field dealing with getting stick mics out for interviews, making sure everything's set up properly.

So when we're planning for an event, we usually have a game plan already in place to determine whether we need how many stick mics, how many wireless mics, what frequencies we're going to use, where they're going to be located, and pretty much everything we're going to need and then some, ready to go so that there's no surprises.

and we have everything we need to successfully pull off the event.

Alright.

Well, we've got a parab mic.

♪ Cheesy bossa nova music ♪ It's a big crazy bowl.

This is a microphone in here pointing back to pick up the focal point of where the sound hits.

So yeah, usually you'll see guys running around football, almost getting crushed.

We also have a lavalier mic.

Pretty much, you've got a little microphone on a clip you can hide somewhere, run the cable under, a little wireless pack.

These are just great for anyone that wants to talk that needs to move around.

The refs, whoever, anyone that's going to be running around is going to have a lav probably of some sort.

So this is a wireless IFP which stands for Interruptible Foldback.

And it's pretty much same deal, a wireless pack they're going to wear on their belt somewhere out of sight, with a volume knob and an earpiece, so that whoever needs to talk to them can chime in, and you won't even see it if you do it right.

This is one of the headsets we'll wear in the studio, which pretty much does the same thing all in one package, though.

You have a headset like the IFB for you to hear people talking to you.

And a little microphone on here, pops down.

You got a little controller for volume levels, and there's two different channels you can talk on.

But yeah, same thing: Microphone, IFB all in one package.

This is a shotgun microphone with a wind contraption we call a "dead cat" pretty much used on cameras or for crowd mics or mobile recording.

There's a million different ways that audio's bouncing around behind the scenes, and on the air.

(crew talking in truck) Impact players standing by, font one.

JOE MCMULLEN: So during a production, during a game, the producer, who has already provided like a graphics list.

These are the things that he thinks we're going to want to pay attention to during the production.

So the graphics operator will get all that built ahead of time.

During the game, the producer will let us know that the one full page about so-and-so, we're going to do that coming back from next break.

All right.

Standby halftime stats... JOE MCMULLEN: So then the graphics operator calls it up, gets it ready, And then on the queue, plays it out to be talked about or looked at or whatever.

The producer will also have spur-of-the-moment graphics.

If someone in a game is doing really well and we want to show some replays about that person, we want to learn a little bit more about that person, Then the graphics will find extra stats for that person, create a lower third, or a full page, or whatever to help talk about that player.

ANNOUNCER: Wide receiver for the Skyhawks, Here's his numbers.

Look at this... THIS is a lower third because it takes up only the lower third of the screen.

This is a slab on the right side of the screen.

This is a slab on the left side of the screen.

All of those are different ways that we can transmit information to the viewer.

When I'm designing the graphics package, particularly the live graphics, I'm trying to think of all the ways it can be used.

Every sport has its own little unique needs, so each of those packages has to satisfy those needs.

For bowling, we have layouts of the pins and the oil pattern.

Baseball, we have diamonds.

Basically, whatever the producer needs to help tell the story, that's what we're going to build.

The graphics help tell the story.

KYLEE: I've been a camera operator, I've been a graphics operator, I've been inside stadiums and arenas, I've been inside the truck.

Two very different worlds, really, because you go out on the field and your main job is to make sure you're shooting on the field what the truck sees.

So you are their eyes.

ANNOUNCER: It's almost like our camera crew can hear us... JUSTIN: Game cam is what we call the main camera view, because you want to see where the ball is going in any given moment.

So that's what we call game cam.

JOSHUA: We have two game cameras designated.

They're on little drop platforms underneath the suites at Memorial Stadium, One at the 25 yard line on each end of the field.

DENNY: We have high right end zone, which is kind of like an alternative game look.

You can kind of see more of the field that way.

You can see formations.

RALPH: Cause if you're in a high end zone on a football game, you're always got the extra point or the field goal.

So, you know, somebody scores a touchdown, you're out shooting the crowd or something, You gotta be back for that extra point, 'cause they're always taking it from that camera.

You just keep working and you keep shooting that action.

And even when the time outs, you're still kind of working.

JOSHUA: You kind of almost have to act like you're live 100% of the time.

SCOTT: Any time you point a camera at someone in a crowd in a sporting event, in a sporting event, they will react.

And it's a very interesting thing to see every time.

RALPH: You're always looking for a cute baby or something on the bench, or a reaction or something, JOSHUA: People see themselves up on the big screens and stuff and seeing their reactions, you know, it just makes their day or their month or whatever.

And to see those reactions, it always gives me a smile.

SAGE: Handheld is on just about the entirety of the game.

During the beginning of the game, I have to be at the start of the introductions of the first team, and then I have to sprint across the field to get the other team to get their introductions, and then I have to go across to the middle to get the national anthem being sung.

And then I have to go back to the sidelines, so that way, I can be ready for the game to start.

When it's on your shoulder.

That's a, you know, 20 to 30 pounds just sitting there.

You really do feel like you've gotten a workout.

It's very physically intensive.

You're almost as much of an athlete as the athletes you're filming.

AVERY: A utility is one of the, I'd say, most underappreciated people in the industry from the outside.

Because, you just see them, you know, moving cables.

AERIEL: Utility's main focus is going to be on the handheld camera, because it has a 500ft cable attached to it that needs to be properly managed, or you're going to have a big mess.

SAGE: When I'm looking at the viewfinder, I can't see everything that's around me.

You need a utility to help make sure that people are not in your way, so that we can get the right angle, and to just make sure, for the safety of the camera op and the camera itself.

JUSTIN: When you're on handheld, it's not just you.

You are there with a cable puller, or maybe two cable pullers.

So you have to be cognizant of that.

You can't just get up and run, because two other people are going to be snagged and tripping behind you.

You sort of develop a sixth sense with your cable pullers that all you need is a certain look or a, you know, look behind you like, "We're movin'!

Let's go!"

Get on this side of him.

RALPH: It's like a second nature.

He kind of reads your mind, ya know where you're going to go.

And if they've done it a lot, especially in football, they know, OK, we're going down there.

JOSHUA: There are times where you are quite literally holding a couple tens of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment in your hand, sprinting across a football field.

SAGE: Whenever I think about trying to get that celebration shot, I have to.

I always got to remember to beat the beat reporters.

You have to battle essentially with, you know, other news outlets to ensure that you can get the right angle because we are live television, so we should get first priority.

But, sometimes a lot of those reporters, they want to, you know, they're competing to get the best angle as well.

On top of that, you know, you have a ton of other people just running in wanting to be part of the celebration.

So you're just fighting an army of people to ensure you can get the ending celebration when the game is over, or when the you know the trophy is being brought out.

JOSHUA: That is in essence, the money shot right there.

For the handheld camera, it's kind of understandable how that can be exhausting, but to some people, may be hard to understand why running one of those hard cameras is exhausting.

But if you think about it, you're standing there on your feet there for 12, 14 hours at a time.

You can't move around to keep yourself warm.

You kind of have to stay locked down in that position, so you just almost have to suck it up in a sense, because it all is to get that shot and to deliver that story to the state of Nebraska.

JUSTIN: Running around with a handheld camera, I'm moving around.

My blood is flowing.

You know I'm moving, but when you're up top running the big cameras, you're just standing still, and you're just there for the wind to hit you constantly.

And it's much colder when you're not moving around, So when you're up top, you have to make sure that you're layering up, otherwise, you won't survive three football games in a day.

SCOTT: It's really hitching, isn't it?

Did you turn your heater on, Tiffany?

TIFFANY: I have two heaters on the lens.

SCOTT: Copy.

Just do your best.

JOSHUA: It's pretty chilly up there.

I will just say, Definitely learned my lesson to bring more layers for next year.

DONNA: That's what I always tell the boys: Bring your coats.

DONNA: We did a state football one year where they had to scoop the field off before they could play.

I've been on baseball games, soccer games, where we're getting drenched.

We work a lot of nights, a lot of weekends, a lot of holidays.

We've worked baseball games that have gone to 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 at night and had to be back the next morning at 6 a.m.

DENNY: For example, high school bowling last night, we were starting our second match at 11 p.m.

and getting off site at like 2 a.m.

TOM: And I'll never forget that first state championship I worked.

We got done around midnight and I had to drive home and I, I was like, "Why am I not tired?"

But there's just something about the adrenaline rush that you get after a successful broadcast, which I think a lot of people don't understand it.

It's just sort of part of the gig.

It's crazy to experience, honestly.

JOE MCMULLEN: Dealing with those challenges of weather and hours.

It brings a crew together.

and that's the best thing about being on the production crew is teamwork.

You all pull together to make a thing happen.

It all brings you together.

It all makes you a team.

JOE TURCO: I think that generally, it is not known that this station, Nebraska Public Media, is a rather large player in the national scene when it comes to sports.

JEFF: You have some people that are working those events, that, they're working national things on the collegiate and professional level, and those are the folks that we have covering our high school championships.

That's special.

That just doesn't happen everywhere.

JUSTIN: A lot of the crew members and camera operators that work here at Nebraska Public Media, are also working for national entities, for large sporting events all over the country.

So they take that expertise that they learn from those situations, and they bring it back here to Nebraska.

And that's an incredible gift for the average viewer here in Nebraska that likes to watch high school sports.

LARRY: There are networks from around the country, even the big networks, that you would realize.

The sports that come into Nebraska Public Media and take a look at the equipment we have, the way we run events, how we cover college volleyball, and really learn from what the folks here in Nebraska do.

I think the state of Nebraska is so lucky to have professionals who understand sports, who broadcast in the right way, producers and directors who understand sports to bring it to our communities.

I just I don't think there's another state that has as high level of a production for their state high school sports as Nebraska Public Media and the state of Nebraska.

ANNOUNCER: How fortunate are we in the state to have that level of individuals working these games.

- Yeah, it's been incredible.

I mean, between that and our camera crew and the angles they can get, I mean, it's a lot of professionals around here.

JOE TURCO: I think that people sometimes would not know or realize when ESPN and Fox and whatever bring their crews & their trucks in from New York or wherever, they're coming here to get the people that work on those games because they're that good.

We're talking about national caliber camera, audio... all the way up the line, And that is because they've had an opportunity over these years to do the NSAA, to do Nebraska sporting events and hone their craft so that other organizations come in and want to use them.

Sometimes, they bring in their truck to do a game because they know there's a great crew here.

They wouldn't do the game if they didn't know that there was a great crew here.

You have to be proud of these people.

I'm proud of them and I hope viewers are too, because you have some really good people here.

GAVIN: How would I describe the live environment for someone who doesn't understand that?

KYLEE: Live television is crazy.

AUSTIN: Live television is a beast.

DENNY: It's kind of a rush, in a sense, knowing how many people are watching the work that I'm putting in.

It's crazy.

SAGE: What's so stressful about live sports is that there's no real editing that you can do.

Whatever goes on air, goes on air.

DENNY: There's not really a safety net, right?

If I mess up something on air, everyone's going to see it.

There's there's no takebacks.

That's just... You only really get one shot and that's it.

RALPH: You're not thinking about tomorrow or yesterday.

You're just living right there in that moment.

JUSTIN: There's an excitement that comes with being in the right spot and catching the right play at the right moment, and then seeing your shot on a replay.

That's a huge thrill.

I love that.

ANNOUNCER: Yeah, that was craz!

- What a play.

GAVIN: Just that adrenaline rush of knowing it's live.

So you gotta be perfect.

You gotta be perfect.

(chatter in the remote truck) GAVIN: So there's another level of stress that starts to kick in about 20 minutes before we actually make air.

And that's to preproduce as much as we possibly can and set the stage for a smooth broadcast.

We have to make sure that we have the ability to preproduce this, and you sometimes only have one take, and if you screw it up, then you're going live.

JOE TURCO: When it's showtime, it's showtime.

And and that's when everybody is completely focused on the event.

SCOTT: We do fist bumps around the front bench and everybody just kind of gets ready to go.

- 10, 9, 8... - Matchup wipe to Gold... CHRIS: You hear that countdown & you're like, "Here we go!"

- 7...6...5...4 - Roll it!

Font one!

GAVIN: This is live.

This is for real.

Everybody buckle up!

3...2...1... (Drum kick) (Aggressive music, sounds of crowd, game) ANNOUNCER: And hello again everyone, And welcome inside Memorial Stadium along with Matt Vrzal, I'm Larry Punteney.

Good to have you with us... GAVIN: A lot of these folks have done these games with us for many years.

They know what to expect.

They know how these days go.

LARRY: You know, it's one thing to describe the action on the field, or the, you know, court or whatever it might be.

When you can provide context on what's going on in the field and you can match those two together, then I think that's the winning formula.

SEAN: You guys set a state record for most interceptions in a state championship game... GAVIN: You have to find a way to clearly communicate to your talent in the shortest amount of words possible.

Because if you talk too much, especially in game, it's hard for them to listen to you and then talk themselves.

I've got a graphic on Coach Durham... - Yeah, let's do it.

LARRY: If you walk away and you feel like, you know, it was a great game, you described the action well, there were key moments that were important, that you make sure you nail those key moments, because those are the ones that get clipped and shown later, So if you nail those moments, and you're showing excitement, I think you can walk away and feel like you did a good job.

ANNOUNCER: Schuman!

Big play for Bennington!

JOE TURCO: Nebraska Public Media reaches pretty much every home in the entire state.

The families, the grandmas and the grandpas that can't make it to the game are watching it at home.

It's a tremendous service and it connects the state.

LARRY ROSCOE: I'm Larry Roscoe, I live in Central City, Nebraska.

I went through high school here, graduated in 1957.

I played football and basketball and track and baseball.

As far as our local sports, high school sports.

I still enjoy watching and go to the games as often as I can, but it's been a little more difficult now that I'm older and travel is a little harder.

Look at him go!

Oh, I would rather be there, but watching from home is the next best thing to being there.

ANNOUNCER: Central City community, so proud of this Bison team this year.

and what they accomplished... LARRY: I believe Nebraska Public Media does a wonderful job broadcasting all these events for high schools, and I hope they continue to do so.

DEREK: I come from western Nebraska, and we always watched the state championships for football and basketball.

Most of time there was teams that we'd play that would make it out here, and we couldn't make it out east to watch, so we would watch it on television.

PEACHES: You know, years ago, I was actually here at the state tournament as a as a player.

But I definitely have family members that even if they were here, they were able to check out the games on TV.

If they weren't able to make it.

JEFFREY: There are folks that they just simply can't get to Lincoln or Omaha or Kearney or any of the other places that we have our championship events throughout the year.

And for you guys to be able to put that on television, it keeps folks that maybe can't travel to those areas connected to their school, connected to their families in some cases, and connected to their community.

It's a really important thing for our state to have these events available for people to watch statewide.

GAVIN: We've been in the situations before where if they can't come to an event, we've been able to be that delivery service, obviously, but, particularly when you look back at the COVID-19 pandemic, JOE TURCO: Actually, that was one of the scary, most amazing times ...was 2020.

GAVIN: Girls Basketball Championships, having a packed Pinnacle Bank Arena, and the week after that, leading into Boys Basketball, COVID-19 really hits, and the city of Lincoln starts to kind of crack down on public safety, how many people can be in certain spaces.

JOE TURCO: People forget that when that game took place, the stock market had crashed, that people were scared to death and that there were people in New York who were in hospitals and near death, and there were people from China flown in to UNMC.

And there was a lot of questions whether or not that game was going to take place.

Is that it's not just a game.

It's bigger than a game.

It is the people in the stands; It's the mom and dads; It's the cheerleaders; It's the band; It's the people with the signs.

And that's just as important as what you're seeing on the court.

And that all went away in this particular game.

They limited it to the families, who were the only ones that could be there.

So there was like 300-400 people that were in the Pinnacle Bank Arena that holds 15,000 people.

GAVIN: Pinnacle Bank is...empty.

and we are one of the last, literally, we are one of the last games in town.

And by town, I mean the United States.

We are out there broadcasting these games to not only at that point the state of Nebraska, but digitally, worldwide.

Folks from all over the world are watching the work that we did.

JOE TURCO: We knew that this was a moment.

This was a news moment.

It was a historic moment, And so we we covered the game that way.

JUSTIN: I think televising these events for the state is important because it celebrates the kids' hard work.

It showcases a lot of athletic talent that we have around the state, and it's a service for viewers around the state.

JOE TURCO: We do it because first off, these are our kids.

These are our neighbors, these are our people.

And, we are showcasing the future.

JEFFREY: We have a lot of really great young people, great coaches, great schools that are doing phenomenal things.

and you guys are a vehicle for their stories to be able to be told and for our state to see what they're doing.

And I think that's really important, that we're able to tell that story of, you know, the kids from northeast Nebraska, or the kids from the Panhandle that have overcome adversity, and now they're playing for a state championship.

Our two organizations are in it for the same reason.

We're trying to, ya know, give a really good experience to the kids in the communities, and I think because we have that same mindset, our buy-in has always been let's do the best that we can for the kids in the communities of Nebraska.

KYLEE: This can be their moment.

They can do their family proud, representing their town and showing like, why they're the pride of Beatrice, Grand Island, Norfolk, just all these different places.

This is a chance to show their town, represent their town, and for the kids, this could be their only chance they get to play on TV.

DEREK: To this day, one of my roommates in college still has a DVD from his championship years.

For those people who are in that moment and stuff, it's huge.

LARRY: Even though it's the last game of two days for you, and you might be a little tired, For the student athletes, that's the most important game of their life.

JOE TURCO: For some people, it's the last game.

It's the last time they'll ever do any kind of organized sport like that.

And so we treated it as if it was incredibly special.

JOSHUA: One of my favorite things that I've kind of come to love to do is in those state championship moments, being able to run out onto the court or run out onto the playing field as soon as a team captures a state championship, get in there in the heart of that emotion.

See that emotion on their face, the tears, the laughter and everything.

All the hugs and embraces and stuff.

And you're there getting the camera up in their face and sometimes seeming a little intrusive, but capturing that moment for them so that they can cherish that, not just across the state, but also for years to come as well.

(celebration) (crew chatting) AUSTIN: It's a family.

I mean, there's weeks that we'll see our coworkers more than we see our own family.

Quite a few of those, actually.

There are times that we're having 3 meals a day together.

I mean, it's not your typical coworker experience.

It really is a family and a team.

JUSTIN: There's a big like, Thanksgiving-style spread spread for state football on that second night that's always really nice, and that helps.

And there's a lot of camaraderie when you're sitting down to eat a large, really good meal in the middle of all that work, that helps kind of get through it.

AVERY: Everybody's going through it together.

We have our weeks like high school football,, where we're putting in 68, 75 hours or so.

But I know that person next to me is doing the same thing.

JOSHUA: When you spend a lot of time with people, you kind of either have to love them or you kind of almost want to get the heck out of Dodge, right?

And when it comes to this crew, it's almost hard not to love them.

SAGE: We all want to work together to ensure that the broadcast is successful.

SCOTT: We have to work together as a team and we're not going to put out a quality product unless we do.

KYLEE: We do have long days, and there are times where you can tell that someone's getting tired.

So there are other people on our staff that know how to pick somebody up, when to crack a joke, or do something that makes the other smile or laugh, things like that, that can really bring up the mood.

JOSHUA: Once the game is over with, the day is still far from being over.

JACK: It is probably close to 11.

I haven't checked recently, but the last game just wrapped up, It was a good one to end on, honestly, but now we're striking everything so we're tearing all the cameras down, tearing down the booth and then getting it packed up in the truck.

CARSON: I am happy we are done with high school football.

It was a long and fun event.

Very happy to be done.

CHRIS: My feet are sore, My toes are frozen, But other than that, I feel pretty good.

JOE TURCO:There were times where I would leave a sporting event and I knew that a certain team had won, but I had no clue what had happened, because everybody was working so intently on what they were doing.

I couldn't tell you the score.

Everyone is truly having fun, but it's almost like the military, Everybody knows exactly what their job is & what they're supposed to do in order to break everything down.

It comes back here, and all the engineers have to go through all the equipment again to make sure that everything is working properly, because we have another event in 2 or 3 days.

SAGE: There's not a lot of places out there that do live broadcasts of high school sports.

And I think that's what makes Nebraska Public Media so special.

JEFFREY: It is special that we have as many of our championships on statewide television that we do.

TOM: I think the coolest part about this job is there's just so much more that goes into a show than people realize at home.

And when you get to be a part of making such great content on TV, that the people in the state of Nebraska can be proud of, it's just...it's a very rewarding experience.

DENNY: I honestly can't see myself doing anything else.

I love this job.

I love the people that I work with, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

AVERY: To me, it's not a job.

I get to come and work with great people.

I love sports, I get to, you know, televise sports.

I couldn't think of doing anything else.

I'm happy to be a part of this full time.

TOM: At the end of the day, you have one common goal, which is to create a broadcast that you want folks to remember at home.

I think that's something that we all take a ton of pride in.

RALPH: If you can pinch yourself, you know, after 30 or 40 years of doing a job, and say you know, "I'm getting paid to come out here and do this?!"

you know, just... that's awesome.

AUSTIN: I don't think anybody in this building believes in "good enough".

I think we believe in "above and beyond" and, "best of the best".

We're good at our job, and we like to prove that we're better than some of the true big name production companies out there.

And I think we do a damn good job of that.

LARRY: High school sports has always been important to the state, right?

It's something that brings communities together, it brings the state together.

It's a highlight of what we do.

And to be able to bring that to people?

That's really important.

It's really powerful.

JOSHUA: There is a ton of work that goes into this, but it does not compare to the value that it brings to the state of Nebraska and to the people of Nebraska.

ANNOUNCER: I'm Larry Punteney, and on behalf of the entire crw here at Nebraska Public Media, thanks for being with us.

We had a great time over these past two days.

Hope you did too.

And until next time, goodnight from Lincoln.

6...5... 4... 3... 2...1... Take it!

All right, we're off air, everybody.

Thank you!

(applause) That's it.

Let's strike!

Great job, everybody.

Thank you very much!

This is why you don't go into TV... (laughter) Oh hey - credits!

I made these!