North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Lights, Camera, Action
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 21, 2004
By Tony Haynes
My oh my, hasn't NC State come a long way since that day four years ago when football coach Chuck Amato asked that a bulldozer be placed on a hill beside Carter-Finley Stadium to make it appear as though the school was about to begin major facility renovations. At the time, Amato figured that was the only way to impress visiting recruits. Yes indeed, NC State has moved a little closer to the big time over the last few years. When powerful Miami, currently No. 2 in the BCS rankings, comes to town this Saturday night, Raleigh and Carter-Finley Stadium will be the center of the football universe for one weekend.
College Gameday, ESPN's answer to the NFL Today and all those other pregame shows that have complimented coverage of pro games on Sundays, will bring all of its cables, cameras and crewmembers to the front lawn of the RBC Center for a full Saturday of nationwide college football coverage. Starting at 10:30 a.m. and continuing throughout the entire day, host Chris Fowler will mention umpteen times that he and partners Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso are live from NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium. Behind them will be hundreds of Wolfpack fans who will, when given the cue by producers, scream their lungs out.
Ethel Murman sang it best when she belted out those famous words "There's no business like show business...."
College Gameday is all about show business, which is why the program is at its best when it moves out of the stale studio and on location just outside the gates of a college stadium. Not only does it provide helpful information for those who cannot get enough news about college football, it promotes the sport by sharing with its viewers the magical energy and enthusiasm that is witnessed on campuses throughout the country each and every Saturday.
The normal hot spots for Gameday are places like Ann Arbor, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, Athens Georgia, Gainesville and Tallahassee. But this week, for the first but hopefully not the last time, Gameday is in Raleigh.
"In any of your sports, when you have the national media come in like that and pretty much stay all day with you, you can't buy that kind of advertising," said NC State Director of Athletics Lee Fowler. "You get publicity all day long about everything on campus. It's not just about athletics; it's a great P.R. piece for our university. I had no concept what Gameday means; we all flip it on there on Saturday mornings, but we're usually working and thinking about our game. But to college kids, this is like Madonna is coming to town. It's a huge thing to college kids. This is a happening by itself."
It costs advertisers millions of dollars to get one of their commercials on the Super Bowl. This weekend, NC State will be given the opportunity to run a commercial on ESPN free of charge. The nation will be watching... and so will potential Wolfpack recruits. And with NC State's facilities renovations moving forward at a rapid pace, Amato won't need to rent a bulldozer for a day this time around.
"I think it's great," said Amato. "How many times do you have the opportunity to be front and center stage from 10:30 in the morning until midnight? I think the league has generated that and helped. I think the University of Miami being ranked No. 3 in the country helps and the fact that they think that we have a chance. It's exposure for the city, the campus, the team and everybody involved."
Among other things, Gameday's presence is also another confirmation of the perception that NC State's program is gaining ground in its quest to become more of a national player. And in this case, the Wolfpack will be getting a double-dose of coverage since the contest against Miami has also been chosen for ESPN's most prestigious college football time slot at 7:45. It's the one game each Saturday that players and coaches from other teams around the country also get to watch on the tube, meaning the Hurricanes and the Wolfpack will be trying to put on a good show for their peers.
"Everybody goes home and watches that 7:45 game," said NC State linebacker Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay. "It's a big game and everybody is going to be watching. Coach always says if you want be an All-American and somebody special, you've got to make plays in these types of games."
And when a play is made, it will be caught on one of the 16 ESPN cameras that will be setup throughout the stadium. That's not a misprint by the way - there will be 16 cameras totally focused on NC State and Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday. Does this sound like a big deal? You bet.
So let the show begin...lights, camera, action.
