So It's Friday afternoon and I'm getting ready to shoot the biggest game in the state this week, Plainville vs LaCrosse. To be honest, I almost always think my game is the biggest in the state. But this week my game is really big. The number 3 vs number 4 teams in Class 2A and both are undefeated.
When I come into work on a Friday, I spend most of my time doing prep work. Learning as much as I can about the two teams I cover. Some weeks this take more time than others. By week nine, I usually know quite a bit about the schools.
Depending on how far I have to drive I leave the station in time to get to the school 30-45 minutes before kick off. I like to get their early, get a feel for the crowd, what the buzz is around the stadium, see the band perform and really take it all in.
Once the game kicks off, I am multi-tasking. I shoot video of the game, and am writing and re-writing the story of the game as it goes along. I also tweet scores (hwilliams_12 on twitter), so people at home or at other games can keep up.
At halftime I make a little tv magic, shooting my "on camera" parts of my story. This is tricky, because most weeks the game is far from over at halftime. So I usually end up shooting at least two versions, sometimes more.
After the game, I grab a quick interview with a coach or a player if I have time. Then hustle back to the Hays bureau to put it all together. When I am done editing, I feed the video via a fiber link back to Wichita and tv magic is made on the Catch It Kansas Show.
Before my day it though I write a print version of my story and post it, and video to CatchItKansas.com.
It's a busy day, but if there is a better way to spend a Friday, I haven't found it yet :)!
