Super Six

The Alabama high school football season closed Friday night. The Super Six brings the two finalists from each classification (1A-6A) for games Thursday and Friday to Bryant-Denny Stadium, where the Crimson Tide plays. I've had the privilege of serving as a volunteer (one of maybe a few hundred). Two years ago, I wrote the promo that appeared on the jumbotron. This year, I guarded a parking lot by sitting in a lawn chair and checking credentials from noon to five both days. Hard work, to be sure, since it was so nice to be outside. Did a little reading, caught up on a few podcasts, even cleaned out the car. There was plenty of traffic driving by, just not many VIP types coming to park in my lot.

Once my shift was over, however, it was back up to the spacious and palatial press box to rub some elbows and hopefully make a few new media contacts. I watched some of the football, but it's difficult when I don't have a rooting interest or a game to broadcast. I did manage to meet some folks from Alexander City and from Hoover, who each have their own operation. This is the view from the Hoover high broadcast booth, just before kickoff of the 6A state championship against Prattville:

The picture faces the Prattville side, with the Hoover sideline on the near side. The gentleman in the lower right-hand corner is Jeff Lloyd, who teaches broadcasting at HHS. To his left is the color commentator, and then the Internet engineer guy. Not pictured is the statistician (you can see the stat monitor) and his spotter. That's a five-man crew for a high school football game. Granted, Hoover High has gobs of cash, so they can afford a broadcasting teacher as well as snazzy broadcast equipment. It's all a very intricate operation, and I found myself being extremely jealous of all this.

So I hung around Thursday until the middle of the third quarter to watch a co-worker's alma mater play (Hartselle), and I left the Hoover game shortly before half. Great games and much goes on to make sure everyone has a good time. I like that I got to be a very small cog in the machine.