Gameday's Webcast Reaches The Spartan Nation
ASHBURN, VA - School Spirit was taken to a new level at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia. On June 8, 2007, a typical hot day in Northern Virginia, my high school came together to cheer on our undefeated softball team. It was the first time in my three years of being a fellow Spartan that I have been able to witness the impact of a potential state title.
For the past few weeks our principal, Dr. Edgar Markley, announced to us over the PA system that the USA Today was nationally recognizing the Spartan softball team. Each time he made an address, our team was climbing the rankings. Entering Friday's state semifinal game, Broad Run was ranked 6th in the nation!
After the State quarterfinal game, our entire school was made aware that our softball team was competing in the "final four" of the entire state. This was exciting, especially for a school that really supports its athletic teams. We created the "Maroon Crew" this year, which is made up of the most passionate high school sports fans at Broad Run. Spartan Softball was the buzz of the school and everyone wanted to follow the action.
However, the Maroon Crew and the rest of the students and faculty that wanted to follow our softball team were presented with a challenge. The semifinal matchup between Broad Run and Tunstall was scheduled for a 1pm start on Friday, right in the middle of 7th period!
On Friday morning, our vice-principal reminded all of the students that our school was being represented in the state softball tournament. She announced that the administrators would tell us the results of the game as soon as they found out. Being a member of the Gameday staff, I knew that a live broadcast of the game was going to take place, so I secretly called my mom and told her to tune in, and to text message me updates.
As the day progressed, the students were anxious to figure out a way to hear the game. Things weren't looking good for that option, but at the beginning of 7th period, another vice-principal at Broad Run announced on the PA system that our technology department was going to stream Gameday Magazine's live coverage of the game through our school TV network! This meant that every single classroom was able to listen to the game through their TV sets!
Everyone became really excited, especially when my Spanish teacher informed us that we would be able to listen to the game after lunch if we focused and learned a new verb tense. Everyone in my Spanish class buckled down and focused, and we successfully finished all of our work.
The first pitch was thrown while we were eating lunch, and we were fortunate enough to have a TV set in our cafeteria. It was an amazing sight to see all of my friends huddled around the TV set with their lunches on their laps. During the commercial breaks a student would stand up and yell the current update. " Kramer on second, Powell up to bat, no outs!"
With the game tied at 0-0 right before the 8th period bell rang, we figured the game could go on for a while. During the break between 7th and 8th period, the chatter in the halls consisted of "OH MY GOD! Did you hear Caitlyn just struck out three batters in a row?" or "I bet this is going to go into extra innings!" and "Man, my 8th period teacher is in a bad mood, there is no way she will let us listen." Then some student responded, "That sucks, I have a substitute!"
I told my boyfriend with urgency in my voice, "We have to hurry, it's the top of the 6th!" Luckily my 8th period teacher let us listen to the game on and off between teaching and doing worksheets, as long as we behaved. There were more "shh" 's and "Dude, shut up's" than in a movie theater!
The suspense was intensifying as the game headed into extra innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning, you could start to hear some cheers when Judy Betz made it to first. Then the cheer got louder when Courtney Kramer singled and we had two runners on. But nothing can describe the cheer that was heard in the halls and classes when Andy Hayes made the call that Kaitlyn Tiplady hit a single and Anna Blessing was rounding third to score.
Hayes' words, "Tiplady has Won It! The Broad Run Spartans are heading to play for the state title!"
Our classroom door was open as well as many others, and we were able to hear a wave of cheering all the way around the school. Everyone was so pumped up and excited for our team, even the teachers! Within minutes students were sneaking their cell phones under desks to text message friends on the team, and to get directions to Radford University.
It was an amazing day to be a Broad Run Spartan, and a wonderful opportunity for Gameday Magazine to bring the game home to the school and to the community. Almost all of the students were planning to tune in for the live stream of the state championship game on Saturday morning. Today, Gameday Magazine's technology helped unite my school and made it possible for the Spartans back home to be there for every pitch.
It made me proud to be a Spartan, and proud to be a member of the staff at Gameday Magazine, we truly are changing the way high school sports are covered!
* Statistics from Friday and Saturday indicate that over 5,000 people tuned in live for the semifinal and state championship broadcasts on the Gameday Radio Network. That is the largest live audience for any game since the network's launch in August of 2006.
