Monday, September 29, 2008

Angel City Classic Recap: What Happened To The End Of The Game?

If any of you were watching the Angel City Classic Saturday afternoon on FSN, you probably were wondering what the hell happened to the end of the game. And for good reason, considering you didn't see the final 5 minutes of the game.

Here's what happened. With Morehouse trailing Prairie View A&M 21-17 with less than 6 minutes to go in the game, a power outage in the downtown LA area took out a grid affecting the Coliseum. Our production truck was obviously hooked up to the Coliseum's power source, and when that power was lost, so was our television signal.

The weird thing was that the game clock in the stadium was still working, although it had stopped functioning in the first half for some other reason.

Fortunately, power was restored about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game, enabling the "5th Quarter" tribute to Isaac Hayes to go on as scheduled. We were also able to tape a segment to explain to the viewers of the re-air on FSN what happened to the last 5 minutes of the game and how Prairie View went on to win the game 28-17.

I've never experienced anything like that during my career, and I don't remember seeing anything like that as a viewer-- at least not when it didn't include an earthquake.

It's just unfortunate that such a great day came to an unsatisfying end to the viewers at home.

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