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Portland Trailblazers

Six from Six: Gameops.com Team Reviews

In 2006 Gameops.com will feature six game reviews from six teams around sports. We have selected teams across different sports, leagues, levels and markets to hopefully give readers a good variety of subjects.

For these game reviews, we visited each team for a game with one goal: Find six things each team is doing well and discuss how other teams can find similar success by following their lead.

The entire Six from Six Series is now available in a printable document on the Gameops.com Store.

Six from Six: Portland Trailblazers

Game Notes

The Blazers played their seventh game of the season against the Utah Jazz. The Blazers entered the season with an emphasis on reestablishing their community connection and trying to recapture their fan base after two years of missing the playoffs for the first time in 20 years and several negative off the court incidents involving players.

The Blazers are a familiar team, since Gameops.com was based in Portland for five years. We traveled back in December 2005 to see what the Blazers were doing well amid different circumstances and with a different game director.

The game was reviewed by Gameops.com Editor Jon Cudo December 4th, 2005.

Staff

Todd Bosma
Game Presentation Manager/ In Arena Host (Todd even has his own web page)

Craig Miller
Game Production Director

John Jackson
Music Director

Entertainment/Talent
Blazer Dancers, Hip Hop Dancers, Breakers, Blaze (mascot), Jr. Dancers and scoreboard operation by Post-Up Production

The Lessons from Portland

• Lesson 1: Music ties the show together
• Lesson 2: Multiple openings keep the games fresh
• Lesson 3: Allow flexibility in your game script
• Lesson 4: Connect with the sport and league
• Lesson 5: Use simple effects for bright results with lighting effects
• Lesson 6: Position Yourself for Success

Lesson 1: Music ties the show together

Sound is perhaps the strongest tool in the game operations toolbox. It permeates each element and rarely isn't pivotal in cuing and signaling each transition and game element. When you experience a Blazer game you quickly notice that the music and sound is seamless. Cues are never slow or stalled, the bumpers are varied and interesting, levels are right on, and the mix of music is excellent.

In a word, the music in Portland is flawless.

In Portland music is controlled by John Jackson. The name may be familiar to you as the contact for the Game Ops Commander (now Sound Director) audio system. By day Jack- son manages the Game Ops Commander product for Action Sports Media and by night he uses the system for the Blazers. The Blazers developed the software years ago for their own show, then offered it to teams as a music solution.

John Jackson is likely the best music operator in the business, which makes sense due to his intimate knowledge of the audio system, his passion for the game, and his years of experience with the Blazers. The flow of music is striking at Blazer events mainly because it's seamless. Clips lead into each other, bumpers start and end concisely and switches between video board-generated audio and audio generated by Jackson are so well coordinated.

Transitions that might include dead air are given bumpers of their own to fill what would be the pause, creating a constant feed of music. For example, the popular Blazers Dancers started one number in a set position on the court. The music for the routine would start when they were all in position, causing a break between the whistle and time when all the dancers were set. During this pause, the Blazers have a small audio clip that introduces the dancers and gives them music to transition between the sideline and the court.

Finding the right software and training a user are keys to creating this seamless use of music, and on both accounts every team can learn from the Blazers.

Lesson: Find both a music system and a operator who is passionate about the game. Pay attention to the smallest breaks and develop bumpers to help fill them.

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