First of all I wish the NCAA would go back to having the D1 Meet on Monday...I miss doing a cross country weekend double and this year based on the location on the three meets, it would have been super easy.
So I ended up staying home and was thankful that I was able to watch all three races, but the production was less than I had hoped for.
I don't recall which races had which issues, but most issues seemed to happen in all of the divisions.
My concerns -
*Weak pre-race coverage before each race - this possibly could be the only time every team, their runners, coaches, and a little history of each program could have been mentioned, because once the gun goes off the majority of coverage is on the leaders.
*Terrible coverage from lead cart - video was shaky, or two far away...have some spare cameras, and keep runners within site!
*Have TWO carts up front with working cameras so chase pack can be videoed when dominant runners break away...this created terrible coverage in a couple of races.
*Have the ability to communicate with the cameraman to swap out cameras, clean of lenses, focus in for better view
*Have the kilometer and mile marks clearly visible on the course and have set cameras at a couple of these spots and picture in picture going at those spots with accurate running time posted (clock was wrong in one race, and missing in another)
*Post places, splits, and teams scores during the race in a spot that doesn't block the view of the action
*Have a Set Finish Line Camera in a spot that captures the runners crossing the line - and so it won't be blocked by the workers in the chute moving bodies. The lead cart camera can capture the floppers for the post race highlights of the efforts the runners put in but I WANT to see the FINISHERS not just the winners walking around after their race.
*Have a better server so the feed doesn't lag - seemed like there was big delay and the sound was off in one of the races - so the announcers that were watching the feed to call the races were also experiences the lags...just like when in one of the races they lost the feed and the announcers had to apologize for the great view of the weeds for several seconds...unacceptable!
*I had an 2021 Error Code and 2006 Error Code which totally dropped my coverage - message said event was over!?!?!?
*Announcers were fair to average - I understand it's a hard sport to cover, but a little more homework would make for a much better broadcast.
*In the future it would be great if some of the athlete and coach interviews could be set up in advance to fill some time after the races and before the next race, or the results are known, and finishing with the awards would have been a nice touch for the fans, friends, parents, etc. that wanted to see their interest get an award and individual and/or team award.
I know that is a lot to ask for, but you did ask.